Box blind Builds

[mlammerhirt]

Ok.... I was gonna hold off on this post until the post season But things have slowed down greatly on the site so I thought I would throw this out after Otto just started the awesome thread about stand names.

 

Let's see and talk homemade/store bought box blinds. Let us know if they are elevated......how high.....window size.....things you would do different next time. From what I can tell alot people on here hunt out of some sort of enclosed blind. Let's see some pics and here stories about the building process.

 

Pictured below is my first build. It's a 4x8 deer shack mounted on a harbor freight trailer. Flip up tinted plexiglass windows all the way around.......fits myself and two young's boys real nice.....or two adults. Enough room to standup and move around and when needed we can run a propane heater safely. Probably one of the best investments I have ever made. Let's you be out in any weather.....and we all know being out hunting is way better than sitting on the couch thinking about it.

 

Next season we are already planning an elevated blind build for one property and at least an elevated platform for another that we may just put a hub blind on.

 

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[Bionic]

Built this late summer with my dad. 
4’x6’ box which is I VERY happy with, deer encounters are typically close, so any larger, than I create blind spots, that I would need to move around for.  
12’ treated legs, elevator brackets secured with timber bolts, deck torx screws, everything minus board/bats are treated.  3/4” plywood treated floor, 3/4” x 12” boards covered with tin roof(full boards not normal pearlings, thin carpet for sound deadening, front/rear plexiglass slider windows, and one you see is hinged on the door, and the 4th is a flip up with a magnet(magnet has a strip of electrical tape for sound reduction).  Buddy heater with a 12’ hose, filter, and 20 lb tank.  Treated ladder, with the rungs the same distances apart, as a standard ladder.  I would only change the rear window, it is a pinch low, I would add height, rather than moving it up.  I shot my deer from that window though.  I plan to add a little piece of plywood to hold the propane tank though, rather than resting it on the ladder brace.  I will add a few hooks as well, and I am thinking about a little flip up shelf for the bi-pod.  I love it, oh and I need a better seat! I was in it solo all season, but for a once in a while 2 person sit, it will be perfect.  

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Bionic

[GreenDrake]

I have 6 of these built now. All have smaller windows as I learned that anything more than 12 inches high only caused sun blinding and exposure to deer. I built them in panels in the garage and made for easy field assembly and transport. All are made of treated plywood and lumber. About $500 in materials in each all said and done. I built one per night once I got in a groove. Some are 10 years old and are going strong. All are now on 10' or 12 ' 4x4's. On the new property I just acquired, once I learn exactly where I want them, I am building 2 of them on 24 foot poles.

[Fletch]

So built this in summer 2012 from pallet racking from work.

2016 I enclosed it with plywood.

2019 it got windows, piped in gas from a 20 lb cylinder below and AstroTurf inside and some new shelves.

While I am very happy with this blind, on my next I would lean towards the design shape of that Amish one NYtracker picked up. I also would put in or design better windows that slide open. Mine are a hodgepodge of sorts. It is a blessing in crap weather lol.

 

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by Fletch

[wolc123]

I have built a few, but this is my favorite, mostly because I have killed quite a few deer from it, including 2.5 and 3.5 year old bucks.  I also appreciate the fact that all the materials were free, and it is comfortable in any weather conditions.

My brother had abandoned an old snowmobile trailer and a construction style truck cap on our farm many years ago.  I built a 3 ft high 3-sided wall, on the trailer deck, framed with 2x6's.  I bolted the cap to the top of that wall. 

The solid wall "front" faces the prevailing wind direction, and the back is open.  The cap sides fold out, providing an overhang for sunscreen/rain cover over the open sides.  That is something most box blinds are sorely lacking.  

I spend most of my hunting time in the upper cupola however, built on the cap's ladder rack.  The best part about hunting up there is that there are no "blind spots", another thing most box blinds have.  The additional elevation helps with longer shots over standing corn etc..

The upper deck is floored with maintenance-free decking.  The 3 foot high wall around that is sided with weathered barnwood.  That wall provides safety, concealment, and a great gun rest.   There is a plastic swivel chair up top and a plush padded one down below.

The trailer makes it mobile, but I have had it blocked up in it's current location for about 10 years.  It is just about maintenance free, although the back of the lower floor looked like it needed a new sheet of 3/4" exterior plywood nailed on before next season.

Edited December 15, 2020 by wolc123

[phantom]

3 hours ago, Bionic said:

Built this late summer with my dad. 
4’x6’ box which is I VERY happy with, deer encounters are typically close, so any larger, than I create blind spots, that I would need to move around for.  
12’ treated legs, elevator brackets secured with timber bolts, deck torx screws, everything minus board/bats are treated.  3/4” plywood treated floor, 3/4” x 12” boards covered with tin roof(full boards not normal pearlings, thin carpet for sound deadening, front/rear plexiglass slider windows, and one you see is hinged on the door, and the 4th is a flip up with a magnet(magnet has a strip of electrical tape for sound reduction).  Buddy heater with a 12’ hose, filter, and 20 lb tank.  Treated ladder, with the rungs the same distances apart, as a standard ladder.  I would only change the rear window, it is a pinch low, I would add height, rather than moving it up.  I shot my deer from that window though.  I plan to add a little piece of plywood to hold the propane tank though, rather than resting it on the ladder brace.  I will add a few hooks as well, and I am thinking about a little flip up shelf for the bi-pod.  I love it, oh and I need a better seat! I was in it solo all season, but for a once in a while 2 person sit, it will be perfect.  

 

If we had a contest on nicest box blinds, I think you win so far that thing is awesome !!!  looks very well made .

Edited December 15, 2020 by phantom

[Bionic]

5 minutes ago, phantom said:

If we had a contest on nicest box blinds, I think you win so far that thing is awesome !!!  looks very well made .

I appreciate that! But they all do the same job, we built it as a fun project, in hopes it will last a very long time, I am very proud of it though.

[Nomad]

I have two, but seldom use them as much as I thought I would . The farm has plenty , and they feel elevated is much better . They offered to put mine up on phone polls, but I like the option of moving them , and don’t feel handicapped as is . 

The green one may have been built by my guys, on a night shift in the firehouse , but I’ll deny that .....

I do enjoy camping out of the green one as well , you have to share it with a boat load of bugs and mice though .

Edited December 16, 2020 by Nomad

[luberhill]

I built this in my garage and painted it then took it apart and brought it to my property 

[bigpaul]

I had this Scentite blind given to me, all I had to do was go get it before the neighbor sold the property. I elevated it on 8’ 4x4’s. I absolutely hate it. I can’t see out the windows and I’m always humped over in the chair trying to peek out. Windows are just too low in my opinion and the plastic walls are very noisy. When building blinds make sure your windows are big enough and at the right height.

[Lomax]

Buckform est circa 2012.   It started out as 4 - 6 x 6 25 foot long posts buried 4 1/2 feet each and then concreted in.  Along with a platform measuring 12 x 12 approximately 14 high.  All pressure treated.   Steps came in 2014 and hunted out of ground blind until 2016 the built 11x11 building roof.  This year we finished inside and outside (insulated, wired and folding windows).  I have 2 comfy office swivel chairs a table and 2 dead shot field pods for guns.  Interior design folks from Cabela’s coming in January to finish decor haha.  Next year wall mount heat replace mr buddy heater and power source.  When we finish the downstairs I think I’m going to lease it out to Bob Krafts massage parlor folks and get some of my money back.  
 

 

[mlammerhirt]

Bionic did you keep track of materials and put a rough price on your build? Yours seems the most recent so with the increase in lumber prices it will be the truest to date. Also did you source your lumber from the Amish?

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[Bionic]

10 minutes ago, mlammerhirt said:

Bionic did you keep track of materials and put a rough price on your build? Yours seems the most recent so with the increase in lumber prices it will be the truest to date. Also did you source your lumber from the Amish?

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I am right at $700 in, the store lumber was high obviously, and the siding/trim was the only amish wood at $.50 a foot near Stratford.  Brackets were $77...I used deck screws too which are $$.  Plexiglass was leftover scrap the hardware store sells.  Tin, and carpet was free.  I didn’t do too bad I feel.  

[GreenDrake]

Mine are all 4 x 6 feet, as they were on property borders and we never had to shoot behind us. In the future, now that the property I hunt enables me to shoot 360, I would definitely build them 6 x 6 feet. Makes it much easier to sit in the middle and swivel behind me to shoot.

[rob-c]

16 hours ago, bigpaul said:

I had this Scentite blind given to me, all I had to do was go get it before the neighbor sold the property. I elevated it on 8’ 4x4’s. I absolutely hate it. I can’t see out the windows and I’m always humped over in the chair trying to peek out. Windows are just too low in my opinion and the plastic walls are very noisy. When building blinds make sure your windows are big enough and at the right height.

That does look small , cut around the middle and raise the roof up a few feet and make the window taller , Glue some carpet to the inside to quiet the plastic down . It was free so what do you have to loose . 

Edited December 16, 2020 by rob-c

[mlammerhirt]

Mine are all 4 x 6 feet, as they were on property borders and we never had to shoot behind us. In the future, now that the property I hunt enables me to shoot 360, I would definitely build them 6 x 6 feet. Makes it much easier to sit in the middle and swivel behind me to shoot.

Mine in the original post is 4x8.......love the 8' length but 4' tends to be a little narrow. Next one will be 6x6......will give a bigger footprint for myself and 2 young sons.

I was also only thinking of using 8' 4x4's for legs......what's everyone's thought on height? I was going with the 8' since it would make it easier when putting the roof on.

Let me know why higher may be better or not a major concern.

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