The black hole

[Meridian]

I am putting together a duck blind for my boat, I little late for this year I know but I'm moving forward. So I have two questions for you. Height of the blind. I am thinking just so my head sticks out when sitting down. Or should I make it higher. Also I have been looking at the different materials to cover the boat with (avery, fastgrass, raffia) and I am stumped. Is one better that the other? I am thinking of using 4x4 mats but that is not set in stone. Any suggestions on where to get the best price?
Thanks Brent

[Wreckless]

I built a blind for my boat 2 years ago. There was a GREAT thread on boat blinds at that time. Hunt'nfish has a good home made one.

I built mine to hunt out of and provide protection from the elements, but I'm modifying it because I can't shoot up (I can't shoot very well anyway so I need all the help I can get!!!


As far as how tall, are you standing to shoot or shooting sitting down? Mine is built low profile to shoot from the sitting position.
I grassed mine with raffia and other local grasses.

Also, some of those products get heavy when they are soaked with rain.

Good luck, it looks like there will be enough water.

I hope this helps, others will have good tips also.

[Hunt'nFish]

Well...I type out a long bit to help ya but accidentally hit the back button and it all went away.

Here's a link, might give ya some idea's maybe not. (Look at the pics at the bottom)
http://www.ifish.net/gallery/showgal...00/ppuser/4467

I will say this you'll want the side lower than is shown in the pics. I drilled several adj holes where the frame X is and could raise or lower each side as I saw fit. Typically I had the front low enough to see out of when seated and the back set a little higher at head high.

For grass I ran a couple desert tan camo poly tarps through an industrial paper shredder to make what I call Poly Grass. Worked well and looked fine to the ducks.
Good luck, post a pic of your boat so we can envision some ideas.
Hunt'nFish

Hey, Meridian...I just realized who you are. We met on the willy early this spring bass fishing.
You and your boy. I know what boat we're talking about now.......ohhhh, that'd make a FINE duck boat fer sure! Is that Alumaweld 18' or 20"? It has the old style gunwhales if I'm not mistaken....those are very easy to attach/bolt blind frames to.

On your boat I'd probably do a modular QD fixed conduit frame with canvas panels that snap on and double hinged roofs. A roof really kills the Black Hole Syndrome IMO. Sew grass loops on the canvas for raffia/whoop/fastgrass. You can sew can't you??

[Tar Heel]

I bought mine used w the boat- some kind of grass panels. Its all dried out and dead looking now so I painted some green on it. Hunted w a guy who had a canvas roof, and liked that rain protection. Either waý, your best off grabbing some ''dead and down'' from your sorroundings on top of your base, same as any blind. The canvas w/ loops is pretty good way to go.The lower your profile the better, but that can lead to a sore neck!

[dankoustas]

The weight of blind materials is a factor to consider. I had avery realgrass over die cut camo material, and it was very heavy. I took off the realgrass so it's easier for me to raise when I'm alone.

[Meridian]

Thanks for the help guys. The project is moving forward. The hard part is finding the Raffia at a reasonable price. All stores I have looked at sell in 2 or 4 oz packages. Thats a lot of packages. For material to sew my raffia onto I am going to use burlap. It seems a little soggy when its wet out. Is his a terrible idea?
FishNhunt what a good memory you have. It was a pleasure meeting you last spring. We never did make it back to fish there but one day will. To much baseball I guess.

[HuntNFishAddict]

The burlap is nice because you can get it in different camo patterns, the draw back is that it gets very heavy when whet. I use it to cover my marshrat, which I then zip tie the raffia to.

On my smokecraft I have a woven nylon material that is both water/wind proof. The only problem with it is that it is shiny on sunny days and you cannot see through it. A little ultra flat paint and some portholes and you are both covered from the elements and the ducks can't see you either.

Another option that I looked at was using the cordura material used for layout blinds. You can find it in bulk online.

Hope this helps.
Jason