Help, Duck Blind for boat?

Duck n · 05-20-2003, 09:10 PM

I built a blind on my boat last year for duck hunting. The blind lasted the first 13+ hunts before falling apart gradually. The design was okay, the flaw was that I used electrical conduit and clamps between joints. The weak spot was the clamps; they loosened up though the season and eventually broke. Does anyone know of a person/company that will weld joints on electrical conduit? Any other ideas? I'm also pondering joints on my boat, I'm considering having someone weld me some brackets to hold 3/4" conduit on an angled side.

bigshark · 05-20-2003, 10:03 PM

I suggest you try PVC pipe for the frame. The options for covering are numerous. Everything from burlap to plastic como from the surplus stores. Just a thought !

ICHTHYDEMON · 05-21-2003, 07:06 AM

I built mine out of PVC back in 1998.and it's still in great shape. PVC is cheap,and the glue and purple primer make a strong bond to keep it all together. Mine fits my 15' aluminum boat,and it only weighs maybe 15-20lbs.

ICHTHYDEMON · 05-21-2003, 07:12 AM

Maybe stick with the conduit connectors,but make them more permanent. Take the screws out of the conduit connectors,and slip the conduit in the connector. Use the the holes in the connectors as a template and drill some holes into the conduit. Get some self-tapping screws and screw the connector to the conduit.

Lured In · 05-21-2003, 07:37 AM

A couple suggestions....

1. Be sure to use 3/4" conduit.
2. Use compression connectors rather than the screw type connnectors.
3. Make sure your connections are as close as possible to any support members you may have. If you have no support pieces, move the connectors to the front/back of the blind. (towards the bow/stern)
4. Use a design that will allow you to run a single piece of conduit down the gunnel, with the connectors on the ends (follow on to #3)
5. If you are still having "joint" problems, you can glue/screw a dowel inside the conduit to strengthen the joint.

Good luck.

Flatfish · 05-24-2003, 02:19 PM

Use 3/4"X2" steel tubing. It lasts longer than conduit. I could explain in person a lot better than I could here.

Mark and the dog.

willametteriveroutlaw · 05-31-2003, 03:25 PM

Joes has a bunch of the Averys hiding throughout there stores, Go talk to a sporting goods manager and he'd proably give you a good deal. they are bulky and I know some of the mangers want them gone.

1pump · 06-02-2003, 09:21 PM

CSM (Clackamas Steel) has lots of aluminum tubing, both square and round, that they sell by the pound as scrap. That's what I used to make my blind. It's light and doesn't rust.

Lured In · 06-03-2003, 12:08 PM

Here are some pictures I got off the internet last year while researching some designs. These are based on a 'scissor' style blind. You can also make another pop open top that comes off the main scissors.(this would be similar to the top on an eliminator blind.

This shows the "mounting bracket" that was suggested. It is a sliding glass door security lock. ( the ones that mount on the floor and have a sliding pin in them for securing sliding doors.) They are available at home depot for about $4 each. Just remove the pin and mount to the hull.

It really is a simple design that is collapsable and trailerable.

Duck n · 06-04-2003, 08:13 PM

Lured In, great pics! Do you know if they used the same mount for the sides and the front?

Get Bit · 06-04-2003, 08:53 PM

Lured In,

That's sweet ! Nice job on the blind. Do you use both the cloth and the fastgrass together ? What kind of boat is that ? Great Effort ! :smile:

Get Bit

Lured In · 06-05-2003, 07:12 AM

Duck n...we got these brackets for all four major connection points to the hull. (two up front and two in back)

GB...I wish this was my boat! [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

I got these pictures off the internet last year while researching designs. My hunting buddy has a 16' Rougneck modified john with a 40hp Honda 4 stroke. We got all the stuff last year and then didn't have time to finish it before the season got under way. So it is still on our to do list for this summer. We are planning on using the camo tarp marterial (water/wind proof) as a backing and then the lightweight tank camoflage over the top of it. I was really impressed with some of the designs I found, but some were WAY to complicated to be reliable.

When we get it finished, I'll try to post some pics. FYI...if you haven't been to the GI Joe's in Delta Park lately, they have an excellent selection of camo material, (including fast grass) and other goodies no other GI Joe's has yet.

Sportsman's Warehouse should also have some good stuff too.

Duck n · 06-05-2003, 05:32 PM

Here's a picture of my duck boat, Avery's realgrass made a big difference! 13 hunts by early December, 113 duck!

The only problem is that around the 12 hunt the joints started to fall apart...hence the post. Thought I would post the picture.

Get Bit · 06-06-2003, 06:49 AM

Duck'n,

Boat looks awesome ! 113 ducks ! I don't know if I saw 113 ducks last season ! Did you guys hunt the westside or the eastside of the state ? I've got a buddy looking to put a blind on his boat...
How big is your boat ? How many mats of fastgrass did it take to camo ? Did you build yours out of conduit or ? Thanks for any info in advance.

Get Bit

Duck n · 06-09-2003, 05:23 PM

Hey Get Bit,

I hunted predominately on the West side, near Astoria in Tidal water. A boat is an absolute must! I used electrical conduit, my problem is the joints. I have a 15'6" boat, it took 8 grass mats to cover motor to bow. In my humble opinion duck blinds on boats need to be simple and robust. I designed mine to be at eye level when sitting on the seats.

http://www.ifish.net/uploads/062118159.jpg

Duck n · 06-09-2003, 05:26 PM

Rookie mistake, I ment to include the picture...trying again

Get Bit · 06-09-2003, 07:00 PM

Duck'n

Thanks for the info. The blind looks awesome. Did you try putting a pin or screw in each joint? I've seen that done successfully. We hunted down there around Astoria a little
last season but it seemed like we were a little late. From the sounds of things they knocked 'em dead in the early part of the season. Boy are those tides fun! Have you done any early goose hunting down there ?

Get Bit

Duck n · 06-10-2003, 05:51 PM

I used screws in the joints and "C" brackets to mount to boat. Both need to be re-thought this season.

Late in the season the ducks became shy to everything, blinds and calls mainly. Not to mention the weather late in the season didn't help.

I've never hunted geese over there, I could have killed a lot of geese had I had my permit. This year I will get the goose permit for sure!

Working the tides is hard to do, the same spot the next week can go from hot to very cold. I used my GPS to mark spots, tracks and kept logs of the hunt noting tide, weather and wind conditions. Keeping the track helps a lot so I can keep in the channel, reduces travel time significantly. Early in the season I thought I had it figured out but several humbling hunts sorted me out. This year I'm going to try and keep it simple and maximize my hunt time. The only good advice I can give is two rules I live by when choosing my hunt spots; I'll pick conspicuous over hidden in a cove to get where the birds want to be and I always try to get in the beginning of the fly way.

Get Bit · 06-11-2003, 05:37 AM

Duck'n,

Thanks for the info. Have plans to hunt alot more down there in the early season. Just bought a GPS, ao I hope it can be of benefit this season.
Getting in and out of there can be tough considering tides,darkness,fog,weather, etc. Sounds like you've got the GPS dialed in. WHich end of the refuge do you hunt ? Once again, thanks !

Get Bit

Duck n · 06-17-2003, 08:39 PM

Get Bit,

sorry for the delay, I've been wrapped up in the boating accident incident in Tillamook, what a tragedy!

Anyway, I launch from Aldrich Pt and hunt both up and down river. I would highly recommend that you take a trip out there in day light and mark some spots. If your GPS has the "Tracking" option that's what I use to navigate the channels in the dark. They're very tricky and just down river from Aldrich Pt there are some pylons in the water, at times they are just under the surface.

I would recommend buying the Columbia River Nautical maps, you can find them at GI-Joes and Fishermans...it's pretty expensive $39 but worth it!

Get Bit · 06-17-2003, 09:28 PM

Duck'n,

Thanks for the info. I do plan on spending some time down there this summer and marking some spots. I will get those maps.

Get Bit