Building a Box Blind - Last Winters Project

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Honestly....and suprisingly, there were more deer seen from there than the rest of the property combined.
All of them to be exact.
We had the worst gun season on record and it really cant go down from this year.
No shots fired, 4 deer seen.

The commercial was about 4 seconds over the shoulder and unrecognizable. Favor to a friend.
Somehow they pawned it off to antother company and I saw my backside on a commercial for realnorth.com
I thing they are a tourism and lodging site or something.
Random commercial comes on and jokingly I saw "hey thats me!"
We all laugh and 10 seconds later its me again walking in the alfalfa in my folks backyard. "oh wait that is me"
Weird.

I am working on blind number 3 for next year. Hopefully making the bottom half in the basement over winter again.
If I do I will be sure to snap some pics.
If i get to that blind again this year I will take a couple shots down the lanes.
Its a literal park on one side but the other side has 6 acres of grass and what you could call our "Sancuary".
Front side is just a pass through where deer will never hang out more than 1 minute.....but they do pass through it.

Friday night before gun season my dad was 80 yards away in a hell hidden ladder stand and 2 bucks. A 3.5 and a 1.5 came out of the 6 acre set aside within 30 yards on the blind and out the break in the stone fence into 80 acres of CRP.
Its got to be the most wide open funnel you can imagine but they do end up at the gap in the rockwall.

 

[Big Snow Man]

Honestly....and suprisingly, there were more deer seen from there than the rest of the property combined.
All of them to be exact.
We had the worst gun season on record and it really cant go down from this year.
No shots fired, 4 deer seen.

The commercial was about 4 seconds over the shoulder and unrecognizable. Favor to a friend.
Somehow they pawned it off to antother company and I saw my backside on a commercial for realnorth.com
I thing they are a tourism and lodging site or something.
Random commercial comes on and jokingly I saw "hey thats me!"
We all laugh and 10 seconds later its me again walking in the alfalfa in my folks backyard. "oh wait that is me"
Weird.

I am working on blind number 3 for next year. Hopefully making the bottom half in the basement over winter again.
If I do I will be sure to snap some pics.
If i get to that blind again this year I will take a couple shots down the lanes.
Its a literal park on one side but the other side has 6 acres of grass and what you could call our "Sancuary".
Front side is just a pass through where deer will never hang out more than 1 minute.....but they do pass through it.

Friday night before gun season my dad was 80 yards away in a hell hidden ladder stand and 2 bucks. A 3.5 and a 1.5 came out of the 6 acre set aside within 30 yards on the blind and out the break in the stone fence into 80 acres of CRP.
Its got to be the most wide open funnel you can imagine but they do end up at the gap in the rockwall.

Join the low or no deer sighting club. There are plenty of us on here that received that honor for 2015

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Yeah I wasnt trying to complain. My setup for gun is a rediculous amount of pressure around us. Even with a alot of deer they hole up pretty quick.

I sat the blind for the first time late in the gun season. Quit comfortablr and we made the windows skinny enough you are tough to see in there and can get away with alot.

I have a video of a doe or fawn going through that fence gap at 1:30. The guy I had on stand was facing the other way. Or possibly full of chilli and taking a snooze.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Blind worked again as my girlfriend got her first deer 90 minutes into her first hunt opening day. 100 yardshot into the marsh grass/sanctuary.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

See that little white spot over her head? Thats the roof. pretty good poke for someone who learned to shoot 24 hours earlier. It was nice to be under a rood and mostly enclosed with those hurricane winds opening morning plus snow

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Here are some better pics of the blind after we painted all the new lumber, brushed in the corners and tightned up the sides to only see where you need to shoot.

Had the whole gang of 5 up there today. Kids love big deer stands.

 

[Red Picqua]

very cool. love the pics of the kids in the woods..

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I have a 3rd one in the works and that project will start tonight. Trying to build most of it on my own this time and I will throw some play by play on here for your eyeball pleasure. Same basic design. Slightly different lumber in places. I am still deciding on 4x4, 5x5 of 4 x 6 for this one. I like the 5x5 square idea at the moment. It is not really being setup as a 2 person shack and its going in a much tighter space. We might even end up winching it in the last 20 yards or so as I don't really wanna cut a tractor or 4 wheeler sized hole where this is going. Once it is in place I hinge some trees over or put some tops in the path so there is not a big trail leading right to my doorstep. Its going in a 30 year old criss cross of cedars from a tornado back in the day. There are no mature trees there to hang a stand so elevated box blind it is.

Can I get a sheet of 4x8 cut at Home Depot or Lowes or something so I can get in in my blazer? No trailer at the moment.

 

[scott44]

I have a 3rd one in the works and that project will start tonight. Trying to build most of it on my own this time and I will throw some play by play on here for your eyeball pleasure. Same basic design. Slightly different lumber in places. I am still deciding on 4x4, 5x5 of 4 x 6 for this one. I like the 5x5 square idea at the moment. It is not really being setup as a 2 person shack and its going in a much tighter space. We might even end up winching it in the last 20 yards or so as I don't really wanna cut a tractor or 4 wheeler sized hole where this is going. Once it is in place I hinge some trees over or put some tops in the path so there is not a big trail leading right to my doorstep. Its going in a 30 year old criss cross of cedars from a tornado back in the day. There are no mature trees there to hang a stand so elevated box blind it is.

Can I get a sheet of 4x8 cut at Home Depot or Lowes or something so I can get in in my blazer? No trailer at the moment.

I've had them cut boards for me before, I would think they would cut plywood too.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Well I got started on our 3rd box blind this week. I didn't do such a good job of step by step pictures but I did take some of the mostly finished movable base. I will have to get it into the woods and build the frame roof and door when it is place. This is one is going to be 5 x 5 feet as its going deeper in the woods and not a spot we intended to sit 2 in a blind.
- I used 4 x 4 inch x 8 foot boards for the runners to drag it around on.
-I cut the ends off on a 45 so it will slide better and not hand up or makes ruts
-I used 2 leftover 2x8 boards that were laying around the garage to connect the runners and make the bottom frame stable.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I had these steel L brackets laying around so I used those 2 hold the 4 x 4 in place vertically as I tried to get everything balanced and sqaured out. They will add some stability but other wooden 2 x 4 on a angle as a gusset will realy hold the load of the weight. Overkill maybe but what the heck.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Basic framing here just to stiffen everything up.
There will be another set of 2x4s angle the opposite direction and chuck of chuck of 2x8 down in the corner where the 4x4s come together before its all done.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Here is where it stands right now. Boards up top are 60 and 63 inches to the butt ends are flush this time. We messed that up on the last one.

Next up is about 5 - 57 inch 2x4s to support the floor and sheet for the actual floor.
After that I might frame out the top in the driveway as it gets warmer then disassemble and bring all the precut/labeled parts to the woods to slap it all together.
I am not sure if I will add a couple angled 2x4s for the drive to the property of not. It doesn't have much wiggle to it the way it is now honestly.

 

[Bill]

I'd put some cross supports on it. May not wiggle now but with the weight of the walls and roof it will.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I will Bill. I just didn't put the cross bracing on until we had it in place on the last one. I have plenty of oddball lumber laying around that came with a new house recently.
I am just trying to keep the weight down for dragging it around with wheeler/tractor and hand loading it on a trailer.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Oddly looking at the big picture it looks super crooked. I actually am surprised how square I was able to make it. Especially doing the finishing framing alone.

Could just be because I have blocks under it to keep it from sucking up moisture off the concrete floor.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

Floor joices and the top in 5/8ths plywood.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I had to scab it together from a 4x8 sheet but you can hardly tell. Remember 5x5 dimensions. Getting heavy now. All done until we get it onsite then some cross/angled bracing down below.

 

[Bluecollaroutdoors]

I added more angled bracing down below and one full 2x4 angled to stiffen it up for transport. Shes done. I swear.

 

[Bill]

Shes done. I swear.

She has to be done. You're out of ceiling height. :)