Ground blind - your thoughts

[Native Hunter]

I have an old building at ground level with barn wood siding and metal roof that is in a good location for bow / xbow hunting. I want to make it air tight from the inside for scent control and add windows. A few questions:

What windows would you use?

What siding would you add on the inside to make it air tight? Keep in mind that some rain will come through the cracks of the barn wood and hit whatever I use.

Would you also add some kind of vertical vent to take air / scent up high? I could easily carry a 12 volt battery to this location for a fan of some type. What would you use?

Any other advice?

 

[buckdeer1]

Plastic or tyvec might help with scent on inside,if you are putting very big windows in I would use residential.If you want blind windows look at the deerblindwindows.com

 

[b116757]

Why not just put steel siding on outside of the walls and add a couple cheap vinyl windows while your at it?

 

[Foggy47]

Why not just put steel siding on outside of the walls and add a couple cheap vinyl windows while your at it?

I think your right here B114567890. When you put anything water tight on the inside.....you risk trapping water between the outside wood and the inside membrane....which will cause some rot to that outside material. Not a good situation. I'd buy some low cost vynil slider windows and call it good. Your vent system described cannot hurt...unsure how effective it would be.


Edit: Some Tyvec in a cameo version would work pretty well with enough staples. Hmmmmm.....US Patent? lol. On second thought.....why not just paint some Tyvec?

 

[hillrunner]

I have an old building at ground level with barn wood siding and metal roof that is in a good location for bow / xbow hunting. I want to make it air tight from the inside for scent control and add windows. A few questions:

What windows would you use?

What siding would you add on the inside to make it air tight? Keep in mind that some rain will come through the cracks of the barn wood and hit whatever I use.

Would you also add some kind of vertical vent to take air / scent up high? I could easily carry a 12 volt battery to this location for a fan of some type. What would you use?

Any other advice?

How big is the building? Pictures would really help if you have any. How's the roof?

 

[Native Hunter]

How big is the building? Pictures would really help if you have any. How's the roof?

Don’t have any pics right now. Roof is good metal roof. I would not turn the whole building into a blind. I would frame up a wall on the inside in one corner, and the blind part would be about 12 x 12 feet.

 

[Native Hunter]

I think your right here B114567890. When you put anything water tight on the inside.....you risk trapping water between the outside wood and the inside membrane....which will cause some rot to that outside material. Not a good situation. I'd buy some low cost vynil slider windows and call it good. Your vent system described cannot hurt...unsure how effective it would be.


Edit: Some Tyvec in a cameo version would work pretty well with enough staples. Hmmmmm.....US Patent? lol. On second thought.....why not just paint some Tyvec?

Another thing I could do is just cover the cracks with more rough lumber. That might be a decent solution too.

 

[buckdeer1]

tyvec the inside and paint

 

[matinc]

Paint it black on the inside and wear black. Not camo

 

[bigboreblr]

Dark on the inside helps. Offset windows front/back left ot right. So the deer doesn't see the window behind you. Take some soap or some window blind material and cover up only what you need. Sometime a small flip up plexiglass insert is helpful.

Far as venting goes. you using heat in this spot much. Just have you heat source vent out, it'll suck the air out and up. Good size PVC pipe up in the air 8 feet or so will work by itself most of the time. 1.5-2 inch sized.

Caulking can get those gaps cleared? IF this is for rifle hunting, think you'll be ok? Bow hunting here too? Could paint the cracks, then fill with sawdust, then paint again. Can use jute cord, what you tie apple trees grapes or tomatoes. Make it old school with some clay.. A few bad spots just trim out with some small pieces of wood.

Insulation..... Often you put in too much heat. Insulate the floor and where you back is against.

Althought smelly for a little while, good old mix of motor oil and diesel makes a good cheap stain.

Mixing up a bit of blank paint into whatever interior stain you have laying around works good on the inside on a budget.

Get some 1/4" mesh or window screen and cover up any open spots. Including that vent tube. A larger computer fan will work just nicely on that vent tube. I use one to circulate air inside my trailer. Keep the heat more even.