Seeking Design Plans for Deer Blind

[Crusader]

I posted this on the Whitetail Deer forum but figured I might get more responses here. Hopefully, posting in both places is allowable. Thanks in advance.

Hi guys. Longtime deer hunter here. I/we hunt on family property and we have quite a few deer stands (ladders) as well as a couple of high-end elevated box blinds. I'd like to add another blind but want something less expensive, a DIY deal. I'm not much of a carpenter but have friends/relatives with skills. What I'm wanting to build is likely a 4' x 8' model (plywood sized, for convenience) with the base about 6' above ground. I'd like it to have windows on front and both sides, not the back, and door on one side. Do any of you have any design plans for something like that (or maybe, a better alternative) that you would mind passing along to me?

Thanks for your time.

 

[mobilefamily]

I build mine out of 7 sheets of plywood. The front and back walls are 6' tall by 6' wide (4' width of plywood plus another 2' strip of plywood). The sides are a full width (4') of plywood also 6' tall. Flat plywood roof. Get some tar paper at Home Depot to cover the roof (roll over the edge and staple/nail to the side of the blind).

Order flip up windows from Dickinson Feed and Supply in Texas, or find something comparable.

Frame the base of the blind with 2" x 4"'s. I use 2" x 2" on the inside corners to hold the walls together and 2" x 2" to frame out the roof as well. Using 2" x 2" where possible saves cost and reduces weight, which is nice when you have to move the blind.

Use the 2' strips of plywood leftover from when you cut the walls as flooring material.

I mount a 2" x 4" horizontally on the inside for a shelf. You can screw a strip of thin plywood on the edge to keep bullets, etc from rolling off.

Mend your plywood seems (where the 2' strip meets the 4' strip) on the inside by screwing them into a 2" x 4" laid flat against them.

The last couple we did, we built a separate base with 4" x 4" corner posts, braced by 2" x 4"s in an X on all four sides, then did a 2" x 4" frame. This allowed us to get the relatively lightweight base (4' tall) in place, then lift the blind onto it from a pickup truck. Screw the blind to the base and walk away. Much safer, faster, and sturdier than trying to put legs on the blind and stand it up.

We paint our blinds and it definitely helps. Caulking or gluing every wood joint would help too, but we never do that. We do caulk the roof connection to the top of the blind. Then a little dab of caulk if you can see daylight through any of the wall joints when you're done, or later when the wood warps.

Feel free to PM me if this doesn't make sense.

 

[WoodBow]

You can probably actually find some full blown plans if you search google. Lots of build alongs on texasbowhunter.com in the diy.

Speaking as the handy relative and friend, be cautious with roping someone into building it for you. This is a pretty big project and will consume a lot of time. Im bad about saying yes i will help, to be nice, when i just really do not have the time.

Now if you just need them for some guidance along the way, thats different.

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[archer109]

If on Facebook a good group to follow is DIY deerblinds


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[Crusader]

Thanks for the input, guys. I did a Google search and there are some plans out there, kinda not what I was looking for, though. I'll check Texasbowhunter. There's a lot of discussion on Texas Ag forum but no one actually has plans that they can send me. I'll keep searching and will check the Facebook group.

Mobilefamily, I may be PM'ing you as I move forward on this. Your plans do seem pretty simple.

I do have a very good friend who (with my caveman assistance) built the deck on my house, though I paid him. Single guy, kids out of the home, often bored. I think he'd be up for going to the farm and building this thing over a weekend, assuming food and beer are provided!

 

[180splitg3]

I've been wanting to build one too but I have a major tendency to overbuild things as I was a residential framer for 15 years. For windows - check out deer view windows. They are the windows I would use for a diy blind. I was going to build one last summer but after I priced out the materials I wanted to use and factored in the cost of my limited time I ended up buying a muddy bull - it has been fabulous!

 

[zuren]

Posting to subscribe. I would like to put up a box blind on my land and have been looking for design ideas as well.