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Hexagon Blind Build

pete

pete

Member
My son is getting to the age where he wants to go hunting with me alot more. I wanted to build a blind that I could bow hunt out of. I priced a couple of different blinds and decided I could build much cheaper. I found plans online for a hexagonal blind, I have been going off those plans but not following them to a tee...Inside Diameter from wall to wall is just under 6'. The ceiling will be sloped it it 6'9" at the front and 6' 3 in the back.
I ordered 5 camo hinged windows from Deer View windows. Waiting on the windows to arrive before I start framing them in.
http://deerviewwindows.com/
I will end up putting it up on a 10" platform.

I will update with pictures as I progress.

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I got one pretty darn close to that. As a tip , don't leave the roof flat. I made that mistake. Give it a slight slope. Also. It's worth the price of putting in a steel entry door. Help to keep those pesky mice out. I have used those windows on numerous builds. Very good and will seal the blind nicely.

Nice job.
 
vman said:
I got one pretty darn close to that. As a tip , don't leave the roof flat. I made that mistake. Give it a slight slope. Also. It's worth the price of putting in a steel entry door. Help to keep those pesky mice out. I have used those windows on numerous builds. Very good and will seal the blind nicely.

Nice job.
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Yes it has a 6" drop from front to back.
 
On the blinds you have built, are they fairly scent proof? I saw someone else posted on this, but I am putting a blind in a valley as well and wondering what I will be able to get away with.


*vman your pms are full
 
If you build them right. Yes. They are very scent tight. I have one I hunt with complete bad winds.
 
Looking good so far...We built one pretty similar to what you are doing a few years back. (See link below.) We slanted the roof too and used up some leftover shingles on it so it actually has a nice roof on it. In addition to sloping it, I would recommend putting some shingles on the roof.

The deer really get accustomed to these things and will not shy away from them once they have been there for awhile. I watched deer, including nice bucks, feed within 3 feet of it this year several times. (I was in a nearby conventional stand.)

If you plan to bow hunt out of it, make sure your windows are "tall" or you will be quite restricted on shots and/or be potentially faced with a dangerous situation when launching a broadhead tipped arrow out of it where you might not clear the opening.

You mentioned 6'9" as the height of the inside...that may be a little short to shoot a bow out of unless you are sitting. Have you measured yourself standing for a shot with your bow in hand?


http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31498&highlight=daver
 
Daver said:
Looking good so far...We built one pretty similar to what you are doing a few years back. (See link below.) We slanted the roof too and used up some leftover shingles on it so it actually has a nice roof on it. In addition to sloping it, I would recommend putting some shingles on the roof.

The deer really get accustomed to these things and will not shy away from them once they have been there for awhile. I watched deer, including nice bucks, feed within 3 feet of it this year several times. (I was in a nearby conventional stand.)

If you plan to bow hunt out of it, make sure your windows are "tall" or you will be quite restricted on shots and/or be potentially faced with a dangerous situation when launching a broadhead tipped arrow out of it where you might not clear the opening.

You mentioned 6'9" as the height of the inside...that may be a little short to shoot a bow out of unless you are sitting. Have you measured yourself standing for a shot with your bow in hand?

http://iowawhitetail.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31498&highlight=daver
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It will have a tin roof on it.

3 windows will be 24" high x12" wide", and two will be 36" high x 12" wide.

I can stand straight up in it @ 6'9". I guess I'm not quite following you on the ceiling height, and now I'm concerned I overlooked something.
 
pete said:
It will have a tin roof on it.

3 windows will be 24" high x12" wide", and two will be 36" high x 12" wide.

I can stand straight up in it @ 6'9". I guess I'm not quite following you on the ceiling height, and now I'm concerned I overlooked something.
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Let's assume you are 6' tall and then are standing with a bow in your hand that you intend to shoot through a window in your blind. I would suspect that in that position the top of your head would be at 6', but the top of your bow would be awfully close to 6'9", perhaps taller, and that you may have the top of your bow hit the ceiling of your blind if you take a shot standing up. (If you shoot a long bow v. a "short" compound bow, then you have even less clearance.)

Also, as you said, the back of your blind is 6'3", so the further back from the very front of the blind you stand the closer you are to the ceiling. I am just recommending that you measure yourself, and whomever else will be hunting out of this blind, with your bow in front of you in shooting position to determine how high of ceiling clearance you need. By the sounds of things, I think you might be a little short at 6'9" at the front, but maybe not.

Keep in mind that you are likely to be back from the very front of the blind when shooting, so your clearance would be closer to 6'6" from what I can tell.

Now is the time to address it though, because if you need more vertical "head" room it would be relatively easy to correct it now v. after final assembly or in the field.
 
Ried#3 said:
What is the best way to erect a blind up that high?
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How high? I think Pete indicated 10" in the first post in this thread, for that height, I would simply stand on the ground. :D

We built and installed a different blind last year that was mounted on a 10' high steel platform though and that was a different animal. For that one, we built pre-assembled panels and then had a neighbor lift them up to us in the bucket of his tractor while we grabbed them and pulled them up and then screwed them down to the platform and to each other.

That worked pretty slick except for the largest contiguous panel was a little on the heavy side and it got a little dicey pulling that one up. So if I did it again I would be careful to keep the panels light enough to safely lift and handle.
 
I have a big tractor with pallet forks I use to lift blinds up. It can lift em 16-18' or so. Without that, man I'd be nervous. Get a tractor. I have used my old bucket, works great but make sure you strap it down really good & go slow. I've had some blinds that the pressure from straps even got pretty heavy so you could do a temporary cross-brace until it's up and pressure is off. Love my big tractor with pallet forks!!! ;)

BTW- you said you can build em cheaper? how much you think you have into it? I've never been able to make one pencil out and took me 50 million times longer to build than planned and $200-300 more than I budgeted for, at least. How much you thinking?
 
I usually pre assemble the walls on the ground then lift each wall up one by one once the base is complete. You can build a really nice one for $1000. What you use for the windows and door tend to affect the cost the most.
 
Daver said:
How high? I think Pete indicated 10" in the first post in this thread, for that height, I would simply stand on the ground. :D

We built and installed a different blind last year that was mounted on a 10' high steel platform though and that was a different animal. For that one, we built pre-assembled panels and then had a neighbor lift them up to us in the bucket of his tractor while we grabbed them and pulled them up and then screwed them down to the platform and to each other.

That worked pretty slick except for the largest contiguous panel was a little on the heavy side and it got a little dicey pulling that one up. So if I did it again I would be careful to keep the panels light enough to safely lift and handle.
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Sorry instead of 10" should have read 10'....I am using 11 degree elevators on each corner with 10' 4 x4s. I will use my Dad's loader to lift the blind up to install the 4 x4s. Then brace them together. I will have to anchor the blind down...I decided to do it this way so if I ever wanted to move it I could probably do so with the loader and extended forklift attachment.
 
Sligh1 said:
I have a big tractor with pallet forks I use to lift blinds up. It can lift em 16-18' or so. Without that, man I'd be nervous. Get a tractor. I have used my old bucket, works great but make sure you strap it down really good & go slow. I've had some blinds that the pressure from straps even got pretty heavy so you could do a temporary cross-brace until it's up and pressure is off. Love my big tractor with pallet forks!!! ;)

BTW- you said you can build em cheaper? how much you think you have into it? I've never been able to make one pencil out and took me 50 million times longer to build than planned and $200-300 more than I budgeted for, at least. How much you thinking?
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Sligh,
I will have ~ $700 (not including my labor, but i am enjoying building it) wrapped into it once all said and done.....I priced out a Redneck 5x6 combo blind with 10' platform and it was right around $2500, Banks were a few hundred cheaper but you build your own platform. Shadow hunter ~$1600 without platform.
 
Sounds pretty good! I think the Lick Creeks I bought were $1200 for the big ones. Something like that. I still build a few a year but I think I'm going to scale it back to one a year, just as a fun project. I think I have 20-30 hours easy, maybe more, into my last ones, as insane as that sounds. All the sudden you start screwing every little thing, sealing everything up & perfecting, time & $ adds up incredibly.
I'll continue to do 1 a year for fun and if you like building em, no brainer, look forward to seeing the end. What material you using for outside?
 
pete said:
Sligh, I will have ~ $700 (not including my labor, but i am enjoying building it) wrapped into it once all said and done.....I priced out a Redneck 5x6 combo blind with 10' platform and it was right around $2500, Banks were a few hundred cheaper but you build your own platform. Shadow hunter ~$1600 without platform.
Click to expand...
Does $700 include your 10'platform? If so what are you building it out of ?
 
vman said:
Travis. This was under 1000. Obviously it's a bit over the top. But having the 2nd layer is nice for late muzz and the edges of the rolling landscape.
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Looks nice Jason.
Lol, remember that one we built down there about 10 years ago what a circus! Who's idea was it to blackjack the whole thing! Man we had some adventures.
 
Not sure I can claim that one. I'd give anything to have some video of that first plot we put in.
 
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