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Elevated blind question.

dblmainbeam

Member
Now I have posted it 3 times cause I couldn't figure out how to edit the title. I don't think an elevator blind would be realistic..

I posted this but must have lost it in the switch over.

For those of you who hunt out of elevated blinds Im hoping for some advice. We are building a 6x6 blind on a 14 foot base. We plan to bow hunt out of it because there are no good trees in the area were hunting. Just wondering what size and shape you might recommend for archery. We will only be shooting out of 2 sides. My worry is the sun will be shinning in at dusk. Any advice would be great.
 
I think once it is in place and the deer get used to it, you won't hae to worry much about the deer seeing you at dusk. I don't even think they will look at it unless they hear or small something out of the ordinary. The best ones I have seen you shoot standing up. Usually they are carpeted to keep the noise down. I have seen some lined with plastic, even the windows to shoot through them to keep scent down.
 
Hey...here's the thread I've been looking for. I replied to your first post once upon a time, but couldn't find it again after the change. Anyway, Sunday was a nice afternoon so I went down for a walk in the timber and took a few pictures of our "Camo Condo". We use it primarily for muzzleloader and turkey hunting, but have bowhunted out of it, and it works fine for that as well. It's a bit bigger than you're talking about (8x8 and 6.5 feet high), but you'll get the idea. The camo tin isn't much more expensive than other colors, so we decided we'd go with it.
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We have windows that are 1 foot high and 2 feet wide, which seems about perfect. The windows are at the right height for a rest when shooting a gun, but we'd have to stand to shoot a bow out to about 30 yards. The windows slide open, and with a little care and weather stripping, you can make this a virtually silent process. I've opened the window in this picture with deer standing in the corner of the bean plot you see and not been busted.
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Another shot of the inside, and it shows the way we used 1x4's for window rails.
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And lastly, the entry door is in the floor, which is slick. Much tighter seal and easier to build.
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Good luck, and have fun. We had a blast building this one, and are now talking about another this summer. I'm no carpenter, but the landowner is very good with this kind of stuff, and I can follow directions :)

NWBuck
 
I build an 8 x 10 on tele. poles at 15 ft. The window are 2 x 3 vertically and we use black or dark camo for blinds that we leave closed behind use to stop the light and see through effect.
 
A good friend of mine owns the lumber yard here in town. When I stopped to talk about ordering tin, he said he thought it came in camo, but had never sold any. Not sure who the company was he ordered it from, but I'm guessing most yards would have access to the same supplier. Matching edge trim even :D

As you can see in the picture, we have the tin running the wrong way on the sides. We did that on purpose so that we could use just two sheets per side rather than three. We ordered it cut to size, so the only cutting we had to do was the angle for the roof on the two side pieces.

I do remember this...we spent alot of time making sure the support beams were square, and this made the rest of the project considerably easier.

NWBuck
 
Some ideas....

I've been building and bowhunting out of blinds for a long time and can share a couple of ideas.

For bowhunting out of an elevated blind I make my windows about 6" across and 24" verticle. With a bow your line of sight and arrow flight take up some verticle distance. Add to that the possibility that a deer can be anywhere from straight out to very close to the blind and you need a tall window. I always shoot standing so moving left or right isn't an issue. Also by keeping it narrow I'm more hidden and there is less air (scent) movement, especially if only one window is open at a time.

I usually run a wire about 18" across the top of the window and hang a doubled over piece of black felt for a curtain. That way I can slide it either direction with virtually no noise. Also, from the outside the window looks black whether the curtain is in place or pulled back for shooting. Deer don't like 'black holes' so by always having black rectangles in place the deer get used to it.

I agree the door in the floor is very handy and much easier to get a good seal. In the future I'll make mine fairly large because I hate having to take off my backpack every time I enter and leave.

Old Buck
 
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