Building my deer box blind ( shade shack )

[shadetree 5,869]

Not sure who all will be interested in watching me build this ?, but figured i'd post this thread to entertain ya'll !. after my last deer stand crumbled on the top area (canvas)..sigh. decided to just build my own blind seeing how most are either cheaply built ?, or very high dollar ?. sooo..i set off on my brain cells coming up with a replacement stand that i ( thought ) would go back on top of my metal raised stand ?. my plan was to build it here at home, then take it all back apart, and put it back together once at my spot ?. NOPE !!..it is way to heavy to sit on top of the china frame 12 feet up in the air, ( go figure, china products )..no..i did not buy the old stand, the guy that is letting me hunt on his lease area did 2 yrs ago.

 

So i set off on a mission..to build my own stand all out of wood, it is nothing fancy like some of the high dollar blinds ?, but it will serve me very well !. i added foam insulation inside on the bottom section, did not do the inside roof, i figured with it being 3/8 plywood over that canvas crap with insulation , it should warm up very fast once i fire up my propane heater that i was using in the old canvas stand. i added some indoor/outdoor carpet inside for the floor, and then tossed in my office chair ( gotta sleep good in there ya know ! ). today i will start putting the corner boards on the corners, then paint it the same color i  painted my cabin, its a light gray that i will use as a base color, then i will (attempt) to paint some camo designs over the base color.

 

I have installed plexiglass windows on all four sides, followed up with some curtain rods to hold black color glad contractor trash bags. i will come up with a way to weight them down to keep them from making noises when the wind blows ( and you just know the wind will blow them..and scare the deer away ! ). not sure how i will weight them down yet ?, I've got an idea of putting pennies on the bottom to hold them down, not sure how well this will work yet ?, but i just need to weigh them down some how with something ?. as for sealing the outside of the windows, i bought some garage  door bottom seal stuff, it is made of pvc, with a rubber lip on it. i cut it to frame out the outside opening, the rubber seal presses against the plexiglass pretty good once the window is shut from the inside, seals it up really good to keep water/rain out.  

 

This is my very first deer box blind i have ever built !, it's not pretty by any means when you compare it too high dollar blinds ?, but it will suit me just fine compared to what i had been using.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

Nice  ,   How much is the monthly note ? -----  Bet you could rent it out during off-season ...... LOL 

 

[riverc 1,317]

Not bad you should stay warm & dry.

[shadetree 5,869]

got the trim on, all caulking done, now ready for paint !, wish me luck on it being camo'ed !!..lol

[shadetree 5,869]

and the gray base paint on !.

[shadetree 5,869]

got some camo done, first time doing this, called it a day for now.

[shadetree 5,869]

me thinks i'll stop with the painting, here's the last bit i am doing to it as far as paint goes. still need to make the black curtains..lol.

[PROV 1,440]

Nice stand. Here is how we build ours.

[shadetree 5,869]

11 minutes ago, PROV said:

Nice stand. Here is how we build ours.

yeah..i'd love to have this one up high ?, but we don't have any way to get it raised, least not for now ?. sooo..it will be a ground blind for now. nice looking blind you got !.

[shadetree 5,869]

welp..the trash sack won't work for curtains, gonna try making some curtains out of black bed sheets, so i can slide them, and not spook the deer..lol.

[PROV 1,440]

Lay the stand on it's side, add the legs and bracing and winch it upright. We built ours with skids and have dragged them upright up to 2 miles with wheelers. Painted the inside of mine black above and below the windows to hide my profile. Ours are 12' high to the floor. Your stand looks very comfortable.

[shadetree 5,869]

19 minutes ago, PROV said:

Lay the stand on it's side, add the legs and bracing and winch it upright. We built ours with skids and have dragged them upright up to 2 miles with wheelers. Painted the inside of mine black above and below the windows to hide my profile. Ours are 12' high to the floor. Your stand looks very comfortable.

i can't lay it on its side, the roof over hangs as it sits now, but i can remove the roof plywood and tin, then do like you are saying, but right now, it can not be layed over without messing up the plywood ( 3/8 ), and the tin i am going to put on for the final roof.

[WonderMonkey 722]

Shade this looks great!  Nice paint job so far.  I'd be proud to hunt out the Shade Shack.

[PROV 1,440]

2 hours ago, shadetree said:

i can't lay it on its side, the roof over hangs as it sits now, but i can remove the roof plywood and tin, then do like you are saying, but right now, it can not be layed over without messing up the plywood ( 3/8 ), and the tin i am going to put on for the final roof.

You could lay down some blocking that is thicker than the overhang is wide. Just a thought.

[shadetree 5,869]

9 hours ago, PROV said:

You could lay down some blocking that is thicker than the overhang is wide. Just a thought.

good idea !. waiting to hear back from the guy that is going to help me get it to my spot, he said something the other day about shoring up the stand that is there now to support the weight of my new stand. i know he said something about using 4x4 treated post, but i do not remember how he said to attach them to the frame on the cheap china metal frame ?, or how tall that frame is to the underside ?. once i get a ballpark figure, i may go ahead and get some 4x4 post to take down to my spot, brace the stand up, then rip this thing all back apart on the spot, get everything all the way back up to the top, put it all back together, and roll with it !. if i remember right ? ( that don't say much with me being old now..lol ), i think he said the old stand only had a weight limit of about 500 lbs ?, this is me, and all gear or another person up on the top. i would rather my new stand be up in the air, with me smoking ( yeah yeah..bad habit..lol ) i run the risk of those bucks smelling me a mile away !..this is the downside of having a ground blind.

[jeepwm69 7,611]

2 hours ago, shadetree said:

good idea !. waiting to hear back from the guy that is going to help me get it to my spot, he said something the other day about shoring up the stand that is there now to support the weight of my new stand. i know he said something about using 4x4 treated post, but i do not remember how he said to attach them to the frame on the cheap china metal frame ?, or how tall that frame is to the underside ?. once i get a ballpark figure, i may go ahead and get some 4x4 post to take down to my spot, brace the stand up, then rip this thing all back apart on the spot, get everything all the way back up to the top, put it all back together, and roll with it !. if i remember right ? ( that don't say much with me being old now..lol ), i think he said the old stand only had a weight limit of about 500 lbs ?, this is me, and all gear or another person up on the top. i would rather my new stand be up in the air, with me smoking ( yeah yeah..bad habit..lol ) i run the risk of those bucks smelling me a mile away !..this is the downside of having a ground blind.

 

Looks good Shade.   The guys who took their stands off of Dad's land last week used a front end loader with forks on a tractor to get the box blinds up/down off the stands.

[shadetree 5,869]

thanks !. yeah..we don't have anything like that down yunder to raise it up 12 ft ?!..lol. if i can get hight on the stand from ground up under the top part ?, i may end up getting some 4x4 treated post to prop unto the china legs ?!..lol. just need to get with al and see what he says ?, i'd love to have it back up on the stand that is there, after all..i built the base/floor to sit right down over that top section anyway.

[shadetree 5,869]

here is the shade shack all loaded onto the trailer, still have to run some heavy duty straps from one side of the blind..through the windows..and hook to other side of trailer, these straps are rated for 3500lbs !. if anything breaks ?..it will be the blind before these straps !...lol p.s. i finished screwing the tin down this morning, looks good too me.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

Looks great! You going to leave down the upper part open ? 

[shadetree 5,869]

11 minutes ago, _Wilson_™ said:

Looks great! You going to leave down the upper part open ? 

not following you ?, upper part ?..you mean the windows ?, if you look closely...you can see the plexiglass being held up with a wood turner on the side. all winodws fold up when in use..and fold down, locked shut when not using them.

[shadetree 5,869]

update: got some good news ( i think ?..lol ) spoke to one of the guys that has a tractor, he say's he can pull my blind on the trailer all the way to my spot. he also say's we'll get it up on that stand one way or another..hmmm..lol. i may have to pull it all back apart , and piece it back together all on the top side ?, but i'm cool with that, just means i'll have to re-seal all my trim corner boards. i also got some info from al on the hight of this stand ( old stand ), so now i know what lumber to buy to shore it up to handle the extra weight. got my black curtains hung, got some king size black sheets from wally world, they work great !, can't see through one window, all the way to the other window behind it, so i say i scored big time on that !. last but not least, after looking over my '' camo '' paint work ?, i decided i did not like the way it looked ?, soooo..i went bridge over pass graffiti on it !, lol.here's some pics of how it looks now, i must say...it looks 10 times better than what it did look like.

[_Wilson_™ 6,567]

3 hours ago, shadetree said:

not following you ?, upper part ?..you mean the windows ?, if you look closely...you can see the plexiglass being held up with a wood turner on the side. all winodws fold up when in use..and fold down, locked shut when not using them.

 

No not the flip downs (windows) .... the space above ....yer chair.. but doesn't matter, a space that small won't make much deference. 

[Fishfiles 20,145]

This is Mr Kim. He missed one last Saturday.  Shot low.  It was a 75 yard shot.  He is shooting a Matthews 320.  After a few shots in the yard he was nailing it.  You can see the first shot was a little low.  At 50 yards there is no drop at all  But at 75 you can see the drop , looks like about 6 inches.  Once he got it dialed in he was lobbing them in there.  The lag time at 75 yards seems like a second and a half.  

[shadetree 5,869]

9 hours ago, _Wilson_™ said:

 

No not the flip downs (windows) .... the space above ....yer chair.. but doesn't matter, a space that small won't make much deference. 

i have black curtains , made them from king size sheets, they hang down from those white curtain rods, you deff can not see inside from the outside now.

[Fishfiles 20,145]

21 minutes ago, shadetree said:

i have black curtains , made them from king size sheets, they hang down from those white curtain rods, you deff can not see inside from the outside now.

The guys round here buy this camo stuff from Academy , Tractor Supply has it some times