Hunting & Fishing Deer shoot house?

[david walter]

Just acquired some land in MS with lotsa deer and want to try an enclosure vs a tree stand this year.

For those of you who shoot from an elevated enclosure, did you build your own or buy?

Recommendations on build or buy?

If build, plans? Tips?

 

[SkyScrapin]

Bought a 10ft muddy 2 person. Good for rifle and archery.

Money well spent if you plan to leave it in place for a good while.

 

[wpeach1912]

My grandfather built a bunch over the years. We don’t have any specific plans, but generally used railroad ties as posts and made them either 4’x4’, 4’x8’, or 8’x8’. Most are 4-6’ off the ground. We put a porch 4’ porch on the 8x8 that is pretty nice. Used cheap windows for shooting access or just cut holes and covered with lexan. Plywood floors with old carpet on them, 2x4 wall framing, and sheet metal roof. It is quite a bit of work, especially if you don’t have access to an auger and maybe a tractor for putting the roof on. A premade blind is much more convenient, but you get some creative liberty with the build your own route.

 

[Aftermath]

railroad ties as posts....maybe a tractor for putting the roof on.

That tractor would be very useful getting railroad ties in as posts, too. Holy over kill, Batman!

 

[RedTimber]

Buy a steel tower. buy a replacement blind. tower last 10+ years and you can get 5+ out of a good blind. run you 500-600 max

 

[hlee]

A box blind sitting on the ground can be very effective. Unless you have a food plot, sendero, power line easement, or other to look over, a tower blind just puts you in the trees. A box on the ground gets you under the canopy. Then again, if you have predominantly low vegetation with little (no) overhead canopy, a tower can work well.

In the Texas hill country where I hunted as a kid, and in the Post Oak Savannah where I currently hunt, a ground (box) blind works better than a tower.

I still use a tripod stand for archery season, but that’s a more specific use case where I’m shooting at close range and using the canopy as concealment.

Anyway, that’s a long way of saying that you don’t need to put a box on stilts for it to be effective as a blind.

 

[Aftermath]

I'll plus one on not requiring elevation.

I put one of THESE on a concrete pad about 40 yards from my back door. I heat it with a Lil Buddy heater. If I go sit in it before daylight or not long before dark, I will very often have deer within 20 yards. Most of the time I just go down there to be alone, kick back in a reclining lawn chair and listen to the tinnitus.

To be fair, there are no trophies on my property. At least not yet. Maybe never if I can't get these folks to thin some does and stop shooting every single buck that shows up. I'm hoping to shoot a real small doe with my 338 Lapua Improved at 20-50 yards this year.

 

[roostercogburn98]

Elevation or not depends on the killing field in front of you. If the vegetation is high, either mow it or get above it. I’ve seen both here in eastern NC.

I’ve also seen dudes spent 5 grand on a built stand while some other dudes have literally bought an old portajohn and build a stand from it. The fields here are littered with stands of all fashions.

Build your own if you’re crafty with the power tools. Build it in place and it’s a whole lot easier than trying to move a monster ass stand.

 

[powdahound76]

I need me one of these, with heat.


This being out in the cold, wind, and snow is for crazy people!!!


Oh wait, its fun as heck!!
Wait a minute……

 

[roostercogburn98]

I need me one of these, with heat.


This being out in the cold, wind, and snow is for crazy people!!!


Oh wait, its fun as heck!!
Wait a minute……

Not mine, just helped a buddy move it and stand it up a while back. I also brushhog his “lanes”.

I usually sit in an old hog barn, or use my trusty old climbing stand if I feel giddy and young. Not a lot of cool hunting in this area

 

[64E]

Here is my 8x8. 4x4 walls, simple windows, tin roof, carpet floor. I love it for multiple reasons; can see out to about 700, gets me high enough to see over multiple fence rows due to the lay of the land, and best of all I can have my young kids hunting with me and not worry about them moving around a little. Luckily I had access to equipment to level the pad and raise the entire structure onto it.

 

[hlee]

“Hunting” in a box blind is just a needlessly complicated way to ruin an afternoon nap.

 

[Shifty6BR]

Rolled my own 9x9 wall to wall....tho mainly used for thinning the predator population at night, I have a friend in there this season trying to take a big buck caught on camera.

Keeping warm was the key so it's insulated head to toe, gets warm real fast with the Mr buddy. I have a thermal lrf set up on a remote panning ball head so I can scan the entire field(s) with the windows shut and any heat signature out there gets picked up quick., while viewing thru a tablet.

 

[Baron23]

Just acquired some land in MS with lotsa deer and want to try an enclosure vs a tree stand this year.

For those of you who shoot from an elevated enclosure, did you build your own or buy?

Recommendations on build or buy?

If build, plans? Tips?

I hunt my buddy's property in south GA and its all elevated wood box blinds he has built for him. Any decent carpenter can do the same. If you do this, get some carpet remnants for the floor. Keeps it quiet.

My one experience with pre-built fiberglass blinds is that they suck. Its like being in a drum and any noise you make seems to be amplified. Also, window sill is just the thickness of the fiberglass enclosure. I far prefer a 2x4" sill to put a bag on for a gun rest.

Just my limited view.

 

[308pirate]

Rolled my own 9x9 wall to wall....tho mainly used for thinning the predator population at night, I have a friend in there this season trying to take a big buck caught on camera.

Keeping warm was the key so it's insulated head to toe, gets warm real fast with the Mr buddy. I have a thermal lrf set up on a remote panning ball head so I can scan the entire field(s) with the windows shut and any heat signature out there gets picked up quick., while viewing thru a tablet.


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I'd live there

 

[Wyfox]

Built lots of them

Use elavator brackets for a 4x4 post. 8-10 high is perfect.

Elevators 4 in. x 4 in. Double Angle Brackets (4-Set) E188 - The Home Depot

Make your platform project sturdy and wobble free with this Double Angle Brackets offered by Elevators. Corrosion resistant product.

www.homedepot.com

For one guy 4x6 for two 5x8 are the perfect size.

Build front wall 7' and back wall 6' giving you a 1/12 pitch.

Use premade window

Hunting Blind Windows Archives - Zero 4 Outdoors

www.zero4outdoors.com

They also make some nice doors.

Use horse trailer rubber mat for the floor and cheap indoor outdoor black carpet on the interior walls for noise dampening.

 

[zeroz]

FYI, 4' outside dimensions with 2x4 walls is just a little small inside for drawing a bow. Its convenient for material usage but doesnt work for a 28" draw length. All the boxes on the AL lease are build this way and I can only use a bow at funky angles with very few shootable lanes. I dont hunt the boxes much but found this out when I headed for one on a day when a deluge came in fast.