![]() Need low profile hides for the middle of a flat and featureless field? No problem. Need a blind to hide a bunch of folks on a fence line? No problem. Everything from elaborate blinds featuring kitchens, heaters, and satellite TV to sticking some limbs in the mud have all been “blinds.” Today, it’s easier than ever to go where the birds want to be thanks to innovative minds driving the waterfowl hunting equipment industry. It didn’t take long for that idea to germinate and grow into both portable and permanent structures. When the first duck and goose hunters hid behind anything they could find to fool birds, the blind idea was born. Since your movement can be restricted, let the birds work into the decoys in front of you to maximize shot opportunities.DON'T MISS Episode 41 - 2022 Giant Gear Issue Series - Blinds & Accessories with Rig'Em Right! Covering the ground beneath you in grass or weeds also helps. If it's muddy, a pad will help keep you from sliding around in your waders (I sit on my decoy bag). Because you're usually lying down, it can be hard to sit up, twist, turn and follow ducks. The biggest challenge when hunting from this blind is getting a shot. Going light allows for quick and easy moves and adjustments to be made. Along with the blind, I usually take a dozen floater decoys and a few dozen silhouettes. I killed a number of geese from this little blind, too. Several times last season I moved two or three times in a morning to get to where ducks were working. If the wind changes, the sun angle is wrong or birds start working the other end of a pond, slough or field, simply pick up the blind and move. This is a mobile blind designed for moving to and hunting on the X. Weighing less than 10 pounds, the panel blind is easy to carry. Once on the hunt, simply lay cover to the blind to fill in holes and create depth of field. Cable ties hold grass or camo mesh tight to the panel. ![]() If it's dry and windy, you might need to get some of the vegetation wet so it stays in place. Grab handfuls of green grass, brown grass or whatever brush the blind is situated in, and scatter it atop the mesh or existing grass on the blind. This is my preferred camo method because it allows the blind to be transported easily and covered with natural vegetation once afield.Īt your hunting location, pull from natural vegetation and add it to the blind. Leave a foot or two of mesh hanging over the sides of the panel to round the edges, which will help hide you as well as your dog. I picked up a 5-by-10-foot section of camo mesh online for $10. One, wrap the panel in camo mesh and secure it around the edges and middle using the cable ties. There are two options to cover the panel. It takes 16 ties to secure camo material the panel. A pack of 100 ties can be picked up for less than $10. Get a package of 8-inch, 75-pound-rated cable ties to secure camo to the blind. Use a finished piece of wood from home or grab a dead branch from a tree. When hunting, wedge a 2-foot-long stick between the panel and ground for stabilization. How much you bend the legs and what angle you want the blind can vary from hunt to hunt. On flat ground, bending the wires about 45 degrees is ideal use less of an angle on elevated ground. These legs can be bent by hand at an angle to accommodate the ground you’ll be sitting or lying on. To make a second blind from the other panel, I cut the cross wire off the bottom, creating 8-inch protruding legs. The 8-inch protruding wires became the bottom of the blind. I made the center cuts against a cross-section of wire. Using bolt cutters, I cut the panel in half to make a pair of 4-foot squares for two blinds. ![]() (Photo by Scott Haugen)Īt a local farm store, I paid $23 for a 4-by-8-foot cattle panel with 8-inch spaces. Wires at the bottom of the blind can be bent by hand and shoved in the ground at a desired angle to optimize concealment. By season’s end the little blind accounted for more than 20 limits. The following hunt I watched more than 700 ducks land in the decoys, but I didn't shoot for the first five hours because I was seeking a Eurasian wigeon I'd seen while scouting. On the first hunt with my homemade blind, I limited in 15 minutes. That's when I decided to build my own, single-panel, low-profile duck blind. The second blind had a footprint that was too big and hard to conceal, so ducks flared.Īs ducks continued to land in the flooded field by the thousands, my wheels kept turning. The first blind was too tight to heavy cover, which ducks avoided. I first tried an A-frame blind tucked into a tree line and then a layout blind in the open. Twice I hunted a prime spot last duck season and failed to fire a shot. The October issue is currently on sale nationwide. ![]() This article on waterfowl hunting was featured in the the September Game & Fish Magazine. ![]()
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