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Elevated blind plans

Danno

Danno

PMA Member
Anybody have plans or ideas for a permanant wooden elevated deer blind? My son and I plan to build one for my Dad this summer. He's 75 and deserves to be able to hunt in some comfort. He hunts mainly the Illinois gun season, although he has been crossbow hunting some during archery.
 
Danno,

Here's a link that might give you some ideas. I think the steel brackets are overkill, but it would simplify things.

Texas Deer Blind

With some foam insulation under the floor and around the lower half, one of the those little Coleman Cat heaters would probably keep him toasty warm even in late season. Or insulate the whole thing and put in sliding Plexi windows.
 
However you build it, make sure it's secured well. I've seen more than one that's blown over on it's side. A friend of mine used telephone poles and set them in concrete 4 foot in the ground. May be a little overkill, but it's still standing 20 foot in the air.
 
I've hunted out of several designs and these are my observations.
Do not use tin (like that of pole buildings) unless you line the inside with plywood. The tin is very noisy if you bump into it at all.
Use some type of thick carpet on the floor for sound insulation.
Hinged windows seem to work better than sliding windows (noisy).
Dont make the window openings too tall, 8" is usually plenty. Too big exposes too much movement.
I dont think insulation is all that necessary. Yesterday it was 17 degrees outside and 42 degrees inside my uninsulated blind. The sun seems to heat it up well and insulation might actually hamper that. I have a heater in it and never use it. When I do it seems to cause the widows to fog up anyway.
Install several padded shelves.
4'x6' is a minimum size for even one person IMO. I built my first one 4'x5' and thats a little cramped, easy to bump the sides and make noise when turning around. Does not leave much floor space for your pack, heater, etc, either.
Keep your eye out for some discarded swivel office chairs. Much better than lawn chairs when you need to spin around quick for a shot out the back.
Some type of shutters for the off season will prolong its life by keeping out the weather better.
Glass windows will not scratch up like plexiglass does.
If you dont set the legs in the ground, you can pick up large ground anchors (like dog chain anchors only larger) and secure them with cable and turnbuckles to keep the thing upright in the wind.
Stock it with Playboys for slow days!

I hope some of that is useful to somebody...
 
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and help. I'm sure we will set the posts below frost line. The carpet is a good idea. And, if I know my Dad, he'll have the centerfolds pinned up. He'll have to sneak it down when my Mom goes with him though. She likes to throw some lead too. What height should the windows be? Keep in mind this will be mostly a gun/crossbow shack, but you never know a son or grandson might get an out of state bow tag some day.
 
I dont remember what the height was on my windows, but I like them fairly high. If they are too low it is a bit uncomfortable to get into a good shooting position using the window ledge as a rest. You will just have to play around with that.
Remember, if your possibly going to have youngsters shooting out of there you might have to go a bit lower. Also, if your elevating the blind much you will have to go a tad lower to allow for the downward shot angle.

Realistically, I would not attempt to bowhunt out of either of mine. There just isnt room for it inside. I think you would have to go at least 5' wide to get the elbow room a bow would require.
 
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