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open water blind material

5K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  Dep666 
#1 ·
So I hunt out a 860 wareagle I never used a blind on it we always just ditched the boat and hunted off the shore but I am looking to hunt open water and am wondering should I use the fast grass or just canvas painted up to look like one of the bankes or duckwater boats?
 
#3 ·
Canvas. I would make either some PVC or EMT lenths that run the width of the boat and notch one side to fit over the railing. Drape the canvas over the boat and round covers. It helps a lot of you weight the perimeter of the canvas and leave it trailing in the water to keep it from blowing around. I prefer to be sitting on the boat floor on a layout seat for divers. It reduces the profile of the entire boat / blind. Make a couple of openings in the canvas where you sit and you can sit up and shoot when the birds come in.
 
#4 ·
I made my blind out of heavy conduit and nylon reinforced vinyl. I had the vinyl heat welded together, and ran the pipe through it. It is then attached to the boat via the same type of brackets found on a folding medical stretcher, with snaps on the underside of the outside of the gunnel to hold the vinyl tight against the boat. Works like a charm and sits nice and flat against the gunnels.

Although we run the boat as a tender to our UFO layout most of the time, it does work well for shooting sea ducks as well as most species of divers.

Blind up:




Blind down:


Layout on cradle with blind down:


-Nick
 
#6 ·
Dep666 said:
That is the Nuts.......Exactly what I am looking to do with my boat.....Similar in size....Could you please post up some pics of the inside with the blind up?
Sure man! The boat is a 20' Starcraft Mariner. We just bent the conduit to match the contour of the gunnels, and had them meet at the front where we installed a three-way connector piece. Because of the weight of the conduit, the pipe was drooping at the front where it came together, so we installed a swivel support piece that easily swings into place when putting the blind up. All together, it takes about 10 seconds for 2 guys to put up the blind, and about double that for one person. We also have a grey motor cover and a piece that closes in the back end of the blind. Aesthetically, this boat was a piece of crap when I bought it. That said, the Mariner 90 was in pristine shape and was well taken care of, as was the hull. What do ya want for $2300!?

Here's a picture of the boat with no blind on it. We designed the boat to be a completely open floorplan, and after hunting out of it a few times, we even removed the driver's seat altogether because it got in the way.



Here's two pictures of the inside of the boat with the blind attached and up:




Aaaaaaannnnd, here's a few birds we shot out of it on a sunny day:


-Nick
 
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