# Building low cost deer blinds!



## fishfighter702

I have 300 acres to myself that I hunt, and I would like to scatter some more blinds throughout it. Anyone have any ideas to make some blinds at low cost? I like hard wall blinds.


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## Luv2hunteup

Buy some rough sawn lumber from local saw mills.


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## mi duckdown

Pick up any and every pallet you can find. lucky to have that much land.


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## MontcalmCounty

People sell bundles of the wood sides they cut off logs to make lumber, we've been getting them for $15 for enought to fill two 8 ft pick up beds. I think I'm going to use it for siding.


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## john warren

buy small used campers that are no longer any good for hauling down the road.


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## rgillespi

MontcalmCounty said:


> People sell bundles of the wood sides they cut off logs to make lumber, we've been getting them for $15 for enought to fill two 8 ft pick up beds. I think I'm going to use it for siding.


 
thats all i used on mine 

only cost 
4 4x4 for elevation
and ? what ever you want for the floor

if you want it to stay warm.... stuff someting between the log sides. 
(don't forget to over lap them!) 

i use them for the roof also, this is where the gap filler is really a good choice. from experience... the roof should be a good angle, i use a 6 - 8 inch slope.


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## brushbuster

MontcalmCounty said:


> People sell bundles of the wood sides they cut off logs to make lumber, we've been getting them for $15 for enought to fill two 8 ft pick up beds. I think I'm going to use it for siding.


 Yup, slab wood and felt paper makes good cheap shacks, Also stop by some rv dealerships and see if they have any scrap rubber roofing material to keep your roof dry.


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## Trophy Specialist

While it may seem to save you money to build a cheap blind, doing so will just cost you more money in the long run. My advice is to build it right the first time so you won't have to mess with it and spend more money on it later. I can build a blind with a treated plywood skin, that will last for the rest of my life for about $125.


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## fishfighter702

Trophy Specialist said:


> While it may seem to save you money to build a cheap blind, doing so will just cost you more money in the long run. My advice is to build it right the first time so you won't have to mess with it and spend more money on it later. I can build a blind with a treated plywood skin, that will last for the rest of my life for about $125.



I've been hunting out of a 2x2 frame/felt paper blind for the last 10 years, so anything's better than what I'm in now lol


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## topgun47

MontcalmCounty said:


> People sell bundles of the wood sides they cut off logs to make lumber, we've been getting them for $15 for enought to fill two 8 ft pick up beds. I think I'm going to use it for siding.





In Gladwin we can buy a pick up full of slab wood from the Amish for 5 bucks.


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## junkman

I use alot of scrap pallet and crate wood and can build a 4x6 blind for about $50 worth of screws hinges and other odds and ends.For roofing material I use old signs that Iget from a sign company.


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## TVCJohn

Hmmm....what would Red Green do?


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## Get'nLucky

Habitat for humanity stores if you are looking for actual windows or doors.
Look for carpet remnants/ or old office carpet squares that you can put on the inside that will help with sound and add a lil insulation value.
Seal it as tight as possible to keep the bugs out!

Like stated above do it right the first time and it will last a long time.
Since you have 300 acres, I wouldnt build your first blind in what you think will be your best spot.. Each and every blind you build you build will be better and better. And once you build one or two you will build the "pimpin palace" in your favorite spot!

Are you ever going to hunt with someone else? A 6x6 ft blind is the perfect size for 1 or 2 people, and will give you room for some gear or to stretch out a lil. Windows also add a HUGE comfort factor.

Good luck


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## hitechman

Trophy Specialist said:


> While it may seem to save you money to build a cheap blind, doing so will just cost you more money in the long run. My advice is to build it right the first time so you won't have to mess with it and spend more money on it later. I can build a blind with a treated plywood skin, that will last for the rest of my life for about $125.


Ha! The porkies on my place (Mason County) eat that treated plywood up as fast as I get it into the woods.........guessing they love the glue.

Steve


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## Trophy Specialist

hitechman said:


> Ha! The porkies on my place (Mason County) eat that treated plywood up as fast as I get it into the woods.........guessing they love the glue.
> 
> Steve


That is very odd. At my place in the U.P. we have a very abundant porcupine population and they have never chewed on treated lumber there ever. I've had treestands and ground blinds made from treated plywood up since 1995 too without so much as a bite mark on them. My camp is even sided with treated plywood as that is about the only thing the critters won't chew on. My outhouse though is partially made from regular plywood and they chewed on that stuff like crazy while leaving the treated plywood next to it untouched. 

I wonder if you didn't get some defective treated lumber. I know when they banned the old stuff about 10 years ago, there were some replacements that were real in effective. The newer treated plywood I bought since the ban though has been very good too.


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## steveh27

3-4 years ago I built a great shack, more than you want. It's 4x6 & almost 6' high in the front, seats 2. I used 4x8 wood siding panels from Lowes. They come treated, sealed & with an exterior coating. I primed & painted over that & hope it lasts for decades. I spent $750 on it & could almost live in it. Made it airtight when sealed to prevent any wasps from getting in.

I posted pics an parts list before. If anyone's interested I could email it.


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## brushbuster

hitechman said:


> Ha! The porkies on my place (Mason County) eat that treated plywood up as fast as I get it into the woods.........guessing they love the glue.
> 
> Steve


Pole barn metal will solve that.
I have often thought about building shacks pole barn style. Dont know how low cost it would be. 

Sent from my SCH-S720C using Ohub Campfire mobile app


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## Trophy Specialist

brushbuster said:


> Pole barn metal will solve that.
> I have often thought about building shacks pole barn style. Dont know how low cost it would be.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-S720C using Ohub Campfire mobile app


I put a steel roof on my camp two years ago and unless the cost has gone down since then, it is expensive stuff.


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## QDMAMAN

Trophy Specialist said:


> I put a steel roof on my camp two years ago and unless the cost has gone down since then, it is expensive stuff.


Cover sheets! I sold polebarns for a long time in the past and when I ordered steel it usually had "seconds" for protection on top (cover sheets). 
At the lumber yard I worked at we would have a misc. pile of cover sheets sitting around. They may be a hodge podge of colors but they can be painted.


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## Trophy Specialist

QDMAMAN said:


> Cover sheets! I sold polebarns for a long time in the past and when I ordered steel it usually had "seconds" for protection on top (cover sheets).
> At the lumber yard I worked at we would have a misc. pile of cover sheets sitting around. They may be a hodge podge of colors but they can be painted.


I got two extra white cover sheets with the roof metal I bought two years ago and used them on the roof of a new wood shed I built. My pole barn material came with cover sheets too. A buddy of mine has roofed several of his blinds with that stuff that he got from someone in the business although I've not seen it available for sale anywhere. My U.P. property came with a couple blinds with metal roofs. I hated those things. When it rained, it was very noisy. Not sure if it spooked the deer, but I eventually abandoned those blinds anyway as they were in poor locations.


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## JimP

For quiet and durable roofing, check out "Ondura" at most every big box home improvement store...several colors including green, black, gray...
It's a corrugated asphalt roof panel about 6 1/2' x 4' for around $20, or 20" x 48" tiles for under $7. 
Uses rubber gasketed nails.


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## QDMAMAN

jimp said:


> For quiet and durable roofing, check out "Ondura" at most every big box home improvement store...several colors including green, black, gray...
> It's a corrugated asphalt roof panel about 6 1/2' x 4' for around $20, or 20" x 48" tiles for under $7.
> Uses rubber gasketed nails.


Cool stuff. bishs uses it on his tower blinds for roof AND walls.


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## QDMAMAN

Trophy Specialist said:


> My U.P. property came with a couple blinds with metal roofs. I hated those things. When it rained, it was very noisy. Not sure if it spooked the deer, but I eventually abandoned those blinds anyway as they were in poor locations.


Was there "just" steel, or was it over wood and or foam? I would think that if the deer grew up around the sound of rain on that roof that it wouldn't bother them during season when you're in it. However, I know what you mean, it can sound like you're sitting inside Buddy Rich's snare drum if there's nothing between you and the steel.

Another option is rubber membrane roofing (commercial). A friend of mine has a comercial roofing company and occassionaly has a scrap that will cover a blind sized roof without any seams.


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## Trophy Specialist

jimp said:


> For quiet and durable roofing, check out "Ondura" at most every big box home improvement store...several colors including green, black, gray...
> It's a corrugated asphalt roof panel about 6 1/2' x 4' for around $20, or 20" x 48" tiles for under $7.
> Uses rubber gasketed nails.


Looks like interesting stuff. I've never heard of it. I wonder how it would hold up to a bear attack, which is the biggest problem I have on my property with any blinds or treestands. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm at the lumber store.


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## QDMAMAN

Trophy Specialist said:


> Looks like interesting stuff. I've never heard of it. I wonder how it would hold up to a bear attack, which is the biggest problem I have on my property with any blinds or treestands. I'll have to check it out the next time I'm at the lumber store.


Quit leaving all those Twinkie wrappers in there and problem solved!


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## Trophy Specialist

QDMAMAN said:


> Was there "just" steel, or was it over wood and or foam? I would think that if the deer grew up around the sound of rain on that roof that it wouldn't bother them during season when you're in it. However, I know what you mean, it can sound like you're sitting inside Buddy Rich's snare drum if there's nothing between you and the steel.
> 
> Another option is rubber membrane roofing (commercial). A friend of mine has a comercial roofing company and occassionaly has a scrap that will cover a blind sized roof without any seams.


I think I remember there being some foam in the packaging with straps holding it together. For my roof order, it came all cut to size right from the factory. The only cut I had to make was for the chimney hole.

A friend of mine uses that heavy rubber roofing on his blind roofs. A bear tore it off once, but other than that, it works well for him. If you make your blind no wider than 4' then you can use a single sheet of treated plywood with no seams. With enough pitch, a nice piece of plywood will not leak. I have some like that that are over 10 years old and do not leak.


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## hitechman

Trophy Specialist said:


> That is very odd. At my place in the U.P. we have a very abundant porcupine population and they have never chewed on treated lumber there ever. I've had treestands and ground blinds made from treated plywood up since 1995 too without so much as a bite mark on them. My camp is even sided with treated plywood as that is about the only thing the critters won't chew on. My outhouse though is partially made from regular plywood and they chewed on that stuff like crazy while leaving the treated plywood next to it untouched.
> 
> I wonder if you didn't get some defective treated lumber. I know when they banned the old stuff about 10 years ago, there were some replacements that were real in effective. The newer treated plywood I bought since the ban though has been very good too.


They ate up the stuff years ago when it was still treated with copper arsenate......blinds were built in the fall and 90% eaten the next spring.

I even tried mixing hot sauce, capstacian, and other "bad tasting stuff" with the paint--even sprayed it on directly....they still ate it. 

What finally worked was to completely cover both sides of the plywood with 1/4" x 1/4" wire fencing.

Steve


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## Trophy Specialist

hitechman said:


> They ate up the stuff years ago when it was still treated with copper arsenate......blinds were built in the fall and 90% eaten the next spring.
> 
> I even tried mixing hot sauce, capstacian, and other "bad tasting stuff" with the paint--even sprayed it on directly....they still ate it.
> 
> What finally worked was to completely cover both sides of the plywood with 1/4" x 1/4" wire fencing.
> 
> Steve


You must have some bad-ass porkies there. Our U.P. ones have better manors. :lol:

I wonder if the batch of plywood you got had some salts or something in it that they liked.


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## topgun47

TVCJohn said:


> Hmmm....what would Red Green do?




What ever he does......I will watch it.


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## TVCJohn

> Originally Posted by *TVCJohn*
> _Hmmm....what would Red Green do?_







topgun47 said:


> What ever he does......I will watch it.


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## Get Out

jimp said:


> For quiet and durable roofing, check out "Ondura" at most every big box home improvement store...several colors including green, black, gray...
> It's a corrugated asphalt roof panel about 6 1/2' x 4' for around $20, or 20" x 48" tiles for under $7.
> Uses rubber gasketed nails.


Do you think you could use the stuff for walls as in siding?


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## JimP

Get Out said:


> Do you think you could use the stuff for walls as in siding?


Probably, if you add several supports/studs down or across the center of the panels and many nails. They're somewhat flexible and wouldn't give the additional structural integrity to the framework like plywood or siding. Nails can also loosen or pop through the soft asphalt material. Just extra materials and work for any dubious benefit IMO.


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## old graybeard

Whatever happened to the days of sitting on a stump?


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## Steiny

*Whatever happened to the days of sitting on a stump? *

My response was going to be similar.
If you truly want a "cheap" blind, just take a machete, saw and some wire and build simple brush blinds. Natural materials will conceal you much better than lumberyard stuff.


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## Get Out

jimp said:


> Probably, if you add several supports/studs down or across the center of the panels and many nails. They're somewhat flexible and wouldn't give the additional structural integrity to the framework like plywood or siding. Nails can also loosen or pop through the soft asphalt material. Just extra materials and work for any dubious benefit IMO.


having asphalt in it i would think that squirrels and porcupines would be disinterested in it... Thanks for the advice.


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## topgun47

Sitting on a wet stump in the windy cold rain, or sitting in a dry, heated shelter in a comfortable swivel office chair.......Who do you suppose will spend more time hunting?

Never mind.

For those of you that realize the advantages of a blind, you can google "deer blind plans" to find several designs. I prefer the ones built in wall, floor and roof sections that can be easily transported to the site and assembled with a handful of screws. Mine has bottom hinged, wood-framed Plexiglas windows. I also have a method of securing the door and windows so the wind won't blow them open.

Making it mouse-proof is key. I've found that the squirrels and porkys aren't all that interested because they can't gain entry. One mouse can really mess, and tear up the inside though.

Things I learned the hard way were to slope the roof away from the main shooting window, and to not scrimp on a good roof material. My roofs are the corrugated Plexiglas sheets with about a thirty-year guarantee. Old carpeting on the floor and maybe the walls will really cut down on any inadvertent noise you might make. Black-out the inside of the blind that can be seen by the deer. One other thing, chipmunks love to burrow under the blinds to make their homes, so using chicken wire around the base extending out at least 6 inches and covered with dirt will save a lot of future grief fixing all their holes.


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## Steiny

I suggested building out of brush because the original poster was looking to build "low cost blinds". Some of the blinds duck hunters put together using natural materials are pretty darned impressive. Based on all the responses, it appears shooting houses are what he is looking for, with roof, walls, windows, entry door, etc.

There are a million ways to build shooting houses. I've got four on my place, one on an old trailer and three up on stilts. They weren't cheap to build, probably have at least $500 apiece in them.

If you can't get some salvage materials for free, or nearly free, the cheapest solution would be to go with some store bought, manufactured, pop-up blinds. You can find a wide range of these for $150 apiece and under. The downside with these is, they will deteriorate if left out for an extended period and heavy snow could collapse them.


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## topgun47

The problem with going too "low-cost", is that they'll probably only last a year or two, and you'll always be making repairs. In that case, your solution of a brush blind might make more sense.

I have blinds that are over 15 years old and still in good shape though, so if you were to spread the investment out over 15 to 20 years, it ain't really so bad. At least that's what I tell the wife........................So I'm sticking to that story.


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## Midalake

old graybeard said:


> Whatever happened to the days of sitting on a stump?


These days it's called hemorrhoids.........


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## Thirty pointer

old graybeard said:


> Whatever happened to the days of sitting on a stump?


Stumps are for youngins spent 25 years on one comfort keeps me out every day now .


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