# Top for boat blind?



## ohhiitznik (Jul 15, 2010)

Do you really need a top for your boat blind? I currently do not have one, and I'm worried about making one and having the "black hole" effect that ducks can see. I also think that ducks look down into the boat and can see us, and I'm not the most still person when they circle as I run a camera on my head. Anybody with experience or any opinions on this please chime in. My is a wood rectangle, mounted to my lowe 1760 and is covered in fast grass. So adding a top would be very easy. Any opinions or experience with this is welcome!


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## lewy149 (Apr 19, 2007)

I would add a top. I have a 17 roughneck with a scissor that I need to add a top 2. Every move your making they can see and by now they should be getting smart enough to know that motion is bad for business


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## ohhiitznik (Jul 15, 2010)

Bump, any more tips or info is appreciated


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## JOHNNY A (Mar 6, 2010)

Keep still, your fine
A top is nice but hide your orange life jackets and don't move all over and you'll still kill ducks
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## SalmonBum (Feb 28, 2001)

No top on my boat. Mine closes to leave about a 18" gap and seems to work fine.


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## flighthunter (Nov 21, 2005)

I added a top to my scissor blind this year, and it's a pain in the .... It might be because I only have a 1436 boat, so you need to flip the top back to stand up and shoot, which is tougher than you would think when the ducks are coming in because you don't want to flip it back too soon because they will flare, but open it too late and the birds are passed, or make for a difficult shot. 

A top works fine on a wider boat, where you could stand up out in front of the roof and shoot without having to flip it back. A buddy of mine has a roof on his 20' grizzley and it's great. I'll be pulling mine off before the next hunt, too many missed shots this year because of it. I know it's not the design, because it's about the same as the Cabelas northern flight, not hard/heavy to flip back, just a pain. 

I agree that if you just make the opening smaller (18" - 24") and have the grass fill in the opening, a plain old scissor style blind is the way to go.

The back side of my blind comes up to just about level with our heads when we're sitting in the boat, and the front is just below should level, which allows you to sit or stand while shooting. Just duck down and they're coming in.


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## bc21 (Dec 15, 2010)

Get a couple of bungee cords and attach them from the front of the blind to the back of the blind and hang some raffia grass / smaller fast grass mats from them. That way, the only thing the birds can see when looking down from above are the tops of your heads. Wear a camo hat and some facepaint / facemask and you should be good to go. Keep the moving to a minimum or duck down below the top of the blind and you will be fine. Lestat uses this on his boat blind and seems to work fine for us.


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## wavie (Feb 2, 2004)

i think that black hole effect is over rated. Example, the pits (i know its not a boat blind but) we hunted out of in AR were left open all the time and killed lots of birds no problem. As said above movement in the blind will be your down fall.


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## PATRPM (Jun 9, 2006)

Just put a blind on my boat and thought of adding a top to it. Its a little over 16'. My plan now is to not add a top to cover the whole thing up but to add a couple of flaps that I can install with a pin in a sec. and pull off in a sec. (for going out to the hunting spot) and then throwing some extra material on the top of it for better camo. I dont think I like the idea of having a top to cover the hole blind, to much restriction there for me. This way I am still covered up for the most part and I dont have to move anything to pop up and shoot, and with it not being fixed I can still stand up and shoot behind me if I have to.


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## quick406 (Aug 1, 2007)

this is what i did with mine, and the ducks dont seem to mind it. actually had a duck last week come in and was literally 6 inches from coming in one of the openings :yikes:and went right over the top and circled back and died before landing the second time.


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## flighthunter (Nov 21, 2005)

quick406 said:


> this is what i did with mine, and the ducks dont seem to mind it. actually had a duck last week come in and was literally 6 inches from coming in one of the openings :yikes:and went right over the top and circled back and died before landing the second time.



With this set up, it looks like you can only shoot straight out in front of you, correct?


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## PATRPM (Jun 9, 2006)

@ quick406. That is what I am talking about. Except my opening is in the top of my blind not the front. Having a blind on the boat makes it so much better hunting this year. Now I dont have to sit in the water anymore, and the blind gives me a lot more choices to hunt. I have been able to get on a lot more birds this year.


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