# Elevated box blind questions.



## basshunter125

Id like to build an elevated box blind. My Dads a construction contractor so i know how to do it but id like some input on the ar****ectual aspect. I was thinking 10-15ft high and an 8ftx6ftx6ft (length width height) does this seem to large? Any ideas?


=BASS


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## jimmyo17

Doesnt seem to big to me it just depends on how you build it lol


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## slowpoke

I like the extra room over a 4 x 4. I made the roof with a peak so I can stand up and shoot a bow out the windows also plain the windows height so I can shoot a gun or bow setting down. The floor is 9' high. Where I put the blind doesn't need to be any higher. You can check my gallery for some pictures of it. I call it my tower blind.


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## Trevor

8' x 6', is plenty of room for gun and bow, but if you are gun hunting only, think about 4' x 8'. Less material, and all cuts are based on full sheets of plywood/OSB.


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## jasperdog

I had a couple built this summer at 8 x 8 and they are a little big but not really a problem.

Most important thing is window placement and size. I let the boys who built it (who all hunt) design the windows and I was not really thrilled.

Entry and exit are important too. Be sure to build those big enough. Doors, entryway, stairway, etc... 

We painted all the lumber before erection. Be sure to paint the inside a dark color...


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## basshunter125

How far do you reccomend sinking the support stilts into the ground? And how many of you use concrete to anchor the stilts? Wouldnt make it portable but thats not what im looking for


=BASS


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## basshunter125

jasperdog said:


> I had a couple built this summer at 8 x 8 and they are a little big but not really a problem.
> 
> Most important thing is window placement and size. I let the boys who built it (who all hunt) design the windows and I was not really thrilled.
> 
> Entry and exit are important too. Be sure to build those big enough. Doors, entryway, stairway, etc...
> 
> We painted all the lumber before erection. Be sure to paint the inside a dark color...


How much did it cost to build just one? Just an average cost


=BASS


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## jasonvanorder

basshunter125 said:


> How much did it cost to build just one? Just an average cost
> 
> 
> =BASS


 
x2.


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## pilsbury38

I built one 6ft long 5ft wide and 6'8'' tall this summer then i built a platform 5' high to put it on and its on a hill so i bow hunt out of it to. All in all i'm happy with it. i used a bench seat from a minivan for a seat have a buddy heater for heat carpet on the floor to absorb some noise and it is quite comfortable, however when i build the next one it will be 5x5 with just a barstool in the center to be able to bow hunt 360 degrees with out much movement or noise, it will be used for mainly bow hunting. There are many ways to make blinds just depends on what you need to suit you......Good luck and have fun building it


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## thundrst

I just built one this summer. 6X6X6 with peaked roof & 6' off the ground. used 10' 4x4 posts, dug 4' deep with concrete. 1/8" Lexan windows. Cost about $550.

edit... Still needs camo paint & some other minor stuff. Roof has regular roofing tiles. Should have made the overhangs bigger.


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## dmavdmav

5' x 5' works great even for 2 med. size hunters. Ours are 12' to 14' to the floor. NEED anchors for sure! They are a big sail up in the air.


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## MI.FISH-N-HUNTER

My buddy has a couple hundred acres, the got some pretty elaborate blinds, some elevated some on the ground. They have quite a few, each one they build, I think they try to make each one better then the previous so they've got their designs down. The majority of them he's got $500 into the structure another $200 into each woodstove. Were heading up there this next week for a few days hopefully we have good luck.

Outdoor Hub mobile, the outdoor information engine


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## GVDocHoliday

These are all nice but how do you move them when the deer are in another area?


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## 12970

You can do a couple of things I have seen with box blinds some have them set up on a towable trailer that can be moved. You can go to Tractor Supply buy a utility trailer and set it up on there with some leveling jacks on the corners so it does not rock and put where you want. But again having a couple of permanent box blinds you can hunt one one year and another the next or hunt one for a few days then hunt another if you aren't seeing anything. You just need to enhance your property each year and add things that attract Deer; plots, trees, fruit trees and bushes etc... Or just a place you have good deer sign, mowing paths in the area seems to have deer following them, and some good attractant scents.Each location has good and bad things just make it yours and try and add stuff that will pull deer in.

For me I built one 8x8 and did not plan on using it as my place to sleep but with lack of a good job I started sleeping in it 3 years back with a good cot, heater, camping stove and lantern. The reason for that large was to take kids hunting and having some space they can move around in and still be out hunting. But now I am glad it is large enough saves on cost of a motel at 70.00 a night and gas driving back and forth to town. I set up a coffee pot, a cooler with food and drink. And I settle in and this year after having it for 20 years now I scored on a good buck. 

So hunting a blind that has been around in the same place has little to do with it. I think the way the DNR changes the "plan" has a bigger effect especially when the open up the high Number of Antlerless Permits for too long effects seeing deer more than where a permanent blind once it is there the deer don't even really notice it over time but keeping your scent down is a factor...

But again everyone has their idea of how to hunt deer... I like ladder stands and box blinds but it works for me over the last twenty years...

Sliding windows, bug and rodent tight, w/ a good roof and maybe 10 ft off the good but even on the ground is okay too if you can't elevate it.

Newaygo1


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## jacpac19

I also am going to build an elevated blind next spring using 4x4x 16 ft posts on a 15 degree angle for stability. The post will be 4 feet into the ground, so the floor of the blind will be about 12 ft. off the ground. My dilemma is how to anchor the floor, what with the side boards and posts being on an angle. The floor area will be 5 and a half feet square using 3 quarter in. plywood any suggestions?


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## Trevor

Check out a product called, Shadow Hunter Blind Elevator. A steel weldment made to attach 4x4 legs to the floor of a blind at an angle.


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## Riva

Trevor said:


> Check out a product called, Shadow Hunter Blind Elevator. A steel weldment made to attach 4x4 legs to the floor of a blind at an angle.


Ditto that. This product is great. And, because the brackets are angled, the blind is very stable as well.

Also suggest that you go to a garage sale and get a couple of swivel office chairs on wheels. They allow you to rotate 360 to look for deer without being noticed and then, easily slide the chair into perfect shooting position by just pushing your legs. Best $20 I ever spent.


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## 12970

The Elevators are nice just not large enough for most posts to be used. You can get them I think in 4x4 and 2X4 but some go higher and want to use something with a 4x6 or even a 6x6 post so it makes for a tough set up if you can't get something in that size to support an elevated stand. And finding the long 4x4 posts is not a common wood size so you have to find a place that has these as wellLike 16 foot ones if not longer.

But I would love to have one ofg the Shawdow Hunters Assembled Blinds they use a 1/8 Alumumin Sheet for the exterior and roof and that makes it lite weight and the are sealed so bug and rodent proof which is a nice feature. They also sell windows you can inmstall on you blind gun and bow windows. And they are out of Michigan...


Newaygo1


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## Enigma

Mine 8x10 6ft.4 inchs high in side so i can stand up strait and it has all tinted 1/8 lexan window about $1200.00. about 6 foot off the ground.And it sets on 6x6x 12foot long.The legs are 4 foot in the ground conceted in on a sand hill.


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## syonker

I bought the EZ Deer Blind Kit from www.deertexas.com for $289.00








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It came with the metal corner brackets & very detailed plans with a materials list.








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I originally used OSB & intended to paint/seal it, but I never got around to it, so after 2 seasons I bought some OSB that had a vinyl camo surface on one side. I just tacked it over the original OSB, but had I discovered the camo OSB earlier, I would have used that.

I'm not a big window fan, so I kept it wide open. A small propane heater keeps me toasty.


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## jacpac19

Thanks for the info guys, looked into Shadow Hunter elevators and at 12 ft. ht. they are safe. You can find them online $80.00 for 4


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## bobberbill

Check out this site. A SW Michigan company. They do custom work, but the elevator brackets are great for solving the angle issues of mounting 4x4 posts to the blind. I have a custom 5x4 blind that is only 4 ft above the ground. Works great unless corn is planted in the field. I'm thinking about going to 6 ft..I also have an ice shanty..fabulous..good company, great people. Ted Nugent uses these blinds in Texas and Jackson, and he has several made special for disabled/handicapped hunters..
https://www.shadowhunterllc.com/


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## CarnageProductions13

x2 on the windows are everything comment! Because they really are if you plan to bow hunt out of it. also make sure its tall enough so that the deer can't silloete (sp?) you.

the deer blind pictured above looks great just add a vertical window from the floor up if your bowhunting.

Good Luck


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## Nocturnal Ghost

Mine is a 8' triangle at floor level and 12' triangle at the ground with 20 foot 6*6's, 4 foot in the ground with concrete poured around them. I dug up grape vines and planted them at the poles and spaded in pines around the base, in a few years it will almost vanish in to the surroundings.


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## DEDGOOSE

One thing I have found with box blinds over the years.. Everybody builds them to tall inside.. Granted I am a borderline midget.. But depending how ya heat them, you lose a ton of heat to the ceiling and takes longer for the windows to unfog..


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## Copper44

This is a some what portable box blind we made this year. 5x4x6, 14 foot ladder. Each wall or panel is through bolted together so it can be simply taken down. Roof is corrugated metal attached to plywood with expanding foam to keep noise down. Cost was under $500, 2 guys to set up.

























Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## bigbuck

Shadow hunter elevator brackets work good. What ever you do build the blind out of material that will last. Also with angle brackets no need to put posts into the ground but it is a good idea to anchor it with a cable on each side.


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## tdejong302

I built mine 4 by 6. 5ft. high in the front, 6 ft. high in the back. My platform that it rests on is 4 by 8. That way when I step off the ladder onto the platform I have two feet to put my pack, heater etc........ and it gives me safe room to stand on before I enter the blind. 

I cemented my poles in. My blind is 12 feet up. I used cedar poles that I notched for 2 by 6's. 

To help with sway I put cross supports about half way up. 

I used primarily screws so nothing can pull loose

I used 1/4 inch osb with rolled insulation on the outside. And used 2 by 2's for frame of blind. Built it in panels that I carried up the ladder and screwed to the base and then put the roof on and screwed it in place. Have had it up 5 years now and works great.


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## KS up north

I used four 20 foot 4x6 posts cemented 3 feet in the ground. built the floor (2x8 joists) 14 foot up the poles, and used the top 3 feet inside the blind capped off with 2X8's for a shooting rail, to add structural stability. cross bracing the legs for more strength. box is 8'x8'. too big for 1, but great to take my 2 boys out with me. Been up for 11 years with no problems.
My second one is similar but 6'x6'. been up 3 years.


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## Chessieman

The new one I was planning is going to be six sided. If you sit in a box blind look at how your corners are blind spots. My biggest obstacle is the stairway, I would like to put a metal circlular factory stairway in. A exposed stairway is a trip coming down after a sleet storm. Six foot mininium on the inside so you can swing the gun or bow around. Use "gun ports" in your window to keep in the heat. The one I have now is a elevated clubhouse and the only flaw is not puting a better exterior that does not need painting every seven years. I think pre painted viynal is the way to go unless you are up north and get the cedar 1/4 logs. They are fun to build and to keep improving. I wonder when the townships will try to start to tax them.


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## PLUMMER47

I did a hexagon, 7'6" inside diameter, 9' from point to point which is plenty big enuff. I'd go smaller for the next one, 6' to 6'6" seems to be plenty. I like have the whole fam up there tho. I used 2 silver maple 20"+ x 16' long as skids or ski's. Since the ground is peat , its too spongy for concrete buried post. They just don't work, unless you wanna re level every year. I built the posts and headers and platform floor first, raised that up, set & trued. Then cut 4x4 notches in the maple logs with the chainsaw. This eliminated any movement with 3000lb skids, then hoisted up each side section. I had previously built the whole blind in the barn, roof was the most difficult, only because I wanted it modular and so it all could be assembled and anchored from inside the platform. I took measurements with a bow , so you could bow and gun hunt from it. Hardest thing was raising the initial platform and posts the first 8' without racking the posts & platform. They did , even tho well over braced. After that it was easy and all done by myself. Took 3 days including carpet & insul to reassemble in the woods. Roof was done with Oatey shower pan and grace ice & water shield in the barn , not in the woods.


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## upnorthsds

We put 2 on our property this season and it was the best investment ever. Warm dry comfortable quiet and conveient. I sat sun up till down the first 5 days of opener and only had to leave the blind 5 times. There isn't many deer at our property ( yet that is! ) and these make the sit enjoyable! Anyway... This is what we did...i built mine a little different than my dad. I'm a huge bow hunter but i hate being cold. During late season, I wanted to be able to utilize the tower for bow hunting as well as rifle hunting. That said, I decided to build a hexagon blind. That gave me 6 windows to use, 3 vertical, 2 horizontal and 1 on my door. Walls are 4ft wide 7ft Tall at 120 degree angles. It gives 48 sq ft. Also 12 ft high! It's pretty bad ***** actually! If you will mainly be hunting in there by yourself, this is the way to go for sure! Sit a swivel bar stool in the center and for rifle, you don't even need to move! 6 views... 1 spot! But, there's plenty of room for 2 people comfortably!!

Now the other tower is 8x6 as you mentioned above. It's very nice and roomy but for me, a little much for 1 person! You are always moving to look out of the windows. If your hunting 2 people, this would be the size you would want. If only 1 person, I'd go 6x6. 12ft high as well! 

Bottom line... The hexagon blind is very versatile and comfortable for multiple people as well as multiple hunting situations. The 8x6 is the perfect size for 2-3 people and 6x6 is perfect for 1-2. Get creative with it too, anything that you cAn think of putting in there, do it! Turn it into your man cave and let the memories begin haha!!


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## upnorthsds

Did a quick reply so I didn't see this.. Better description than mine but the same thing!



PLUMMER47 said:


> I did a hexagon, 7'6" inside diameter, 9' from point to point which is plenty big enuff. I'd go smaller for the next one, 6' to 6'6" seems to be plenty. I like have the whole fam up there tho. I used 2 silver maple 20"+ x 16' long as skids or ski's. Since the ground is peat , its too spongy for concrete buried post. They just don't work, unless you wanna re level every year. I built the posts and headers and platform floor first, raised that up, set & trued. Then cut 4x4 notches in the maple logs with the chainsaw. This eliminated any movement with 3000lb skids, then hoisted up each side section. I had previously built the whole blind in the barn, roof was the most difficult, only because I wanted it modular and so it all could be assembled and anchored from inside the platform. I took measurements with a bow , so you could bow and gun hunt from it. Hardest thing was raising the initial platform and posts the first 8' without racking the posts & platform. They did , even tho well over braced. After that it was easy and all done by myself. Took 3 days including carpet & insul to reassemble in the woods. Roof was done with Oatey shower pan and grace ice & water shield in the barn , not in the woods.


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## Boatown

Dont forget to anchor it down you can get the supplys from tsc for about 20 bucks we have afew shadow hunters 20 feet up and they don't rock in the wind and had some 70 mph winds this fall and never had problem


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## Parkerman

What kind of anchors besides setting in concrete?


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## rbell14

I've just used earth anchors purchased from TSC. You can find many different sizes but they just auger into the ground and I use a cable to provide tension so the wind does not blow it over.


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## Chessieman

When I originally built my "clubhouse" six years ago I called the manufacters of lexion (i.e. like plexiglass but bendable). At that time they were trying to develope a non glare finish. Does anybody know if this did come to market? I know they have this non glare camo window tint with openings (weave) about the size of loose cloth camo.


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