Dabow tower is now open
 

Last year from a distance I watched bucks hit the pond on my land on a regular basis.There were no trees around it for a stand. I ruled out a ground blind because it set down in a bowl and I worried about swirling wind. I decided to build a tower blind that would work for bowhunting. We (Ladybowhunter and me) first built the tower using all treated wood and elevator brackets.

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

I decided to prefabricate the walls and trusses at home. We used a gray base paint and than used flat black and brown spray paint for the skyline cammo effect

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

I hope there's more and I hope your season doesn't start for some time. That is truly a LIGHT.,,,,NEON LIGHT!!! God what an eyesore on the face of hunting grounds. If you intend to use this I hope you plan to add some cover.[8D]

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Trusses ready to install. I loaded the four walls and trusses on a flat trailer and hauled them to site

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

One major screw up on my part was making the floor 4 ft. x 6 ft. I than realized four feet is not enough room to draw a bow back. After a little study we found that five foot would be needed. Not wanted to pull it down and start over I decided to improvise and angle the walls outward. I used and angle that gave me a five foot wide demension at waist height and six feet at the top. Not being a carpenter or architect I was a bit worried about how it would come together. We put the four walls together on the driveway and they fit pretty good. But when we finally were able to pull them up the tower with a rope they fit like a glove. I was amazed at myself (Lucky no doubt).

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Putting the roof on. If you look closely you can see the wood screws sticking up. I started them on the ground to make it easier on the roof. Topped it off with standard roofing shingles. From the ground to the floor of the blind is 12 feet. Its twenty feet to the peak of the roof.

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Heck, not too bad man! I'd hunt it..:D

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Pretty much completed in this pic. All four sides have the removable window panels. The side with the door has the removable panel built into the door. When in use you just turn the buttons that hold the panels in, slide them out and place them against the wall. I am ordering shoot thru mesh to place in the windows. They do sell it in a size that is perfect for these windows. The entire inside is painted black. You can see the cables running to the ground anchors. They are on all four sides. As you can see in some of the pics it was a dark overcast day, threatening to rain at any moment I felt rushed to get er done. I had just finished the roofing and was inside working on minor details when I heard a mighty rushing wind. I quickly got out and we jumped in the truck. Hail and winds in excess of 60 mph were giving the stand a test right off the bat. Amazingly not even a shingle came off (they had no time to self seal yet). Future improvement plans call for central heat and air, microwave and satellite tv (just kidding).
I have not added up the receipts yet but would hazard a guess at about 500 dollars.

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Nicely done! I am considering either building or buying a tower for my place as well. I hunt a cclearcut in the UP and now it has grown up a bit and a tower would be real handy to have in there.

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

I WANT ONE! Good job dabow!

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

dabow.....that thing is awesome...did you set the corner posts down in the ground? We have a couple of fiberglass for guns, one of which blew over because we didn't have our guide wires out far enough.......you might want to check that out. I have been after my husband.....who is a carpenter.......to build a couple of those in places where we don't have a good tree. Mind if we copy.:D Thanks for sharing a great project. Diann

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Looks nice!!!

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

How do you shoot out of that thing?? Looks cool, and you did great work,but those kind of blinds just seem like it would restrict my view too much to make me comfotable in being ready for a shot.

RE: Dabow tower is now open
 

Thanks Mom,
The four posts are not set in the ground, I put them on pads to help distribute the weight and keep them from sinking into the ground. My guide wires are not out very far either but she already held up to 60 plus mph winds. I may add some ground anchors out a bit further for added insurance. We bought several bags of plastic leaves on vines that we are going to add for 3d effect. Hope to add some living vines to the posts and let them grow up around it.