Digging a pit...
 

I have 2 ponds on some newly acquired property... I want to dig a pit by one... how can I go about making a descent pit blind and should I pour concrete or what?

RE: Digging a pit...
 

I would only poor concrete if you are going to make it like a "basement" We hunt in a lot of pits back in Idaho and the all have gravel floors for draining purposes. Then we line the "walls" with 1/4" plywood and tightly frame in some 2x4's. Then you can attach shelves or whatever. We generally get 4 years out of the plywood. works good and is easy. good luck

RE: Digging a pit...
 

Here is a picture inside one of my pits.



Mine have 2 layers of 2x12" boards, then I have some 4x4s running across the blinds to hold the walls.

RE: Digging a pit...
 

I hunt out of a home made fiberglass and concreetpits

But we took the idea from onewe saw on a TV show

Look in the back of the DU magazine

If you plan on hunting out of it a lot
Comfort is a big thing
Try to make the top of it flush with the ground

Then put a slie back cover or some type of push thru cover
We used Plastic Broom type stuff
That we got from Cabela's


We wired ours with 110 v to power the sump pump
But the power also runs lights , cofffe pot and hot plate

If in a cold climate
A propane heater is nice also


John

RE: Digging a pit...
 

Gravel on the bottom is important. Drainage.

I saw a right neat idea on a Primos video... they were hunting out of dug in 55 gallon steel drums. I guess if you had a big enough tractor with a big enough soil auger it would be a piece of cake. Of course, if you are built like I am (6'0" 165#) its great. If you are like my best friend is (6'1" 285#) then its a bit of a tight fit.

There are several pre-fab/pre-made blinds out of fiberglass/plastic and composite that will last you a LONG time.

RE: Digging a pit...
 

Why not just by a steel pit blind and drop it in?

RE: Digging a pit...
 

steel pit??? now how much $ wouldthat cost you lik 250?

RE: Digging a pit...
 

The price of steel is going WAY WAY up as we speak. I wouldn't want to put anything in the ground that would rust away too bad either.

RE: Digging a pit...
 

Yeah, steel isn't cheap, the prices of a steel pit vary depending on how you want them setup. They used to run around $100 per foot width, but may be up to $115-125 now. So a pit 16' wide would run$1600-2000. But, they will hold up, can be relocated if they are in the wrong spot, and are fairly water-tight if welded properly. As for rust, untreated steel takes quite a while to show any real damage from rust, buta good primer coat will delay that even further. We hunted 13 seasons out of the last un-primed blind we bought before we had seal up some rusty spots with additional sheet metal. I would rather personally spend the money to get a good solid steel pit that I know will hold up for many seasons.

We hadelectric lights, andgas heat run along with a sub-floor with a bilge pump installed under it to keep water out. Very comfortable way to hunt.