giholden

I am in the process of securing a river front lease to hunt ducks and geese. I want to build a permanent wooden blind sufficient for 3 perhaps 4 hunters. I hunt primarily with my daughter and her son age 6. I plan to heat the blind and store decoys in it. So, questions abound; use pressure treated wood or not? Build it on railroad tie skids? how big? How tall? and so on. Any advice from those familiar with permanent setups would be appreciated. I have an 18X60 Jon boat with blind, kayaks, canoes and all that that we use on public lands.Lots of work.Just looking to make the process a little easier.

karabiner

Are you going to build it onsite or, prefab and transport? How long do you need it to last? I built a "permanent" wood 4 man blind that I made in the garage and made it into transportable/ disassembable sections. 2 guys and 2 14' jon boats handled site assembly in 3 hours, (although it took me almost 40 hours to build/paint etc in garage first). I'll be taking the blind out at the end of the season. Although pressure treated wood is ideal, cost and weight are significant factors if you plan on taking the blind out when the lease ends.

giholden

Probably prefab in my shop as much as possible and transport for final assembly. Weight is an issue since my hunting partners are my daughter and her 6 year old son. May use untreated lumber and varnish thoroughly. Really interested in the dimensions for 3, maybe 4 hunters. Does an 8X12 platform seem large enough? I want plenty of space inside.

SecondChance

I would not use untreated wood and varnish for it will shine and not last as long in the weather. Worth the extra coin. Weighs a bit more, but lasts MUCH longer. Plus its dark already to start. Use wire hog panels for the brush/camo and it is much stronger and you can zip tie brush to it from the surrounding area to make it blend in better.
Use the Fastgrass bundles you can buy if you plan on using grass. You can get it at Cabelas in packs of brown,tan or green or just each by itself. We use it on the boats and lay out blinds and it lasts forever. It is so strong we have used the individual strands to tie stuff up and it is still holding from last season!!!!! It is made from a plastic material, IDK, buts it strong as heck. Great hunting and have fun!!!! Post the pics when its done.

karabiner

8x12 is quite big. Mine was 5x12 and holds 4 hunters nicely. I used treated 2x4's for the base frame, and regular 2x2's for the sides and roof. The walls and roof are covered with cheap 1/8 wood underlayment. All sections were secured together with galvanized lag screws. I then waterproofed/painted the whole blind with a 5 gal deck paint that was in the returns/ reduced price section at Home Depot. It is super thick and has sand in it, and looks very natural alone. I then secured chicken wire on the outside and attached fast grass. Total damage was about $350.