Pontoon Blinds??

[lockedup89]

Me and a couple of my buddies got an old pontoon boat that we are looking to make into a duck blind. Just wondering if any of you guys out there use or have made one before. Looking for some ideas or insite on what to do. If you have pics that would be awesome or maybe just some ideas to throw at me. Let me know. Thanks, Marty

[Gary]

a guy i know up north of chicago hunts out of one , theres is one of those 12-14ft models , they draped mossy lookin grass over the rails [killer weed lookin stuff] and mounted benches back to back facein the sides .never saw it though myself ! , i'd ron chicken wire down the rails to be able to weave whatever u want in it , i'd sit on the floor or a small seat and run boards across from rail to rail with some pop up shooting holes or flip up lids !

[John Manning]

We had one that we hunted out of for two years. It was alright, but the "fast grass" on the side walls was a pain in the butt when you pulled it down the road (due to the roof being the only part that folded down).

The second problem we had was with the trailer and how deep you would have to sink it to get the pontoon on it. Other then these two problems, it worked out alright.

It was the ticket during late season hunting with heaters and a grill on board :cool: . I think the most people we huinted out of it was 5.

Good luck with it.

[corybdesign]

there's a book out there by Chuck Lichon called "Boats, Blinds, and related gear and they have at leaast a couple pontoon boat blind plans in there.

[lockedup89]

thanks for the advice...keep it coming..thanks, Marty

[dux_99]

One thing I would suggest is a strong anchor if you plan on leaving it out like on a backwater or something. I know some guys out on Lake Senachwine (which you aren't too far from) and they use augers as their anchors; the pontoon blinds seem to be a little harder to keep anchored. Also make sure that you have equal weights on one side; say if you put a boat hide off the back; may want to run a hide off the front too.

[lockedup89]

yea we are trying to get a spot on senachawine but i dont knwo yet

[corybdesign]

are you going to ride out in the pontoon and then anchor it up or leave it out as a stationary blind and use another boat to get out there?

[feetdown20]

there is a write up in wildfowl magazine a few months back on this topic.

Where we hunt there are quite a few of these blinds that stay year round. Most of the guys take it out where they want the blind to be, and tie it off to a tree if the water is down. they leave enough slack on the rope to let the blind drift for the water level, that way they are never sitting on dry land. We have discussed making one for years, but for the cost, we can buy boat blinds for all three boats we run. I have hunted one that was the cats arse! with bathroom (pvc pipe running out the back), stove, heater, shooting deck, roof, all brushed in natural vegetation and brush. It was nice to be dry and warm, but was restricted to one wind direction, and visibility!

[lockedup89]

if we can find a place to keep it out all season we are goin to do that..otherwise we are getting a 50hp motor to run up and down the river and go to the bird...we will set up on the bank and hunt out of it

[corybdesign]

if your leaving it out in the water make sure your anchors are heavy enough to stay in place and lines are long enough to allow it to sway if a big storm comes through. they do alot of this type of thing on the great lakes so there might be an outfitter that you could get ahold of for some advice as well.

[SO IL fowler]

A friend of mine has a pontoon boat that he made into a duck/goose blind. He added a roof to it that tapered down on the ends so it looked kind of like an island.It was all covered in mat grass. The roof was only about four feet tall and it had shooting holes much like a pit would. On both sides he had observation holes to see out of it. It was a great setup because you could shoot in any direction. He ran extensions off of each side with grass mats on it that he could fold up for travel. Hope this helps.

[auto-5]

I have a floating blind on plastic drums. We hunt in backwater holes and the water is up and down. The rope works sometimes. We put 2 in pipe in the ground one on each end. Then installed arms with 3 in clamps. This worked out great. Slides up and down great.

[freefall319]

My buddy built one that is hollowed out in the middle with landing rails for the boat. It has a hydrolic lift for the door too. Just use the switch, open the door and drive the boat up onto the skid's and your in biz. It's nice. We use two big anchors made out of solid iorn that we welded into grapple hooks and attached them to the blind on hand crank winches. That way we can tighten them when we are in the blind if it is windy. Then we loosen them all the way up when we leave in case the water level changes.

Here are some pics.

http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq189/signaldoc319/ram2.jpg
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq189/signaldoc319/ram.jpg
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq189/signaldoc319/PICT0758.jpg
http://i446.photobucket.com/albums/qq189/signaldoc319/PICT0757.jpg