Panel Ground Blind

I finally got to go cut some trails, check my stand and build a new blind on my 30 acre spot. I was happy to find that everything I left last year was still there, my ladder stand, blind and seats. I was really happy to see the work trimming trees and bushes over the last few years has cut down on how much I need to do each fall. It only took a couple of hours to have 90% of the trails cut plus a new blind built after finding some new trails. I want to go back to remove some bigger stuff, mainly privet which has invaded. While I was building my blind I thought some of you might like to see how I do this type. It takes a little work at home but is fast to set up, inexpensive to build, last for years, we even used a version of this type for duck hunting way back when.

As kids we came up with this idea for portable, light weight duck blinds. We didn’t have much money but bought some 8 foot 2x2 lumber, built a tapered frame about 6 feet long by 4 feet high maybe 4 feet wide at the bottom and 3 at the top, which we covered in chicken wire. We could put a couple of these on our boat, take them to where we wanted to hunt and quickly brush them in and have room for two hunters in each. After a hunt we stored them in the woods till we hunted that spot again. They were light enough for one person to carry by simply getting inside, picking it up and walking off. This is the idea behind this quickie deer blind build, not portable but cheap and easy to use.

If you look around you may find a construction site that has a junk lumber pile, most will let you take scraps good enough for this project. Grab any 2x4 or larger lumber they will let you have. For wire I used fence wire with 2”x4” openings rather than chicken wire because they were built for something else and chicken wire wasn‘t strong enough. I decided to use the ones already built rather than build new ones for my new blind since these are so simple to do I can replace them if I need more. Here is how to make your own.

If you buy the wood just get 2”x2” in 6 foot lengths, you need 3 for each panel along with 3” and 2” screws, chicken wire or fence wire 3’ high. If you use scrap lumber you will want to rip it to width to get your 2x2s. Cut the 2”x2” pieces so you have two pieces 33 inches long and two 6 feet long. They don’t need to be perfect a ¼” won’t make a difference. Use a drill bit smaller than the diameter of your screws to predrill holes in the sides of the long pieces near the ends and into the ends of the short pieces. This will keep it from splitting. I made some gussets for the corners out of ½ inch plywood to strengthen the corners. Predrill these and the 2x2s. Now just screw the parts together. After I have the panel made I use a staple gun to attach the wire to the frame. You can use scrap wire, zip ties, twine or whatever you can think of to attach it.  This should give you a panel 6 feet long by 3 feet high, it will take 3 or 4 to build your blind in most spots. You could make them half as long to build a blind with more angles which would work just fine.

Once I get them to the woods I look around for trees close to a trail where I can attach them. The panels in the pics are formed into a triangle using three trees, two panels and a couple of pieces from an old blind. After I tied them to the trees I started to cut my shooting lanes I used whatever I cut to brush in the panels. You can weave pieces into the wire or use string or zip ties to hold them in place. The more brush you add the more places you have to easily weave more in. It took less than 30 minutes of leisurely trimming lanes, brushing in while checking trails to have it finished.

One good thing about these panels is you can adjust the height by attaching them higher or lower to the tree. If you wanted to make a narrower panel you could add these above the lower one to create a shooting window and give yourself more cover. There are several ways to add a roof if you want one. In other words it can be as simple or elaborate as you want it and still be able to tear it down to move it in very little time. From using trees in the area to driving some metal posts as corners this blind has tons of possibilities.