Boat blind search

K

Kevin Puls

Well-known member
My recent hunting trip with John Yenulonis to the coast has cost me a couple thousand dollars! I now have a renewed passion for waterfowling, a new dog and spanking new tracker grizzly. I am considering going commercial blind at this point. I have no objection to building my own but find that when I did that before I ended up spending a lot more on materials that made it worth my time.

The problem with my search is that I can only find a few pictures on the manufacturers websites. I would like to see these blinds on boats in person. If anyone here in Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia or western Pennsylvania has an avery quick set or beavertail blind I could see, please let me know. I get through all of these areas for work.

I have not ruled out building one again, so if anyone has made one they love in this region, let me know!

It will be going on a 1648 grizzly.
 
Well, I live in northern Illinois, but here are some photos plus some points to deal with when buying a BeaverTail boat blind. First off, I am very pleased with how mine turned out. Keep this in mind though. When you purchase a commercial blind, there is no such thing as "one that fits all".

At first, I placed only the frame on my boat and then determined what modifications would work best. This involved cutting a couple of poles and placing others in different positions. However, this was really easy to do...after I came to realize the situation. It was actually kind of fun to make sure it was a perfect fit.

I did need to take it to a local canvas sewing shop to move (actually make) new, lower pole slots for the ones that sat on the gunnels. I had the cordura, had the positions marked and the shop sewed it while I waited (half hour job - $40 cost).

Once the "fitting" was completed, the blind "skeleton" was taken off the boat and set on saw horses. I wanted to mud it to take the initial sheen off it. Once the mud was dry, the excess mud was hosed off.

The next step was to "jazz up" the cover strips and add a Power Hunter lid from my old layout blind (that I wasn't using anymore).

To break up the boat outline, I painted fake log shadows on the sides and flocked them (while still wet)with brown nylon flocking. A dog door was installed. Raffia hanks were woven into the plentiful cover strips and only on the sides. The blind looks a bit boxing when first up, but the top is broken up on each hunt by placing cover from the "spot" into the top strips.

The ends were a bit tricky to deploy at first over the bow and stern motor in deep water. However, I used my ski pole, walking stick to do this and it became a non-issue.

The blind is a very easy "up and down" (anytime) which makes for zero complications during a hunt. It rides out of the way when going to and from. The blind cover for "down the road" is very effective.

On a nasty late season day I can tuck the ends in tight, throw/snap a small cordura cover over the top flaps, turn on my Mr. Buddy Heater and take the cold edge off. The blind is a snug fit. Mine is the Beavertail 1800 series.

This blind is really well built.

dried mudding process
b7BeavertailMuddedBoatBlindWEB.jpg


front side
BlindLid3WEB.jpg


Power Hunter lid
BlindLid4WEB.jpg


closeup
BlindLid1WEB.jpg


dog door
DogOpeningBlindWEB.jpg


riding position
7HuntsOverWEB.jpg


Daisy on the front deck - hunting
b10DaisyDiverHuntWeb.jpg

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Thanks for the write up Jim. One of the things I like about beavertail is the no drill setup. Did you simply cut the hole for the dog? I'm guessing you reinforced the edges. The flip top you transferred was a great idea, I'm guessing if you don't do that you simply have a hole to sit in and look through that does not have a hatch or anything?
 

One of the things I like about beavertail is the no drill setup.
That's right. The blind clamps to the gunnels. Just make sure when ordering to measure the size and structure of your gunnel. Not all clamp brackets are the same. If they know ahead of time they will fit.

Did you simply cut the hole for the dog? I'm guessing you reinforced the edges.
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After carefully deciding where to cut the hole, I used waterproof contact cement to glue it in place. After the glue dried, I used a Speedy Sticher to reinforce the attachment.

The flip top you transferred was a great idea.
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Thanks. The "lid" was already part of my Predator layout blind setup....so attaching it to the boat blind was simple.

I'm guessing if you don't do that you simply have a hole to sit in and look through that does not have a hatch or anything?
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That's true. The "flap and hole" hatch is clumsy. I've seen other adaptions which used a frame to flip back. These immediately made me think of my Power Hunter lid. It is a perfect fit for the opening.

Holes were punched in the cover right were the top support poles run and a zip-tied ring was attached. Alligator snaps on the lid complete the mount (easy on and off). With the lid's mesh design (bubble) and strategic additions of rafia, there's almost 360[font=Times New Roman, serif]º visibility. A big plus is you can move your head around without spooking any working ducks.

I posted the lid idea awhile back (other forums, too) and recently observed the impact. There have been a few WTB ads on duck hunting forums for multiple Power Hunter lids.

[/font]Here's a better picture of the how the blind rides on the boat with the "down the road" cover on. When setup for hunting, the cover is usually off. This day, I was doing a "pack in hunt" and leaving camp later in the day.

BeforeWinterWEB.jpg
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I have a Beavertail on my 1756 and really like it. The one problem I have with it is that I did not use any type of never-seize on the clamp bolts when I assemblied it. I use copper based anti seize from lock type on just about everything but just didn't think about when I installed the blind the first year. that may not be a problem for some guys but we hunt the salt water and the clamps seized solid up the first year. I can get replacements from Beavertail but they were like $50 each, gonna have to do a little "remodeling" on it this summer.
 
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