Looking for some advice/ideas

B

Blake Heller

Member
Hey guys,

I currently own a tracker grizzly 1860 cc and use it to hunt the salt marshes of long island. I have tried the big scissor style blind but its just makes that boat stand out way too much especially when the tide isnt at dead low. I have come to the realization that in order to chase puddlers in the salt marsh i may need a smaller rig to hide better. Ive tried to come up with a flapper design to lean against the center console but cant quite get it figured out.

I would like the option to hunt with 3 guys and my dog but maybe ill save that for my current boat and sea ducks and brant when hiding isnt as important. Either way id like room for at least 2 and my dog. Ive looked at TDB, Duck Boss (not sure if theyre still in production), and duck invader, and duck water mini me.

If anyone has suggestions for a different boat or better ways to hide my current boat that would be great! Thanks.
 
Blake

Tom Ayers is the former owner of Duck Boss. He recently sold Duck Boss to another builder but I've not heard if they are in production. Hopefully Tom will see this and provide input. If not you could send him a PM or email him (hi email is listed in his profile just search it up using the member directory http://www.duckboats.net/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?do=user_list ).

I'll let others provide opinions on the boats you mentioned. Now if you are interested in building I'd suggest you look into Devlin's Scaup, Cackler, or Snowgoose.

Eric
 
You'd be surprised how much boat ducks will come too, usually we think too much.
But Josh's rig will do the trick.
 
I lay the salt grass in bunches like shingles zip tying them on. I bought the salt hay and it is attached to black plastic snow fence. The blind frame is EMT conduit bent to form basically a spray shield in the front and rear. It gives my blind a round shape not a box shape. The sides slide up and down I have more pictures if you?re interested I hunt salt marsh in south jersey the average blind that is sold can only be used to shoot divers in the salt marsh. View attachment 7FD73CD1-D90B-4D90-86FD-3C97DCC3EA16.jpegView attachment 7C96094D-6EDF-4CE3-8480-70764C469448.jpegView attachment D725212B-F8AD-4D93-85D6-BB22B07CA2CF.jpegView attachment E91F456F-4D53-45D8-8401-E32419258730.jpeg
 
Are you sure its actually blind flaring birds or lack of grassing doing it? Nice as Commercial blinds & well built A Frame blinds are if not properly grassed puddle ducks will flare from them once harassed enough. Match as close as possible to your surrounding. Grassing it up good and covering your shoot holes might be the ticket if you,ve previously been lacking. Just something to consider[;)]
 
Thank you for all the suggestions!

I bought a ton of rafia grass to cover up the old blind but there were more issues to it than just cover. For example, when the blind was laid down to drive the boat, the rafia grass would be hanging in the water making it rot out. It also didnt cover overhead well and gave it that box type of look. I like the blind idea shown above for sure. I just want something I can leave on all season long and not have to take it off for trailering. However I would like to have flappers on both sides to cover the boat when the tide is high.

I sent a message on the duck boss website and received a reply from Steven Bush. Maybe he's the new owner now?
 
Budget plays a big roll in this I don?t put my grass down to the waterline it probably 8 inches from water I fold the blind in when trailering as in that picture and the grass folds to the center. I might have a 100 bucks in my blind and while it doesn?t have overhead cover it is tight around my head and they can fly directly over the boat. If I move my head I?m busted.
 
Yea theres no doubt about that! I like how you made it rounded at the front and back. Is that canvas that you placed over the top? I would love to see more pictures as i already have a bunch of conduit from the last build that i may be able to reuse. Is the blind removable? I use this boat for fishing in the summer as well.

Thanks again for the help.

Still open to the idea of having a dedicated sneakbox but I want to feel out all of my options. Also saw a picture of a Don Federanko boat and wondering if hes still producing those as they look very similar to a roy high box.
 
I build my a frame boat blinds so that cordura sides roll up around top rail and store along gunnels. Roll raffia grass to the inside thus stopping damage from trailering. When up theres about 28" to 30" opening down center. Use flapper doors on each side that store stacked on front deck till needed. Flapper doors depending on blind opening are approximate width for number of hunters that blind is built to hunt. I leave about 6" spaceing between flapper doors and attach them about 6" down from top of side wall. Doors are built from 3/4" SCD 40 plastic pipe, covered in plastic netting and grass attached to that. When up they leave about a 1' opening down centerline of blind, just enough to look out of and not be busted.
 
"The other issue with my other boat is that if the tide drops on me quickly its tough to push that boat out of the mud."

And therin lies the problem....There is NO one boat that is perfect for all [font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]occasions, or all conditions ,Too big, too small, too heavy, too......[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]There's workarounds for some of these problems, but it's not with one boat. lol[/font]
 
Yes, you,ve hit it right on the money about no one boat doing everything you want. Have several in my yd. Everything from a 2072 with full blind to a kayak. Welcome to the quest!
 
This is what I had set up last time. Basically a scissor with a flapper at the top. Attached to the boat with clamps for easy removal. In theory it was a good idea but the burlap backing would get tangled in everything and I kept having the conduit elbow connectors break.

Id be interested to see more pictures of blind designs for this style of boat.
View attachment IMG_B8D9BA06F7A8-1.jpeg
 
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Yeah, that ones too complicated.lol
Check out Cabelas northern flight, much simpler design, easy to replicate and change to what you need.

Sit on the floor or the low beach chairs, shoot sitting down, that will reduce your height of the blind a lot.
 
The front and back are a cheap brand of waterproof canvas. The blind is removable but it takes about 15 minutes. The weird part is I bought conduit connectors made for greenhouses to slide up and down. I made the other conduit connectors from threaded 3/4 inch pvc pipe and painted when I was done. The hardest part was zip tying grass I have over 1000 zip ties used. View attachment 7A42AF7A-9C54-44AD-B96B-3D318324DE55.jpegView attachment 69A4376A-9A38-43E0-A661-4426DF10563A.jpegView attachment 4B8F19E0-3BB2-4D3E-92E6-C8816AF19964.jpegView attachment A2324306-4A04-4E77-9B5C-096F1650FB62.jpeg
 
Sorry , have never taken a pic of either blind I,ve built but I,ll try to walk thru simple frame design. The blind is removed after season and stored till next. I took a piece of 1/4" aluminum angle and attached flush w/platform of front deck. Its about 8" long. Same deal in rear on rear of bench seat. My blind upright legs and top of wall frame are made from 1 1/8" tubeing. Its the top rail for chain link fences available at lowes/home depot, etc. Has swaged ends that allows you to cut and fit desired lengths to your application. My leg height allows frame top to rest on gunnels at either side of boat when down.
My legs form an open v at the center line of deck/top of seat. To attach legs to that piece of angle I mentioned earlier you cut 4 pieces of 1/4" aluminum angle about 2" long. Drill pivot hole for a corresponding hole in bottom of leg. 1/4" stainless bolt with a flat washer between leg and wall of angle . Use loc nut on bolt. On bottom of that piece of angle you drill another hole to attach it to a corresponding hole on top of that piece of angle you,ve attached from first step. 1" x1/4" stainless bolt w/loc nut join these 2 together. When blind is not needed you just undo those 4 bolts and store. I build my walls from 1000 denier cordura nylon w/pocket sewed in at top for that conduit to slide thru. When making wall pattern i extend in to bow and stern so wall is one continual piece. Front and rear doors attach to inside edges of this . To keep your open width inside between top rails I use 2" nylon webbing attached to top rails w/buckles in center. One on each end of blind wall and one in center. The one in center allows you to raise and lower both sections of blind wall together. Buckle it and then buckle ends. you,ll need to run 1" webbing down from top of blind wall to an attachment point on gunnel. I use footmans loops attached to gunnel but if you have a track you can make up some brackets for that application.These are what keep adjustment on blind wall height and keep it from sea sawing when erect. Now tell me this is all clear as MUD. This approach is on my 1648. I designed something completely different on my 2072 after originally using this design.
 
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gcs said:
"The other issue with my other boat is that if the tide drops on me quickly its tough to push that boat out of the mud."

And therin lies the problem....There is NO one boat that is perfect for all [font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]occasions, or all conditions ,Too big, too small, too heavy, too......[/font]
[font=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]There's workarounds for some of these problems, but it's not with one boat. lol[/font]
Click to expand...
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Agree 100%
 
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