New Goose Rig

Kevin Stupp

Kevin Stupp

Active member
Finished my aluminum boat conversion and blind build. We've had the aluminum boat since the late '60s early '70s. No idea on manufacturer. 15' long, 4' wide.
planned as a goose and some early season duck rig. Prefer the sneak box for ducks when it's colder and the migration is on. But I wanted more room for goose decoys. I cut out the 3 bench seats that went all the way to the floor, leaving 1-1/2" of seat. Rivoted in 1-1/2" aluminum angle to both sides of each seat. Rivoted in aluminum caps to cover the seat sides. Put a layer of 1" foam under the floor. Put in 1/2" marine plywood floor screwed down with ss screws. Built pvc frame, which is screwed down to floor. Covered the blind with Max-4 cadora canvas, then netting. Used Avery Killerweed for grass. It has synthetic broom brissels for the top cover, they won't break over like real grass. I'm thinking of using a grass stencil on the hull, but i don't think much will be exposed above water line.

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Looks real good!

I don't think I'll ever be able to justify expense and time for a separate goose hunting boat from the duck hunting one!

Lucky lucky man...

Best of luck to you. Will you be heading out on Sep 1st?

Anthony
 
Anthony

I have about $200 in the blind and about the same in the boat. I've been wanting to open up the boat to give it more room to take my 6yr old daughter fishing. This also gives me enough room for my father and I to take her hunting too. About the same price as 2 layout blinds to goose hunt.
 
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I've had 4 dozen floaters and a dozen full bodies with 3 guys and a dog. It was a little tight on the ride until we got the decoys out, but is comfortable to hunt in though. That was last season, had the floor done, but had a diffenrt blind that I threw together with grass mats. I should be able to get the same with the new Killerweed blind.
 
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My wife found netting at a craft store. Attached it to the cadoura canvas with fire line. If I were to do it again, I'll attach strips of canvas about 10" apart, sort of like stubble straps on a lay out blind.
 
Kevin,

Have you thought about hanging the decoys on the outside of the boat during the ride...You can take two pieces of canvas and sew three edges then get hooks to hang off the side of the blind on the outside...It would free up some space...

Regards

Kristan
 
Jason,

No I personally haven't, but I have a friend that built a similar blind and it's gone thru 3 seasons with no problem. Main frame and upper part of legs are 2". The lower legs are 1-1/2". Flip downs are 3/4". Pull one pin in each leg and it drops down. Drilled out the top of 2" tee to allow lower leg thru 2" frame.
 
Sorry I do not have any pictures...I have hunted with guys whom have bags made to hold a dozen or so birds on the port and starboard sides on the outside of the blinds when riding too in from the blind...Most of the boats I have hunted are of the same concept...Rigid blinds on the boat that are not capable of folding down during transportation...

I do have a few thoughts on your blind and setup...

I think the blind will work wonderfully for you...Some pros of your design is that it seems roomy for two guys but will get some what cozy with the third man and the PVC is lightweight...

The only con I have on your design is that PVC though light weight gets brittle during extreme cold temperatures and tends to want to crack when added stresses are applied...As a hunter you know how tough you are on your gear..

In my experience I would hunt this blind as long as you can...Nothing is valued more during a hunt when you progress in making the hunt better for yourself in my opinion...Boats, blinds, and your own decoys to name a few...It may be 5 years before you beat the life out of what you created, who knows...But when you decide to change the blind I would recommend going to a pop-up/scissor style blind on your boat...Preferrably with the lightest square tubing you can afford in your journey...It can be lowered out of the way giving you more visibility during transit...Growing up experimenting with building, not buying ready made equipment, your cost can be fairly cheap...I am not that old but old enough to where canvas was the go to choice...But now there are many options with all the new fabrics on the the market that are pre-camoflaged with the latest brand name colors, are waterproof, and light weight...The new fabrics would be another choice but expensive...A 10 or 12 oz duck canvas that is waxed will be my ideal case of covering on the blind...It is wind proof, nearly 100% waterproof, can be painted to your liking, and is easy to maintain for many of seasons...There are many choices for your base fabric before you start adding fish nets to grass too...

Good luck this year with your rig...Hope to see many pictures of your successful hunts...


Regards,

Kristan
 
Kristan

Thanks for the input. If you ever come up with pictures of those goose decoy bags, I would like to see them.

As for pvc getting brittle in the cold, I thought of that, but this really only gets used in Sept goose and some Oct duck seasons. The rest of the time I have a 2 man sneakbox that I built 4 years ago.

I agree about the canvas. I use heavier weight duck canvas sprayed with waterproof spray on my sneakbox. The canvas is covered by grass mats, so you wouldn't see a camo pattern. The max-4 cadoura canvas on the aluminum boat was a few bigger scrap pieces leftover from tops on sneakboxes that we built to order. I had a canvas shop sew them together.

Thanks again. I always listen to any opinions and ideas as I'm always looking to improve on our designs.

P.S. The sneakbox will be for sale after this season. I'm building a new one for myself.
 
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