Blind Grassing Questions

Jay K

Jay K

Active member
Hello everyone. I've been hunting for about 2 years out of my 14' Jon boat with a pop up blind. It continues to be a work in progress. My blind is a conduit blind with green deer fence draped down the sides to attach blind material.

Boat in year 1 was completely Raffia grass. It looked nice but the downfall was the grass was super messy, somewhat heavy, and i lost any "vertical relief" from the top of my blind.

Boat in year 2 I removed all the Raffia grass. I purchased some that mats and combined them with Raffia grass. It seemed to be a lot better but I encountered a couple issues. The grass mat tops seemed to flop over as the season went on and the upper portion of my blind didn't look quite right.

Do you guys have any thoughts? I was thinking about doing opposing mats this year with some Raffia tied in to fill the gaps. By opposing I mean one mat pointed up and one mat pointed down. Thanks guys!
 
is your blind frame an a frame design, narrow at top and reaching down over gunnels? Depending on area your hunting use some leafy limbs or bundles of grasses slopeing in over top edge to almost cover dark top hole. Either grassing loops or some o.d. bungee cords can be used to hold it in place while hunting. remove and store out of way when blind not erected.
 
is your blind frame an a frame design, narrow at top and reaching down over gunnels? Depending on area your hunting use some leafy limbs or bundles of grasses slopeing in over top edge to almost cover dark top hole. Either grassing loops or some o.d. bungee cords can be used to hold it in place while hunting. remove and store out of way when blind not erected.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty accurate description. I hunt mostly tidal. I was thinking maybe some salt hay tied to the top of the blind? I was having issues last year with the blind blousing into the boat at the bottom. I think I will correct this year with some eye rings on my boat to hold the blind in.
 
Sounds like you may need more tension in the netting. Do you tie it off top and bottom? I like the look of raffia on top of grass mats for the jersey salt marsh. I'd also make some bundles of tall salt hay that you can strap to the top rail to break up your outline. Make them removable so they maintain their shape and they do not get lost.
 
Hey jay, I'm also in jersey and hunt tidal areas. I have built a few blinds over the years and the best I have found was 1/2 inch square welded wire held to the frame with self tapping screws. It holds it tight and I would use a base of grass mats, with small bundles of salt hay ziptied sparaticly to break it up. For the top I also made a flip top to help. Let me know if you need a hand with the design I'd be glad to help if you are close.

Brian
 
Brian-
You're a good man. That's what I love about this site. There are some great people on here; always willing to help out others. Shout out to you, Steve Sanford, Bill Ferraro, Pat Gregory, Craig F., and all of the others that I haven't mentioned.
 
Brian-
You're a good man. That's what I love about this site. There are some great people on here; always willing to help out others. Shout out to you, Steve Sanford, Bill Ferraro, Pat Gregory, Craig F., and all of the others that I haven't mentioned.
Click to expand...

Thanks bill, I appreciate that. I don't post much anymore but I stumbled across this post and figured he could benefit from my trial and error.
 
I generally build my boat blinds to overlap gunnel 8" to a ft. depending on boat side height. Create a pocket in bottom of netting or cordura whichever covering is made from and insert a piece of 1 1/4 " schd. 40 electrical conduit into pocket for length of blind wall. This will create the bottom tension you desire when draped over side of boat. If a little more weight needed simply fill pipe with sand and cap ends. Gives a nice handle to roll up side walls as well when breaking down blind as everything I build rolls up and stows along gunnel inside boat.Roll it so that your raffia/ fast grass is inside bundle and no destruction when on hwy.
 
Even mixing in a little natural grass will do wonders for 'blendability' A few strategically mixed salt hay bundles zip tied to the grass mats really helps to break up the profile better. The trade off on mixing in too much natural grass is weight when it gets wet.
 
For top cover, and other cover even, take some bungee cords and stretch them from the port to starboard side. Zip tie raffia to it. Remove at end of hunt and store somewhere. Doesn't take much room, is lightweight, and is very moveable. I've done this on all three of my boats and it is the only way to go IMO.


Mark W
 
Mark that idea is pure genius and I am currently sitting here kicking myself for the inability to have come up with such a simple and undoubtedly effective method for breaking up the dreaded "black hole" in the top of the blind.
 
Well I definitely have some great ideas now. I like the electrical conduit tension for the bottom of my blind. This might be perfect for what I need to keep my blind curtains from blousing in. The bungee cord idea sounds perfect for the top. I'm going to run with some of these ideas.
 
Refineing boat blinds can become a bad addiction in the off season! Over the years I,ve built several for all manner of duck boats and always during the season find something I can improve upon. Currently getting ready to construct a new cordura covering for my 2072 seaaark. Got the pattern for cordura done , frame built, now comes the fun part listening to my wife grumble while sewing up the cordura on her home machine. 1000 denier not the easiest to work with on those type machines.
 
I tend to get frustrated with my design shortcomings. I don't like when a design doesn't go as planned. My girlfriend hunted with me the first time I took the boat out with the fast grass mats. She said I was absolutely unbearable with how frustrated I got when the blind curtains kept blousing into the boat. I'm very type A. I guess it is a good and bad thing.
 
for the New Jersey guys. Do you go out and harvest your own salt grass or do you buy it . If so where? went looking last fall and everything was only about 6 inches tall.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top