Floating Duck Blind on Barrels Help??

Dave Sikorski

Dave Sikorski

Well-known member
It sounds like we're going to build a floating duck blind on plastic 55 gal barrels. It's gonna be in a tidal area out on a mud flat.

It seems pretty straight forward, but does anyone have any pics or do's and don'ts?

I'm thinking pretty wide and lots of barrels, w/ 4 posts deep into the bottom that the blind can ride on with the tide.

I can tell you one thing, I'm buying mudders and hoping that the dogs like playing in the mud.

-D
 
Dave~

I've never owned (or had to take car of) a floating blind but they have been used for a long time on Long Island's eastern bays. They anchor the blinds so they can weathervane - and because heavy ice can be a problem,too. I believe they typically use one large mooring (mushroom) anchor and then use smaller anchors on the corners to maintain position while gunning.

Best of luck,

SJS
 
Ah ha....Weathervaning....perfect...Didn't think of that.

Maybe one big steel pole sunk into the hard ground below the mud would let it swing as needed.

The mud flat has a few little channels on it that stay wet even on blow out tides, and we'll place it along one of them for access, but I'd expect half of this things life to be spent sitting on mud instead of floating.

THANKS...keep it coming.

-D
 
We built one that we anchored out using cables. It worked pretty good until some jackleg shot the barrels full of holes. After that it lost it's luster and we never fixed it.
If I was going to make another one I would use something besides barrels for floatation.
 
Dave,

I've seen them done many ways, almost all have a failing of one kind or another. Think wide...10'x12' minimum...any less and the wind and topheaviness will try and flip it. Build a platform on the front and back of the actual blind box...can be used for the dog, getting in and out of the boat, taking a leak, etc. But most importantly adds stability by making a wide stance with the weight in the middle. Make cradles that go around the barrels and then strap them into these cradles. Plan on bringing it in after the season. Secure the heck out of it, whatever you plan to do, double it! Think belt and suspenders! I'd add an anchor on a chain in addition to your posts. If it gets stuck too bad in the mud, put a float on it and use it next year, but if possible, bring it in to a safe place. Between ice, spring wind storms, and floods (mind you , no tide or hurricanes), 4 of 5 years we had a floating blind, we either had to right it out of the mud or were chasing it down come spring. We tried many things, learned a lot from our mistakes, and I took away a lot of ideas of how I would build one if I ran into a situation where this was the best option again.

Hope this helps,

Chuck
 
Like Chuck said sure that you leave a "platform" in the front to keep the blind balanced, otherwise it will sit unevenly and rock terribly every time you stand up to shoot. For an anchor we drilled two eye bolts into the back of the blind, put a mushroom anchor up in the marsh and tied a rope from each eye to the mushroom. To angle the blind depending on the wind you can pull in one rope and tie it off.
-Erik
 
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Make sure you put doors on each side, nothing worse than crossing in front of everyone to get out to take a leak.
 
On Long Island the guys use blue floatation foam logs used for floating docks. These are recessed in the deck and 2x10's put over them so you can move it on a trailer. Also holds the foam in. This will sit lower in the water than barrels. Alot of the large bay blinds have walking room around the blind. Very stable also.
As far a anchoring with poles, not a great idea. Most blinds here have one large main anchor [mushroom or very large plow. The other two are used to position the blind for the wind. Most have 4x4 corner posts to tie anchors. Use chain and alot of rope. Most tie a black lobster buoy directly to the anchor so you can lift it to position the blind without getting too wet. Also easier to find the anchor.
If you build it like a barge it will tow better if you have a long tow. I have seen a few plans on the net.
 
Have you thought about using a "retired" pontoon boat frame? There's one on Craigslist South Jersey right now.
I would imagine that after Sandy there would be a few available.
Ken Miller
 
I'd prefer a pontoon boat, but I can't seem to find one for a decent price.

I saw that one on Craigslist and it seems to me that they're awful proud of it.

thanks for the info, keep it coming

-D
 
the ideal anchor is similar to a mooring for any boat that you see that sits at harbor. it would ideally consist or a large poured concrete footing with a shackle that can pivot attached to a line and then bridled to two corners of the blind. you would then use a second smaller anchor that deployed to maintain position when hunting. If i was building it, and it was shallow, for a lightweight blind i'd fill a 5 gallon bucket with concrete on site and imbed the shackle. Additionally, i'd bore a hole in the blind floor inboard of each corner for spud poles to be deployd while hunting. I'd make the spuds out of pvc angle cut at the bottom and t'd at the top.
 
Dave,

I've built two floating blinds, but did NOT use barrels. I found a Lidsey water softener dealer, who had a bunch of the large tubs that you load the softener salt in. I also found a commercial freezer manufacturer that used the spray foam in their freezers and fridges. They have to "unload" those guns at the and of the shift, and thgey filled the rectangular tubs with foam. This made them really heavy, but they floated high, and were easy to mount to the wooden base. They were also UNSINKABLE, and muskrat proof. Do NOT use styrofoam, as the muskrats will burrow in that in a matter of a few nights

My blinds were single "muskrat house" style blinds, that I towed out and brought back when done hunting. You could leave them out as well. The rectangular shape made it really easy to mount, rather than using the round barrels. I still have the barrels, as at my age, I want my legs in the boat, NOT sitting in cold water for 4-5 hours.

I pulled the "rat" blinds apart, and kept the tubes. I will probably list them on the "Classified" part of the site, as I have no use for them anymore.

If you want a real nice shooting platform, find an old pontoon with leaking tubes, and drain and foam those. I've shot off of a 20' pontoon, converted to a blind. Really sweet. It was on a private lake, and three different shooting parties used it. Everybody knew when the others planned on shooting and we set up a schedule. This would really be hard to do with today's crowd!

Art
 
david, if you can access back issues of wildfowl, there are always some blind shots in there--For stability, you can always partially fill the barrels with water to make the floater more stable. Check the local Shopper magazine--they have everything.
 
Dave

A local management area near me has a blind draw every year for floating blinds. By far the most popular and succesful way of anchoring the blinds is using a 14' or so 3" pipe on each corner. Basically you have a ring secured to the blind in each corner and you drop a pole in that sticks in the mid bottom. The blind moves up and down as needed by changes in water levels. This method prevents the blinds from moving over the course of the season as the pipe tend to dig in. By the time the season is over you have to use a large pipe wrench to twist them free from the mud. A lot of methods have been tried, including anchors with log outstretched ropes, but after 50 or so years of trial and error four pipes is the best solution.

As for the shape the most popular is a "pyramid." The blind has two doors on the end where you pull your boat into and park it under the blind floor. Two rows of dock flotation, etc., provide ample bouyancy for 4+ guys who shoot out of an opening on the top of the blind. All four sides slope inward hence the "pyramid" reference.

Eric
 
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the big pontoon blinds I have hunted out of use a barrel anchor to secure them. One off the NE corner one off the SW corner with some slack in the looped cable. at the end of season they unharness one end of the cable and pull it through the loop on the anchor and just leave it. I have never hunted out of a barrel flotation blinds but the pontoon blinds are very stable.
 
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