Floating duck blind- DIY

Buddy of mine built one out of those plastic blue barrels. His design was to pull the boat in the middle and shooting porches on each side. He floated it out to his spot and waited on opening day. Well a storm came thru and blew the blind down wind and it somehow 1/2 way sunk. Then somebody stole a few of the good barrels that were left. So he goes out there and shoots the other good barrels that were left. I still rag him from time to time.

Buy a used float boat. Strip it down to the deck. Build your blind upon it. Keep it low profile. 4' at the shooting rail. Roof ~5'.

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We made a badass one out of an old 16' pontoon boat.

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I have a buddy in Idaho who built the best duck blind I ever hunted out of from a 30 foot pontoon boat. It is basically a BIG layout boat. It has 4 shooting spots below the floor which are more or less layout blinds and the entire thing is brushed with natural vegetation. It looks just like a matted up mess of vegetation floating. it is at most 2 feet above the surface of the water. Ducks and geese have no idea it is there....herons and sea gulls will light on it while 4 men and two dogs are sitting in it talking. It is layout shooting so it takes some getting used to but it is effective. The beautiful thing about it is that it can be towed to the center of a body of water where decoy and blind shy birds roost and they pay it no attention at all. The down side is it requires a ferry to get to it if it is in water too deep to wade. I have hunted out of it on the Snake and Columbia Rivers and his son ferried us to it both times in an enclosed 28 foot jet boat with AC and Heat. Ducks and geese never knew it was there. It takes 2 vehicles and (blind and ferry) and someone has to ferry the others to it but it is so effective its usually only a couple of hours before they are limited out. It would probably be possible to put a tiller outboard on it and make it mobile but the shooting "stations" are at or below the water line so it ain't a speed demon.

I have seen other people use the same set up with lay out blinds on the deck....effective but not as effective as being below the deck. It is really close to being a coffin blind which is, if I am not mistaken, no longer legal by federal regs. It is, for all practical purposes, a giant lay out boat but far more comfortable and stable....

That was on Lake Mary in Woodville. Water came up and there was not enough slack in the rope to allow the blind to rise with the water level. They began to unload and it flipped. 3 got stuck in it all while the rest of the crew were helpless in the dark trying to rescue.

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Hunted a few that were the average barrel kind but tied to a tree with a come along or ratchets on a piece of an inlet of a river and they have been pretty good. The typical one around here is pushed out when the water gets too high and it's more of a floating boat shed. Barrels and foam with wooden walls and an an open a frame design with a few areas to shoot out of and you brush whatever side is to your back.

Bought a hunt at a DU banquet at the Delta near Jonesville. It was a floating blind tied to the bank at a point were two bayous intersected. It was on pontoons and you pulled the boat underneath. My buddy crawls in first then I and the guide behind me. When the owner of the blind steps on one of the pontoons, it starts to roll over. It was pitch dark and you could feel it, but couldn't see it start to roll. The guide hollers at the owner to get back in the boat, and the blind rights itself. Could of been a bad situation for sure. The owner had to sit in the boat the rest of the hunt. The rain had made the top half of the blind heavier with all the brush and such.

Yep. I worked with the guy whose family died. Great people. Fricking horror story. Still say a little prayer for them every once in a while.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I found 5-6 of those dock deck floaters. 24x48x12.

I think w 6 of them it should be doable. They say up to 400lbs per float so should be able to stay under that w materials and bodies.

Pontoons would be ideal just have not come across a deal on them yet. Going to be on the lookout.