Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Metal, wood, poly, or fiberglass for deer stand

I am in the process of researching deer blinds and wanted to see what everyone's thoughts were on the pro's and con's of each of the materials. It seems that each year I buy 2 new pop up blinds to the tune of about $250 because I just never seem to make the time to take them down and store them. They are great for concealment and keeping the rain off you but they don't do much to keep you warm and I think a more sturdy structure would create a better hunting experience for my wife and kids.

I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and recommendations.

Are you building your own or buying a complete stand?

I build my own and prefer treated wood with sheet metal roofing. Wood keeps the noise level down when the kids bump the stand vs metal or thin plastic. It's also easy to lap the joints and recess the doors to keep wasp from entering in the warm months.

Of the mass produced stands, my favorite are the fiberglass stands such as the Texas Deer Stands brand. They are quiet, durable, and the windows and doors seal fairly well. If you have wasp in your area, you need a blind that seals very well.

I've hunted in the cheap "The Blynd" plastic stands as well and they are ok, but loud and they don't seal out wasp/bugs in the off season. We have one of these stands that's going on about 15yo and it's finally starting to crack in various places. "You get what you pay for" definitely applies on box blinds. Cry once and buy a nice FG stand or have a good carpenter build a stand with quality materials and it will last for decades.

We've been building "wood decks in the sky" for a number of years on our property. Put up some low walls, add a metal roof, and that'll about do it.

I build the tower out of metal, stand out of wood. Glass windows, metal roof. Pretty easy to move. It helps to be a welder.

Permanent locations, or movable? Elevated, or ground level? We have a couple of Dillon fiberglass units and they are rather nice, but expensive.

One of the neater blinds we have is a 4x6 metal frame ground blind with plywood panels that was built on pipe skids with the ends turned up like a sleigh. Crossbars were then welded to the upturned ends so we can run a strap around them and tow with a Polaris or tractor. If we need a bit more elevation, we put them up on a few cinder blocks.

I've seen them built on a small trailer. Roll it where you want, stand it up and tie down

Treated wood is relatively inexpensive and will last quite a while.

I built mine from 1" square tube and R-panel.....light and will last near forever.

Semi-permanent location, elevated. The land I hunt on is not my own and we simply have permission to hunt it so if for some reason that permission were to be withdrawn, I would want to be able to remove the blind.

I almost pulled the trigger on an Antler Shed Deer blind (5x6 bow/gun combo) the other day but am really wondering if fiberglass is the way to go. I like some of the T-Box and Hercules fiberglass blinds but I have not seen them in person. I am just not sure what the major advantages and disadvantages are to each. Fiberglass is obviously lighter which would be easier to move etc but may explode in the event of a blow over.

In that case, and based on the fact that it appears you see it as a worthy investment, I'd go fiberglass. We have a couple of fiberglass units on short towers and one that is riveted aluminum panels with carpet backing, both seem like they will last for a long time and were not hard to put up. Most of those guys that sell a lot of upper end store-bought stands make a good product. Just dig a few deep post holes around the stand, pour them 90% full of sakrete, and then stick some screw-in mobile home anchors down in there, leaving the eyes of the anchors just a bit below ground level. Put some heavy duty ratchet straps on the stand frame and it won't be blowing over. If you have to relocate, just fill in the rest of the anchor holes with rock and dirt so the metal eyes are not sticking up to catch a bush-hog blade somewhere down the road. That's what we do.

I like the insulated all metal stands best. I think they are the most comfortable. However, they are heavy and tough to move. Fiberglass would be a good option for you. It'll last allot longer than wood and you would be able to move it. They aren't light but you would still want to anchor it to keep it from blowing over.

Fiberglass over foam is light quiet and durable. If you want it to last glass in both sides. These are cooler when it is hot and warmer when cold. A lot of trouble to make but you will only do it once. Keep the exterior painted and the fiberglass will not deteriorate probably for the rest of your life. This can go over an aluminum tube frame or steel and be modular for storage or transport.

For treestands, I prefer roomy buddy style ladder stand made from welded 1" steel tube. I just pulled 4 of them out after a decade or more of service. The oldest is completely rusted out (16 years) . The newer ones are due to be repainted and put back out.

I've worked a couple of MFG jobs over the years that gave me access to scrap wood used for packing crates, pallets and skids. As a result, I've got gobs of scrap 2X4, 2X6 and 3/8" plywood. My oldest ground blind (2003) is made from a large packing crate. This year, I had to redo the roof, but the rest of it is sound. Cheap 3/8" plywood sheathing will stay good as long as you use good primer, seal the edges and maintain the paint job with decent latex. I set my blinds a short distance off the ground with scraps of treated wood or bits of fence posts.

I frequent the "OOOPS BIN" at Home Depot and Lowes. $30/gal mistints go for $5-$10.

My weblog is filled with discussions of treestands, ground blinds, etc. In fact I've got a lot of recent activity on that very subject. Feel free to browse and PM me with questions.

We have several Dillon Manufacturing blinds and they have held up quite well, some are nearly 10 years old.