Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Building a shooting house

I built a house with those exact same braces using 8' 4x4s. You can go longer but heed a couple things:

1) Pay attention to the directions they come with. Make sure you use 2x6, not 2x4s for the sides of your floor. You'll need them to put lag bolts into the sides.
2) DEFINITELY use cross braces on your legs. Run them from the very top of one leg to the very bottom of the other leg. This is where the support of your legs come into play.
3) The taller the house, the more careful you'll need to be when pulling it up to keep it from falling on over. Take your time and go SLOW. There's plenty of videos on youtube of folks pulling them on over on accident. The best way to built is modular. Build your floor first with legs and then pull it up. After it's up, add your walls and ceiling.
4) Use some type of anchor system. I drilled holes in my legs large enough to run rebar through them at opposite angles of the legs. I then bent the rebar at the top to act as an anchor.

I would go 4x6 as a minimum. This can fit two hunters and some of my hog hunting friends even have a cot in theirs for all nighters. Definitely anchor the blind from the get go to avoid an accident. In sandy soil we use T-posts or the big screw type mobile home storm anchors. In rock we drill into the biggest ledge around and sink moly bolts with a ring eye on them. Many of the locations don't have large trees around to use for guy wires.

I like double walls with at least sheet foam insulation this helps with heat or cold and muffles any noise. If it will be a long term set up use good materials and paint everything before assembly especially the edges of plywood. We also caulk all joints with liquid nails. This cuts noise and eliminates crevices for creepy crawly things and hornets. I put a screened roof 4-way vent on one stand and it works well to funnel heat and odors upwards if a heater is used. Also reduces fumes or carbon monoxide build up.

I like windows that raise upwards and forms an awning to help shade the inside of the blind. The nicer ones also have sliding plexi-glass windows for bad weather. Add corner shelves and pad any place a rifle might be rested. I use foam pipe insulation on the window sills and old carpet everywhere else.

i like a 4x4 with a boat seat on a pedestal, and a swivel right in the center. Same distance to every wall, which is just right for me. I can look out of every side, even though some of my stands only have a view in 3 directions. I can open the window and get air moving or close it and block the wind. If you have a 2x4 in the center of the wall, and you should, turn it flat so your knees will clear better. miles