I have an elevated platform with steel legs and a heavy duty plywood deck with astroturf covering the deck. It measures about 6 feet tall and about 6 feet square. I have the platform set up to watch about a 3 acre food plot on my 40 acres in NE Wisconsin. I'm looking at the cost/time for building my own blind on it versus getting a commercial hard side blind. I've built blinds before, but have never used a commercial one. Of course I've been looking around online and can tell you pretty much get what you pay for with a commercial blind. But are there any gems out there? A commercial blind that's a decent product at a decent price, a good value? Thanks in advance and look forward to your replies.

I have 3 Sportsmans codos very heavy duty and pricey. I also have 3 Maverick 5 shooter bilnds. I really like them. Light weight and pretty durable. Not the quality of the Condos but I have had one up for 8 years and one for 5. Just put one more up in Sept.

I have a Dillon and and an Antler King, but haven't priced one in a while. Both of mine are 2-person tower stands with windows.

We have a local shop that's about 3 miles from my house that builds traditional wooden tower stands of different designs and heights. They build so many and are so efficient that cost remains about a third to a quarter of a commercial model., although it is a much simpler design. Guys drive up from South Louisiana and buy 3-4 at a time, take them home on tandem trailers.

Tag for future reference. My open tripod stand is a little cool some days!

Check out Shadow Hunter blinds. Have held up well in Colorado weather.

I have a Redneck. Only one I own other than the homemade jobies. I like it.

i prefer the commercial hard plastic blinds we have both on our property , i am not building any more plywood blinds they just get old , rotten , bug and rodent problems too so far the hard plastic stands seem much better and stay like new ,with no bug or rodent problems.

The Maverick 5 and 6 shooters are a sleeper for sure. Easy setup with only the two halves.

Dean, the company is in Pulaski (just outside of GB) - so you can pick it up on your way through.

Great info, thanks! The 40 is about 1/2 hr east of GB too...

Give me a shout if you need a hand.

If you want something between the hard plastic and the Redneck blinds, check out the lazyman blinds

https://mylazymanstands.com/stands.html

If you keep paint on plywood, it will take you out.

My one non-homemade blind is a Redneck. Had it for maybe 6 years or more. No problems at all with it.

They will ship to you.

I am checking into the plastic also. Just picked up 25 acres and I want to be able to move them if I need to. If they were just a bit bigger I thought about getting a couple unserviceable porta johns and put some windows in it.

They do make bigger, handicap port-a-johns. As a bonus, seats are already built in with storage compartment underneath! Lol!

Good thinking on the handicap johns, didn't think of the storage underneath plus you could extend the tube on the bottom of the urinal into the ground.

We have a number of Dillon blinds from Dillon Manufacturing. Some are 15 years old and still look nearly new.

Thanks duckster, I'll look those up too...

We’ve got 3 Formax brand boxes on our lease .
They come in 4x4 and 4x6 , mounted 16 feet up on a platform, I’ve got a heater and an office chair from Goodwill . Bring your lunch and stay for the day . They have dove-tailed corners and you assemble them with a rubber mallet .
Check their web site.
Soup

Thanks Soup!

You mind sharing the info on these guys? My dad hunts in desoto parish and needs a new one next year.

Sure thing. Tiger Bend outdoors in Marion, LA. (Union Parish)

They have a FB page that shows a trailer loaded with their box stands. Good people.

Thanks! I’ll check them out.

I’d recommend a shadow hunter blind. We have several and they are comfortable and quiet to hunt from. I add 3/4” rubber stall mats cut to fit for when my five year old son is bouncing around it helps with the noise. Also have great results with blind turtle blinds. They are lightweight and easy to move as needed.

Are the actual windows included with the shadow blind, $600 is a good price.

On our place we have wooden homemade blinds as well as commercial models from Sportsman Condo, Muddy and Terrain. The Terrain Edge was the cheapest of the three but would not recommend as it's flimsy and the door rattles in the wind. The Muddy was the most expensive and the most disappointing as it leaks around the windows and down the inside of the walls. The walls after being up a year have bowed in and have swelled in places. I wouldn't recommend this brand to anyone. The Sportsman Condos have been the absolute best of the bunch in terms of price and construction. It was a 1 piece molded shell and is thick plastic. It comes with the base to slide your 4x4s into to get it off the ground. I think we gave around $1100 at the time for the Sportsman Condo SC-3. The Muddy Striker was around $2k with 15' platform and the Terrain Edge was around $300.

With any of the blinds, I highly recommend checking window height before purchasing. Some have the windows too high for sitting/aiming.

I’ve hunted out of Ranch King, Maverick, Shadow Hunter and Redneck. We ended up picking up a number of Rednecks. They’ve been great and CS is good.

Lots of great info here, thank you!

Tag

I might build someone a metal base for a 300 bucks if they buy the material. They would have to come pick it up, Dave ain’t delivering. I’ll be looking for things to do after Friday.

LOL! Hanco, I've been retired for almost 4 years now. I honestly don't know how I used to have time to go to work! Hahaha!

We have elevated wooden decks on our property that we put pop up hub blinds on during the season and pull them in the off season.
I will never use a permanent shooting house again.

No mouse pizz or mice
No dirt dobbers
No waspers or hornets
Nothing all chewed up beyond recognition

IF I want to shoot deer from out of a house and pretend I'm hunting, I'll do it where my wife can serve lunch and bring me a beer.

There's always one, at least this time it's not me.

I think I’m gonna be that way too

Antler shed blinds , all metal construction with a sloped roof In which you can fully stand up in. There’s a rifle rest shelf that’s above the windows which is an awesome feature.

https://youtu.be/ljK5QBIZ1mg

https://youtu.be/uEQDhby1aqU

You've sure got a lot of opinions – we're so blessed.

The older you get, the less you want to sit on a rock and freeze your ass off. When I was young, it didn’t bother me, does now.