Build a Portable Blind for your Deer Stand

Deer season is coming up, and I wanted to build a blind to hang around my deer stand.  I looked around the shop to see what I had on hand, and then I set to work building.  The finished blind was built from about 90% recycled scraps and pieces, and I think the end product does a pretty good job of concealing me from my quarry.

These are the tools and materials that I used:

Tools

Hacksaw

Electric Drill and bit

Measuring tape

Pencil

Hammer

A few nails

Scissors

Straight pins

Materials

One joint (20 feet) of ½” PVC pipe

One ½” PVC “T”

Four ½” PVC 90’s

Some PVC glue

A small piece of sheet metal about 3” x 6”

Three partial cans of spray paint (I had some black, green, and gray in the shop)

Two pieces of camo netting

Three old burlap sacks (feed sack size)

Some permanent fabric glue

My finished blind is about 46” x 46”.  If you make yours any bigger you may want to step up to ¾” PVC to support the additional weight.  I made the curtains for the blind out of stuff that I already had around.  Your can make your curtains any way that you want depending on what materials you have access to. This is how I put the blind together:

First I cut my ½” PVC into lengths. Three pieces 44” long, two pieces 21 5/8” long, and one piece 51” long. 

I cut one end of the 51” piece at a 45 degree angle and drilled a ¼” hole in the part sticking out.

Next I glued the PVC “T” onto the flat end of the 51” piece.  You want to do this so that when the “T” is lying flat, the angle on the other end is up-and-down and not sideways.  This is the only joint on the frame that I glued.  The rest of it just fits together by friction.  That way you can disassemble the frame for easy transport and storage. 

Now it’s a simple matter of snapping the framework together.  What you end up with is a square with the “T” joint on the front and the 51” piece angling up at about 45 degrees.  The angled piece will act as a brace that attaches the front of the frame to the tree.

I used my spray paint to paint a camo pattern on the framework.

The back of the square framework will be held to the tree using a bracket made from the 3” x 6” sheet metal.  To form the bracket I used a short piece of PVC and bent the sheet metal into a “U” shape to fit over the PVC. 

I gave the bracket a coat of spray paint to make it less visible.

Now on this next part I had a little help from my wife.  She took the two pieces of camo netting, folded down about four inches along one edge, and ran it through her sewing machine.  This made a kind of sleeve that fits over the PVC like a curtain goes over a curtain rod.

Okay, we’re ready for a little test assembly.  I set the blind up on the ground to see if it would hold together the way I hoped.  If everything is good, I will finish up the curtains and climb up into my deer stand for final assembly.

First I nail the bracket to the tree with the back cross piece in place.

Next I put a PVC 90 on each end of the cross piece and then push the side pieces into the 90’s.

Now I add 90’s to the front of the side pieces, and then shove a short front piece into each of these 90’s.

I thread the curtains onto each side of the framework.

Then I shove the free ends of the front pieces into the PVC “T”.

Next I drive a 16 penny finish nail into the tree to hold the top of the angle brace.

Lift the whole works up and slip the hole in the top of the angle brace over the nail that I have driven into the tree.

Everything looks good, so I disassemble it and put the finishing touches on the curtains.

I cut the side a bottom on my burlap bags and lay them out on a temporary table.  Then I use my spray paint to pain a camo pattern on the burlap.

I take scissors and cut the burlap into strips about two inches wide.

I hang my netting up on a rope and pin the burlap strips to the netting.  I pin the strips about an inch below the top.

Then I run a bead of fabric glue along the top of the strip and put another pin right on the spot I glued.

I let the glue dry over night.  The next morning I pulled all of the pins out, and the burlap seemed to be firmly attached.  I took the whole outfit down to my deer stand, climbed up, and put it all together.  I think this will be a big help in my hunt this year.