OT: Prebuilt vs home built deer blinds

[BigDawg0074]

I’m in the deer stand and I’m thinking about building or getting a new one. I’ve never bought a prebuilt shooting house but some of them look pretty nice. Do any of you guys have experience with the plastic ones? I’ve always built my own stands but if the price of wood stays up I may be going a different route next fall.

 

[msudawg12]

Buy a ranch king and don’t think about it for 30 years.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

We have some of the plastic ones and they’re ok. I only hunt out of them if it’s really cold and windy because Id rather be on a tree stand. With that said if you want to spend the money, there are some REALLY nice options for enclosed stands with carpet and plenty of room inside.

 

[Dawgbite]

There is one made in West Point Ms. I can’t think of the name but Mossy Oak sells them. We have several. You asked the difference, wood is quieter and seems warmer. The plastic ones seem louder inside but I don’t know if the sound carries outside. We have a problem with squirrels chewing holes in our wood ones or enlarging the windows so we are transitioning to the plastic houses.

 

[BigDawg0074]

We have some of the plastic ones and they’re ok. I only hunt out of them if it’s really cold and windy because Id rather be on a tree stand. With that said if you want to spend the money, there are some REALLY nice options for enclosed stands with carpet and plenty of room inside.

The main downsides I’ve seen on plastic ones are poorly designed windows and no shelves. It would be pretty easy to fix that myself and apply some carpeting.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

We put carpet or rubber mats in ours and it helps a lot with the noise. The ones we have do have some shelves in them and ledges to put things.

 

[Cooterpoot]

My experience: If I built it myself. I've got to have help putting it in the woods, because it's 10 times heavier from more/better materials. It's also less expensive.

 

[BigDawg0074]

We put carpet or rubber mats in ours and it helps a lot with the noise. The ones we have do have some shelves in them and ledges to put things.

What brand(s) do you have? I’ll give them a look.

 

[BigDawg0074]

My experience: If I built it myself. I've got to have help putting it in the woods, because it's 10 times heavier from more/better materials. It's also less expensive.

I thought about that earlier. Plastic ones would be lighter weight and easier to handle. Some of them you assemble on sight and I’m not sure if that’s easier than hauling it and using the old truck pull method to stand it up. I would certainly feel safer long term with a steel platform rather than with wooden legs.

 

[stateu1]

We put carpet or rubber mats in ours and it helps a lot with the noise. The ones we have do have some shelves in them and ledges to put things.

“Things”=Beer

 

[ronpolk]

I have a couple of those sportsman condos. They are nice when it’s raining or when I have one of my kids with me but for me personally, I like a ladder stand better.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I think ours are Sportsman’s Condos. We have had them for over ten years so im
not sure if they’re designed the same or not.

 

[BigDawg0074]

I have a couple of those sportsman condos. They are nice when it’s raining or when I have one of my kids with me but for me personally, I like a ladder stand better.

I do too, placed in a hardwood creek bottom. Currently I’m hunting a power line with pine thickets on either side so a box stand is ideal.

 

[cowbell88]

I usually hunt ladder stands or lock ons, but house stands are nice when it’s raining or cold.

It he sportsman condo we have has warped and makes all kinds of racket from just moving feet around really pops when wheels on office chair rolls over those areas. Got a 3/4 piece of plywood that I’m fixing to screw down inside.

I like the looks of the Redneck blinds, but haven’t ever hunted from one.

If you’re on Facebook, there is a DIY hunting blinds group. Have seen everything from rocks stacked up on side slope of hillside and covered with a poly tarp- 3 wire spools stacked on top of each other and nailed to pine tree- 12x12 room with bunk beds, a shiter closet, kitchen, solar panels, a 60 in tv, and a deck.