Most waterfowl enthusiasts have created a homemade or custom blind to hide on the edge of a decoy spread. Commercial blinds can be costly, but building one is an economical and efficient option. For many years, my hunting crew hunted out of blinds we constructed from wire mesh for concrete.

The Stand-up Blind Concept

Stucco wire is heavy-gauge and withstands use and abuse without compromising its integrity. Chicken wire can work, but it is more pliable and quickly loses structure and shape. The wire is cut into lengths of two to three metres, depending on how many people you want to hide. A wide measurement is the length of a truck box or trailer used to transport the blind.

A natural-coloured tarp or burlap is used on the inside of the wire to help hide movement and block the elements on challenging days. The outside is stuffed with grass, cornstalks, or straw. Grass bundles secured with zip ties are an excellent option for fastening to the wire. There is natural vegetation blankets used to prevent erosion on construction areas that have barley stubble and coconut fibre. The colour is great in agricultural fields, and it is durable and easy to fasten.

The wire screens with camouflage vegetation are secured on each end with a long piece of rebar woven through the wire and pounded into the ground. Wooden frames are also an option. Additional bars may be required to maintain the stability of the middle of the blind. The units can be easily rolled up for transportation and storage and are quick to set up.

Stand-up blinds also work great on the edge of wetlands, where you can hide near floating decoys. Reed canary grass is an excellent option for cutting with a trimmer and bundling with zip ties. It has broad leaves, is tall, and is durable enough to last several hunting seasons.

Willow Blinds

Willow blinds are a great option, where fresh-cut willow branches, with lots of leaves, are placed in the ground to create a curtain along the blind in front of hunters. The willows can be stored in a poly tarp, and they will keep their leaves and moisture for several weeks. A large limb clipper or a sharp knife can be used to harvest willow branches. A diagonal cut to make a sharp edge helps to push them into the ground. When faced with dry ground, use a rebar to pound shallow holes into the ground to place the willows and allow them to stand.

Layouts

Early duck decoys were made by cutting pieces of tar paper and folding them to hold in place in standing wheat or barley stubble. The dark paper was the first type of silhouette decoy and still works today. They are economical, weather-hardy, and withstand hard use for several years. They are very easy to replace if you have a roll of tar paper on hand.

Snow goose hunters over the years have been clever in how they used white bags, rags, cardboard, and even baby diapers to decoy the white Arctic geese. Texas rags are nothing more than a sheet of white plastic tied to a wooden dowel to hold it together and pushed into the ground. They are easy to duplicate.

Any duck or goose decoy can be made from Coroplast, a lightweight and durable material made from polypropylene, which is also known as corrugated plastic. It's popular for signage, packaging, and other applications due to its weather resistance, versatility, and ease of customization. There are often truckloads of corrugated plastic signs after an election that can easily be turned into decoys before they are recycled.

Suppose you borrow a commercially made goose or duck silhouette decoy. In that case, it is easy to make a pattern to trace onto the plastic. Cut them out with a sharp pair of scissors and paint them to create Canada, specklebelly, or snow goose decoys. Mallards and pintails can also be easily produced.

Always use flat or matt paints and consider dusting the darker goose and duck decoys with a bit of clean, dry dirt while the paint is still wet. The dirt will work like flocking to prevent any shine or glare. You can purchase flocking spray and paint to use on the homemade decoys.

A role of galvanized wire can be cut and fed through the channels in the corrugated material to fasten it into the ground. I have seen welding rods used, as well as staples for landscape fabric.

Get creative and build a blind and a flock of decoys to hunt with this season. The rewards of finishing birds over do-it-yourself equipment will take your hunt to a new level.

*Remember not to cut more than 25% of any willow or grass in an area. Be careful not to cut any invasive species with your mix to avoid spreading them.