OK, I've decided that I'd like to hunt from a bail blind some next year. I just need to decide if I want to build one or buy one. Do any of you have any experience with them? What do you think?

I saw a video of "Saphead" aka Doug s. Building a bail blind out of wire fence plastic wrap and hay.

I had thought of using fencing panels for the frame, a layer of tyvek, then covered with burlap. It would be relatively wind and rain proof that way.

I suggest considering making a yurt wall lattice for the frame.

Make 5/16ths rips from 2X. Assemble the lattice on 12" centers. Light, strong, fold up very compact, and is real portable when folded up.

Cutting out shooting ports won't effect the strength with 12" c to c lath spacing. Folding lattice is redundant and fantastically strong.

Plus folded out to four feet tall or so and covered with tarp it makes a dynamite curved wind block for around the campfire. Guy out the two ends. Cover with tarps. Curved surface is very wind resisteant. Flat panels suck in the wind.

Btw I've made 131 feet of finished lath when folded out to where the laths form squares. This for my 16' 14' and 12' yurts. All from ripped 2x and 1/4-20 bolts. You can also tie it with paracord knotted either side of the laps.

No yurts, I want this to be sized and appear to be a hay bale.

Id recommend a redneck haybale blind with hay cover (not the canvas ).I have 2 of them at home in Iowa.Ive had deer in Iowa brush up against it-it really is not useful in Florida for archery as with most blinds ime-but the midwestern whitetails and turkeys dont seem to notice it.

Not exactly what you are looking for, but could be useful in some situations. I built a permanent blind out of cedar logs. I have some fairly tall and straight ceder trees on my farm I have built several things out of them. I usually use what I call a half-log, where I start by cutting all of the limbs off as high as I can reach with a chainsaw with a long bar, then I stick my saw bar through the tree and cut vertically up and down as far as possible, then I fall the tree and rip it farther, then cut the ends off and I have two half-logs. I then cut, sharpen one end of a smaller cedar fence post, and drive 4 or more into the ground, and nail/screw the half logs to it to make a wall.

I have one blind, (for gun hunting mostly) that I have killed probably 10 deer out of. You could brush one of these in, to make it blend in better. I have a large Osage Orange tree growing out of the middle of mine. I have to give the tree a haircut about every year, to keep the blind huntable, but it works pretty darned good.

I have been meaning to build a few more of these blinds on my place. Being out of cedar, they won't hardly rot and will probably outlast me. And nothing much but a wildfire could probably destroy them, withing reason. And they are cheap to build, just a little chainsaw gas, and some nails, Actually I used deck screws mostly, and the do cost a little bit, but easy to install, with a few dewalt battery powered tools.

Copy and paste:

DIY Bale Blind Mossy Oak

Cost ~$250 in 2017. Probably triple that now.

If I'm bow hunting, I always go homemade...then I can build it to compensate for the length bow I'm using. Mine rarely have roofs anyway....if it's raining, I'm not hunting! Last deer I shot in the rain nearly 30 years ago I was ready to give up trying to decipher a washed-out sparse blood trail when I nearly tripped over it right after dark. I said, "never again".

We built ares from chicken wire, old woodland camo, cornstalks, branches and supported by rebar driven into the ground.

Rolled up good and thrown in the back of one of the trucks.

Role of concrete wire, four t post, hog ties to attach black plastic and burlap/camo netting. Cut and bend a piece for an extended roof. Cut out entry and shooting windows.

Not perfect but if you want to try one...this isn't bad for $90.

https://www.sportsmansguide.com/product/index/guide-gear-spring- steel-hay-bale-blind? a=2345505&szc=000&clrc=190&utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&utm_med ium=pla&utm_channel=shoppingads&utm_campaign=21698062961&utm_produc t=wx2*0734907190000&gad_source=1&gclid=cjwkcaiap4o8bhakeiwaqv2uqbzi jmq6bledl_gtx7bsrftc4iy9azfidovtkxaozk7aqqatatmexbocsbsqavd_bwe

I love to build blinds. I want them open on top so I can hear any deer movement, I use natural materials and brush them in every year to fill up any gaps. I make shooting ports in them so I am hidden better.

This one has a cedar frame that I tie brush to, the deer have never seen me when I am in this blind, several went to the freezer.

Framework;

Brushed in;

Brushed in;

Inside

I once hunted some a friends farm and built blinds all over this land.

This one was out of dead cedar logs that I notched and put up like a log cabin.

Nice inside;

I threw this one up quickly after I located a funnel in a hollow that the deer went through.

I have built many of them. I use Hog (1 16ft panel) wire in a circle. secure together and Tie vek around all. then A piece of hog wire layed on top using small wire to secure together. Then using a long bungy cord around the bale to hold hay until i put on round bale string, tight to hold all the hay on. You can sleep in it shoot a longbow out of it. Its dark inside. fashioning the door is a pain. Sometimes I have put it out and deer walk right next to it within hours. Even had a deer eat off it while I was in it. I have only 2 windows in mine but can hay cover 1 if i need to. Killed a lot of animals out of my hay blinds. They sit on end not on side but no person can even tell its a blind.

He walked through in front of my funnel blind.

If I have to move it far I tip it in my truck bed and strap it down the open bottom facing behind the truck

Nice Eric

I use either the redneck or muddy haybale blind with burlap.I think they are around 499.00 also the redneck softsided in either the gillie or brown burlap work good.If you remove cover at end of season these burlap will last alot longer

i've made 3 of these and shot deer out of them, i've found the 5x5 works great , really nice when its cold and windy!

Build it yourself, exactly the size you need with your own custom windows, etc. Personally, I would build a wooden blind with plywood and 2x4s if it was going to be left there year-round, permanently. I did that on my own property after hunting from a portable hub style blind for a couple seasons. I wanted to make sure the location was in the best possible spot before building. The deer and other wildlife pay my blind no attention at all. it is well hidden and camouflaged with paint, but I also pile some fresh cut brush, pine and spruce branches on and around it in late summer every year. Glass windows, a real comfy silent swivel chair. The dirt floor is silent, and it won't rot away.

Ive built two out of 1500 gal. poly tanks they work great wind and water proof from rain but in the cold with a heater going they tend to drip . I also have a wooden blind that is 4 by 6 i insulated it with 1 1/2" foam its very warm In our cold winters of ND.

I built one last year with cattle panels curved around and attached to a heavy plywood floor. Then wrapped in plastic wrap and straw erosion mat. I should’ve put a layer of burlap between the plastic and the erosion mat but I was in a hurry, it still turned out great. I framed the ends with 2x4s and wish I would’ve don’t more 2x4 support since the wind has made it a little wonky throughout the season but it still does the job

Ive had two hay bale blinds one I made out of hog panels and chicken wire stuffed with hay . The other was a muddy haybale blind with burlap covering . Both were destroyed by the wind . One of my poly blinds looks like a hay bale.

I go Natural in Sep here in Bama. Season opens mid Oct. I scout a bit and find a place for Blind. Usually 3 trees I can wrap rope at least 3 levels to weave brush I cut for shooting lanes and stack dead limbs against. I build them in reference to the wind direction. This year my buddy bought a piece of camo for the front. Out of woods by 1 oct to let settle.

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