IF YOU BUILD IT…

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

Looking for something to do this winter? If you’re a waterfowl hunter, try building your own blind – on the cheap!

A couple seasons ago I decided to build my own single-panel, low-profile blind. On the first hunt with the blind, I limited out in 15 minutes. The following hunt I had over 700 ducks land in the decoys, but I didn’t shoot for the first five hours because I was seeking a Eurasian wigeon. By season’s end, the little blind accounted for over 20 limits. The best part? I built the mobile blind for under $30.

At a local farm store I paid $23 for a 4-by8-foot cattle panel with 8-inch spaces. Here’s how to create your own blind from this: Using bolt cutters, cut the panel in half down the middle. This will make two blinds, each 4 feet wide. Make the center cuts against a cross section of wire. The

8-inch protruding wires will become the bottom of the blind. These wires can be bent by hand at an angle to stick into the ground you’ll be sitting or laying on. On flat ground, bending the wires at about 45 degrees is ideal; use less of an angle for hunting on elevated, uneven ground. How much you bend the legs and what angle you want the blind can vary from hunt to hunt, but it’s easy to adjust.

When hunting, a 2-foot-long stick can be wedged between the panel and