Texas Hunter Trophy Blinds
Q Why should I buy a factory built blind? I think I can save money buy building my own.
A Of course you can build your own and I did it for years. And I won't ever do it again. Materials alone can eat up a significant part of what you would spend on a Texas Hunter blind. This is especially true if it is a tower blind and you have to weld steel or fabricate it out of wood. Factor in labor and the factory blind may well be less expensive.
Q How can a factory built blind end up being less expensive than a home built?
A Professionally designed and engineered blinds like Texas Hunter Trophy Blinds have several advantages over the blinds you and I build ourselves.
- They are designed by engineers to minimize material and labor costs while maximizing strength and long life.
- Unique specialty components become cost effective and can be designed and manufactured specifically for the intended use, resulting in lighter weight and stronger, less expensive materials than we normally have to use. When I built my own blinds I usually ended up using treated 2 x 4's, 4 x 4's and thick plywood to get "plenty of strength" in the blinds I built. This made them very heavy and expensive. Specially extruded aluminum parts like our window rails, corner posts and other structural members reduce costs, minimize weight and improve quality.
- High volume purchasing of standard materials significantly lowers their cost.
- Using production line methods and templates reduces labor, rework and waste to the very minimum. Parts fit the first time and do not have to be remade.
Q You ship your blinds disassembled and I have to assemble them, so how am I saving on labor?
A A big part of building a blind yourself is designing, cutting, fitting and drilling the components. Plus shopping for and buying and hauling the materials, and then going back to get what you forgot. With our blinds that has all been done for you, saving perhaps one half to two thirds of the labor. You simply supply the assembly labor.
Q Can I assemble your blinds by myself?
A The single blinds you can do by your self, no problem. The first one I assembled (by myself) took 4 hours. Subsequent assembly times got progressively less. A helper would be nice, but not required. Assembling the double blind is ideally a two person job and having a third person is even better. Two or three people are needed when standing up the taller blinds. A battery operated drill with a 7/16" and a 3/8" hex socket and an awl for lining up holes make the job easier and faster. Remember not to tighten any bolts until after it is all assembled, having everything loose makes shifting panels to line up holes easy.
Q I never hunted from binds before. What are some of the important things I need to look for?
A Basic design is a good place to start. It mostly comes down to issues of size, sound and visibility:
- Is the blind sturdy so that it does not flex and vibrate and make noise every time you move in it? Or when the wind blows against it?
- Is it built to last for many years or will you have to replace or repair it regularly?
- Is it big enough to move around in and stand in comfortably? If a blind is uncomfortable it is very hard to stay in it long enough for a successful hunt.
- Can it be closed up to keep owls, coons and other varmints out? They love blinds and will quickly move in if allowed.
- Window height is critical. It should be matched to a standard height, quality made, silent swivel chair so that at your eye level you can sit up straight and see out the windows. Having to stretch up or hunch down to be able to see is a real killer on your neck and back and makes it very hard to hunt. Also, if children will be hunting with you consider their eye level.
- Window size is important. I hate tight, small windows that are hard to get a gun barrel out of without hitting something and making noise. Also, sighting a gun will change the position of your eye. You should be in a comfortable position when the gun is supported with your hand against the window sill, and not in a hunched over position which makes it very hard to sight a gun. On the other hand, large windows let in light which makes you visible. The inside of your blind needs to be as dark as possible to reduce this problem.
- Visibility is another concern. I want a 360 degree range of vision. Lots of blinds just have small windows in the side, resulting in large blind areas in each corner. You have to shift and stretch and strain around to check those blind areas and it is easy for animals to pass unseen.
- Backlighting can be a major problem. If you have light behind you in a blind you will be highlighted in the window and highly visible to game. If you move it is worse because the shifting dark/light image in the window telegraphs your presence. You must have the ability to blank out the windows directly behind you. Sliding, 360 window systems usually have half clear and half solid windows. This allows you to set them up in what ever combination is needed up to maximize your viewing area and avoid backlighting.
- The inside of the blind should be painted a dull, dark color. This reduces the inside light level and makes you harder to see from the outside.
Q What do you recommend for a chair in my blind? I have an old office chair I would like to use.
A I personally don't use old office chairs anymore although I once did. The problem is the castors they are usually equipped with and the fact that the seat swivel may be worn out and noisy. I now use fixed leg chairs without castors, because rolling a chair around makes noise. I do not use single pedestals chairs because I want a very solid seat with zero wobble, and without a tilting back rest, both for noise control and for stability when I set up to shoot. The Texas Hunter Shooters' Chair we sell is lightweight, very sturdy and silent. For a hunting blind chair it is about as good as it gets.
Q I have a blind I built and it is kind of noisy and I have been planning to carpet it. Is this a good idea and if so what kind of carpet should I use, indoor-outdoor or what?
A Well carpet is sure better than nothing. You need something to cut down on the noise in almost any blind. The problem I always had with carpet is how filthy it gets and how spiders and bugs love to live in it and how hard it is to get them out. Also, if it gets wet it can get to be truly nasty stuff and will hold water and rot wooden floors. A much better alternative and a very inexpensive one is to use the rubber mats we sell. They are about 45" x 45" inches square by 3/8" thick and can be cut to size if needed. They don't rot, they clean up and sweep out easy, and they don't soak up water. They are great for sound deadening and only cost about $20. They are a pretty cheap way to make blind hunting easier and more pleasant.
