The summer leading into my first serious deer season was filled with anticipation, and before I could think of all the crisp fall mornings, I needed to learn how to build a ground blind platform.
After reading articles and watching videos, I made my own plans to build a ground blind platform. The platform is 6’ by 8’ and had 2’ (2x4 and 4x4) legs in each corner and two in the middle. The frame was 2x4 lumber with leftover plywood OSB (5/16) from old projects. The legs each had a “footer” which consisted of a 1’ square piece of OSB that functioned just like a water dock footer in mud or soft bottom. The ground blind unit I chose (Down and Out blind) was both mobile and or permanent which was a huge advantage when learning a property (especially one that isn’t yours) for the first time. It gave us the option to have a permanent ground blind that you could bow hunt with two guys comfortably and remove easily if the deer didn’t cooperate. As for the tools and materials (for the base), it was all very basic construction.
When we got out to the property to build the stand, we first hung trail cameras and made mock scrapes on the other end of the property. After we got the three cameras set up it was time to start building.
Considerations for Building a Ground Blind Platform
Size of hunting blind being placed on top
Height of surrounding vegetation
Shooting angles
Ground composition
Flooding Risk
Steps up to the platform
Marine carpet for sound dampening
Spray paint or sealant to protect the wood and camouflage the ground blind
Cost
With flooding a yearly possibility, the OSB footers prevented the structure from sinking down into the muck. I had just enough leftover in my garage of both 2x4’s and OSB to not have to buy extra wood. My only purchase was some exterior decking screws to fix the OSB sheets and frame together. I also added some cheap marine-grade carpet to the top that was leftover from a rowboat build project. The final touch was a coat of brown spray paint (Rustoleum) that dulled the frame visually.
Cost of Building a Ground Blind Platform
Total wood needed (frame, legs, sheets, steps, and footers) were free because they were all scrap wood from my garage.
Rustoleum Spray Paint ($6-$7)
All power tools I already owned (Cordless drill, impact driver, and circular saw)
Sawhorses for cutting I already owned
Marine Carpet approximately $1 per square foot.
Down and Out Ground Blind (see current price). There are both cheaper and much more expensive options available.
After the construction was done it was time to brush it in and make it look a little more natural. I am not totally convinced that it was necessary, but it did make it look cooler. We added some sticks, branches, and grass clumps to the already present exterior straps on the blind that made it easy to keep the brush attached to the outside of the blind walls. The whole project took about 4 to 6 hours and we finished up towards dinner time. As we were admiring our labor, we decided to check the trail cameras we had set out at the start of the day just to see if everything was functioning correctly.
To our absolute astonishment, not only were they functional, but a super nice buck decided to be our first-ever wildlife on camera. And even more impressive was he strolled in to check out our mock scrape while we were actively finishing our ground blind on the north end of the 40-acre property. Things were looking up and now the excitement was palpable. August could not end quickly enough, and the pictures showing up on my phone from the trail cameras kept me counting down the days until the opener.