Got any grass?

I guess my Dad was looking for an excuse to buy a new aluminum boat. Lucky for me he bought one that lends itself to being a good "duck boat"! After he bought it I started scouring the NET looking for some ideas on how to craft a home made blind. I found this design that uses aluminum tubing, standard bimini top parts, and Avery Fast Grass. I only used it a few times in the 2003-2004 season. A few resident geese hunts on Tims Ford, an early Teal and Wood Duck hunt, and a trip to Camden Bottoms with Bryan Cunningham.

Had I not had access to some good blinds on Woods I'm sure I would have used it more. It can be attached or removed from the boat in about five minutes. It can be raised and lowered in about 10 seconds, but you have to add another minute or so to include the time required to adjust the grass mats in order to ensure the entire boat is shrouded. When it was possible, we would also brush it up with some vegetation local to the spot we were hunting.

This is a view of the aluminum frame that supports the grass mats.

Another view of the frame.

Here it is, still out of the water, with the grass mats attached. I've got plenty of helpers at this point!

Here is the blind the first time we used it on a resident goose hunt. We didn't kill any but we didn't flare them either (someone else did!).

Picture #2 from first hunt.

Picture #3 from first hunt.

Picture #4 from first hunt.

Picture #5 from first hunt.