A goose blind can be anything from a burlap sack you pull over yourself to a concrete bunker you’ve constructed in a field or on the edge of a marsh. The burlap sack has two big advantages; it’s portable, and you can use it to carry your decoys, too.
If the ducks are going into Farmer Johnson’s field, you can take your burlap sack out there. If they’re flocking to the river, you can poke a little riverbank vegetation into it for added camouflage.
But there’s also something to be said for dugout blinds. You have to either own the property or lease it from someone who will let you build one, so they’re not possible for every hunter. The other drawback is that they’re stuck where you build ‘em, but you can camouflage them to look like part of the landscape. With a flip top or a retractable roof, they’ll blend right in with the rest of the surroundings and be completely invisible from the air.
You can also make them pretty comfortable. You don’t have to go crazy like a friend of mine did. He insulated his blind, so the cold from the ground wouldn’t seep in as fast. Then he installed four propane burners and a stove. As a final touch, he outfitted it with three old arm chairs and a recliner. You don’t find a lot of blinds with that many creature comforts.
All you really need is a hole in the ground you can line with plywood. Put a top on it and cut some holes in the lid. Then get some 5-gallon buckets to use as seats. That’ll get you started. You can add other comforts, like heat and better chairs, over time.
Or you can just stick with the old, trusty burlap sack.
One way or another, get out and do some hunting. It’s nice to hunt from those ultra-plush blinds once in a while, if only to give you something to dream about while you’re lying under your burlap sack, waiting for the birds to come in.
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