Brushing a Field Blind

[HDC]

What do you think works best for brushing field blinds in rice and bean fields?

Cane, johnson grass, cat tails.....?

And, what is the best way (most effective and quickest) to attach to the blind? Weave through the wire? Bundle then attach?

I am always looking for a better or the best way.

[HDC]

I need to add two things:

The stubble will be turned under and those cats scream like you know what when you cut their tails off.

[Anatidae]

HDC.....'just got back from our lease and am dealing with the same thing. I'm sure you'll get some good advice on this topic from folks like Goosebruce that spend all season in a pit. [img]images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]

All our pits have lids on rollers......I hate a lid 'cause you're always late coming up. The toughest part of a duck is his back and his butt (goin' away) is an even lower percentage shot. I want to see his personals, when I shoot him. [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]

We asked the farmer to leave rice on the levees but he cut it anyway.....so we're planning to remove the lids and make some panels out of heavy 6X6 wire mesh and weave Johnson grass thru them. We'll also cover the area around the pit with J-grass and re-grass as needed during the season. [img]images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif[/img]

Lids prevent the caller from following the birds especially when they go behind you or are overhead. It's difficult to call what you can't see, so even though there's a greater chance of gettin' spotted, you can get on your gun and get on target before the birds have a chance to recognize the danger.

I'll be interested to learn what other folks do on their pits, too. Admittedly, I'm kinda new at this pit thang.

[ October 15, 2001: Message edited by: Anatidae ]

[BrianB]

Fast Grass or any other grass mats. I haven't hunted from pits that much, and when I was in someone else's, they usually had some Hay stuffed in wire and jput those standing up on either side about 12inches each and the length of the pit, and lean them on sticks so they would fall into the pit. push them over and your out. Butthey seemed a bit high for me. I would rather have a grass mat covering the top of the pit, but flexible enough that when you stand up, it just bends with you. my 2 cents.

[crow]

Saw a great blind here in GA that I wonder why it wouldn't work in MS. We always used cane/grass on the blinds back home, but in the river bottom fields over here, they use hog wire frames and cut small limbs with leaves still on them (now before the leaves turn loose)and use black plastic ties to attach them to the wire. The leaves turn brown and match the grasses really well. They also add some depth to the blinds. They use just enough to break up the outline and not create a "clump" in the field. The ducks just don't seem to mind that the branches are out of place. Then, again, I never figures our why cane blinds don't shy ducks worse than they do. It sure is easy, I just helped a friend brush up two this past weekend.

[magnum]

This is a tip for those sled blinds that some people use for feild hunting.
If it's going up against an adjacent tree line, or some sort of natrual vegitation by the feild, try to use materials that match the surrounding enviroment. Like if there are a lot of cattails or Cane, use them, or if there are just tres, use branches off those trees and try to find limbs with leaves still on them.
As for how to attach it, we usually weave it thru the mesh, but if you did both, weaved and bundled, it would break up the outline of the blind and probably look pretty good. I hope this is what you were asking about.

MAG

[GulfCoast]

I zip tie cane, and dried honeysuckle, and cut soybeans to wire mesh painted flat black.

[chance]

If you use cane it will lose its leaves and you will certainly have to re-brush. We use Jgrass and weave it through the large squared concrete reinforcing wire. I don't weave it real tight for the top. That way you can see through it and still have some camoflage between you and the ducks. It does seem to last very well all season.
You can have the wire cut so that it covers the top of the pit and mounted so that it can be thrown back when you are ready to shoot. This way you can leave the roll back top and keep rain water out of your pit.

[Wingman]

Chance is right about the cane losing it's leaves, one day it's nice and hidden, then a big wind comes and you look like you're in a bamboo torture box in SE Asia. I always use tall johnsongrass, it weaves good and you can usually cut alot of it without much effort.

Wingman

[Wingman]

Oh, and if you go and cut some willows before the frost, they'll keep the leaves on most all winter. Key is cut them before frost.

Wingman

[dos gris]

HDC:
Your not talkin about pit blinds, right?

[chance]

You can brush the sides of a field blind and use kinda a slanted roof over it. A pit blimd can have a throw back top of wire woven with Jgrass. If you don't weave it real thick you can see through it to watch your ducks. Have it hinged kinda sorta to throw back when ready to shoot. Move it out of the way and roll your top back over the pit to keep the rain water out.

[HDC]

dos gris, you are right. I am talking about sled/field blinds. The farmer will not agree to let us install pit blinds.

I have always thought that johnson grass and/or oak limbs worked pretty good in fields. Sounds like others agree.

By the way, if you are brushing a blind in a cypress break, try using pine tree limbs or young pine trees. When they lose the green color they turn an orange/brown, just like cypress leaves. Spanish moss, if available, makes good camo in a wooded break or swamp, too.

[GulfCoast]

What I am calling cane is this tall stuff that grows in the salt marsh and looks sorta like pampas grass. Has a little "tuft" on the top. I am not sure what its real name is. We cut it down here and haul it to the delta in a trailer. It is really durable, and browns up pretty well. Problem we have is we are always bending it down or breaking it jumping out of the blind after cripples, etc.

[chance]

GC---get you a good dog and you won't have to be jumping out after cripples,etc. Cut him a hole so he can see and come and go. Nothing like lying in a coffin blind and letting the dog do all the work, either.