Hollywood is Done!

I spent Saturday morning putting the finishing touches on the tower blind at Hollywood.

This is going to sound a little mincy, but I wanted to give you the particulars on how I “decorated” the stand. There is a panorama shot in the slideshow showing all the way around the inside of the blind. Some things worth noting, going left to right:

The green bag holds a spare folding chair for when two people are hunting out of the blind. At 5X7′ this is an ideal 2-person blind. My granddaughter will love it.
The director’s chair came from SportmansGuide.com . It has a 500 lb capacity and it’s very roomy. Even if you are not a walking landform like myself, it makes sense with when you throw bulky late-season insulated bibs into the mix.
You cannot see it in the shot, but the ladder is directly behind the chair. I added a length of dog chain across the opening so the chair has no way of slipping off the edge.
The outside rail is covered in 2 lengths of 12’X54″ camo burlap. In order to hang it, I used paracord all the way around the blind at the top of the corner posts. That put the cord at 42″ above the floor, and a couple inches higher than the top rail. I attached the burlap to the rail with small electrical ties with a 1″ foldover. The idea was to have the camo at the right height so I could sit up straight in my chair and scan with binos, or slouch down and be completely hidden.
The wind was blowing over 10 MPH as I was finishing up, so I had a good idea of how much flapping was going on. To keep the skirt from fluttering, I added a second length of paracord all the way around just below the bottom rail.
Once I got down from the blind, it was obvious the burlap was just not going to cut it. It was too transparent– almost as if nothing was there at all. I went back to the house and got a roll of 36″ black landscape fabric and used it as backing to the burlap. I had used this stuff on a couple of other blind projects, and it does a good job of keeping the hunter from being backlit.
On the center post, I hung an extra large carabiner on some nylon webbing. I use this as a good way to hold my rifle when I need both hands free. I just clip the rifle’s sling into the ‘biner. It is also a handy spot to stick gloves and such.
On the front and sides, I attached 1″ pipe insulation to the top rail to act as a rifle rest. This is the same stuff I use on treestands. It keeps the rifle from being scratched and also allows you to rest your barrel on the rail without making a sound. I used extra-long electrical ties at the ends and middle to hold the foam to the rail. The top of the foam is exactly 38″ off the floor– ideal shooting height for me. There is enough spring in the paracord that it bends down a little as I place the rifle on the foam to make my shot. A deer at 100 yards is just going to see the top of my hat showing above the camo.

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