Anyone Building Their Gear?

[Sarge]

Curious to know if anyone makes their own stuff, I.e. decoys, blinds, etc? Seems to be a lost hobby.

I found it way to beat the winter blues and save money. My Silosock knockoffs were costing me about $20.00 per dozen, and their flapper knockoff about $7.50 each. It actually was fun to do. There is a certain satisfaction of hunting over your own creations.

[timber hunter]

Did the homemade chloroplast sillos and the sewing machine socks in the early days. That stuff is all gone. Still hunting out of a homemade two man above ground blind that I designed and constructed about ten years ago that travels in the back of a pick-up at the start and end of the season. Can be hauled across a sloppy snow covered field riding a hand pulled tarp if needed. Have a bunch of converted blue socks done by can and some converted blue sleeper shells done pretty detailed by hand.

[jolle]

I like to make stuff, just have less time these days. Building another e-caller now and have built all of them that I've ever used. I made some homemade panel and roll blinds this year. Still have a couple homemade backboards, but they're not as comfortable as my primary TF ghost blinds I use now. I never made my own snow decoys, but have made coroplast honkers and carved foam floaters for ducks/geese. It is satisfying, and maybe I'll get back to it later in life when time becomes more available.

[Geez n Quackers]

I have made sock, floater, and full-body decoys; rotary, flyers, and e-callers. And a variety of blinds (who hasn't), including what I would guess is the worlds largest layout blind. I still use nothing but my own snow floaters, flyers, and e-callers. It has always been about filling a niche for a product that wasn't made. Or not made as well in my mind. Or saving costs. Or even more so, just the enjoyment that expands this hobby, and the satisfaction of it.

[Snowblower]

Building my own gadgets is one of my favorite aspects of the hunt. Unfortunately 80% of them are completely unnecessary and get stashed in the shed never to be used again 😕 😆 . But it gives me something to do at work when things get slow. "Government projects " I call them 😁. Sometimes I surprise myself and come up with something that works well and isn't a total pain in the ass to use. Last year I made a few side to side motion flyer machines (I think silosock makes something similar). Those look pretty good to me at least. The geese may not care but I kinda like them.

[Sarge]

Putzing around on your own creations is a great way to spend time. It’s really rewarding to put them to use and get results.

[CamoHunter870]

I also enjoy making my own equipment to be used in the spring and have made e-callers, rotaries and stalker units. For this spring, bout the only things I need to build is better poles for Clones and fix some poles for the stalker units to be able to run the Clones on if the motors I've used for them have enough power to move em.

[Cornstalks]

Yeah those clone poles are the opposite of the quality of the decoy. I took 1/2 rod 4ft long and simply drilled a slightly over 1/4 hole in one end to fit that upper decoy rod in.