Rich Hill, Poor Man's Blind PVC frame is bent inward by using a heat gun to close the top opening to one-half the width of the boat.

Beginning at the top of the pilot’s hatch, there is a series of white lights that run rearward through the boat. There is also a series of red lights that can be used for illumination instead of the bright lights while preventing the loss of the hunters’ night vision. Two batteries are used to provide electrical power, with one battery hooked up to the lights and the other to the motor. Having separate batteries ensures there will be adequate power to start the boat after using the lights and other ancillary equipment for extended periods of time.

Dean uses his Quacker Whacker for hunting sloughs and lakes in Northwest Iowa and has also hunted from the boat blind along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. More images of the Quacker Whacker can bee seen at www.myspace.com/teamquackerwhacker.

Pilcher’s Poor Man’s Boat Blind
Tom Pilcher Jr. of Rich Hill, Missouri built a blind for a 14-foot, V-hull aluminum boat with a minimum of weight. He hunts flooded cornfields with the boat blind. The boat blind, despite Tom’s address, was built with a minimum of cost, yet looks as good as most other, more elaborate boat blinds.

“This is what happens when the poorest duck hunter in Missouri needs a boat blind,” Pilcher said. “The blind has worked well for two seasons and has kept us hidden in a variety of cover.”

The base of the blind is formed by 21⁄4- by 21⁄4- by 1⁄4-inch metal angle with three-inch long sections of one-inch diameter pipe bolted to it and along the inside of the boat. The one-inch pipe sections act as sockets to hold 3⁄4-inch conduit uprights used for the blind frame.

The 3⁄4-inch cross pieces along the top and bottom of the blind are held in place with 3⁄4-inch PVC tees placed at the top and bottom of the uprights. All the joints are glued. The uprights are bent inward at the top with the use of a heat gun after the glue joints have had time to cure. The bending is just enough to make the tips of the grass camouflage angle together at the top, leaving an opening approximately half the width of the boat.