I have been hunting deeper water the last few years. I always prefer to hide the boat around the corner and hug a tree, but that hasn't been an option. In the past, I've covered the boat with burlap, military netting, and decoy bags. That worked fine for wood ducks and suicide non-circlers, but I couldn't consistently finish mallards, gadwall, and the like. I recruited an extra set of hands before the season and built a 3/4" EMT conduit frame based off a combo of scgolfer (I think) and Tater's MS Paint guidelines.
One thing I was precise about keeping the frame inside the boat rails so it wouldn't get ruined bumping trees. By having nothing hanging over and following the contours of the back angles of the boat, I can run the tiller with the blind still up.
The backer is 90% shade cloth off Amazon. Blocks the wind well and is lightweight, but it's not waterproof. I didn't want the added weight and bulk of a tarp or wet weight and lack of longevity of burlap. The camo itself is a few sheets of military netting cut into strips and ziptied in bunches. Time consuming and probably 1000 zipties. It should last indefinitely as opposed to fast grass or natural products that weather. I also added a few deer stands worth of weathered burlap patches for more depth and color contrast.
I have a sheet of military netting ziptied on one side of the top frame that I flip over the top. It hunts one person in the front and one in the back well. I haven't hunted more than 2 people, but I thought about cutting a slot in the top net to accommodate another person on a bucket in the middle of the boat.
Blind In Barn.jpg
Blind In Cypress.jpg
30 yards out
BLind From Decoys.jpeg
Blind Mallards (2).jpg
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