I have been layout hunting from a kayak since 2016 and I am going to tell you everything I wish I knew when I was starting out. If you want to build or design your own kayak duck blind, this article is for you.
This is a duck hunting kayak setup guide that will give you ideas for your own DIY kayak duck blind. I have used several designs throughout the years and will go through the pros and cons of each, as well as actionable tips to help you get started.
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From sliding frames to flip down or flip open doors, I have tried it all. Since kayak duck hunting in 2016, I have hunted from 4 different styles of blinds, and have worked on an additional 2 designs.
If you already have your own kayak and want to set it up for duck hunting, start here! We are going to cover everything you need to know about building your own kayak duck blind.
The design process is going to vary quite a bit depending on what type of kayak you have and how you want to use it for hunting. Do you plan to use your duck hunting kayak setup only for transportation and then hide in the weeds? Or do you want to sit upright to hunt, or layout in the bottom? Let me share some kayak blind ideas with you, and we can cover the pros and cons for each kayak setup.
This can be one of the simplest methods (paint the kayak, or throw some camo burlap over it), or it can get fairly involved. If you want to use your kayak for transportation only, but need some way to hide the bright colors once you get there, this option is for you.
When I was working on my first kayak, I wanted to keep it all original. I used some 600 denier camouflage Cordura and made a slip over cover that attached to the kayak with bungee cord.
I recommend using 600 denier because a regular sewing machine should work. It is strong, waterproof, and you can get it in a wide variety of camouflage colors. If you go with a heavier fabric you may need an industrial sewing machine.
Camo Cover Only Pros:
Camo Cover Only Cons:
Don’t want to sew your own? There are some pre-made options on Amazon.
This is thin and designed as a cover, so you will have to do some work if you want to use it as a kayak duck hunting blind.
This is the option I went with for my first kayak. If you want to keep your kayak as close to original as possible, this may be a good design for you.
I used PVC for my first duck hunting kayak setup, and the design quickly gained a nickname – the squeaky wheel. The PVC joints would squeak every time I opened the door to get in or out. I would recommend going with conduit instead of the PVC, but the idea stays the same.
Build two doors that when angled upwards, meet in the center of the kayak. You can use bimini fittings here for your hinges as an upgrade.
Then, your gun stays on the outside of the blind with you sitting upright inside. This option is great if you have a place to hunt that has some vertical cover. However, anytime you start adding doors it can make it difficult to paddle (more on this later).
Make the center point as high or low as you want depending on how much extra cover you want from the blind, but the wider the doors are, the more difficult it is to paddle and get in or out of the blind.
Camo Cover With PVC Blind Pros:
Camo Cover With PVC Blind Cons:
Bimini fittings are used on boats to raise and lower shade coverings. I had never heard of them before but they work really well for making kayak duck blind doors.
They look very similar to what you can buy on commercially produced kayak duck blinds. If you buy the nylon style (that are practically bullet-proof), they are fairly affordable.
Halfway through my first kayak hunting season, I decided I needed a lower profile for late season hunting out of my kayak. This was the first design I came up with. If I was going to make a kayak blind from scratch without buying any sort of pre-made layout, I would go with this design.
If you are using a sit-in kayak, these next few designs will require you to cut the top/seat out to give you room for a layout seat.
I unfortunately don’t have very good pictures of this blind. So I am going to try and describe the process, send me a message if you want some more clarification on this.
There are 2 square panels. When laying out in the bottom of the blind, panel 1 will rest just below your chin. It will then be attached to panel 2 at your waist. I used PVC that was slightly larger than the conduit so it could pivot and rotate over the top of panel 2.
Panel 2 will then be attached to the kayak below your knees, but in such a way that it can pivot/rotate. This allows both doors to fold on themselves and open the entire cockpit of the kayak up.
If you use doors that flip open like a regular layout blind on a kayak, they get wet all the time. With this design, the doors flip down and stay inside the kayak so they don’t get wet. It also makes it easier to paddle.
Another reason I like this flip down door design for a duck hunting layout kayak blind is that you can flip panel 1 onto panel 2, and hunt just like that. This position lets you sit fully upright in the kayak, resting your gun on top of the still closed panel 2. It doesn’t have as much cover, but it works great for early season hunts when you can get by with less camo.
This duck hunting kayak setup has one disadvantage and that is space/comfort. There isn’t a very good way to keep the panels from resting on top of you in the blind.
Also, panel 2 stays flipped down, so you can’t have your gun underneath the blind or else it would get stuck when you get up to shoot.
I would leave panel 1 folded back and rest my gun outside the blind when hunting early season. But for late season layout hunting, I would have to lean the gun back over my shoulder (imagine carrying a gun over your shoulder except laying down).
Layout Kayak Blind with Flip Down Door Pros:
Layout Kayak Blind with Flip Down Door Cons
This is my current duck hunting kayak setup and while it is probably the trickiest to build, it offers the perfect blend of comfort and concealability.
There are some commercially available products that are similar to this approach. The downside to these is that they are a one-size-fits-all solution. If you are looking for a custom fit for your kayak or need to save some money to buy more decoys, you can get a great result with a DIY kayak duck hunting setup.
This build design will require you cut out some material from your kayak if you have a traditional sit-in kayak. Doing this will allow your kayak to really shine for late season layout hunting where you can get a low profile by laying down flat.
One great option for replacing the seat is something like the MoMarsh Invisi-Lounge. It will let you sit upright at a roughly 90 degree angle early in the season, but adjusts to as flat as you want to lay for those late season mallards.
The easiest way to build your own DIY duck hunting kayak is to buy a cheap used layout blind and custom fit it to your kayak. It might take a month to find, but $25 to $40 bucks will get you a beater layout blind. We are going to be chopping it up so a few tears in the fabric won’t hurt anything.
You can also repurpose the seat to have an extremely comfortable layout seat in the kayak without spending any extra money. I can sleep overnight in the marsh with my layout seat and afternoon naps in the field are a regular occurrence!
The most important advice I can give here is to consider the width of the doors. The wider the doors, the harder it is to climb in over the edge, or paddle with the doors open.
However, depending on the depth of your kayak, you will want the doors to be wide enough so that they come close to touching even when they are slightly raised / \ to form a triangle. This gives you more room in the kayak than if they were laying flat.
I found it very helpful to offset the hinge of the door just slightly inside of the kayak. This means the door can be narrower and still give full coverage, but also, it won’t swing open as wide.
With the flip open door design, the door configuration will make or break your kayak hunting experience. Don’t set them up right, and you will be fighting with your kayak the entire time, and after a few hunting trips you might just give up on the idea entirely.
Take the time to do this right. Test it out while you are building it and don’t forget about the extra bulk of late season clothing.
One last idea to leave you with if you want to go for this design. Consider using foam doors.
The Northern Flight Waterfowl Kayak Blind has flexible style doors. The benefit with this type of door on a duck hunting kayak setup is that you can climb into the kayak with the doors closed, and then pull them on top of you.
My brother Dan used a camping sleeping mat for his kayak and it has worked out fairly well for him.
Layout Kayak Blind with Flip Open Door Pros:
Layout Kayak Blind with Flip Open Door Cons
Out of all the blind builds I have tried this was one of my favorites, but it has one fatal flaw. When hunting late season in vegetation that has been knocked down, there isn’t much to hold the kayak in place against the wind. We usually stake the kayaks with a wooden pole or a piece of conduit in the front and back on windy days, but because the door slides open to the front, we can’t do that with this design.
This design is fairly easy to make, and allows for excellent, low profile concealment. It starts by bending a few half circle pieces of conduit and attaching those at the front and middle of the kayak. Attach a PVC pipe at the top of these half circles that runs parallel with the kayak. Insert a piece of conduit that is roughly twice the length of the PVC into the PVC pipe. The conduit will slide up and down inside the PVC. Now simply attach another piece of conduit to the first one, except this will be outside the PVC. From there the blind can be attached to the top piece of conduit.
It seems a little complicated at first but it makes much more sense if you see this video:
I built a sliding frame blind on one of my spare Pelican Trailblazer kayaks but it never saw use on the water. This duck hunting kayak setup has an advantage in that it allows for a solid covering. It would be great for hunting in the rain with a Cordura fabric coating. Since it also hangs over the edges of the kayak it would be a great choice for those areas that don’t have much cover. With this design brushed in completely, it would look the most natural due to the rounded top. However, the situations where this kayak would really shine are also the situations where its flaws stick out the most.
As you can see, I have tried a lot of different kayak designs. The flip open door style is my favorite, but I know kayak duck hunting is not a one size fits all solution. I want to provide as many ideas as possible so you can decide what will work best for you and your situation.
Layout Kayak Blind with Sliding Door Pros:
Layout Kayak Blind with Sliding Door Cons
Purchasing the correct supplies before starting your blind build will make everything go so much smoother. When I made my first blind, it took me several weeks. Now, from start to finish I can knock-out a blind over a weekend easily. All because I plan the build out and make sure I have everything I need before I start. Here is a list of supplies to consider before you start your DIY kayak duck blind.
Depending on what design you go with, this can be anything from cordura fabric, to chicken wire/snow fence, or mesh netting. Basically, you need some material to cover your kayak that you can attach natural vegetation too.
I like to use cordura but I know other people that use this camo netting.
These are used for hinges or to attach the conduit to the kayak. No need to buy the expensive metal fittings, plastic will be best. Don’t forget the glue if you go with an insert fitting, I suggest liquid nails.
A couple of cans of spray paint are useful throughout this project. Even if you don’t want to paint your kayak, I like to use the Rust-Oleum camo colors to paint the conduit blind frame.
Pick up a package of small and large zip ties. Very handy for the build process and the leftover large zip ties can be used to brush the blind in.
My very first duck hunting kayak setup was made out of PVC. It made it less than 3 weeks into the season before I re-worked it. I highly encourage you to go with half inch electrical conduit for your kayak blind. It is strong, lightweight, and easy to work with when you have a conduit bender.
Scavenge around, you can use whatever you already have. But if you are running low and need to stock up, I like to use ¼ in.-20 x 1in or ¼ in.-20 x 2in bolts with nuts and washers as needed. I recommend grabbing a small box in each size for the bolts, and then one box of nuts.
Having the right tools when building a kayak duck blind will save you time and make the entire process easier.
This isn’t an exclusive list and you can always make it work with the tools you already have, but here is a short list to consider:
Conduit Bender – It can be tempting to avoid this expense up front, but having a conduit bender will save you tons of time and your end product will look much nicer. Over the years I have used the conduit bender on numerous duck hunting projects and it is a ‘specialized’ tool I have never regretted purchasing.
Screw Drivers/Wrenches – Miscellaneous screw drivers and wrenches for attaching nuts and bolts.
Power Drill – For drilling mounting holes for attaching the blind.
Hammer – If it doesn’t fit, get a bigger hammer.
Drill Bits – Grab an extra .25” drill bit, or correct size to match your bolts. Drilling holes through the metal conduit isn’t hard, but having a fresh drill bit will save you a ton of time if yours starts to get dull.
Hacksaw/Jig Saw/Reciprocating Saw – You need some way to cut out material from your kayak if you are going to go that route. A powered saw will also help make quick cuts on the conduit.
The easiest way to explain how we build our kayak blinds is to show you a video. This walks through the process from the (almost) beginning to the end of Dan’s 2019 duck hunting kayak setup.
A quick run down for those who prefer to read:
We start off by creating half-circle/horseshoe bends in the conduit and attaching those to the kayak. We typically use three pieces. One towards the back of the kayak, this functions as the rear hood. One at the front of the kayak, this allows the blind material to be raised up to make room for our feet. And one roughly in the middle to form a sort of cockpit.
The netting of choice (chicken wire, snow fence, or cordura) is then attached from the back of the kayak to the rear hood. It is also attached from the front of the kayak, up and over the first support, and then tied into the second support.
After the build is complete, it is time to camouflage your kayak! Regardless of if you use paint, or a fabric covering, I think it is essential to add both raffia and natural vegetation to help blend in. I typically put down a thin base layer of raffia, which helps break up the outline and requires less natural vegetation while in the field.
Avery Killer Weed Layout Blind Kits come with 2lbs of raffia and they work well for putting down a light layer of grass on a kayak.
We are passionate duck hunters who love hunting from our kayaks. Hopefully this helps spark some inspiration for your own duck hunting kayak setup.
Looking for different duck hunting kayak setup information? We have other pages covering all your kayak duck hunting questions.
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