The first thing to consider is your location.  If you are setting up a blind in the middle of an agricultural field such as a picked corn field you are likely best served to go with a portable blind that is also low profile.  Layout blinds really shine in these situations.  If you are out and about in the water, you are going to be hard pressed to get any good use out of that coffin blind.  Your best bet is to find one of the many great duck boat blinds available.  Or you could always build your own duck boat blind and go from there.

Let's assume you are going to be hunting ducks in a standard locale which would be a place surrounded by water (think slough, river, lake, etc).  If we assume that you will be hunting a place that has access to land, things become a bit easier to conceal.  If you are hunting land you are usually only worried about concealing yourself and hunting partners (not to mention your duck hunting gear and your favorite duck hunting hound).  This is a lot easier than hiding a 16 foot flat bottomed jon boat.  The thing to remember with concealment are a couple of key truths:
1. smaller areas are easier to hide
2. utilizing shadows is imperative to staying hidden

With a ground blind your best bet is to find some stakes to put into the ground (you can find them along the shore or bring them with).  From here you can either go with a small mesh netting to start your blind or simply move to the most important step, which is utilizing native vegetation to hide yourself.  Sticks, branches, weeds, cattails, and the like are what we are talking here.  Remember to play close attention to what surrounding features give you shadows to help hide as well as what the surrounding area looks like in terms of vegetation.  Use both to keep yourself hidden.

Now, if you are out in your favorite duck boat things get a bit more difficult.  You will almost assuredly need to have a blind that moves with your boat and conceals as best as possible.  Overhead cover is imperative to keeping those prying waterfowl eyes away.  Remember that smaller is nearly always better in terms of concealment.  While it may be more comfortable to have a huge blind, the ducks will be much more likely to ferret out your location and reduce your odds of bagging them.  Great additions to any boat blind are the fast grass available from many manufacturers these days.  It is a great artificial copycat of late season cattails and has served many duck hunters well over the recent past.  When you are building your duck blind remember that you want one that goes up and comes down quickly.  This is imperative for when you are going from the blind to go and retrieve downed birds.

If you study carefully you will notice that a common theme emerges for duck blinds, they all are trying their best to mimic their surroundings.  It is easy to overlook when out in the field.  Make sure you take these into consideration when you are building your duck blind this fall.

Avery Layout Blinds

The Avery Finisher Layout Blind is a very popular layout blind on the market today.  It is one of the best selling models for a reason, this is a great, lightweight layout blind.  In the stores it will set you back $280.  Don't get me wrong, a great blind, but that is a pretty steep price.  Not to mention if you have state tax on top of that!  Here is one on Amazon for a lot less (click on the picture to see the specifics):

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: Varies based on product options

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Final Approach Layout Blinds

Or how about the Final Approach Layout Blinds.  The X-lander is a great blind and has the great reputation of Final Approach behind it.  New in the store you are looking at $250 plus any local taxes.  Here is one on Amazon that is far less expensive(again, click on the picture to get the item specifics):

Final Approach Mossy Oak Duck Blind Eliminator Express Blind

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: Varies based on product options

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Homemade Layout Blinds

And as I mentioned that doesn't even include the great deals for "homemade layout blinds".  There are guys that make their own and sell them on the internet.  Not the big brand name for sure, but a quality layout blind.  Heck a lot of these guys even include warranties and all of the features you will see on the expensive name brand blinds, but at a fraction of the price.  These are layout blinds that are delivered to your door for cheap.  Here is a great example by Pacific(you know the drill, click on the picture to see the specifics on the laydown blind):

Pacific Outdoors Layout Blind, Farmland Cornbelt

Overall Rating:

Retail Price: $179.99

Amazon Price: View Sale Price

So why go to a big box store and buy your layout blind?  I'm not sure, you can save a lot of money and have the item delivered directly to your door for far less expensive.   Hey, I'm like the next guy and need to touch and feel an item before purchase, but the way I have found to do that best and still save the money is to go to your local sporting goods store that has layout blinds, check out all the models and choose the one that you prefer.  From there just note what it is.  When you get home go to Ebay and buy the model for a great discount.  And I'm not even talking about the used models which are also available there.  After a couple of uses your layout blind doesn't have that shiny look and it is just as used as any model that you will find from a seller.  If you are willing to forgo the fresh new smell of a new blind you can save a ton of money that way also.

To that end, I was on a mission to find a way to build a new duck blind.  Ideally it could be used both in the boat and on the ground.  At this point you are probably laughing at me since I am asking a lot.  Well, you would be right.  There isn't anything that really go across both spectrums and does both or either well.  To that end, it seems that a couple of blind options are needed.  First, if you are hunting the fields and will be in amongst the cut corn, soybeans or wheat, layout blinds are far and away your best option.  They are comfortable to sit in and provide great concealment with their low profile and camoflague covering.  Add in some vegetation that is native to the area you are hunting and you have a great recipe for success.  You can obviously build a higher profile blind yourself for much cheaper, but the results are not as impressive.  And really, once you have found that perfect spot being hidden is really the most important part of the hunt (besides shooting straight).

For the boat, a homemade duck blind such as the one I detail here seems to work well.  Basically you want to have a barrier from the duck eyes to hide silhouettes and more importantly movement from the blind.  To that end, blending in to your surroundings is important.  Even better when out in a boat is to stash the boat down the bank from you and wade in the water or stand atop some land and/or cattails to keep the concealment perfect.

What are your thoughts on how to build a duck blind?

No doubt these days can be great, particularly when they are part of a major front that has the birds moving.  However, I have had great success duck hunting on those bluebird days when there is a little bit of breeze.  In fact, I much prefer them to any other day not on the cusp of a major front!  I'm not sure if it is the fact that they can see the duck decoys that much better, or if they are just more willing to fly, but I have had great success on those days that most duck hunters shy away from.  Granted, it may take a bit longer to get the ducks to move to your spot, but the wait is often worth it.

What are you experiences on bluebirds duck hunting days?

1. Scouting

There is no way around this, you need to be out there and paying attention to where the ducks are.  There really is no facsimilie for seeing where the ducks are resting, feeding and flying.  This particular guide only guides 4 days a week.  He guides the weekend, scouts Monday, guides Tuesday, scouts Wednesday, guides Thursday, scouts Friday and rinse repeat.  If this guy is not guiding 7 days a week (and trust me, there are weeks he could) then there has to be a good reason.  He is setting aside short term money for long term success and a great client base.  Simply said, you need to pay attention to what the birds are doing to ensure high quality duck hunting.

2. Concealment (i.e. quality duck blinds)

Now this guide almost exclusively is hunting out of fields, so he uses layout blinds to a great degress.  They are great for the on the move hunter that is hunting on dry land.  He is manic when it comes to making sure that everyone is greatly hidden.  He watches the birds, and immediatlely changes things if they are acting differently than they should.  If he is hunting in snow, he puts white sheets over his laydown blinds.  A muddy field?  He uses the mud from the actual field to ensure it looks the same.  Corn stalks?  Same concept.  He paints his face!  Most would think that is overkill, but pilots have repeatedly said that a human face is like a pie plate when they are looking from above.  You think the ducks don't see that?

So why should you care what a guide thinks?  It is a popular concept across all endeavors in life to copy the successful people at what they do best.  If he continually puts birds in the bag, he must be doing something right.

What are your thoughts on these two key tenets?

1) Lay your gun across your lap ready to shoot

Rest your gun on the bottom of the doorway with it positioned in a fashion that is easy to raise. This means laying it on the front left of the door if you are right handed. When it is time to shoot you only want to worry about sitting up straight and picking a bird. By laying your gun in a way that allows for easy mounting when the moment arises you can assure yourself of better shots.

2) Know when to call the shot

This is an important aspect in all duck hunting. Knowing when to call the shot is important to allow for quality shots and a fuller game bag. Seeing as layout blinds are typically hard to shoot from and do not allow for quick snap shots, it is important to make sure the birds are in the optimum position to shoot.

3) Take Your Time

It never seems like you have any time once the birds are right on top of you, but when you are hunting the field it is often that the birds will be about to land in your decoys. This being the case you have plenty of time to get off your three shots. Curb the urge to come up blazing, and make sure you are set to shoot. This means sitting up fully before raising your gun to shoot. So spring up and allow the doors to open up, make sure you are fully sat up and ready to shoot, then mount the gun on the duck you are focusing on.

AVERY GREENHEAD GEAR GHG FINISHER DOG BLIND KW 1 NEW    US $69.58

Avery Finisher Greenhead Gear Power Hunter Gun Sling KW    US $15.60

Finisher Blind Bag by Avery Outdoors Greenhead Gear GHG at PrairiewindDecoyscom    US $34.99

AVERY GREENHEAD GEAR GHG UPLAND FINISHER BLIND BAG NEW    US $33.90

AVERY GREENHEAD GEAR GHG FINISHER BLIND BAG GOOSE MG    US $33.90

AVERY GREENHEAD GEAR FINISHER GUN SLING ABT KW 1 NEW    US $16.70

AVERY GREENHEAD GEAR GHG FINISHER LAYOUT BLIND SNOW COVER    US $89.90

GHG Finisher Layout Blind Snow Cover By Avery Outdoors Greeenhead Gear 01401    US $89.90

Avery Finisher Greenhead Gear Power Hunter Gun Sling BB    US $15.60

Avery Greenhead Gear Finisher Gun Sling Buck Brush Camo    US $16.70

 As the below video shows, by using material that is native to the area you are hunting and a little bit of burlap material you can conceal yourself to a great degree from the eyes of the oncoming ducks.

Below is a Video showing how to hunt a crosswind and the key reasons for doing so.