Do any of you avid hunters have a pop-up blind such as the dubble-bull's or something to that effect? Do you think that it would work as an ice shelter? I am considering buying a blind but I also need to get a shelter for when I take the family fishing. It would be great if I could find something that would work for both. Money is always an issue, but I like the pop-up tent idea so that it's light weight and I don't have to use it unless the weather is bad.
How would you go about anchoring it to the ice? I have read some posts on here that talk about drilling a hole and placing stakes or tree branches in the holes. Does anyone make an offical ice stake for tents or sleds?
Who was it that had the yellow utility tent? I saw a couple of pictures of it last year. How much do they cost and where do you get them?
Thanks.
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I know black diamond or rei sells ice screws that screw into the ice people use them to ice climb but work really well ice fishing ive used them at the berry when the wind picks up
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I have a popup tent similar to the one’s I’ve seen at Sportsman. I purchase my several year ago on a website that sells tents to utility repair companies. On the inside corners of my tent it has a floor that comes out about 12 inches. I will throw snow from inside the tent on the corners and place snow around the outside edges to keep the wind out. The trick is anchoring it with out snow. I will place the leg of the chair on the corner and if the wind is not too bad and I don’t standup it works. I have tied it down to the ice or ATV but the wind will collapse the tent even with the support that are placed in the top. I have a 2 foot piece of PVC pipe with a hole drilled in the center. I took a rope (1/4 inch) through the hole and out the end of the pipe and tied a slip knot back on the end going into the hole leaving 12 inches. I then left 12 inches on lead and tied a loop in the end to tie the tent to. I then tied the end with the slip knot to the loop. I place this pipe in a hole drilled with the auger so the pipe is on the bottom of the ice. Once I had to leave one behind that became frozen in the hole, other than that I have been able to get them back by pulling on the rope with the slip knot then the rope from the end of the pipe.
I’ll post some pictures later if I find them.
The popup tents work great unless it is too windy I enjoy mine. It helps keep the chill off and you can set it up over your hole after you start fishing without moving any gear.
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I saw at Sportsmans or Cabelas the other day some ice shelter anchors that looked like a good idea. The idea is you use your auger and drill a hole, doesn't have to be all the way through. Then there is a metal rod or wedge that you wedge in the hole against the outside edges. It looked like a good idea, I don't know for sure how well it works but looked like a good plan. I don't remember the price sorry.
Also look at Cabelas web site for the Clam ice anchor kit. Again, I haven't used it but it's another idea you could probably make yourself.
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FW, do you have the web address for that place you got you tent from?
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It’s called a Allegro Safety Economy Work Tent, do a search online for it you might be able to find a better price than this website.
[url "http://www.dandbsafety.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=14"]http://www.dandbsafety.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=14[/url]
Its listed here at $143.00 I have seen it as high as $430.00
I found one at Cabela’s its comes in Camo patterns
[url "http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/pod/horizontal-pod.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/pod-link.jsp_A&_DAV=searchFeat&rid=&indexId=cat540014&navAction=push&navCount=7&parentType=index&parentId=cat540014&id=0004823"]Cabela’s Penthouse TSC Blind[/url]
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The last couple of years I 've watched a guy from Logan set up a homemade shelter on Rockport. Basically a small tent attached to a small sled.
To anchor it to the ice he used a screw gun/protable drill with a long 8-10 inch drill bit to drill some pilot holes in the ice.
Switched the drill bit for a nut driver/socket attachment and screwed some bolts into the pilot holes.
Hooked the lines from the tent over the bolt heads, and he was in business.
When he left he would just back the bolts out and be on his way. He had it down to a science. Worked real slick.
Later ,
Chester
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