I refinished 2 6' tower box blinds over the weekend and I'd like to stake them down to keep them from blowing over. These stands have a trap door in the bottom and a ladder underneath for access. Where we hunt is pretty rocky and the soil isn't very deep. We didn't have much luck trying to use rebar stakes I'm pretty sure that the auger-type anchors will not go too far. We were also going to use ratchet straps, but someone else out there said to use wire. Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

Find a tree and cut it down (we like to do it to mesquite tree) then run a LONG I bolt into the trunk. Attach a come-along to the I bolt then attach to the stand and you are set for a long while. We have done this a bunch and it works very well. I guess you could use a cedar too.

Booger's got it right and that is a great way to do it. If you cannot place the stand over a tree trunk, another way to secure it is to use 3/16" cable (Lowe's, Home Depot) on each corner of the stand, and attach the other ends to T-posts driven at an angle into the ground about 10' to 15' feet out. Use turnbuckles to connect to the T-posts. These will allow you to tighten the cable. Works well.

Since there aren't any trees near this stand, I thought of buying a masonry bit and drilling a hole in some of the buried rocks and cementing in lag bolts. Does anyone have good/bad experience with this method or have any tips?

Thanks!

Go to Tractor Supply and get an auger bit that is about 4' long. Attach your cable to it and screw it in the ground. We have 3 like that and they haven't moved in 10 years.

I've heard of guys that lay out a piece of goat panel or something similarly heavy and attaching the guy wires to that, then piling un about 1,000 lbs of rocks onto the panel to hold it down.

I have one on a rocky hill that you cant penetrate more than 6-8 inches. I cut a 55 gallon drum in half, put a piece of sucker rod shaped like a bell in it and filled it full of cement. Attached the cable to the blind with a turn buckle and the other end to the weight.

I dug 4 holes with the tractor as deep as I could get them poured ready mix in and made some long u shaped rebar with hooks on the end. Ran wire from there to the stand and put turnbuckles to keep them tight. Worked real good to keep a 20 tower blind steady.

I've done the lag bolt method on two of my blinds. Works well.

We like the Rock basket under the blind, but sounds like that might not work for your set up. Ladder up to a trap door.

i just put 3 ft rebar thru each leg???

I'll update with photos after Thanksgiving, but the concrete-rebar-in-a-rock plan was the first we tried and was easier than expected. I got a couple of 1/2" masonry bits, a cordless hammer drill, and some anchoring cement. We found some exposed rock instead of digging down to find some. We were able to drill down the length of the drill, so I think the rock will be big enough. We drilled 2 holes, then poured in the anchoring cement (slightly more liquidy than usual). Finally, we put in the U-shaped piece of 1/2" rebar and applied the sledge to get it down in the holes. We weren't able to get it as far down as I would have liked, but it's in there a good 7-9" or so. I think the concrete set up a little faster than we thought it would and may have hindered us getting the rebar further in. Next time, more water in the concrete and less concrete in the hole. We then moved the blind over the post so that it was centered over the rebar. Lastly, we wired it up with some thick wire (3/16ths?) through the anchors welded on to the bottom of the frame with a come-along on one side to snug it up to the ground. Seems to be pretty solid. I guess we'll see on Thanksgiving when I get back up there! Final cost was around $50 (bits, wire, wire nuts, concrete) and took about 45 minutes to do because we had to wait for the drill to cool down a couple of times.

Assuming this works, I'd recommend it to anyone with shallow, rocky land. It was super easy and takes up very little room around the blind. If you're in the Rocksprings area, you can even borrow a couple cups of concrete (I've got plenty left)!

Thanks to everyone for their input!