Making your own deer stand seat
Making your own seat for a ladder stand, blind, wood stand or portable stand is very easy, cost effective, and quick. Some of the materials you will need are; jig saw, foam, wood, Vinyl, and a hand staple gun. Note, foam is very expensive to buy so if you have an old coach or chair with foam in them or you know a friend tossing a coach out grab some of the foam and store it until you need it. Here is some of the foam I have collect recently from a coach and pontoon seats.
Using Vinyl for seat material
I have found Vinyl to be the best seat material for the outdoor environment. It will repel water and snow and if you happened to get freezing rain, one or two hits to the seat will remove this. The seat will also be much warmer than sitting on that meal platform and your bottom-end will stay dry. Vinyl is also easy to get and cheap. You can find it at Jo-Ann Fabric in the scrap or left over bin, with pieces of 1/2 yards to 3 yards. They typically have multiple colors in both smooth and textured.
Making a seat for a ladder stand
Start with a board or piece of plywood, 1/2″ to 3/4″ thick and cut it to the same size as your top platform (seat) on your ladder stand. Use this board now to cut your pattern of your foam, but cut your foam such that it extends over the edges enough to wrap under the board. Now take your Vinyl and staple one side onto the bottom side of your board (seat). Next pull your Vinyl over the top of your board and foam, stretching it tight, and staple this unto the bottom side of your seat. Do the same for the ends and staple them. Now take a cord, like the one you use for lifting up your bow or gun into your stand and staple a 10″ piece on each bottom end of your seat. Make sure to leave 4″ on each side so you can tie it around the stand’s metal platform grid. This seat is now ready to be placed into your stand and can be left year-round if you choose, as they will withstand the weather for years.
Making a seat for your wooden stand
When making a seat for my permanent wooden stands I like to find old kitchen bar tools. I then cut them down to the size that is comfortable for me to sit on. Now just follow the instructions outline for making the seat for the ladder stands, however instead of staples I like to use small screws in this case. I find these seats will also endure the weather for years so I leave them in my wooden stands year-round. I will also make a Crescent Moon seat in some cases, which works better, but is more work. Why, see below.
The crescent moon seat
One seat I have made for wooden stands and homemade portable stands is a Rotating Crescent Moon Seat. Why Crescent, because you get better support on your legs or you can straddle the seat and use your legs to balance you when standing. Here’s how I made it. Cut the Crescent shape to the size you would like for a seat, remember you will be sitting on it different ways, so make sure the ends are wide enough to sit on and the center is narrow enough to have your legs straddling and griping it for stability. Now find the best spot to locate your seat on your stand and take a floor flange(for a 1″ pipe) and screw it down to this spot. Take another floor flange and screw it to the bottom side of your seat in the center, I like to use T-nuts with bolts for the floor flanges. Now buy a 1″ pipe with threads on both ends (the hardware store will thread this for you) to the height you want your seat to be, wax both ends and put it in your stand. If everything is tight and waxed it will not make any sound when rotating. Use a 5/8″ or 3/4″ board for strength.
The deer blind bench seat
Now one thing I did for my deer blind was to purchase a bench from the high school shop class for $20 and add a seat pad to this. It worked great, is very comfortable, and even came with cup holders. The seat is much larger, but use the same instructions as in the ladder stand. Here you can staple directly to the bottom of the bench if you like or make the seat pad removable.
