KARA CAMO SYSTEM
I designed and built a new quickly detachable system for holding grass panels to my Kara Hummer. I bought Real Grass mats
from Cabela's. They are 4x4 feet. I cut them in half so they were 2 foot high, 4 foot long. 4 panels will be enought to
camouflage the Kara so that you can hunt in a sitting postion.
First I made some brackets that fit securely over the cockpit sides and hold the camo in place. They are easy to slide on and
off the cockpit. I made them by cutting 16 4x6" rectangles out of some scrap 1/2" pressure treated plywood, then glueing 4x6" rectangles
of carpet to these small pieces of plywood, then screwing these rectangles to a 2 ft long piece of 1" x 3/4" pressure treated
lumber cut from 1x4 stock
Once the brackets are assembled, I made little frames from 1/2" PVC conduit and screwed them to the brackets. I sanded
these PVC frames and painted them with Parker's duck boat spray paint, that I had left over from painting the Kara.
Next, I slid these frames over the cockpit, and attached the camo panels. I attached only one end of the 4 foot long panel to the
frame, and let the other end of the panel hang over, so it could be opened out to allow the dog to make a retrieve. I ran a line
of decoy cord along the top end of this free hanging section, and then attached a bit of bungee cord to it so I could stretch this
across to the frame on the other end of the boat. This helps the free end of the panel to stand up, not to sag. You see the profile
of my backboard there. I made it from 1x12 pine, covered with a cushion and some camo material. I later attached some of the
real grass to the back of it. I totally disappear in this camo once it's all set up.
This is what it looks like once all the panels are in place. There are two panels on each side of the cockpit, one on the nose,
one on the stern, and part of one on the backboard (not seen here.)
Another view from the front.
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