Roof importance?

How important is having overhead concealment? Blind fully covers from all sides except from overhead.Will you only get busted by ducks flying directly in from behind you or will the ones coming in right in front of you also spot u without a roof?

From my limited experience it depends. Early or late season, how much the birds have learned to look for blinds and"standard spreads, hunting pressure, and species. I hunt dumb redheads all season sitting on the bank of the bay ten feet from my spread without a blind with no issue.

Heck yeah they bust you from over head. They key is to not move, keep head down when over head. I rarely hunt out of a blind, dove stool in the reeds/natural cover is where I like to hunt. Birds over head, sit still, head down, if I'm looking at birds like to have some weeds or tree branch between my face and birds and that works great.

The main point of a duck blind is to conceal movement...don't let anyone kid you on that. If a duck comes head on, from the side or above, they flare if they see movement. Stay still and your fine. I've hunted a lot of times without a roof without an issue. Biggest issue I have with no roof is sitting in the rain.

Redheads are extremely stupid ducks. You can wear a giant pink costume and do jumping jacks next to your spread and they will still decoy.

redheads are not the bird that you want to use to base your blind requirements off of. Could you be fine with no overhead...with little to no movement absolutely. if shooting teal and divers , it will work. January mallards and pintails...it'll get difficult. also depends if you're on a stock pond bank or out in the middle of an open flat with ducks circling on top of you. most of our blind are like this, about 5-6 ft wide with the top sloping up about 8 inches to a shooting hole that's almost 30 inches wide. with the open area going right down the middle of the blind, we put "dividers across it every 30-36 inches to attach brush to so that it isn't just such an open hole. these blinds are like this so you can easily shoot 360 degrees. blinds that don't need to be able to do this like along a tree line are constructed with a roof. I've built some designed with shorter roofs that you could almost shoot out of the back of pretty easy, but prefer them to be one way or the other.