Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

Hey Stan, I've got one tumbling around in the back of my ole hunt'n truck. The meat is still on it, I'll have to boil it out I suppose. (especially now that it's going to start getting warm)

The hide for the skull I have is tanned & hanging on the cabin wall. I brought it out there yesterday when we went out to cut some firewood. I tanned it myself, simple cased nose hanger. it turned out pretty good, looks nice, she'll keep the fox company hanging on the wall out there

Did you snipe a coyote?

Hey Dave , I haven't posted much on this thread , but I think it's the best one on the campfire ( my favorite at least )
We use propane for most everything at our camp ( lights, cook stoves , and fridge ). My parents spent a lot of time at camp so they left everything on from when they opened the camp in spring ,till they closed it downn at the end of deer season. It's nice to have a cold fridge to load your groceries into , and grab a cold beer soda when you get there.
I'll probably change that this year , at least for blackfly season, but it's nice to have some frozen meat , and some basics in the fridge , if you are going up frequently.

hey thanks Phil, dang thread got big. It's been a lot of fun sharing the whole project & experience & learning from those that have been there/done that as well as just the ideas that have been provided by the many posters that have read the thread that has probably gotten too large...

big projects for this summer will be a hand pumped sand point well, the finishing of the sauna (also talk of making thet sauna addition to the cabin a bit larger for a bar type gathering place for all the noisy liars... I mean, hunters... )

I will need to close in the soffit/fascia, cut, oil & hang the exterior trim, seal up the floor inside the cabin with a paint or something, build bunks in the bedrooms...

oh there is plenty to do, plus the deerstands we need to build, trails to cut, possibly a small food plot or 2.

most importantly though, bon fires, bbq, good drink, good times & good memories to be made!!

Dave

Dave,the way I cleaned the skull was to put it on a large ant hill and turn a tomato cage upside down over it to keep dogs from dragging it off.The ants cleaned it out good then I soaked it in a clorox mixture for several days to bleach it.
The tendons holding the lower jaw on deteroriate so you have to super glue the lower jaw back to the skull.

Stan

ok guys, time to revisit the idea of paneling the inside of the shack with tongue & groove boards or old barn wood or something. I have talked about this old barn wood, actually what I found was a pile of old tongue & groove boards that were taken from an old impliment sales building in my area. building was taken apart over 50 years ago I think, building was very old when it was taken apart so the boards are likely over a hundred years old. I went last night & looked at those boards again. I took a few short sample pieces home & washed them off in the bathtub real quick with a scrub brush, let them dry & snapped them together to get an idea what the walls would look like.

what do you guys think? Should I do it?



close up

I wouldn't even think of using that old nasty wood on the inside of your man shack.


Will pm my addy to have it shipped to me.


Looks to me like you basically stepped in a pile of gold there on that t&g.

Heck yes I'd use them, they look to be in extremely good condition. I'd make sure to layout the boards before just starting in so that knots (like above) don't effect the fit.

Yeah I think it will look pretty cool, still trying to get the wife to share my vision

I told the guy I'd take em, it was just starting to feel like one of those deals were I could see myself looking back a short time down the road & saying "damn it! what was I thinking? I coulda had those & finished the whole cabin interior if I hadn't hesitated!!"

so, I told him I'd take the whole pile.

[quote=northern_dave]
what do you guys think?


I think it looks like you have carpet on your wall

Seriously though , they look great and will bring a lot of old timey feel wherever they go

Just bear in mind that they will darken with more age , so plan out your lighting with that in mind

That looks great. It will really make your cabin unique.

We debated on the walls of our "cabin". I wanted sheet-rock for insulation and fire safety. My brother-in-law wanted paneling. We compromised and did the bedrooms in rock and the living area in paneling. The wood paneling looks great and makes the little building seem more like a real cabin.
Good luck with the job. Have to treat for insects with real wood?

stumpy

the only insects that a MN winter won't kill off are the kind that feed on humans, I don't think we have much worry about lumber eating bugs up here.

as bill murray might say : "so we got that going for us, which is nice..."

this morning I was talking about galv tin on the ceiling, now I'm thinking more about plank board ceiling. boards cut from tamarack cut off our property. A friend of mine has a sawmill, portable band saw type with a honda gas engine.

Dave, I would run a sander over these boards to see if it will bring out a lighter color. Its kind of hard to tell what kind of wood you have there (maybe cedar or old pine). Keep in mind that the wood will darken over time.

If it was me using those boards in a cabin like yours, I would be getting creative with the installing. Find the center of the wall and start there and go <<<>>> or >>><<<. If I did the <<>>, I would have the center done either horizontal or vert in a 3 X 3' area or so. This would also work around your windows.

As far as the ceiling, the galv panels would look neat, so would the wood.

Here are a couple of pics from the inside of our cabin that was built by my grampa in the early 50's. The original old cabin is plywood/paneling walls & ceiling. The new addition finished in 1998 is aspen paneling with sheetrock ceiling.








As you can see in the last pic, they ran the paneling both vert. & horz. to kind of set it off.

very cool & I love that kitchen stove. makes you want to be there right now. looks cozy, I like the ligher wood too.

carpenter ants, beetle larvae, etc.

That "Majestic Range" came to Kansas in a covered wagon in the 1800's. Until we got the addition done on the cabin the "Range" was the only source of heat & cooking. My wife has gotten the old stove figured out as far as how to get all the knobs & vents set to be able to bake in the oven.

I wish I had a pic of the ceiling in the old cabin. I don't know what grampa had done to the plywood, but it looks like an acid was put on it and had spots eaten away to make an uneven surface.

JRowan,great looking camp.I particularly like the TV stand.

Stan

Well guys, I had the pleasure of spending another night at the 'ol shack-a-lacka with Dave and his family. My 10 year old boy and I left bright and early saturday morning and met at Dave's house for a day of fishin big snot rockets (northerns)on lake of the woods. The 'boy' and some of his buddies also met us there. My boy and Dave's oldest son hit it off very well and were succesful in catching a couple of nice fish to pose for the camera with. This of course was done when they were not 'exploring' or draggin each other around the ice with my depth finder rope! :)I'm picture posting challanged so Dave will have to do that. That evening we returned to the shack for a bon fire, fried fish and more 'smart juice'. It was a very good time! Dave's daughter ended up getting sick and they are currently in the hospital with her so please keep Dave, his daughter and family in your thoughts and prayers.
Dave - Thanks for a great time and wishing you guys well!
Jim

Thanks Jim, daughter is finally on the mend. Pam is still with her at the Hospital but we hope for her to be released by tomorrow.

We're very grateful to see her health returning, quite a scare.

Yesterday I was so happy with the first signs of progress that I went across from the hosp to a scheels store & bought her a "get well soon gift".



Nothing says "get well soon daughter" like a pink ruger 10/22



You should have seen her light up when I told her, laying in that hosp bed.. she's been saving her money for one of these, she thinks they are the coolest thing.

Of course I couldn't bring it up to the room to show her but I took a pic of it with my cell phone & showed her the picture.

Maybe when she gets better she can post her own "range report" on "pink 10/22"


Dave

Stan, up until just a couple years ago, the only TV we had up there was a little B&W that sat on top of an old metal end table like thing. The current TV wouldn't fit and I haven't got a new stand built yet.

i just spent the last two days at work reading this! you have a very nice camp and good luck to all that hunt with you. i am very jealous of it. looks like a great place to make some good memories!

brandon