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

I'll just wait for someone to tell me "that's enough"

until then, I'll just keep rambling.

Exactly Davester! I'm thinking if the mods or whoever thought it was using up to much space, they wouldn't have stickied the thread. Keep 'er lit for as long as they let ya!

Man,I don't check in for a day and you guys have added two pages.
Dave,as a forum owner myself I can assure you that Rick is overjoyed to see the hits this thread gets.If he ever decides that it is too big and wants to pull the plug we can move it with approval of my internet guru.
I'm feeling much better every day and I owe a lot of my recovery to the pleasure I get from reading here.
Tuesday,Wednesday and today I have walked a mile each day at the local park.Today is exactly four weeks from the operation.I feel really good.
You guys discussing .243's reminds me of my .243.In 1975 I was living in Atlanta and a very good friend wanted me to start deer hunting with him.I had never deer hunted.He offered to loan me a MOssberg .243 since I had no suitable deer rifle.On Nov.15,1975 I killed my first deer,a sixpointer, with that rifle.I was then hooked on deer hunting.Since I bought a Marlin 30-30 I gave Bill his rifle back.He moved to Denver two years later and then to Las Vegas where he lived for 20some years.I visited him several times in LasVegas.
Five years ago in failing health and having lost one leg to diabetes he moved back to his home state of Kentucky.I had the chance to go up to Kentucky and spend a week with him at that time.We had a great time talking about old times.I hated to leave when time came.
I spoke to him by phone several times after that.His health worsened and June 29 of last year my very good friend passed away one night.
Two weeks after his death his widow called and asked me how to ship a gun to me.Bill left me that .243 in his will after keeping it 32 years unfired since I killed a deer with it.I had her to ship it to my local gun dealer and now have it in my safe.
I took it out and shot it and it was still zeroed in.
So .243's have a spot in my heart.
One day I will find someone to pass it on to.

Stan

Very nice Stan.

And glad to hear you're feeling better. Heck, a mile a day is better than I'd guess 85% of the US population, if you think about it. Keep working. Hunting season is right around the corner. Maybe better check that zero again on a chunky buck. Bill would like that, I think.

Craig

Stan,

Glad to hear you are doing better!!! I'm also Sorry to hear about Bill but I'm certain he would like seeing you use that 243 to wack another deer too.

Thanks for the well wishes guys but you know what I have one Very Wonderful family and especially considerate wife.. Here it is July with Nov. long gone and ya know I've got my Orange cap still laying on the desk infront of me, an orange pullover hanging on the chair behind me and another over the kitchen table chair.

She knows this is what drives me and my deer and waterfowl calls hang from the wall infront of me as I type along with another camo hat. Deer and Fish on the wallmounts in the living room, hunting related stuff placed here and there to help me keep my cool. Life is pretty sweet all in all, just hope I can pass some of this on to the little ones and that my cousin and his boys are someday feeling as lucky as I feel right now too..

Stan,

Great to hear that you're up and about. If you are walking a mile a day...man that's pretty good. I know a lot of people that don't do half of that. And they did not have MAJOR surgery a month ago. Keep it up Stan and as I said you will feel better than you have in years. My father in law went through the same thing two years ago and now hunts in Montana in the mountains.

That story about the .243 is great. Sorry to hear about your friend, and I bet the gun is near and dear to you. I think it would be great if you took it out and shot a buck with it this fall.

Tom

Awesome story Stan, great to hear you have been exercising outdoors & steadily improving. By fall you'll be in better shape than most of us here!!

I can only imagine how proud you will be to carry that rifle in the woods this fall.

It's been storming here this morning & there is more on the way. We've put off another camping trip that was to take place today & tomorrow with some of my uncles & cousins. Too bad because I really wanted to see those guys, they are my original deer hunting group & many of them & have not seen in well over a year.

If the weather breaks up tomorrow or even looks somewhat promising I'd like to go out to deer camp & get a few things done. Over the winter months while out at the camp, last fall actually during black powder deer season we were visited at camp by friends of another camp that I have frequented over the years on occasion. Great guy, comes up from the twin cities with a friend or 2 & several kids to his hunting camp. Well, he spots our hand pumper well sitting on the counter top at the cabin & we start talking about shallow wells & stuff, it turns out he's got a bunch of pipe & a sandpoint we can have. It's sitting over at his camp. So I'm thinking of giving him a call & seeing if it's ok to stop by his camp to grab that stuff.

Oh there is plenty to do out at camp, sand point well, exterior trim on the shack, I have a screen door I should put on, We have to build the sauna and the rest of the cabin addition if that's what we have decided on, then we have to tie the 2 roofs together which will mean some metal cutting & creating a valley where the roof lines meet. Should put on some soffit & fascia to keep the birds from nesting in the attic. I have a bunch of large boulders to move about a half a mile... Trails to cut, stands to build, firewood.... I have to get that LP fridge out there, holy cow I've got a lot of work to do!!!

Then there is all this stuff to do inside the cabin, I have to seal up the floor with something (still bare plywood), I have to check the floor for level now that the cabin has had time to settle it's footings, jack & shim where needed....

Lots of work to do.

Dave

Dave, How many Miles from Hibbing to your shack?

From Hibbing..... lemme think here... (sip my coffee...)

hmm, mapquest time... thinking number 2 south of red lake area is the best route between us, let me check a map...

looks like about 225 miles.

Stan great to hear your doing better. Bill sounds like the kind of friend we all hope to have.

This year is my daughters 1st year deer hunting.

She went thru all the gear the other and was digging things out picking out her knife, hat, flashlight, etc. Then she found my grandfathers old red and black wool hunting pants.

These are the kind that lace up the calves and with suspenders.

Well my grandfather was a big guy and it was hysterical watching her try them on.

It is such a pleasure watching her use things that were passed down so I know someone will you give the same feeling when you pass along that rifle.

A while back I picked up Ruger UL in .257 bob for her to use well the stock was just a tad long for her. She told me that she did not want to cut the stock as the wood was to pretty and that she would wait until she was bigger to use it. Of course I could not put off waiting.

Went out and found a NIB Remmy 700 ADL in .243 youth synthetic for her and she is all gung ho to do some deer whackage.

I have gained much more from getting my kids into hunting and the outdoors then from actually doing it.

17 pounds.
You shoulda grabbed a turtle and ate it. They are great (better than pike) when out of clean water.
Did you catch any crappie?
Most folks go to the BWCAW with their families and are looking for a fairly easy few days to relax. But if you ever want a more remote, super fishing trip for more species, let me know. I could show you some fantastic routes where there are very few canoeists; mostly because there are few trails in places. If there are poor trails, they are usually unmarked and hard to find. The trip would be harder, but nearly untouched fishing for brook trout, lake trout, etc. is found. Trout lakes are more common in the eastern portion, which I'm most familiar with.

That would be very cool.

I may find myself roped into one more trip this summer as it seems my brother really wants to go in August.

i've never put in over on the far east side, I think I'd really like to try that, would it fall south of the gunflint blowdown area?

Trout, that would be very cool.

sadly no efforts were put towards the crappie. In the north west bay of Bald eagle as we headed towards a couple of stream inlets we noticed a spot in the weeds where the surface water was dancing with some activity that we suspected was probably crappie. But we were hell bent for a sharp drop off of an island for walleye & some pike up in the shallows so we didn't stop to try for the crappies.

The area was ground zero for the blowdown. All of the main portages are maintained. A lot of it has been burning up. Some places are tough to get around in. You know, wilderness.

Anyone interested in trout resources in NE MN should go here:
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/fishing/trout_streams/north_mn_maps.html

Its an online version of a booklet the MNDNR produced for anglers. It consists of maps and tables of the best trout streams and trout lakes in NE MN. I was on the committee that produced the book and was responsible for the info from Cook County, generally. That would be maps 6,7,8, and 19. Map 19 is the one that covers most of the area of the BWCAW that I was talking about. There are 120+ trout lakes on map 19. The tables tell you species, if stocked, etc. Folks seem to really like it. If you find any errors, tell somebody else about it. I don't work there anymore.

Pick a lake and go to the "Lake Finder" option on the MNDNR web page and you can find hydrographic maps and the latest lake assessment or survey of most any lake on the maps.

Crappie are my favorite eatin' fresh-water fish. There are almost no crappie around here. I have to go south/west to get a meal. I didn't see your how-to-catch crappie request before you left, or we may have gotten you some crappie. About this time of year, my favorite way to catch them is over and amongst the deeper weed beds. Look for something "different" amongst the larger "cabbage" beds, like a small patch of a different plant species. An inlet, like you were at, would also suffice. They may have been feeding on an insect hatch occuring in the inlet stream. I use a lightweight rod with 2-4 pound test. Casting a tiny jig head with a tiny twister tail is the medicine. Yellow is the color. It sounds like you may have seen crappie feeding around the "cabbage" (usually large-leaf pondweed)?

yes the surface flutter type activity we saw would have been at a transition from a lily pad bed to the cabbage right where it dropped in a little too deep for the pads & the cabbage would have started.

The lake back home here close to our deer camp (small reservoir lake) is supposed to hold some good crappie & largemouth that have been stocked. But I think it's actually more popular lately for good sized sunnies.

I'd like to put the canoes in there & explore a little (non motorized lake)

Dave,

You mentioned that you were looking for a way to seal up your plywood floor. Have you looked at some of the laminate hardwood type floors? I was looking at some for my basement. If you are not looking for something fancy or a brand name type, there can be some good deals. It is real easy to install and a lot more durable than lenolium or vinal type floors.

Slate tile is also fairly cheap. If you have a home depot by you they give a military discount so you would probably qualify. If not have your dad look at the Duluth store, because I KNOW they give a military discount.

It sounds like you have a full plate up at the camp. Do you have electric up there or do you just use a generator? I wish I was closer, I could run up for a weekend and help you out. I love building stuff, espically on a deer shack. It just makes it more fun.

Tom

we use a generator which hasn't been sparked to life since early last fall hope it still runs!!

I've thought about the lam floor, it would be a good way for us to go.

But for now I am thinking about firing the generator, running a shop vac over all of the joints where the sheets butt up to pull dirt out of those cracks, then get several tubes of liquid nails or similar construction adhesive & run a bead on all the joints/cracks, then trowel the bead flat with a putty knife or bondo spreader, leave camp for a few hours on a wheeler ride or something & come back when it's hopefully all dry. then prime & paint the plywood floor something like a light sand/tan color with a durable urethane. I could even get stupid & stencil in some wildlife stuff in a contrast color, animal silhouettes etc...

maybe that'd be a bit much.

home depot mil discount? active or veteran?

does it matter?

Dave

I used Big Stretch on all the seams. If I had to do it over, I'd use tongue and groove, or put a 2nd layer 90 degrees to the first. I also did put 2" foam insulation on the underside.

Whatever happens, I want a plywood floor.

It says, come in. Sit down. Beer? Hey man, you spilled a little. You know, after years and years of that, plywood develops a patina that antique dealers - well it's to die for.

Not to mention snow. Once you get her over 33 degrees, all that snow you tracked in while shoveling, tramping the pooper trail, turning on the gas, unloading - that stuff's gonna melt. Now, I've spent a lot of time in cabins wher then you do a lot of wiping, mopping, sweeping in advance, and otherwise worrying about what's gonna happen to the floor??????

Forget it. A floor needs to be flat. And have a patina.

Craig

The stencils would be a bit much imo but it's your place.

home depot gives an mil discount on active for sure. My mom is in the Air National Guard in Duluth and she gets one there. I would be suprised if they wouldn't give one to someone on inactive.

might take a lot of paint on that floor too. I painted some trim and tounge and groove for my basement and man did it soak up the paint. the plywood may be a little different with all the laminated pieces. I suppose you don't need to make it purty though just seal the sucker.

Tom

There's a lot of options. But only one patina.

Can't make it. Can't plan for it. Just wait for it.

Craig