The wife & I acquired 50 acres of private wooded land in a fairly remote location early in the winter months of this year. 2 sides border state land that goes on for what seems like for ever.
We have prepared a building site & have started building our hunting cabin. 24 x 32 cabin with 3 bunk rooms, kitchen/dining area, small living room type area & an attached sauna room. Wood and or propane heat, propane range/oven, probably the lights too. No electricity, no running water. Thinking about putting a sand point in & a hand pump for water to wash up with.
It's accessible by truck but it's a slow trail a good 3/4 mile off the closest decent gravel road.
The most notable part of this new camp is a new member to our hunting group. My best friends son, 16 years of age. My best friend, also my cousin, lost his life recently in a plane crash. I invited his boy to take part in the building of this new camp & asked if he could come up & hunt with us as well.
He's taken to me, taken to the project & taken to the idea of calling it his hunting camp with the passion & enthusiasm that only a starry eyed young hunter could bring. It's a true blessing and a wonderful thing. The bond between us is strengthening and it is helping me deal with the loss as much or more than it could possibly be helping him. Me & his dad were only about 12 days apart in age & have been best friends since before we could talk. I suppose we are as people would often say "like brothers". Looked alike, talked & thought alike, I suppose that makes it easier for his boy & I to bond so well.
We're trying to keep things pretty rustic, we like the absence of electricity, the hand pumped well idea�. Wood stove� It's going to be quite the place, a foundation for many memories to come. I have 3 kids of my own, 1 girl & 2 boys, all are already or at least show promise of being hunters. My wife likes to hunt, I have brothers� I'm sure my dad will take part. It's the beginning of something good, the birth of what will be a sentimental memory factory.
I'm standing at the beginning looking forward, and I know well enough to absorb it all, soak it up & live in the moments, because they move so fast.
Well, there's the intro, lengthy, but there it is. Any shack/cabin tips and or considerations from those that are past my point & looking back are certainly appreciated.
Thanks,
Dave
Ten years has passed since that first post.
Thank you all for being such good friends, I find myself very busy these days with trying to run a business so I don't post near as much as I used to.
It is also the case this morning, I don't have much time, not as much time as I'd like to apply to this significant milestone. I will simply assure you all that the dream lives on.
I do have additional exciting news to share, very soon.
Can't wait to hear the news.
10 years ago in a job trailer on a cold rainy August day, I read the post. I've checked this thread almost everyday since. It's the first one I look at every morning.
To those of you that haven't been to Chickenbuck, it really is a magical place.It's a place of honor and tradition, both are followed. It has to be magical, my son has been there only a few times and all he wants to do is go back...every weekend. Last year, we hunted with Dave, Pam, and the crew. Jack shot his first grouse there, saw his first moose. At Moose Lake of all places. He saw his first glimpse of a deer with a rifle in his hands, and got to experience the pounding of your chest just before the deer walks out. He also got to see that deer never walk out into the open.
I can't even begin to explain how great Pam, Dave, Missy and the kids are. Uncle Dusty's laugh can be heard all through the cabin. And when a shot is served or fired, he's smilin like heck!
The campfire is always burning and there are log benches made from the woods behind the cabin. They're as inviting as Dave and Pam.
It's a wonderful place. Thank you both for sharing it with my family and here on the campfire!
Last year, we hunted with Dave, Pam, and the crew. Jack shot his first grouse there, saw his first moose. At Moose Lake of all places. He saw his first glimpse of a deer with a rifle in his hands, and got to experience the pounding of your chest just before the deer walks out. He also got to see that deer never walk out into the open. 
