Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Sold my deer camp

My family has owned a deer camp in SE Oklahoma since August of 1984. I am the last of the tribe that hunted there each fall and spring. The camp started out as a camp of mainly 6 guys and grew to 16 for a few years as members brought in kids and other family and friends. However, over the past 15 years the numbers dropped to just me and my stepfather primarily the last 5 years and an occasional friend. My stepdad died last June and I have been back one time for his memorial service and scattering his and my mom's ashes. That trip was opening weekend of primitive firearms season and my wife killed a nice 8 point buck out of my stepdad's stand. I suppose there is some symmetry to it all as I took the first deer, also a nice 8 point, the first fall we owned the land. I know for me the place is just not the same without him and the joy of going is clouded by the pain of him not being there to build the fire each evening.

I sold it to a great guy and his two young adult sons. They are new to hunting, like many of the guys who hunted with us over the years, but are eager and will make many memories like I have done at that place over the years. Still-it will be bittersweet to plan the hunts next fall and not be heading to the "cabin". I wish the new owners nothing but happiness.

Thank you Don Workman for making so many happy days in such a wonderful place. My your spirit walk those hills happy each day with my mom by your side.

Perry

Never been there, but the thoughts bring a tear to ones eye. Getting to the age as well where feelings of this might be the last time are surfacing.

Would be nice of you to write a brief history for the place and give it to the new owners.

Sorry to hear that.

I take pleasure in hunting places my ancestors have before me. Makes me proud. And hope to pass it along to the next generation here.

Your take is different but its your take. 1Minute has a great suggestion, since it can't be passed to your future generations in the family anymore for them to enjoy, recording the past and giving that to the new owners sure makes sense!

Difficult decision to make

Thanks for sharing your story Perry. I hope you are at peace with your decision.

Perry,

You've written a nice tribute to your stepfather. My (limited) experience with hunting camps is that they are dynamic, people coming and going, with a core group who are the keepers of the traditions and stories. When the core group is gone and the stories no longer have broad meaning, it is time to say goodbye and let someone start their own traditions.

When my FIL passed, the hunting crew of which he was the patriarch dissolved after just one season without him.

Thanks Perry. I hate having to read these stories. Deer camp is such a hallowed place, it's a shame to see one go away, but it's good to know some new blood will hang deer from the game pole.

Our camp is basically going through it's death throes. My dad and 5 other guys built this Pa. deer camp shortly after WWII. Man, the stories from that camp! All the Olde Guard have passed on. None of the guys had any kids that showed any interest in the camp so it came down to me and my brother. Health issues for both of us have meant the camp sits empty a lot more than it should. The day will come when we have to sell it or see it just rot into the ground. Such a tragedy after all the hard work and memories associated with our little slice of Heaven.

I was part of a hunting camp when I was a teenager and I sadly got to see it dwindle down to a few guys that were getting away from their wives to drink for a few weekends. The old boys that got a twinkle in their eye when they spoke of deer and bear that had been taken around that camp made it for me. They've all died off and their kids don't do much work around it anymore. I stopped going because the stories aren't there anymore, Earl isn't cooking scrambled eggs at the stove in the morning, Bill isn't limping around telling the younger guys it was a good thing he wasn't 20 years younger to keep up with them any longer...it is sad, but times change, and sometimes, you need to start new traditions of your own. Good luck on that, and I hope the new owners gain the same appreciation for the place that you had for it.

Reminds me of going to my grandparents cabin. Grandpa passed passed 2014. Hasn't been the same since. It will likely get sold soon. Like you said, bittersweet.

For nearly 20 years I kept a hunting camp in New Hampshire for my friends to use and although they all said that they would look after it, they didn't, so I ended up letting the local VFD use it for a practice burn after it was repeatedly vandalized and, recently, sold the land that it stood on. I understand that they guy who bought the land is going put in roads and divide the rest into 30, 2 acre, building lots, so that land will be forever lost to hunters and fishermen.

As we age, it is often difficult to hang on to things that meant so much, but are dissolving into the changing times.
Our small deer camp is holding together for now. My nephew and I own the properties and my son now lives close enough to join in.

My parents retirement home was a rebuilt old hand hewn log house (out of 3 old log cabins) setting on 35 acres of mostly woods and had a 6 acre lake. Dad and I put it together (with lots of help) the summer I got home from Viet Nam.
That place was a 'family' camp on most weekends. Lots of fishing, squirrel hunting, mushroom hunting, pie and ice cream making, euchre games, etc......
My brother and sister did not wish to keep it and I lived far enough away that it was not reasonable for me. Now, I think back and feel that I should have found a way to keep it.

I sympathize with PWN and the rest who have lost that special place.
Tim

Sorry for your loss but it was a great gift of fun memories . A real treasure. Not a farm but after my Dad passed going out on our boat was never the same as there was always that empty seat so I understand how you feel.

Sorry to hear of the circumstances under which you sold your camp. A nice story that points out that certain something about a hunting camp that non-hunters will never understand. Even though you sold the property, you will always have it in your memories, which is almost as good.

Now you can say "On to the next big adventure!"

Well said.

Its sad but part of life! Iv gone thru 2 old camps, and now Im the old guy, not the same, the younger guys are always playing with there phones! and dont bother to come up till deer season, just dont feel the same, but I still have the memories in my head!

I keep going to camp. It's just part of me. I'll do it till I can do it any longer---then 1 more year--to spread my ashs.

I took my son up on the hill above camp last fall and showed him where I want my ashes spread. It's Dad's spot, and hallowed ground for me. Dad shot a lot of deer up there, and I want to go back up there and hunt with him again. Hopefully not for many, many years.

I keep telling my younger friends, nothing lasts forever. Relax and enjoy the memories you have. Chances are the younger generation want have the chance to experience the things you have. It's hell to get old. Hasbeen

I have a dieing deer camp in northern wisconsin , . I am usually the only one that goes up except my son goes up a few times a year ( 3 last year) . Thankfully the taxes re only 210 dollars. The deer hunting terrible, it is 243 mi. one way, muggy and so many mosquitos all summer they will drive you insane. I dont go up from mid June to Labor day or so . The fishing sucks except for smallmouth. The grouse and bear hunting is very good so I am just going to grouse hunt . It takes 8 yrs to get a bear tag to make it worse. It eats very little hay so I keep it. I was only there one time this year and might go this weekend to fish and look for wolf kills. The day still might come where I just up and sell it. I had 8 hunters there the first year in 1989. After 10 years it was 5 or so . Now it is just my son and I and as far as I care it can stay that way. If BIL wants to hunt there again, it's fine with me. I treasure is in heaven not on this earth. My dad will never be there again . Wanted him to come up one more time but as time passed it was more likely he never would.. . . . I see more deer on public land 5 miles from my house anyways. I imagine I could get 60k for it easy. End up with 50k after taxes and realtor. I can have a lot of fun on 45k in a 4% tax free muni bond . That is almost 2 k a year in div. tax free and I dont have to pay taxes on the land or upkeep. Hardly worth having your own deer camp anymore.

There's an awful lot of empty or dying camps in Pennsylvania. So many divided families, kids that just don't get shown the ways of their forefathers, and even QDM. Licenses aren't cheap either. I well remember the days when deer season was basically an undeclared state holiday. Every little mountain town was bustling on the weekend before the opener, the volunteer fire departments did a hunter's meal as a fund raiser, including the obligatory raffle for a Winchester or Marlin lever gun. Now, outside of some orange hats here and there, you'd be hard pressed to tell the opener is happening. 7 camps on our trail, and only three of them are occupied for the opener. There's an old church nearby that was converted to a deer camp decades ago. They used to get about 20 guys in for the opener. I drove by there last fall and there were two trucks there.

Nothing is as I remember it, that's life and we all eventually end up in the ground.

At least in the East, because of the increasing amount of posted and off-limits land, hunting camps close to large tracts of open public hunting lands may again become popular.

The negativity here is sometimes sad to watch. Or perhaps revealing. Sad either way.

I feel for the OP...

But this thread is bringing me down...I think I'll go to camp for a solo weekend and a pick-me-up!

If one is getting up in years and maintaining the camp is difficult that is one thing. If that isn't the case, then if having a camp is that important it comes down to priorities. Camps are fun, but they include a certain amount of upkeep, maintenance and more often than not travel time back and forth. Many are not willing to invest the effort and time, and time priorities have changed since when the original occupants put it together. Especially for the younger generations. They have other things they find more important. Families with kids run around significantly more than back when. Especially if the kids are involved with sports.

In Pa, the woods are essentially empty after the first two days of Deer season. However, the motels in the area are filled up with hunters for Sat, Sun, Mon and Tues and most times are booked ahead for the next Deer season. We rent a camp for a week of Grouse hunting most years. It's a great time and more than reasonably inexpensive for 5-6 people. Take a week or two and hunt Michigan while staying in a motel. Again good times.


But not as good as a good camp. You have one and it's where you want it to be, appreciate it while you can.

We let our camp fold this year! So sorry to see it go.. But the last years I was the only hunter there.. living 1800 miles away and dealing with taxes that went from 98$/year to 680. What a ripoff🤑 So it is gone and a way of life..

For me most of the old timmers are gone, hell im one now! the younger guys still want to hunt , but there kids are into sports & cheer leading! for some reason all my hunting buddies have girls! I know bow season camp is a bit diffrent now days! they havent started bringing the girls to rifle season yet!

I have suggested to a couple of motel owners here that it would be good business to supply rooms with firearms safes fitted, as I know it is a pain when travelling with firearms and lack of security for same at motels.

Hard to imagine deer camps 'closing', what with only getting one tag and the state telling you the deer has to have 17 points on one side.

Weird that.

That's just plain not true Steelhead. They only have to have 16 points on one side.

The East Texas lease I'm on gas guys in there 70's that have been hunting there all their lives. The guy that got me on has been on it for 38 years. I'm new, only been there 10 yrs. The lease is paper company land. It backs up to the Alabama go Cshitta Indian reservation.

In northern WIs. there are deer camps all over that have roofs caving in and all grown over. Then down the road a new camp starts and is up and running . Then I notice it does not get much use and is up for sale many times. There just is not enough deer in northern WIs. to keep 95% of the hunters interested. About 25 yrs ago , there were 7-10 trucks parked at the end of the gravel road where public land starts. I own some land at the end of the road so every morning I go to see how many trucks are parked there. Last year , , , to my delight there were none!. ! ! Yep, thousands of acres of public land and noone is hunting it. Fine with me. If I need deer meat I can usually pick off a doe in southern WIs. where I live anyway. I dont go deer hunting for the deer anymore, and dont keep the cabin in hopes the deer hunting gets better. I keep it for sanity purposes. I like getting way back in da woods and not seeing ribbons, water bottles and plastic lunch bags. The end of the road is not even the remote part of the area. Across the river it is remote. Last time I saw a hunter there was 2009 on the second last day of gun season as the sun was setting. I swear he was lost , he saw me but at 100 yds away he kept right on walking north, further into the woods. He was heading towards Skanes cabin, here on the fire. Maybe it was him, i dont know. Anyway, in northern WIs. the hunters numbers are down so far I decided to keep the cabin.

My late Uncle Conrad and a hunting partner started a deer camp is Southern Potter County in 1955, his best friend had been working in the area on the build of the George B Stevenson dam and had stories of all the deer in this wild part of PA. They purchased an old building that had to be relocated since it would have been flooded once the dam filled up. They cut it in two and skidded it up the mountain to it's current home.

In the late 50's up to 16 guys would call the camp home during the two week whitetail season, as years went by less and less guys came to hunt. In the early 60's Uncle Conrad bought out his partner and owned it for the next 30 years. When he pasted he willed it to my 2 cousins, my younger brother and me. After having grown up hunting from the old camp my brother's two sons have taken over the camp having rebuilt the basement and the entire exterior it is in good hands.

On my wall at work I have the picture taken of my brother, cousin and I in 1963 next to the Welcome to Potter County sign on N 872, and next to it is the picture of my brothers grandson taken 50 years later on his first trip to camp in Gods Country.

Sad to hear of these camps folding up. Also sad to hear of the lack of deer in some areas. We have so many deer in our areas. Sort of the end of a era, I guess.

Ran into an acquaintance the other day who is a member of a camp up on top of the Mountain out of Sinnamahoning. Isolated camp on a couple hundred acres surrounded by State Forest. Years ago the owners had built a good sized lake off the front porch. He showed me a few recent pics and there were perhaps 10 Elk milling around. Three were belly deep in the lake. Couple really nice Bulls.

This is a really nice camp. Gravity fed water, big propane generator. You could spend 2 weeks and it would be little different than home. He said most of the members go home after the second day.

I have a small hunting property, with a small cabin of sorts. I am still trying to find time and money to improve it. It came to me and my siblings from my father, and I know if I ever let it go, I will likely never see another private chunk of heaven.

That must be strange for you guys who're used to counting teeth and not having to take your boots off.

my deer camp is also my squirrel, turkey and fish camp. also serves as my beer, bbq and blues camp. my dad built it in 1962 and i have owned it since 2000. it ain't much but its a roof, woodburner, indoor schitter and shower and a big old pavillion with lazy boys and an outdoor kitchen. i am heading down friday night and will be there for 10 days. i can't imagine life without it.

oh and ya, the deer hunting is so-so. i hunt them, don't care about killing them.

We have our family deer camp in central PA. My dad and his two brothers own it, someday I will. Opening day we still get about 15 or so for lunch. 10 or so on each saturday. I also am a member of a bear camp in Clinton County PA. Just joined there last year. Just a few guys there. And allot of the camps in the area don't even open up now. But it's prime PA bear hunting. Unfortunately, the hunting camps are becoming a thing of the past. But I'll hold onto them as long as I'm able and hope that my kids are interested as well.
-Jake