Garhered up what should be the last of my supplies needed for the deer shanty. To this point I've only bought 4, 4x4x10s and 4, 2x6x8 and 10, 2x4x14. The 2x4 were cull lumber that they had marked down 75% off due to being warped. The rest of the materials I have gathered from various places for free.

So bottom line the stairs going into the shanty cost about 350$. I could have just made a ladder and saved a bunch of $$ but I don't want dad or the wife climbing a ladder to get into the shanty off a ladder. Not to mention as I get older I don't want to either.

Only other thing I will need to buy is some plexi glas and maybe piano hinge.

Any ideas on on windows?

Use plexiglass sliding windows in a track so the hinges don’t squeak and you don’t have a window swinging into shooting space or out into a deers view

Great looking project!

The ladder stand next to it would be all I'd need

The ladder stand has produced several deer since we bought the land in '18. So the spot is proven. The deer use the edge of the laurel as a travel route. Big oak flat out in front of laurel.

In gun season '18 wife had a real good deer cross in a hurry. She never got it in the scope and could see antlers easy. We glass alot so she knows what a good buck is. Just couldn't get a shot. Just setting up something a but more "comfortable"

The stand is going to be moved to the East and watching into a new cut. Should be a dynamite set also.

Looking Good enjoy.

as soon as i saw that pic, i knew it was PA. looks like where i hunt. once you get above that mt laurel you got it made.

Looks great.

Keep the pics coming.

I make mine like this. The windows fold up on the inside. I silicone glass in the 6”x16” holes in the window.

I use push pins and green felt so deer can’t see in, keeps wind out,keeps scent in too. I keep the push pins and felt in my backpack, use at different stands. I have a little heater in each stand also, don’t like being cold.

I build towers out of 1 1/2 and 1” pipe. I have a couple I built in the early 80’s. Wood rots, can’t move very well. Built these last summer. Just got it stood up, tied down. It was a hundred degrees that day in July. That was the day I realized I wasn’t young anymore. The eye of Hurricane Laura passed right over it, didn’t blow it down like a bunch of other guys did.

Built this one six yrs ago it stays in the same high location without stilts..The covering material is not galvanized but very low maintenance Ondura® Asphalt Corrugated Roof Panels.. Windows are slide up & down Lexan on the inside..

Grandson did the camo

‘This stand is 225 yards away, been there15 years. It’s on a 18’ tower. Evil deer feeder, feeder pen with a pig trap gate. We have cows, gotta have a feeder pen, built feeder in 81 or 82, it will hold 1200 lbs of corn or protein if I take spinner off, put protein feeder on it.


image ru

How would a deer even climb the ladder on those deer shanties?

get this...

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Deckorator...03-ft-White-Plastic-Lattice-Cap/50280315

use it to hold your plexiglass, one on top and one on bottom, then you can slide it sideways as needed, it's plastic so it's quiet! and will last.

I did that to my chicken coop to get them better air in the summer but close it up in the winter.

works great!

Thanks, looks like a great suggestion.

Shooting shack has been on hold for a week or so. Too much other stuff going on. Going back today to get the stairs built.

Nice shanty's!

Got the steps on and the roof supports in

Do y’all have red wasps that like to build nests the size of footballs in your stands up there in PA? Every Labor Day we have to hit all the stands with a bug bomb or they’ll eat you up.

We have those MF’s down here too. They light your ass if you get too close to their nest.

No red wasps. But we do have hornets. Seem to build nests everywhere.

Have thought of building a cozy stand on our property, but not
being a stand hunter, I've never nailed down a spot. I just like to
drift around, can't decide on that one place that is worth the effort.
And I'm darn sure if I got that comfortable, I'd sleep.
Heck, I sleep sitting beside a tree.

I’m old, but not quite ready to sit in one of those all day. I’d go bonkers cooped up like that. I do like a comfy seat, and even have been known to use one of those tree umbrellas, especially when my hunting days were limited and I had to go out or eat tag soup. I leave folding stools hidden on public so I don’t have to haul them in every day, though last year I added straps to one that has a bag under the seat so I can carry it like a backpack, and put stuff inside.

I do like the elevated shooting platforms like the shaman built that let you move around a bit, but still leave you “outdoors”. If I owned property, I’d have some of those.

Nice work guys.

last year 2020 son and i tore a old deer stand down and put up a new commercial made fiberglass stand with a stairs ,hand rail and a 4x4 landing platform to open the deer stand door easier ,this is the best stand i have ever sat in.killed 2 very nice bucks out of this stand the same fall 2020 month after i put this new stand up. so don`t be cheap put a stair case up ,hand rail and a landing platform too.

If your wife or dad loses their balance while on the stairs they may fall off without a handrail, at least on one side? Maybe the ladder is safer and cheaper..

These 3 Shanty's we built for the disabled vets, we take hunting every year,Yeh their big with elevators, but have you ever tried to carry a guy in a wheel chair that weighs over 250# that has one arm and no legs up the stairs of a small hunting blind?? and a couple of them can hunt together, or with their wives and with a PH to help them out, I took these pic's as we were finishing painting them last fall just before hunting season. Rio7

That's awesome. Helping the disabled veterans. We owe our freedom to those brave men and women.

Rio7, that's great! Thanks for getting the vets out there!


As far as my build. Yes there will be hand rails. Just haven't got there yet. Hope to get some more work in if the weather cooperates this weekend. But turkeys to hunt this morning then my Grams bday party. Supposed to rain tomorrow. Not likely to get much done.

Awesome job Rio7

Very nice

Got most of the metal on. We are getting there slowly.

Is it going to have windows??

Yes just haven't got there yet. Was back tonight fiddling with a few things. Forgot to re measure the windows to order the plexiglass

Don't have much to add but I recommend Lexan over plexiglass for windows, may be almost twice the price but will last four times longer. Here in Tx. the sun will yellow plexiglass and make it brittle in a few years. Lexan I am not sure as all have not needed replacement in over ten years of use.

Also the windows look too big, I would divide them up into 3 or 4 smaller windows, you don't want to be silhouetted or back lit by the windows.

Windows are always the Achilles heal on deer blinds. Either troublesome and noisy to open or leak and rain water starts degrading the wood and/or floor.

I highly recommend windows from this place for anyone building their own blind. A little pricey, but they'll be good for life.

Deer View Windows

i do feel windows help keep human scent controlled better,less movement when your in stand, more quiet too and i use a heater so with windows shut its nice and toasty

I use glass, lasts forever. The glass is cut 6”x16”. I silicon the glass in place. I have curtains on the inside so they can’t see me, leave a little gap to see out. My windows raise up and in. I can raise a window with a deer 50 yards away, doesn’t spook them. These stands are 5’6”x4’

The 1x2 in the window to keep buzzards out until I get glass in. Nothing worse than owls or buzzards in a stand.

Looks good. Unfortunately I only hunt public land and cant do the same. Some days I sure would like to have some shelter...

Been slow to update. Built some quickie eaves over the windows to direct the water away. Got the glass in the windows, got the door and railings on. A few more finishing touches and some paint on the exterior wood and it's done.

Nice! I’ve got three house blinds i hunt out of every year. I’m too old for the cold and wet!

Comfort is a part of life that we enjoy and appreciate, only after we've struggled to achieve where we are! That's why we work hard, so we can play hard, and as we get older, in Comfort! Yeah making sure those House blinds are adequate, and dry, so when we want to use them, all we need to do is fire up the portable heater and enjoy the Moment!

https://i.postimg.cc/Y0KC8d31/B0732-FDF-50-C4-4158-9-E1-A-6-E8788422425.jpg
My blinds I build

That's pretty creative right there!!

Nice, we have stands something similar to that, every gas station, sporting goods store sells these stands by the thousands.
Tip it to load on a flat bed, haul it to your place, then when it on yer farm, out comes the wheels connected to a hitch, and you can put it anywhere you want in minutes.
Thick fiberglass one piece hut, fold up windows, fiberglass door, fiberglass floor, fiberglass/heavy plastic roof no rotting wood ever, all steel frame, $1200.