We have as "old fashioned" a deer camp as they come...as far as time goes. My dad bought 400 acres in the mid 60's ($5300 total) and it had 3 houses on it. He chose one to be our "cabin". It was the best suited of the three...maybe not the nicest, but the best suited. One house was about 3000 sq ft with 6 bedrooms, but heating would be a gigantic issue in a place of that size. Our cabin is about 1000 sq ft, one floor.

We began to fix the place up on the late 70's...adding indoor plumbing, better heat, insulation where possible, a building for skinning/boning meat, etc.

Now it has all the ammenities of home...TV, microwave, 10 beds, big front porch.

As far as hunting goes...it's pretty much been the same 6-8 guys since 1980. We have no steadfast rules...but we're dealing with people that we've been hunting with for years. They just know what to do.

They chip in $100 each for the food, bring their own beer if they wish, and that's pretty much it. They also help fix anything that is broken...and so fourth. One guy brought his roofing crew down a few years ago and re-roofed the entire place at no cost. Things like that are not forgotten.

I am a teacher, so I have all summer off. We also spend a great deal of time there in the "off months" mowing, brush hogging, cleaning, etc. My wife and kids love it.

The guys mentioned above are our "gun season" crew. Personally, I spend about 20X the hours bowhunting than I do hunting with a gun. When it comes to bowhunting, I'm pretty much on my own. My cousins hunt a little with abow, but usually it's just me on the land.