What you need is one like this. Come November, I'll be sitting in it with my GP flintlock.

That is a nice stand... how portable is that one? I am going to be setting up in a platform tree stand this year over looking a clear cut area...

It's not reallywhat you would call portable.

The ladder unit and back frame are 16' 2x4s with the steps glued and nailed. The cross braces and seat unitare attached to the ladder unit and back frame unit with24 1/4 x 2" galvanized bolts. One man can lay it down, disassemble it,drag everything to a new site, reassemble it and stand it up again. But it's a heck of a lot easier with two people. But man, is it comfortable and easy to climb into. (If you want, I can post some close up pictures of the construction of the stand.)

Here's the view from the top. There's a deer cross trail about 50 yards down that logging cut.

If you want something sturdy.... this is built on 4x4 posts and then left over deck material. I built the platform big enough that I could put a cloth blind on it. I added the side 2x4's and rails so I could lean against the walls of the blind when I fall asleep in the chair I carried up there. Then you take your shooting sticks up there and basically sit concealed and protected from the wind. I had deer walk right under the ladder of that platform and never knew I was up there.

This is not something you want to move around. I used the winch on my 4 wheeler to raise it into the tree where it then locks in place to the tree. So for me it was the cost of the two 4x4 posts and each board is attached with liquid nail adhesive and then deck screws so they do not squeak or make any noise.

This spring we took it down before the rains and moved it to my friends farm on the edge of a hay field. So it should be an interesting stand as deer constantly move across that field in the late afternoon...

That looks like a good one. Solid and safe.

There's nothing like a comfortable closed-in stand that you can sit in all day, take a nap if you want without fear of crashing to the ground, and move around in without spooking something that you haven't spotted yet.

I have a great box stand on a 1/2 acre food plot that I hunt out of a lot. Take a lunch and a good paperback book and spend the day. Have pictures of it somewhere. If I can find them I will post them. But, it's a lot different than sitting out in the open on a climber or something like my high ladder chair. When the weather is nice, I sure like that A-frame ladder. I don't use a climber much any more - too old, fat and lazy.

I would have put a Portapotty under the seat. Makes sense to me atleast.

Nice shooting Dave

Dave,

Nice shooting with that 58, I'd love to have a flint 58 RB gun.

As for the stands, I use to have a home made 12' ladder stand that would lean against a tree similar to the ones above. I made mine out of some landscape timbers which made it heavy to move but very sturdy. Speaking of being enclosed, my older brother is a good shot but has arthritis pretty bad and can't get around very well. He has a couple of what I call "treehouse" stands overlooking some large open fields where you can see up to half a mile. They are about 12' tall to the floor of a 12' by 12' platform/deck with a 8' by 8' "house" built on it, stairs go up to the deck(no ladders for him). It has insulated walls and sliding windows over a shooting shelf and propane heat to keep him from getting too stiff. He has sandbag shooting rests that can be placed as needed on the shelf for long shots. He has a couple of office type chairs in there to sit on. He did fall asleep once and fell out of his chair, that was a bit embaracing for him. I understand why he feels he needs that level of comfort but it sure takesa lotof the fun out of hunting.

I have friends that on their property have actually built tree houses. Very large houses at that. That is the benefit of owning your own saw mill and having lots of trees on your property.

One of them has a sofa in it. It also has a funnel with a long hose that runs out the side and down to the ground, into the ground where it attaches to a buried5 gallon bucket full of holes.. You can guess what that is for. He too has a shooting table and he takes his bench rest out with him. It has propane heaters and a small gas stove as he like to cook grilled cheese sandwiches or bacon and eggs (now how can that be scent contol)all day long and drink hot coffee.. He shoots a lot of deer out of it, and its a nice place to warm up, have a cup, even a sandwich if hungry when you are out walking his property...

I always get a kick out of stands like that with heaters and urinals and such... but in the late muzzleloader season when it can be 20 even 30 below on rare occasion, the heater is a nice thing...

The .58 is indeed fun. I have a .58 fullstock Hawken flintlock I made back in the 1970's using a Green River Rifle Works 1/60" twist barrel. In this gun I use both the .570" PRB and the Lyman 57730 570-grain hoillow-base Minie type bullet sized .575".

Both these projectiles are quite accurate using the same charge you used, 120 grains of FFg. Strangely, both of these very dissimilar bullets hit within 1" of one another at 100 yards. This is very handy because the rifle has fixed sights. The PRB load is quite pleasant, but the 570-grainer kinda kicks a little!




Stock is cherry, hardware is silver...... Barrel = 36".