Here is a link to my deerstand and will send plans if you would like some. It was built with 4X4 in 1999 and still standing even after a couple 100 mph winds hit the farm. http://www.geocities.com/mo_biohunter/page6.html

I have several 33' steel light poles that are 11 gauge & was wondering if they would be ideal for putting a blind in the sky. I was thinking about setting the poles in concrete about 6' deep. Building an 8 x 8 blind & then bolting the blind to the 4 metal poles. Didn't know if anyone had any experience with this sort of application. I have seen people use telephone poles. Thank you in advance for your reply.

The hardware store is cheaper.

Bump Any updates? the links are bad or outdated....I am planning on building a couple blinds this spring...couple 8'high 12' at most...

I have been ruminating about building a stand. I am an older guy and will have to haul it to the farm in a pickup. I will not set the legs in the ground because I may want to move it. I will use four treated 4X4's for legs, either eight or ten feet long. I will build the platform by strarting with two five ft. treated 2X6's and nailing a treated eight ft. 2X6 outside the ends of the five footer to make a rectangle. I will put a couple of five ft. joists across too. I will bolt the end of the 4X4 to the five ft. ends at each corner, spaying then out a foot or so, so that the footprint will be about 7'X8' or so. I will nail a treated eight foot 2X6 on top over the ends of the 4X4's leaving room in between for a 4X8 sheet of plywood, which I will remove when the season is over and put under cover. The ground ends of the legs will be placed on concrete stepping blocks or something like that to keep them off of the ground. The legs and corners will be numbered, the bolts removed and the whole thing placed in a pickup along with some treated 2X4's to be used for X braces on the eight foot sides and straight across braces on the ends to clime up on. A doghouse blind wil go on top, or a light frame to put up burlap to hide behind. After I get it to the farm and put it back together I can put some lag screws in the corners too and put the bracing on Any ideas? Will this thing fall down and hurt somebody? I already have scrap plywood, the rest of wil cost less then $200.

sounds good so long as its braced good it shouldnt matter what you put on top. Only thing I would worry about is putting up a rail around it or something so you dont fall off. because basically you are just putting a platform up. I would put couple bags of gravel under each footing post just so water drains and give it more stability. You could make some thin walls and a roof and bolt them on the same way then take them apart when needed.

How high off the ground do you want to be?

for me 8-12 feet off the ground for the platform...

Thanks, Wilcam 47. It might not be a bad idea to put up a 2X4 railing around the top. That would be handy to tie some camo. burlap to too if the doghouse was somewhere else. If 8 ft. 4X4's were used, that would get a seat height up to 9 and a half feet, or so. I think that if 10 ft. 4X4's were used, the platform frame should be made from 2X8's instead of 2X6's. That would be quite a bit stronger. Either way, the ground would have to be landscaped so that one leg wasn't in the air. The bag of gravel sounds good too.

Why not just get a hang on/ladder/ ground blind? This seems like a lot of expense and work for two acres of property...I'm just trying to work it in my head how you can hunt 2 acres, without most our shots being on someone else's land, (since I assume ou are a gun hunter as you seemed unsure about the archery seasons....

Props on buying property at 18 though.