It's DONE
 

My ultimate deer blind is done. What a job getting the frame and materials to the site. Luckily my SIL has a nice Chevy 4-wheel drive pickup and nice trailer. We went through some mud holes I swear no vehicle should go through to get back to the high ground where my stand is located.

This puppy cost me over $600 to build (treated 1/2 plywood). The hardware alone cost over $100. I only had my cell phone but there are two swivel bar stools in there and it's 4' X 8' (8' high) with flip open shooting windows on all four sides. We ended up with roofing paper (tar paper) on top. It's at a slight angle so the rain will roll off the flat roof. A ceiling light inside also.

So... what do ya think? :barmy:

Looks cool. It is fun just to build stuff sometimes. You may want to put shingles on eventually.

I know it doesn't make any difference for the deer, but I still might spray paint it camo or lay some branch cuttings against it.

Lets get a picture of your view when you get a chance. Is it a field or trails?

Stand is located on top of a rolling hill in a oak tree woods which has some patches of pine trees and surrounded by a marsh and corn fields. It's right in the middle and is deer heaven. My stand overlooks the deer's main entrance area from the marsh into the high ground (oak woods) and I'm posting a pick of a buck that was taken right in front of my old stand a year before I got on the lease. This is 120 acres hunted by only six of us. The local farmers and land owners have all agreed to only shoot mature bucks and very few does and the antler size has been really impressive. We've got some record book bucks roaming this land.

This buck was shot so close to my stand that the hunter could not even use his sights. The second (smaller) buck is the first buck I've taken from this stand. The next year I took another this size and since have been passing these up (usually 2-3 a year) waiting for one of the giants.

Forgot to mention...

When we were driving out to the land we were on a county road near a trout stream and trees along the road. Over our heads (20 feet?) flying with us at the same speed and direction was a HUGE bald eagle. Now that 7 foot wing span down close with a body that looks about the size of a 500 lb. bomb is impressive! He stayed there for 1/4 mile and I was fumbling to get my cell phone out and take a picture but not in time. Geez I love Wisconsin.

Looks like a great place to sit out of the weather. If you plan to paint it to protect all that hard work. Almost any wal-mart has a rack of paint that was messed up that they sell for 5 bucks a can. Sure a gallon would do it. Just find a brown or green color. Just a though, good work.

you have 6 hunters on 120 acres???

I wondered if anybody else picked up on that. I'll stay at the house.

I'm not sure if you think 6 hunters on 120 acres is too many or not many. In any case we don't move from our blinds all day long. We walk in as a group going by the stands along the way and drop off so no one fouls up another's hunting by coming in late. We have the stands possitioned so that no bullets will (or can) hit another's stand (rolling hills). It's a fair walk between stands. 120/6 = 20 acres per hunter. That's alot of land IMHO. And after opening day weekend there is rarely more then four hunters on the land as some have to work farms or jobs. And my brother and I are two of those four.

Now go on public hunting grounds in central or south Wisconsin and you'll have a blaze orange hunter within 100 yards or less of you in any direction. I've had branches clipped off right next to me by some idiot opening up with a semi-auto on a deer he can't see. I don't hunt public anymore in Wisconsin. That does not apply up in the northern (Nicolet etc) forests as that is a huge area. (Of course the wolves, cougars and coyotes have killed all the deer up there too)....

I think they are saying it is a lot of guys for 120 acres. Depending on cover, terrian and other variables you guys could see 5 deer each and never the same one repeated or never at the same time. It is not ideal but workable. Leased land is not cheap and it helps out the old pocket book for several to go in on a lease. If they were handing out $100 bills at the gate I would not rifle hunt here in missouri on the public land closest to me, so I understand what you are talking about. As long as you guys are set up safe you should be fine. Good luck.

Six guys hunting on 120 acres here in Wisconsin is almost unheard of in central and southern Wisconsin. It's considered a hunter's heaven. Up north you can get lost in the Nicolet (and other) forests but there's no deer up there anymore thanks to the DNR releasing wolves, cougars and who knows what else up there. And the coyote population has taken off too. The wolves have made it down to our land and so has one cougar. Not sure if the cougar is still around but the wolves are and we and the neighbors shoot about a dozen or more coyotes during hunting season also. The coyotes have effected the fawn population in the spring (farmers see them hauling fawns around at night) so we blast every one we see and don't take any doe. And still the DNR wants special doe "earn-a-buck" hunts and blackpowder hunts and on and on to reduce the doe population.

IMHO, that sounds like too many people hunting on 120 acres, but that is your business. We have 5 members on 1450 acres in our club in south Bama. On my private land there is usually just me and my grandson on 180 acres.

I think we are all guilty of reading something and responding to it as it would apply to our own hunting area. 1000 acres in Texas are not the same as 1000 acres in New York. I hunt small patches of timber on field edges. I had some friends down from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to hunt with me in NW Missouri. They pulled up and I thought they were going to turn around and drive home. They said there are no deer here, where do they live. So I told them it would be fine. They left with a turkey, 2 does and a nice buck with a bow. So they soon understood the big woods are not the only place to find deer.

Here's a couple other "hunters" on our land. Pictures taken by one of the bowhunters....

Glad we don't have to deal with those in Nebraska. YET. Would be blastin away if i would see something like that here. Plenty of mountain lions trying to make their way here now. Thanks Game and Parks.

It may sound crowed to others but it probably isn't. I hunt in MI nd own a 40 acre piece. I will allow up to 3 hunters but mostly only 2. I really could hunt 4. My ground has a creek running thru and a marsh with hardwoods surrounding it . I feel very safe. I would cammo that blind with paint and natural brush just to break the outline. Good luck hunting.

Wow, I didn't realize wolves were down in SE WI! Cougars would really scare me as they hunt people as well as deer. There are some up here in NW WI, but mostly in the larger woods. In the smaller woods broken up by farmer's fields I have not seen any.

Nice deer blind for the WI gun season - it can get mighty cold!

Sounds like a lot of money to me!

Looks good though, may I suggest some paint...maybe some brown/green, some vertical tree pattern.