New shooting house build

[mglenn005]

Dad and I custom built these. It does take a while to build and install, but it’s good father/son time. We built 2 last year, and have built 2 this year (only one is installed). We also built 2 more platforms that will hold blinds this upcoming season.

The plans

Build pics

Staining - paint sprayer are amazing.

Windows - Lowe’s has bronze plexiglass in 32x36” sheets. Perfectly makes 9x18” windows, and they did the cutting. For those that never cut plexiglass, it’s time consuming.

Sheathing - we went with sheet metal. It’s much lighter than 1/2” particle board. It is a little more difficult to cut, but worth it.

Loaded up.

Installed on pre-existing 5x7 platforms.

Lessons learned.
- always have more screws
- anchor / support sheet metal on both sides before cutting with a saws-all.
- take everything with you for install, you never know what you might need.

Total time:
Way to much, probably 80-100 hours (build and install 2 shooting houses)


Cost:
Not cheap, but built to last.

Last years builds (for reference):

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[Bill]

Thanks!
Nice write up. Did you use a special drill bit to drill holes in the plexiglass? Seems every time I used a regular drill I crack it.

 

[j-bird]

I am curious to see how you seal the door and windows in detail. These seem to be the weak points of the ones I build and as such always have to clear out mice and wasps before season starts.

 

[Red Picqua]

Thanks!
Nice write up. Did you use a special drill bit to drill holes in the plexiglass? Seems every time I used a regular drill I crack it.

heat up a punch or the opposite side of a drill bit with a torch and just push it through.

 

[mglenn005]

Thanks!
Nice write up. Did you use a special drill bit to drill holes in the plexiglass? Seems every time I used a regular drill I crack it.

Start with 1/16” and incrementally work up to the target hole size. I think we did every 1/16” increment until about 1/4”. Best to have 2 drills and two guys working on it. It’s time consuming.


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[mglenn005]

I am curious to see how you seal the door and windows in detail. These seem to be the weak points of the ones I build and as such always have to clear out mice and wasps before season starts.

We use 2x2 and fabricate a door jam. I don’t have a good picture of it. But we close the door and then place the 2x2” to make sure it sits tight.

For windows, we try to build the frames 1/2” short in height and length than the window opening. After install, we use foam gap filler. Requires about 1 can per house.


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[247Deer]

I don’t have any good pictures of my doors but the best way I have found is a hatch in the floor rain won’t get in and no bees. Always a tite seal

 

[swat1018]

I just bought sliders from Menards on my last two. Both panes slide, and were on sale for less than most "deer blind" windows cost.

 

[mglenn005]

I don’t have any good pictures of my doors but the best way I have found is a hatch in the floor rain won’t get in and no bees. Always a tite seal

I am interested in that red boom contraption on your FEL. When we installed the roof last year (with 1/2” sheathing, it was heavy), I “teed” two 2x4x12 together and mounted it to one side of the platform and wall (3 walls already installed). I had a pulley mounted to the top and used the tractor to carry the load and then dad and I were able to maneuver the roof on top.


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[247Deer]

The problem I have is I live in NJ and my property is in Ohio. So it’s makes it hard to get your buddy’s to help you. So I had to come up with something I could put up a shooting house by my self, with my then 12 year old son. Then I was having a pole barn built on the property and when they set the trusses, they used this rusty old pipe chained to the bucket of a skid steer so this is the new and improved version I built. I don’t have a lot of pictures or dimensions.But next time I am out I can get dimensions and pictures for you and post them. I mounted a class 3 receiver to the top of my bucket 2”x2” the boom slides into that and rests on the bucket edge. Now I can build the shooting house complete except for the roof and set it on the platform the same with the base build everything in the barn and move them complete

 

[mglenn005]

The problem I have is I live in NJ and my property is in Ohio. So it’s makes it hard to get your buddy’s to help you. So I had to come up with something I could put up a shooting house by my self, with my then 12 year old son. Then I was having a pole barn built on the property and when they set the trusses, they used this rusty old pipe chained to the bucket of a skid steer so this is the new and improved version I built. I don’t have a lot of pictures or dimensions.But next time I am out I can get dimensions and pictures for you and post them. I mounted a class 3 receiver to the top of my bucket 2”x2” the boom slides into that and rests on the bucket edge. Now I can build the shooting house complete except for the roof and set it on the platform the same with the base build everything in the barn and move them complete

That is very impressive. I have seen a rusty pipe or two at my parents and been wondering the best way to attach it. Using the angle iron to catch the lip is very smart as well.


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[JFK52]

Great looking shooting house and ingenious use of the FEL with the gadget attached to it.

I had simple ladders going to all my elevated blinds much like the one in your picture. That was 27 years ago. As myself and my hunters have aged, climbing ladders has become almost impossible. Bad knees, arthritis, and other old age maladies have taken their toll. So I have been in the process of converting all my ladders over to stairs. Just something you might want to think about if you are building this to be a long term blind.

 

[mglenn005]

Put up our second shooting house uesterday morning. It sits in a pine thicket on the side of a ridge and looks over a 0.25 acre clover plot to the east and as 0.7 acre annual plot (rye, wheat, brassicas, clovers) to the south.

It went up so easily, I should have know that the afternoon was going to be challenging. We started to put up a 5x7 platform on 16’ posts. This year we will just put a pop up shooting blind on it. It has to be this tall to see over the terrain of the food plot. This was signifanty more challenging to raise than a 10’ of similar size.

Unfortunately, we snapped our rope during raising (with a truck, not my dad) and broke a top cross brace. Even though we designed this thing to fit in the tractor bucket, it doesn’t. As of now, it’s laying in its resting place until another work weekend.

Dang it, it’s hunting season already. Too bad, we mostly have does/fawns running around. I haven’t seen a good racked deer since August. Of course, 3-4 of my cameras don’t seem to be taking pictures. My stealthcams are crapping our after 2 years and I have two spypoints that seem to also be struggling after 1 year. My browning is running strong, but it also is only 4 months old.



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[mglenn005]

We put up two more platforms this past weekend. Both are 5x7’ with different heights to account for the terrain. We had trouble putting up the 16’ with just a truck and tractor. Too much leverage to overcome with the rope we had. So I ordered two 100’ climbing ropes. Best money we have spent. We rigged some chains up high on nearby trees, used another rope to posistikn the chain. We then just hooked up a quick link and pulled the stand up with the quick link acting as a pulley. We had bought a pulley, but it broke under the load.

Then we set up a 10’ stand. It was pretty dang easy with the Polaris and a single rope.

The green field still needs work.

We hunted the afternoon and put fresh venison in the freezer. Dad shot a spike for a doe. Oh well. I didn’t recover the doe that I shot. High gut shot with no blood. I must have bumped my sights because my bow stated shooting left.


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[leexrayshady]

how do you secure the ground blind to the platform?

 

[mglenn005]

how do you secure the ground blind to the platform?

Our ground blinds have fabric loops for tent stakes / ground stakes. We get plastic lashing and 3/4” screws for meshing (1/2” diameter head) and screw it down. It will survive pretty high winds for short periods.


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[mglenn005]

Time for an update. Dad and I built and installed two more shooting houses this summer on the platforms that we installed last summer. Took us approximately 85 hours totAl to buy materials, build, and install. The installs were pretty in eventful. Just used man power and an extension ladder (as a ramp) and hauled the walls up individually on that 16 ft platform.

We implemented some slight design changes from last years builds.
1. Walls are about 1 in taller to keep us from having to cut extra tin. We probably should have went with 2” taller to make it easier.
2. Double windows are slightly wider. We use 2x6 as a scrap spacer versus plywood. This prevents us from having to cut additional tin.
3. We raised window heights by a few inches.
4. We didn’t do any special notching on the windows so that the plexiglass sits. We just added washers underneath the locks.
5. Spray foaming all creases on day 1 to keep the bugs out.



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[buckdeer1]

Is it fastened down with a cable

 

[mglenn005]

Is it fastened down with a cable

Yep, they are all secured with a cable in concrete.


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