Summer Kitchen / Bathroom / Game Processing / Living Quarters

Foggy you will not regret building a deer camp. Maybe something on a slab. Think no stairs or steps. Save your steps for a climb in a blind. You might even build or buy a platform for your pallet forks so someone can put you up in a blind. Anyway to keep on hunting. I have two other seasoned hunters that come out to my pole shed that doubles as a deer camp. Don't always see deer but don't care. We eat good. Opening evening I have a pizza party that other people come over and tell stories of the days activities.

Already planning for an elevated hump (maybe 6' hight) in my land with a blind surround to hold a golf cart. drive into that blind and watch for that "thirdy pointer" I been raising. Grin. If I do this next to my swamp....I can arrive there quite stealthily via my existing trails and then watch the edge of this huge swamp...and could shoot up to 300 yards in several areas. Gotta plan my plan yet....but I got big ideas. lol

The building I envision would have an overhead door to store that golf cart....and would also serve to process our deer. Muliti purpose. Would definitely be build on concrete slab with overhead porch area and some kind of a (low cost) fireplace for a gathering point.

Check this out
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Sunjoy-Copper-Steel-Outdoor-Wood-Burning-Fireplace/1002665776
 
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You're thinking well ahead. I have a wood burner with a clear door. I also process deer in mine. But skin and gut outside on a meat pole unless it's in single digits. Went back to the old method of hanging for a week if temps are good. Now if we could get back to cooler temps. 90's stink with no wind.
 
You're thinking well ahead. I have a wood burner with a clear door. I also process deer in mine. But skin and gut outside on a meat pole unless it's in single digits. Went back to the old method of hanging for a week if temps are good. Now if we could get back to cooler temps. 90's stink with no wind.

It's not at all uncommon for us to gut deer in the single digits....and often in the dark. We typically haul the whole deer intact and then hang on our meat pole and the guts go into the plastic tub of my Polar Trailer. We then put these in a disposal site away from where we hunt. This way we keep the gut pile and predators away from our hunt area for more use by us. I am considering whether to gut inside or out at this new building. May be able to do either if I employ that trolly system.

The problem with a trolley rail is having an opening in your building for the track. This would allow a variety of critters with easy access to my planned building......and that "juice is not worth the squeeze....IMO. When I think about this.....I now KNOW I wont do a track from outside to Inside. I could hoist the deer in either outdoor or indoor space and gut it there.......then use the trolly to enter the cooler room. Confirmed.
 
I’d build this overlooking your favorite plot/hunting spot it is the “ground blind”
 
Foggy, you can do a pivoting boom arm outside the shop to gut, then have it set up to pivot through an open door to your trolly system. Make it a few inches higher so that you can winch it down to the trolly hook to transfer the deer. Only have to winch it up once and no holes in doors.
 
Foggy, you can do a pivoting boom arm outside the shop to gut, then have it set up to pivot through an open door to your trolly system. Make it a few inches higher so that you can winch it down to the trolly hook to transfer the deer. Only have to winch it up once and no holes in doors.
Gotta think on that one a bit more. It may take a high door to do that...no?

I was only thinking of an 8 foot wide x 8 foot high door...maybe ten high is better....but The space is only used for game cleaning and would hold a golf cart or a UTV when not cleaning critters or doing some other project. I suppose I could lower the winch to that height.....and then transfer to the inside winch....that seems a bit sketchy tho.

Maybe I am missing something. IME...it takes allot of height to operate this stuff correctly. All those pulley and hooks and such do consume height in a hurry. Then too....I got about a two foot high game trailer with plastic tub to gut into.
 
The railing and trolly do take up plenty of height. If built at the beginning and planned it can be mounted flush to the ceiling. A flat gambrel hooked at the "knee" brings the carcass up quite a bit to save height.

With all that said it might be easier to just have a couple of winches in your cooler and a series of meat hooks. Gut and skin your deer outside then cart them in to be winched up to the hooks.

Something I'd consider on your outside pole... Have it on a cement pad for easy cleanup and sure footing while processing in wet conditions. I hate mud while cleaning. Install floor clamps for skinning and an electric winch on the pole. Makes life so much easier.
 
The railing and trolly do take up plenty of height. If built at the beginning and planned it can be mounted flush to the ceiling. A flat gambrel hooked at the "knee" brings the carcass up quite a bit to save height.

With all that said it might be easier to just have a couple of winches in your cooler and a series of meat hooks. Gut and skin your deer outside then cart them in to be winched up to the hooks.

Something I'd consider on your outside pole... Have it on a cement pad for easy cleanup and sure footing while processing in wet conditions. I hate mud while cleaning. Install floor clamps for skinning and an electric winch on the pole. Makes life so much easier.


Reading your post here....and it just occurred to me....that I have an unused hydraulic "engine hoist".....often called a "cherry picker." It rolls on steel wheels and can support a very heavy load. Not sure how high the boom lifts....but I'm certain It could be made to work really nice for this plan....as I could hang the deer outside on the hoist......and gut it on the spot if warm enough......or roll it into the shed and gut in there (or hang it from the trolly and gut). I would need a concrete pad....but that is no big deal as long as I am doing a pour for the floor anyway. ....and as you say....that would make nice cleanup with a drain both inside and outside to wash down when done. I could store the cherry picker in a corner of the building to keep it out of the weather. It don't owe me anything.

I was just about to get rid of this cherry picker as it's just taking up room in my shed. I used to use it to pick up my tiller as it was hard to store that sucker. It pays to talk about this stuff. Grin.
 
Reading your post here....and it just occurred to me....that I have an unused hydraulic "engine hoist".....often called a "cherry picker." It rolls on steel wheels and can support a very heavy load. Not sure how high the boom lifts....but I'm certain It could be made to work really nice for this plan....as I could hang the deer outside on the hoist......and gut it on the spot if warm enough......or roll it into the shed and gut in there (or hang it from the trolly and gut). I would need a concrete pad....but that is no big deal as long as I am doing a pour for the floor anyway. ....and as you say....that would make nice cleanup with a drain both inside and outside to wash down when done. I could store the cherry picker in a corner of the building to keep it out of the weather. It don't owe me anything.

I was just about to get rid of this cherry picker as it's just taking up room in my shed. I used to use it to pick up my tiller as it was hard to store that sucker. It pays to talk about this stuff. Grin.

Cherry pickers can be modified with very little effort to be taller on the working end. Just a little bit of square tubing and some grid power can get it done. Plus my cherry picker has legs that fold up for storage. Doesn't take up much room. You'll want a smooth finish on your concrete. Most cherry pickers have steel wheels that don't role great on textured cement. Plus blood washes off much easier on a smooth surface. Just don't want it so smooth you fall on your a$$ while trying to push stuff around.
 
It's not at all uncommon for us to gut deer in the single digits....and often in the dark. We typically haul the whole deer intact and then hang on our meat pole and the guts go into the plastic tub of my Polar Trailer. We then put these in a disposal site away from where we hunt. This way we keep the gut pile and predators away from our hunt area for more use by us. I am considering whether to gut inside or out at this new building. May be able to do either if I employ that trolly system.

The problem with a trolley rail is having an opening in your building for the track. This would allow a variety of critters with easy access to my planned building......and that "juice is not worth the squeeze....IMO. When I think about this.....I now KNOW I wont do a track from outside to Inside. I could hoist the deer in either outdoor or indoor space and gut it there.......then use the trolly to enter the cooler room. Confirmed.

I would scrap the track idea. Having to have a hole in the building, and a hole in the cooler isn't worth it. I have a "meat pole" made of metal and on caster wheels. I can roll it out to where the electric hoist is. I then can lower the deer down and hook it directly to the rolling meat stand, then role it into the cooler. You could gut on the rolling meat pole, but I like to have it higher when I do it, I'm 6-4.
 
I would scrap the track idea. Having to have a hole in the building, and a hole in the cooler isn't worth it. I have a "meat pole" made of metal and on caster wheels. I can roll it out to where the electric hoist is. I then can lower the deer down and hook it directly to the rolling meat stand, then role it into the cooler. You could gut on the rolling meat pole, but I like to have it higher when I do it, I'm 6-4.

More good thoughts guys. Thanks!
 
I would scrap the track idea. Having to have a hole in the building, and a hole in the cooler isn't worth it. I have a "meat pole" made of metal and on caster wheels. I can roll it out to where the electric hoist is. I then can lower the deer down and hook it directly to the rolling meat stand, then role it into the cooler. You could gut on the rolling meat pole, but I like to have it higher when I do it, I'm 6-4.
Agreed. Too many modern day conveniences to mess around with a track trolley. Foggy has a tractor with loader. Gut the deer outside into the polar rub, while it hangs from the loader. Drive the tractor into the overhead door and transfer from loader to electric hoist right over the top of a floor drain, rinse, skin, quarter, etc. Lower onto stainless table for rolling transport into cooler if necessary.
Too many easier ways(and cheap) without having to break a sweat if you're planning something out with modern day tools/equipment.
 
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