Tower deer stand project

[retch sweeny]

As I age (knocking on the door of 50) and as my Dad gets older (76 years young) and as I have been helping more and more new hunters get into the sport, comfort has been more of an issues to extend time on stand. I have several locations in funnels on farm land that would work well with an enclosed tower type blind since I have already had success year after year with ladder stands in those locations.

I plan to build some tower type blinds but would like to make them dual purpose stands that work for both gun and bow hunting. I scanned the web for ideas and designs that are commercially available. I quickly learned that manufactured blinds are very expensive (from $700 to $1,500 and that’s just the blind without the wooden structure that gets it off the ground) So I set about designing my own.

My objectives were to have a stand that can be enclosed for really foul weather, that could seat 2 people comfortably, elevated at least 10 feet to the platform meaning a seated person’s eye level would be about 14 feet off the ground, has horizontal windows for gun hunting and lower, vertical windows for bowhunting.

I then used a CAD design software to model the stand. Here is one of the early versions. It does not yet have the roof or door designed but I have since worked out those details.



The stands will be built from treated lumber but I want to build a prototype out of regular pine to work out the bugs and make improvements. Here is enough lumber to build the entire stand with the exception of the plywood and window materials.



I priced this amount of treated lumber at Home Depot and its around $250 and includes

4) 4 x 4 x 10 long

48) 2 x 4 x 8 long

6) 2 x 6 x 8 long

7) 2 x 4 x 10 long

The design has to be 76 year old friendly which is why there are more rungs that are closer together on the ladder than need be for strapping young folks. The internals of the box are 41 by 64 by 75 tall.

Here are some pictures of the prototype during construction. (I have already begun making changes from the CAD model. )





The walls being framed up.



Here is a wall with the sheeting on and painted (I figured the inside of the blind should be dark like most pop-up blinds) The dotted lines indicate a potential location for bowhunting, vertical windows but I am reconsidering their locations at this point.



A few views of the framed up box.









I think I need to make the porch larger and change the swing of the door. I also plan to install safety rails around the porch.



As long as I have a black stand, I will have to (during the firearms season) use a black gun. I dont have an all black bow or I would have used it for the picture.



To be continued …………………….

[ranwin33]

GREAT JOB!

I have been thinking of doing something similar although not nearly so nice, and only for gun season. Your plans will be a great help.

Thanks.

[Drhunter2k]

Great looking stand. I would like to build one too. Thanks for sharing your plans.

[Sailfish]

Coming along.
Looks like the steps are a little steep.
Since you said it was for an older person and needing short wrung distance, seems the steepness of the steps my pose physical difficulties climbing as well as maybe leaning back to easily with weak hands and tumbling off.
Or perhaps its the angle

[retch sweeny]

I added a 2nd support under the outer corner of the porch and redid the bracing. I also added a hand rail around the porch. I think I am about finished with the prototype stand as far as improving the design and construction. I need to work out the window details now.

[Cut N Run]

Lookin' good! In the right place, you ought to have a lot of success out of that bad boy. You can also get away with having a small heater in there with you if you need it and the winds are right. Hunting in the rain just got a lot more pleasant too.

We have something similar that we used bass boat pedestals and seats to sit on. We can swivel noiselessly and shoot any direction easily.

One thing I want to caution you about is to make sure you have that stand anchored to the ground securely. High winds can pick that shooting house up and slam it to the ground in a big hurry. The main reason I mention that is because that very thing happened to a similar stand on our lease. Winds from a passing hurricane broke it into pieces & we were very disappointed to waste all the effort and materials on it.

Jim

[retch sweeny]

Here is a crude sketch of what I am kicking around for the upper sliding windows. Lower windows will most likely be removable panels or hinged.

My thought is to pre-make the window units and install them in their frames after the blind is up.

[ranwin33]

My only concern would be dirt, dust, ice, snow, seeds, etc. jamming or gumming up the tracks and making it hard to open and close the windows.

Wonder if you could find something cheap and pre-manufactured that you could just screw the frame and window in place?

[bobow]

That is a great looking blind.

I am curious, what did you use for roofing material. If metal, do you worry about noise during a rain or can it be insulated underneath to cut down on the noise?

[kellory]

I would suggest that the window frames be run through the tabe saw with a deeper slot to the top, that way the windows can be lifted out, the grooves be easily cleaned, and the windows could be quietly reinserted. A good hard finish paint like an enamel, or a plastic insert installed with contact cement would allow the windows to slide easily and quietly long term. It would also allow for replacement of the panes if they are broken or cloudy due to sunlight.