Show me your hunting blind / tree house

[spcamno]

I am contemplating to build an enclosed deer blind on my property would like to steal some ideas from you guys.

It will be about 15 feet up the air already found couple trees together which should be an ideal spot for the platform to build from.

The size I am thinking to build is about 6 x 8 or even 8 x 8 which should be enough room for two hunters plus their gears.

Anyone has any tips or pictures will be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Species8472]

I am contemplating to build an enclosed deer blind on my property would like to steal some ideas from you guys.

It will be about 15 feet up the air already found couple trees together which should be an ideal spot for the platform to build from.

The size I am thinking to build is about 6 x 8 or even 8 x 8 which should be enough room for two hunters plus their gears.

Anyone has any tips or pictures will be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hey N, been a while. The one bit of advice i have is if the platform is going to be connected/supported off of more than one tree than you need to use really strong steel hardware to connect the platform to the trees. Trees in the wind will never move in perfect unison and they will want to want flex/move different amounts and in different directions . The result is non-trivial forces that create large dynamic torque that will snap regular construction screws like twigs and strange harmonics that will back nails out in a hurry. You will need to use heavy duty lags and large diameter threaded rod with locking hardware and inspect the connections every fall just before the season.

I have 2 cedar platforms that are 8 by 8 and 12 feet high. They are now 12 years old and as solid as the day i built them. They are free standing though and constructed on concrete sonotube piles punched in to below the frost level. They were a massive pain to build (mostly cause i built them solo and carried everything in on my back - concrete bags and mix water were a real pain) and $$$ but i am a fan of only doing something once. Also need to consider snow load. Flat surface will pile stupid amounts of snow. This is one of them with about 3 feet on snow on it with the bottom 2 or 3 feet of the legs hidden by the snow on the ground:



That pic was taken over 10 years ago. We killed 2 deer off that platform this fall and since built it has seen 15 or 16 deer taken in the 12 years it has been up.

This is the other one (hidden inside the cedar line) with a blind set up on it for the season:



Even more deer taken from that one.

[Species8472]

Another thought i had is you could use a single tree like a good size straight white pine to construct a platform that was cantilevered off the trunk. I experimented with this for a bear bait one year and it worked well. I suspended a 55 gallon drum 6 feet out from the trunk via a cantilever. The barrel when loaded was about 350 lbs and could be raised and lowered via a winch line run thru a pulley. The goal was to stop the coons from stealing bait and it worked. They were only able to get whatever the bears left on the ground.

The design could be adapted to support a platform on top of the horizontal cantilevered 4x4s instead of suspending a barrel. Even with a full barrel suspended i could and did climb out on the 4x4s and could stand on the end of them with no issue. Also had pictures of bears hanging off the barrel and swinging it and the cantilever took the load no problem. This would eliminate the problem of trees moving independently. The suspended barrel:

[FishHog]

I think in the long run it will be cheaper safer and easier to buy a large tree stand

[Gilroy]

I think in the long run it will be cheaper safer and easier to buy a large tree stand

I agree, I have built a number of stands from 2x4,s 2x6,s and plywood base, three of them are toast, mainly wind blowing them around and the usual wet rot setting in. You have to be pretty confident your spot will be productive to now invest the time and money into those types of stands, once set up they are permanent.

Probably much better to buy a ladder stand, they last a long time, don't fall apart and are portable for a new spot. IMHO

[spcamno]

Another thought i had is you could use a single tree like a good size straight white pine to construct a platform that was cantilevered off the trunk. I experimented with this for a bear bait one year and it worked well. I suspended a 55 gallon drum 6 feet out from the trunk via a cantilever. The barrel when loaded was about 350 lbs and could be raised and lowered via a winch line run thru a pulley. The goal was to stop the coons from stealing bait and it worked. They were only able to get whatever the bears left on the ground.

The design could be adapted to support a platform on top of the horizontal cantilevered 4x4s instead of suspending a barrel. Even with a full barrel suspended i could and did climb out on the 4x4s and could stand on the end of them with no issue. Also had pictures of bears hanging off the barrel and swinging it and the cantilever took the load no problem. This would eliminate the problem of trees moving independently. The suspended barrel:

Hey J.

How have you been?

Long time no chat.

Yes, I have learnt it the hard way and understand what you mean the several tree did not swing / move in the same harmonics under wind.

I need to do some repair on a 4 x 8 platform stand I built couple years ago due the exactly what you just said some hard ware snapped and couldn't withstand the wind.

I think your bear bait cantilever method will work well and should adapt well into what I am thinking of doing.

I already several ladder stand on the property and I am like you if I want to build something build it once and hopefully it will last at least a decade or two without much maintenance.

Already sourced some insulated walkin cooler panels from a buddy in HVAC business (he has s..t load of those new and used) and most likely will build one with a single pitch roof for the snow / ice etc.

Those panels work well because we have built several for bear hunting on another property already and they been holding up for 3 years so far so good.

[Sam Menard]

The problem with trees is that they die, especially once you pierce the bark. Some trees are more susceptible than others to wounding.

You can use 4x4’s or 6X6’s instead and they are available in 16’ lengths. Any wood that comes in contact with the ground should be treated with a preservative - even pressured treated!

Another piece of advice is to be careful about windows. Obviously you need them to look out and shoot from, but you can be seen if too many or too large.

Once deer figure out that hunters are in them, they can smarten up fast and avoid them.

Here are a couple of tower stands that I’ve come across. I tried to upload a few more, but no luck.
09CA4A5C-DFCA-4A37-B47A-FA400887F4C5.jpg
029B6F2E-413C-43D8-9A58-0AE7E7373649.jpg

[spcamno]

The problem with trees is that they die, especially once you pierce the bark. Some trees are more susceptible than others to wounding.

You can use 4x4’s or 6X6’s instead and they are available in 16’ lengths. Any wood that comes in contact with the ground should be treated with a preservative - even pressured treated!

Another piece of advice is to be careful about windows. Obviously you need them to look out and shoot from, but you can be seen if too many or too large.

Once deer figure out that hunters are in them, they can smarten up fast and avoid them.

Here are a couple of tower stands that I’ve come across. I tried to upload a few more, but no luck.
09CA4A5C-DFCA-4A37-B47A-FA400887F4C5.jpg
029B6F2E-413C-43D8-9A58-0AE7E7373649.jpg

Hey Sam,

Thanks for your post and advice.

Yes, that what my concern is as well because don't want to spend the time, effort and money then few years later the tree die and have to start over again.

We have built box blinds before and already found out that even inside a box blind your movement should still kept minimal and agreed on what you said about no no to big windows.

The whole idea for a box blind is to keep warm because there are a few in our group that is more sensitive to the cold weather and hoping with an enclosed blind and a tiny heater can make their hunt more enjoyable (I have hunted in minus 15 degrees temperature for 5 days on a ladder stand so I know how it feel when you are cold lol).

Just looking to build something functional,sturdy and hoping it will last us a decade if not more.

[spcamno]

This is what we did few years back at the Camp and it's only about 10 feet high.

We build them first took those apart transport them up North and assemble again when we get there.

To Species8472: notice those pallets on skids? Those are the stuff we got from your lead and they work very well (thanks again for the headsup) both during Spring and the Fall not sure if the deer will like them or not lol.

Since this time it will be much higher (hoping at least 17 feet from the ground to the bottom of the stand) just want to gather as much information as possible before starting.

[Species8472]

Hey J.

How have you been?

Long time no chat.

I am doing well. Thanks for asking. Hope you and yours are prospering as well. Glad to hear the bear bait lead worked out for you. One of these day we are going to have to meet in person and swap stories and drink some whiskey. Slowly but surely picking off the members i want to meet in real life. 2 more meets coming up in the next 10 days out on the ice on Nipissing.