Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

If it were me, I would use OSB like you would normally on your house. Tin is DEFFENITALY the way to go on top though. VERY low maintenance.

Tom

Yep, that's exactly were I'm at Jeff. The guys only camp is and has been a load of fun, gruff, stinky, politically incorrect---extremely ... no place for little girls, wives or even little boys. I wouldn't want to change it, it should stay that way, it's a guys camp & that's the way it should be. So, I'll still visit the old camp & we'll have the new one for the family. The wife & daughter won't always want to be out at the new camp either so when they aren't arround... well, the mannors go out the window!!! Instant mens camp!!

Jason, thank you for that. I can only hope you are right. All 3 of my cousin's kids are just wonderful, although the boy (also the oldest) is the one with the real passion for the whole cabin thing, building stands... anticipating the excitement of not sleeping the night before opener... (he's really juiced up) The girls have had a great time out there too & the cabin floor plan has changed since the plane crash that took their father's life. There is a girls room now with room for 4. We plan on using the cabin for more than just hunting, all of us (kids included) are avid snowmobilers, ATV's dirt bikes, what ever.. We plan to use the cabin as a base camp for snowmobiling, ATV-ing, maybe just for a berry picking weekend, what ever. And my cousin's girls will be afforded the choice and opportunity to become hunters themselves. I won't force anything on them by any means but it will be clear to them that they are entitled & that I will jump at the opportunity to teach them what ever I can if they should choose to give it a try.

Again, thanks so much for the kind words, it's like fuel in my tank, it's my purpose at this point & it's what helps me to keep moving forward after the loss.

Thanks,
Dave

Here are some pics from last night:

got my trusses, insulation, more lumber... I'm heading out there for more wall standing in less than an hour. hope to get the 2 long walls finished tonight. Build & stand the last wall sat morning & start setting the trusses. I should be sheeting the roof with tin by sunday sometime.

pics on Monday.

Dave

That place is really coming together....We'll be waiting for the Monday pics

Is that a fuel cell powered nailer I see? Really helps speed the remote building projects along!

Jason

Well, here we go again, Monday already.

I think we did pretty good over the weekend. with the help of some very good friends I got the main cabin walls built & stood, we got the trusses set yesterday... lotta dang work but I think most of the multi person "grunt" work is behind us now.

Thank god for good friends because there are some things you just can't do all by yourself.

My cousin's boy rode up with my Uncle on Sunday, my uncle & his grandpa, which was my cousin's father. It was very good to see him, he was a great help in setting the trusses, it was just really good to see him. He was very impressed with the property & the cabin project. I felt the time was right to ask him if he could come up & hunt with us also. He said "I'd really like that" I said "Well I'd really like it too."

So, another member for the camp, I'm pretty happy about that.

Jason, yep that's a paslode cordless nailer, very handy. I've had it for a good 6 years now, she's drove a lot of nails. Saturday it started giving me some trouble feeding the nails. I had to tear it down, the piston wasn't returning to the top of the stroke because it was simply gummed up from 6 years of use with no service. We cleaned the cylinder, the piston & rings, oiled the rings a little & put it all back together & it's like new again. Funny thing is my 18v Drill crapped out on me later that day which is also about 6 years old. had to take that apart out there too, motor locked up. I was able to take the motor loose from the drive assembly & get it to spin free, put it all back together again & that too seems to be fine, drove a couple hundred screws since Saturday so I think it's fine. Lot's of gears inside those things though... I wouldn't recommend taking one apart for the fun of it

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

cutting the front door redneck style.

setting the first truss.

more truss work.

front view.

view from south east corner.

Looks like you have the hardest part licked. I was glad when we finished "building out" our 30' x 40' building that we had done it ourselves. It really is a great feeling to know the place inside and out and appreciate how much it took to git 'r done.
Sure is nice to have friends and family to help.

stumpy

that's when you find out who your real friends are

Dave

I just caught this. Sounds like the start of something special for sure.

rain delay kept me home last night, but I'm Jones'n for some shack time so I think I'll find my way out there tonight & see about framing up that east side room, the sauna. I have to get that framed & get the rooflines tied together before I can tin the roof.

Guys, I did go with perloins for the roof rather than the sheeting like some of you recomended. I did have reasons though. I went with 2x4 rather than 1x4 like I had mentioned. I felt the 2x4 gave much more bite for the screws that hold the tin down. plus, I need that sheeting for the inside, check book is badly broken so what I have for supplies/materials will have to take me though this year.

I have all I need to get it weather tight & insulated so we will use it this year.

more tomorrow, maybe.

Dave

Looks like it is coming together nicely!

so far so good. really want to get a lid on that thing soon though.

Cant blame you there, looks like there are many good times in the future.

Looks great! Much better than the 40 year 5th wheel we use.

Yes I hope so. I've taken much advice here already, lots of pictures, that was good advice, the diary/log book thing is very good, I started doing that as soon as it was brought up.

Yeah my kids will have memories of growing up with this camp, the bond strengthens between me & my Late best friend/cousin's boy... and my friends father too who is understandably having a very hard time dealing with his loss.

It's a wonderful project in itself but the fact that I am able to use it to help heal some of the pain in my family & use it as a platform to build & strengthen bonds between those that are hurting the most.... well I guess it's just strange how some things work out. strange, but wonderful.

I had assumed some of the potential for this camp project being utilized as a healing tool of sorts ... I had assumed some of this when I began this post, but it's really bigger than I had imagined at that point. It really is working out well & It's building some hope for a boy & a father who had pretty much lost direction, lost hope. Something to keep them busy, something for them to plan ahead for, look forward to, be excited about.

Deer season will come as it always has... a man is missing, a great void exists that can never be filled. what do we do without him?
We do as he would have us do, we pull together, we regroup. Someone has to pick up the torch, lead the way, provide the opportunities, the atmosphere, provide the hospitality, fuel the comradery, create new traditions. Create & provide a sense of belonging & comfort, crack a joke so they know it's OK to laugh again... It's no replacement for the loss they have suffered, the loss I have suffered. But to enter that time of the year, deer season, with emptiness, no direction, no nothing, just the void. How awful, we just can't have that can we? No we can't, and we won't.

We're building much more than a hunting shack & some deer stands here, it's much more than that.

Enough jabber for now, (I can't spell to save my life anyways)

Time to swing a hammer.

Later,
Dave

Dave, looks like you're really humming along now. Thanks for the pics, I'm starting to really look forward to your updates.

Keep that hammer swinging!

J

If it were me, I'd get a primer and a coat on that siding as quickly as I could. On my project, I primered the sheets before they were nailed up, and then made sure I had a coat of finish on after they were up. I did that on the house and the stuff is holding like it wants to stay up for 30 years.

On the one shed that I sided with leftovers, I wasn't as picky and used a few pieces that had been left out through a couple of rains. That was 5 years ago, and I'll probably have to replace a lot of them next year.

PS: Also make sure you primer all the cut ends wherever you can-- doors, windows, corners, etc. It really helps.

Thanks guys,

Well, mother nature kicked me right in the junk Monday night, I didn't realize it till last night when I got out there. We must have got over a half inch of rain in a short time & it was more than my 4 mill plastic sheeting on the floor could handle. the plastic kept many gallons of water off the flooring, but some got in under the plastic, how much? too dang much...

a few sheets of flooring, one sheet in particular are buckled from absorbing moisture. we got the plastic off & it's all drying now, I just hope everything shrinks back down & flattens out nice... or I'll be doing some open floor surgury.

Me & a good friend decided it best to not let the sauna addition slow down the roofing of the main cabin. I was holding off on laying the tin down on the roof because I had to create a valley where the 2 roof lines connected, cut the tin to fit & all that stuff.

Well I'm just going to focus on getting a lid on the main cabin & I'll tie the sauna roof line in later, or possibly detach the sauna like my dad & uncle's camp... we'll see.

dry & sunny today, come on sun!! cook that moisture out of that floor!!


Dave

I'm "Sofa King".... so-fa'king tired that is....

floor is going to be ok, hope to get the west side of the roof covered with tin tonight.

Dave

Nice pics and great story of life to boot. Brings back memories of our hunting camp in the Adirondacks. Five buddies life long friends. We bought a 20x16 wall tent with a large barrel wood stove. Eleven miles back in the woods and on State property so we could not build a sweet cabin like yours, but boy we lived good up in the mountains. Good food,cold beer, warm tent, things and friends that made each other laugh. Great times, great stories, we will never forget. But lifes path sometimes brings us apart for awhile. Each of us are now married with lots of kids and many other responsibilities. Keeps friends apart for periods of time. But now we are walking the same road, kids are older, jobs winding down, more time with the people we cherish. Hunting season is almost here and my good buddy John has built a cabin on his own property in the mountains, and now dates are set. A reunion of the old hunting club. Can`t wait.Thanks for stirring up the memories...