Creating my "Over the Top" Deer Blind

[Robert_in_NY]

It has been brought to my attention that the top half of the blind is for Steph and me, but the bottom half is for the kids. It is officially their garage!!!

Eddie

Eddie, I have been going to build a similar tower on one of my fields also. My plan is to cover the entire building and leave an opening so I can pull the atv inside to protect it from being seen by the deer and keeping the snow and rain off it while I hunt. I am debating about building a door for the atv garage and may do so just so I can lock the building up completely from critters and trespassers.

Up top I was going to build it big enough for two people to sit comfortably. I already have a couple Mr. Heaters we bought when Quality Farm and Fleet went under. I use one in my pop up tent right now and it is hooked to a 20 pound propane tank. It last a while and keeps me plenty warm in the popup so I can imagine I will be toasty in the tower once it is all insulated.

I helped build one for my friend (his tower is 20' to the deck) and learned a few things to do and not do. When you get done and finally use it I would appreciate a review of things you like and don't like or would have done different so I can figure those into my stand.

Good luck to you. So far this year has not been good around here. There are very few shots and the deer contest are not seeing many deer come in. I am not sure what happened because there are plenty of deer around but for various reasons they are staying hidden. Of course the first week of season has seen a vast array of weather changes from rain storms to snow storms, 60 degrees to 20 degrees. The one great day was a couple days ago when the winds stopped and before the snow started. The deer were out and moving comfortably.

 

[jk96]

I helped build one for my friend (his tower is 20' to the deck) and learned a few things to do and not do.

Robert could you elaborate a little. Especially on the do not. I would be interested in hearing your experience and I'm sure others who are planning something similar would as well.

jk

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Robert could you elaborate a little. Especially on the do not. I would be interested in hearing your experience and I'm sure others who are planning something similar would as well.

jk

One thing I learned is to not build it 20' to the platform. The supports alone and bracing is substancial and there was nothing gained going 20' for his area. He could have went 10' and been just as far ahead. Another problem with that much height is he has to climb a ladder to get up there which with our snow can be slippery. 20' to the platform makes building a stair case a large undertaking in itself. Even for his propane tank he had to build a platform 12' in the air as his hose for the heater was only 12' long so he has to carry the 20 pound take most of the way up there and strap it to one of the legs. He designed his shooting windows too high so he can't stay sitting to shoot. He made the door tiny for some reason (think Alice in Wonderland, you have to crawl on your hands and knees to get into this stand from the platform. And lastly, he made it too small as far as depth. You are very snug inside and it would be impossible to use this stand for bow season because you can't pull the bow back in there.

I don't want to build a 2000 square foot house for a stand but I do know I want it to be large enough that I have plenty of room and can take my daughter and fiancee with me without them being in the way or uncomfortable. My fiancee went with me the other day to the pop up tent and with the heater in there it made it too crowded. I was fine to shoot out the left window but I wouldn't want to shoot thru the front window as she wouldn't have anywhere to move to.

Regardless to how big you build it off the ground you will want a lot of braceing to help fight the wind. I watch a farmer build a tower on a running gear. That tower was at least 20' in the air on top of the running gear. They are in a very hilly section of the county and were building the stand at the farm and were going to haul it to the field where they wanted it. All I could see is this stand falling over in transit if it made it that long. We have hay racks blown over by winds and they have slats to let the air thru. If I or anyone I know are going to be in one of these stands I am going to build it as stable as possible like Eddie is doing. A few dollars in extra lumber is cheap insurance. I can design it as cheap as possible but I would rather build it to last forever and for it to last it needs to hold up to the elements and wind is going to be one of the hardest elements on a tower stand.

 

[EddieWalker]

Robert,

I never thought about parking anything under the blind, it's just dead space that I've been wondering about. In time, it will become part of the playground, but until then, it's probably just a place for wasp nests.

Good information on your friends blind. I considered four feet and six feet and twelve feet, but 8 feet just seemed to work the best for what I was hoping to do. I did lower the ceiling height to 7 feet to make it easier to keep warm and lower the overall height a bit, though not a significant amount. I wanted a full sized door to get in and out of and based my wall height on the door opening. With the header in place, I have 75 1/2 inches. If you are over 6'3" tall, you'll have to duck to get through it. I considered puttting the header above the top plates, but decided not to go that rought for the few extra inches lower that I could put the ceiling.

I have sheething on all four sides, and that locks it together real good. No sway or movement with that done. All four of us have been up there and there's plenty of room. Anything less wouldn't work for all of us to be able to enjoy it at the same time.

My window sils are 3 feet off the floor. I put them at that height after sitting in a chair and measuring where I like to rest the rifle. That felt very good, so I went with 20x30 windoows. There's no real advantage to the 3ft height of the windows, but it's just a few bucks more over a 20x20 window.

My last blind had a ladder to get into it. I hated it. Stairs are the only way to go. Just walk right up them. It don't get any easier. The ladder was a struggle to carry the rifle and any gear up there. Allot of the time I would have to make three trips to get what I wanted up there. This time, it's all about being easy and simple to use.

Here are some pictures from today. Steph helped me with the sheething, but we didn't finish. What is up still needs more time to get it all screwed down. Guessing, I think it's about 75% fastened.

After getting the rafters installed, I've changed my plan on the roof. I was going to put in a two level roof, plus a pergula. From the edge, after I cut it for the fascia boards, I'll have 49 inches to where a 2 foot pergula would fit. That's just about right for a single roof and a good sized pergula, so that's the new plan.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

"Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair."

 

[Hookblock]

It's not over the top, but its better than sitting outside. Opening morning was about 12 degrees, but warm inside . I like the stairs, never thought about using them for a stand. I enjoyed watching the progress, some really good ideas and different ways to look at building my next one. The last pic was the newest addition

 

[Tororider]

It looks like it would be hard to shoot out of the last one. Can you bow hunt out of the first one, or is it only for rifle? I can't wait to build one of my own, you guys have me real jealous.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

how do you explain it to your wives when you put the window unit AC in them....

"well, honey, i have to start early seeing where their paths are and where they hang out....."

i think it would be really hard to see/hear/shoot a deer out of a deer stand with a hot tub, AC and a hammock!

 

[EddieWalker]

I did some more to the blind, but it's all small stuff that had to be done, but doesn't really show up for pictures.

One of the key features that I really want is to have a weather vane on a cupola. The weather vane that I bought is pretty big, so my cupola has to be just as extreme. I built it in two peices so that I could get it up there. The bottom half will hold 8 glass blocks. Eventually there will be a light in there to light them up, but for now, they will just be decorative.

After I install the bottom half, I'll install the top half. It slides into the bottom and will allow my to screw them together for a very strong fit.

Wind will not be a problem.

Eddie

 

[EddieWalker]

I didn't even come close to gettting done what I wanted to do, but that's just part of the holidays and having everyone over for Thanksgiving. I had to clean the shop!!!

I did manage to get the cupola installed. That top part was allot heavier then I wanted to deal with, but I went slow and thought about what I was doing first, then moved it from resting place to resting place until it was in place.

Eddie