Skip to main content

2022 Deer Stand Project New Craig's Stand Part 2

September 25, 2022

  Step 2  New Craig's Stand

Construction

The base is 48" by 48" and framed with 2x6s. The floor is 48" by 60" 7/16 plywood sheeting.

Base with 'risers' which are steel brackets screwed to 2x6 framing made for attaching 4" by 4" posts.

Base setup for attaching legs.

   It's been raining for the past few days -- not that I'm complaining. I've wished for rain for weeks. I was out working on this stand in the mists and under moody-looking clouds a couple hours a day. When it rained steadily I stayed indoors. I hadn't planned on building this stand this year, so things like tools and materials are in disarray, not that anyone who knows me would notice. I tend to operate like this until I get all my ducks in a row -- usually by the end of the project, but truly, I enjoy doing it and figuring how to make things work to my satisfaction -- I ain't building china cabinets.That being said, I think this project is my most accurate by far for some reason. Then I could just be delusional too; I'm old.

   All the deer stands are named after family members -- except for The Privy Stand. It is so named because it looks like an outhouse on stilts, not that any of the other deer stands resemble their namesakes. The names just identify locations. "John's Stand" does not resemble a john either, nor its namesake our eldest son. It would've been just as easy to call it No. 2 as it was the second stand I built after mine then moved, remodeled, and rebuilt again. Adding additional numerical designations on it would've just been annoying: '2B', '2C', '2Ca' ... Nah.

    Marty's Stand is in a good place too, but requires modifications as the years go by; usage creates critical thinking "What can I do to improve this experience? Hmmmm, I need to widen that shooting lane 'there,' lengthen it beyond that point, take out that window and add another 'here'. Put a curtain up. Add a shelf. A cushion for this hard old stool." Stuff like that. All these deer stands are works in progress.

   Craig's Stand is built out of a wood pier that came from Lindstrom, MN that someone was replacing with a new aluminum model. It came in handy in its second life as a thrown-together deer stand that was laughable to look at -- but delivered deer to the hunters for the past six years. That's why I undertook the project so late in the year. It just had to be done.

I've been lucky working on deer stands of the past; I try to be careful. I don't work fast, never have, but still things happen. This 'wound' was hastily wrapped with tissue and electrical tape to stave the bleeding and keep it clean so I could keep working. The throbbing went away after awhile. When I got home I cut it away the bandage using an Exacto knife, poured hydrogen peroxide into it, then put a real band aid around it. "Coulda been worse."

 

 

Stay tuned.

Comments

So, are you happy with your Dewalt tools?

Popular posts from this blog

1972 An August Adventure: Stormy Lake, Snake Bay, Ontario

My 1972 Toyota Land Cruiser   A life changing event. I've had asthma all my life and it limited me somewhat until 1972, when after an event on a remote Canadian lake I was rushed to Dryden Area Hospital for emergency treatment of a pneumothorax /lung collapse. Early one morning, my dad and I left Des Moines, Iowa on 1530 mile round trip fishing expedition to Stormy Lake, Ontario; stopping in Roseau, Minnesota to join six family members: My uncle  Martin and aunt Irene Davidson of Roseau, their son Jack Davidson and his 8-yr old son, Jeffrey, of Thief River Falls, Minnesota, and Jack's older brother Dean Davidson, and his 11-yr old son, Larry, of Clive, Iowa in addition to their two two vehicles, one with a boat atop it. We were pulling a one-wheeled trailer behind my brand new 1972 Toyota Land Cruiser to handle extra gear. Leaving Roseau as the last vehicle in the three car caravan, we headed off toward the...

Mac Furlong: Real Hunter

   This last Tuesday, October 1st, in Reed River, Sven saw Mac Furlong hurrying down Main Street on his way to sign up for the Big Buck Contest at Normies On Main . Mac was wearing his Reed River Bank clothes so Sven didn’t recognize him right off, Mac walking so serious like, but Sven ought to have known that about this time of year all the local deer hunters are getting real anxious. Beginning soon after the Roseau County Fair in July, hunter types begin walking about the outdoors sports departments in their local hardware stores and sporting goods shops salivating over the latest hunting gear, wearing at least one parcel of florescent orange on their person as if to let the ordinary public know that, they, in fact, are real hunters of a serious nature, although temperatures are yet in the eighties. “See here, my florescent orange insulated cap with earflaps?” “Lo and behold, my florescent-orange camo jacket with elbow padding and several important pockets?” “Check o...

Friends to the End: Delmer Roseen and Curtis Johnson

  Delmer and Curtis: Friends to the End      From where he was buried on Saturday April 11th, 1992, the tin roofs of his buildings could be seen through the trees. Across the fence, at the foot of his grave, were the fields he farmed. Between them, Mikinaak Creek--so much a part of Delmer Roseen’s life and sadly, his death--still winds through willow slough, over beaver dams below the Palmville Cemetery, and past his door to the South Fork of the Roseau River, only a few yards to the southeast.         Delmer lived northeast of us in Palmville Township. If I looked just right, I could see his yard light through the woods between his place and mine. Either of us could hear the soft ‘clung’ of the rope and pulley against the flag pole in the cemetery at the corner of our two farms. Red willows, popple islands, and slough grass; green mossy fence posts; the often submerged patchwork of woven wire, and the depth of water i...