growalot

aaahhh I see that in pic now..,Thought it was the neighbors..

Hey Biz..I have to ask ...with you disagreeing and thinking it's a waste..do you hunt it a lot? Do you offer him any tax funds for your enjoment of his wasted money..Are you secretly hoping he wills it to you? Now that sounded nasty but honesty not ment to be. Im curious

they are rock solid they only one I had even a little " issue " with was Rivers blind. Remember I erect and build these by myself. RIVERS IS 16 ft ground to platform. I Had to attatch top rails to the 2 end 4x6x16 ft legs then stand them up and keep them up inorder to attatch side ralis to either end 10 ft apart. To do this I used the Gator winch and a tree.I then put in a cross brace under each top corner brace nailed and ratchet strapped that end section to the tree so I could work on the rest. Once everything was complete..during hunting season High winds moved the tree..That was a tad unnerving for it gave a slight movement to the platform. The tree has a Y right at the brace height. I cut one half that Y Away. No more movement. The side top rails that joist tie into are 2x8's, joist are 16 " on center. Bottom of legs boxed in for no movrment then there is center boxing on the tall ones. From this I brsce from each leg toward the center on the 10 ft side to stablize not only front to back movement but the expanse of deck even for a 2x8 ,10 ft is a long expanse( ^ ). I also run decking in 2 different directions. Decking under the actual blind goes one way and the decking on "Porch'' goes the opposite. This actually makes it more stable as far as movement,front to back side to side. I don't worry about cost because most is savaged. Or Great!!! , bundle deals from Leows. Go around to the side of their building and they have them there. This New one will have solid metal rails cut for scrap. They are just the right length and have screw holes drilled already. These will be the leg box at bottom and the corner bracings ..Eye beam shaped aliminum rails I'll paint. Very strong and rot free...also lighterweight than PT. Hauling 10 long big pieces of PT up a ladder is getting a bit more challenging for this old gal..I'll be 60 in 7 mos.

The thing about cash...and no realtor are the deals that can be made...let me tell you GOOD deals can be made. Even with a bank.. Our sons place went from 69+ thou to 36 because of cash ..That was with a bank selling it. The realitors had to be forced to make the offer both kept saying no that they'd never go for it. Man were they ticked..lol 2 other pieces went from 2 thou an acre to 800.00 due to cash and deals and the last went from 24 thou for 24 1/2 to 10thou thanks to cash deals and no realtor.

What amazes me..is the card board blinds ...we've had nieghbors lose their green house to snow and wind..the fiberglass ones. ..both blinds have card board roofs and only 2 x 2 framing...never a problem nor a leak...though this week the 7 yr. Old gets a re roof...another tarp and cardboard one.....only because the over hangs have failed ( frayed edges ) and flopped down.

Thats why I build them as a rectangle and position them narrow end to the worst prevailing winds...we have a 20 x 12 x10 canvas "barn" it was for hay storage when we had the livestock. It was anchored and in one particular bad storm we found it it the trees with the frame bent broken and twisted like a tie twst from a loaf of bread. We had to buy a new one..this one is anchoed with 4 ft sunken rebar inside and 16 " diamiter telephone poles along each outside edge,with eye hooks screwed in them every 3 feet and roping tying the structure to the poles. We get some nasty winds here.

I built my chicken coop up on stacked flat field stone to level it. One end is 2ft off the ground. A 4 x 8 building with a 4 x 8 attached "porch" 10 yrs old now down in our woods...I got tired of Mr B's rooster waking me at 3am crowing in the dsrk..crazy bird! Did I mention, besides growing stuff,I'm a frustrated carpenter.....

BTW...mine have been up for years and in high winds and never a problem. Even the wooden one thats a bit heavier...remember two of them are card board blinds 7 and 3 years old. They range from 6 to 16 ft tall and 4x8 10 to 6x10

10 x10 x 8 or10 in this town and any permiment structure that is not readily movable. In other words anchored to the ground or another structure. Not going to mess with possible future changes ...especialy with the number of Amish structures being shipped in. People are collecting them like those collectable villages. I've seen places with 4-6 and 4-5 ..summer camps they live in them and guys that don't want taxable/ building permit 'garages'

Cash...

You gotta love ridges ,saddles and draws...great hunting.....

Glad to hear your doing good...I have to say I thought what Eddie did...Lucky you! I was scoped 2x's...once when 9yrs. old and once at 16 yrs old...I was wide awake both times...Not happy time...lol Though they did let me watch on the screen...even though I'm pretty sure the doc understood what I called him, bit in my mouth and all...

I Have never sunk the poles on any of them I use bracing. Not only leg and corner bracing but out side bracing . I Do this with black locust trees I cut and nail to the upper part of legs When sunk they become a " permanent " structure...tax assessor uses satilite imagining a lot.. prefer to avoid more confrontation with her..she's not too pleased with me after the last go around and she was pulled on the carpet, as it were

I raked the the spot for it ..right next to the blind that's there. and I taped the 2x4's together in 2's... This way its one cut ...4 pieces and the cuts are the same. I will need to put in the back up bracing for the joists on the long side rails that also allows me to nail the joists on with little problems by myself.

I think it's the area...areas where everyone has a cam or 12 out..then you get deer just use to them...go to an area where they haven't seen them don't get a lot of human scent..they'll turn themselves inside out to get away. I have tons of mature buck walk with in inches of my cams and could care less and yes they have returned or gone past one of the others with the same reaction.

Today I got 2 done...one really didn't need it but...I got a twinge ...when your 18ft high you don't want to think " should have listened to that twinge" just before you hit the end of our tether. So 2 extra ratchets on one and one on the other...that one will be a third to the tree and also keep that foot and ladder section firmly joined. also raked out the spot for the blind platform and cleared lanes

If fire wood If really good timber...find someone close doing a cutting and see what they will do for you...if Good trees say veneer they will come in for just 8, if they are close. They pay for them, you have the $$$ to hire the rest.... Some times guys get a tad crazy with the bull dozing stumps and what not...A good plot takes years any ways...so deal with a stump or 2 off season and plant around them. I have only dug out a few stumps with the backhoe...because the roots were all surface..all others I cut high at first and plant around, then let it sprout a year or two and then cut to ground...Still plant around it and it will just rot. Cost will depend on whether you hire an equipment operator or a guy with a mower,chain saw and brush whacker....Operator your talking his time per hour and transport cost of hauling in big equipment.

the swamp oak acorns are more oblong than the burr...your pic doesn't give a view To judge but you would know...

looks like bur oak to me, Ill have to check https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/pg_quma2.pdf

don't get discouraged...1. clover grows slow and 2. with that much activity perhaps they are eating it and that's why it's short..you could try an exclusion fence...doesn't need to be big a ft across. Also remember Just having the visual of green will draw the deer in and...roaming buck new to the area during rut...It's also giving you a clear idea of what is in the area...

I found a new plant in the swamp the other day...this is a good read on it an shows how one plant can be mistaken for another...deer love this too and they grow together..

Yes they do love it and poison ivy also poke weed...I am always thrilled to see poke weed popping up in any areas or plots...the deer prefer it to the plots!...note the Northeast and Midwest plants deer like I think guys would have a much easier time scouting if they read more on wild plants then some deer stuff https://www.qdma.com/know-native-deer-foods/

I can't say if this would work I have prescriptions ...but Mr B swears by the eye glasses you can buy at places like CVS..and yes he regularly goes to the eye doc and they are OK with it... I don't know if those might work. Though easy enough to go and look through a few to see while out shopping.

Yesterday I got out the saw and saw horses and cut the 8 foot 4x6 legs for the pop up platform...I have had the blind there a few years actually and it's great...but very limited in sight view..Well with the guy behind us opening up his place to hunters It's a tad scary. They parked a stand directly across from it about 600ft away. Ya not That close ...but when they decide to turn with a rifle and shoot in my direction..I want to be off the ground and visible... We've had these PT timbers hanging around for years...as heavy as a VW and 16ft long...Mr B had scrap pt from jobs and I have been collecting it since last year...so I'm all set for a 5w x 6L x 8h platform. dang the forks on the tractor came in handy yet again...I tied them to the forks lifted and set them down and positioned them on the 2 saw horses. tied them to the horses as well. Got out the square and measured and marked...then used the chain saw to zip through them. 15 mins in all. Now all I need to do is cut the rails ,joists and braises. This will lift me to see up the hill and across and more of my down hill action then there is a natural 100yrd shooting lane right down into the oak flats food plot...the deer cross through that all the time but I sat too low for a shot. Anyone else build blinds this year...or platforms

Nice...brings to mind on that last one...They say look for those curved tines adds more points...he's got that going on!..good luck