Condo Stand/Shooting House

[Fitchj13]

For test areas on my lease - I have used a 6x6 raised platform that sits 8' above the ground. Top of platform I place one of those rubber mats from tractor supply and cover that with an old piece of carpet. Put the platform out during summer. Then I pop up a ground blind on top of that at beginning of bow season. Let sit til muzzy/gun before hunting it. Easy to move. Sometimes small adjustments need to be made during the season. Remove the pop up when finished hunting for the year.

If spot is good, I'll replace with a perm blind the next summer. And shift the platform to another.

 

[Hunter 257W]

I built one that's about 5'x8' out of all wood. I used 12' 6"x6" posts that were treated and put them in the ground 2' deep so that the floor is 10' high. I framed around the posts with 2'x12's then made floor joists from scrap 2'x6's on 9" centers. ?Yeah that's overdoing it but I don't like heights and don't like the idea of getting killed while deer hunting so I overbuilt it. The 2"x6"s were scraps and free anyhow. Everything else was pretty much scrap lumber from years of leftover pieces on other jobs around the farm. This was in the Fall of 2010 and it's still in good shape. I put a lot of overhang on the tin roof to minimize the rain blowing in. I always intend to put some kind of wood treatment on it each spring but never have. I'm sure the floor (2 layers of 3/8" plywood) will have to be changed out some day. It's a bad idea to use 2 layers like that because water always gets trapped between the layers but it's what I had. When I do change the floor out I'll buy new deck boards and maybe the synthetic ones and be done with it forever.

 

[muddyboots]

I used the platform ground blind idea on my property for last few years. Figured out exactly where we wanted it be invested in a red man. If you have lots of wood and time I'd just build it and paint. It will last a long long time.

 

[Planking]

I put a 15 ft tripod up at my spot first for a couple of years to see if it was worthy. It was and so i built a shooting house on 16ft 4x4's. I did like someone else mention. I used pressure treated on the frame and whatever else on the blind. I paid a guy that built shooting house frames for the frame and did everything else myself. Then i stood it all up with a tractor. Thick coats of paint, sealer, or whatever will help it last a long time.

If i had a re do i would buy one from someone that was built out of tin or something like that.

 

[Chickenrig]

If this is your forever place get off your wallet and buy the best !!!
A 12' predator redneck blind !
Heck you and the wife can have supper by candle light in that thing ! 3K sounds like a pile of cash but it is truly money well spent . Do it once
By the time you mess with wood , blinds,labor, paint, etc it's not that bad . The first time you sit it you will thank yourself !!
I live on 80 acres and put one up last year , friends thought i was nuts until they stepped foot in it . Now they are Redneck with envy .
Good luck in your decision making process

 

[BSK]

If this is your forever place get off your wallet and buy the best !!!
A 12' predator redneck blind !
Heck you and the wife can have supper by candle light in that thing ! 3K sounds like a pile of cash but it is truly money well spent . Do it once
By the time you mess with wood , blinds,labor, paint, etc it's not that bad . The first time you sit it you will thank yourself !!
I live on 80 acres and put one up last year , friends thought i was nuts until they stepped foot in it . Now they are Redneck with envy .
Good luck in your decision making process

Redneck blinds are the bomb! All my clients have many, many of them. But once you add a tower to the cost of the blind, you're looking at more than $5,000. That's WAY too rich for my blood. Just priced out the lumber to make a 4' x 6' based on the nicest custom tower stand I've seen, and it's still under $1,000.

 

[Chickenrig]

Nah
With a 12' tower it was just over 3k in Dothan , Al
Oh i understand my friend but i'm at that point in my life where i just do it !!!
YOLO!!!!

 

[BSK]

After pricing out lumber for a custom 4x6 shooting house (around $900), now I'm starting to lean towards the prefab units. I'm especially interested in the Sportsman's Condo SC-2. Anyone use them? Pros and cons?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Geez - I bought lumber for 3 shooting houses right before the prices inflated (just lucky timing). They came out to about $250 a piece. But again, that's using truck bed liners as the sides and roof. But that included plexiglass and great stuff foam. Built 1 and have 2 more left to build

 

[BSK]

Geez - I bought lumber for 3 shooting houses right before the prices inflated (just lucky timing). They came out to about $250 a piece. But again, that's using truck bed liners as the sides and roof. But that included plexiglass and great stuff foam. Built 1 and have 2 more left to build

We're trying to recreate a custom built shooting house nicknamed "The Palace" because it is so nice. 6' x 6', painted exterior plywood on all walls, painted 1" x 4" trim on all corners and windows, metal roof with metal ridge-cap, metal flashing covering on all fascia and soffits, etc. Not a simple shooting house at all. All parts, including windows, hinges, brackets, screws and nails came out to just about $900. For a little more, some of the prefab units are starting to look nice.

The Palace

 

[CBU93]

How high did you build the house palace?

 

[BSK]

How high did you build the house palace?

The legs are 10' 4x4s.

And we didn't build it. My brother-in-law had it contracted with a guy who builds these stands. I believe he's from Centerville, or somewhere in Hickman County.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

The Palace looks super nice! I get super excited about building shooting houses and I don't even hunt out of them. I rarely hunt fields, except during early bow season. I think the excitement comes from knowing my daughter will be with me one day hunting out of them.

 

[DoubleRidge]

We are in the same situation....last year during the lumber price increase we had started two new shooting houses but wanted to build four on the property but stopped due to cost. Our design is 5x5 and they are 2x4 stick framed. 2x6 treated floor joist. 4x4x12 treated post with elevator brackets. Box is wrapped in osb sheathing and then covered with metal...we ordered metal with no ribs for this purpose....ordered corner trim in metal as well....trim around window opening is treated....plan to stain all exposed treated lumber after year one....loft ladder style steps....legs are sitting on concrete stepping stones...bottom band anchored with 3 foot sections of t-post on three sides...u-bolted to bottom band.....at the time, with some lumber being reclaimed, we came in around $1000 per blind....I dread building the next two because I know the cost will be higher.... probably build one this summer and hold off on the last one....love a shooting house on a cold rainy all day sit....pack a lunch a stay a while.

 

[BSK]

The Palace looks super nice! I get super excited about building shooting houses and I don't even hunt out of them. I rarely hunt fields, except during early bow season. I think the excitement comes from knowing my daughter will be with me one day hunting out of them.

We don't hunt food plots much, but after hunting out of "The Palace" a time or two (especially with my daughter) in windy, rainy conditions, I now see their value. We plan on putting up a tower stand on each of our large food plots. That would be a total of 7. That also frees up a bunch of ladder stands (our normal mode of hunting).

The Palace cost $1,800 two years ago. The builder now said he would have to charge $2,500 due to lumber prices.

 

[DoubleRidge]

We don't hunt food plots much, but after hunting out of "The Palace" a time or two (especially with my daughter) in windy, rainy conditions, I now see their value. We plan on putting up a tower stand on each of our large food plots. That would be a total of 7. That also frees up a bunch of ladder stands (our normal mode of hunting).

The Palace cost $1,800 two years ago. The builder now said he would have to charge $2,500 due to lumber prices.

I can see $1800 (or $2500 now) easy when adding in labor cost....it's a job....we built ours modular or in sections at home then hauled them to build site....lifted into position section at a time with tractor front end loader.

 

[BSK]

I can see $1800 (or $2500 now) easy when adding in labor cost....it's a job....we built ours modular or in sections at home then hauled them to build site....lifted into position with tractor front end loader.

That's what we had planned on doing, build it modularly and lift into position with front end loader. And we can still do that, but materials will be around $1,000. Considering all the labor involved, we're now considering prefabs that just need legs, bracing and standing them up. We can do that for a few hundred more per stand with the Sportsman's Condo brand. We're looking at the SC-2. Anyone else use these?

 

[JCDEERMAN]

We have a box stand on every field as well (8). Most were built 10+ years ago. They are mostly hunted by the older guys. We have 5 additional fields being made by fall, and have one box built, with enough material for two more. The other 2 can wait till prices go down. Heck, if someone broke into our metal building, they'd probably take the lumber first, before getting the tractor

No idea on the Sportsman's Condo. They look great though. I'd check out some YouTube videos on them. I always watch reviews on there for certain products

 

[DoubleRidge]

We have a box stand on every field as well (8). Most were built 10+ years ago. They are mostly hunted by the older guys. We have 5 additional fields being made by fall, and have one box built, with enough material for two more. The other 2 can wait till prices go down. Heck, if someone broke into our metal building, they'd probably take the lumber first, before getting the tractor

No idea on the Sportsman's Condo. They look great though. I'd check out some YouTube videos on them. I always watch reviews on there for certain products

In the second video.....I would add the cross braces to the legs BEFORE I started the process of trying to stand it up.....that's allot of pressure on the brackets that hold the legs......looks like a nice blind though....they have several of these for sale at the co-op fertilizer building in Dickson.

 

[FTG-05]

I agree. Or better, find someone with a tractor with forks.