My brother in law died back in April from a cardiac event. I do miss him. He was the most skilled and passionate hunter I've ever met. 70 years young.
He grew up as a child on a 500 acre farm and his Dad would give him one .22 LR cartridge every morning. His job was to hunt up dinner with that single cartridge.
My sister is gradually coming to terms with his passing. Recently she asked me if I wanted some of his lifetime collection of deer horns to put inside our cabin for decoration.
I selected these three very nice examples of his hunting skills and I will get them up on the walls inside the cabin this fall.

IMG_20240805_183649512_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

My girlfriend is a trooper when going hunting. But she really doesn't deal well with the cold. Here in upstate NY, firearms deer season runs from mid November to the first of January.
That's the conventional rifle season and the two black powder seasons combined in the mentioned time period. Basically, about six weeks to get it done.
Temperatures can range from 50 F down to below zero F. Sometimes it rains and snows. We've had fabric pop-up blinds collapse from snow & ice buildup.
She's spent a fortune over the years we've been together on premium outdoors hunting clothing. It helps her sit longer, but still she can't sit in the cold for more than several hours.
Over the last four years or so, we've experimented with fabric pop-up blinds for her usage. We use a Mr. Buddy flameless propane heater inside the pop-up blinds and with a comfortable chair and heat,
she can sit in a hunting blind all day. A 20 pound propane tank will last for multiple years.

Several years ago, we were heading to the recreational property for some muzzleloader deer hunting, and we always bring an ATV on a small trailer for dragging deer out of the woods.
On that trip, we had a wheel bearing on the trailer seize, and the tire popped from skidding along the road before I could get the rig stopped.
That old Carry-On brand trailer was more than 20 years old, it didn't owe me anything. We managed to get the trailer home and it got parked out behind the barn, never to see the road again.
Several days ago, I dragged that old trailer out in front of the barn and tore the seized wheel apart, and much to my surprise, the trailer axle spindle and hub were still usable, the inboard wheel bearing had failed. After lengthy discussions with my GF, we decided to take the old trailer, repair the wheel bearing, remove all the lighting and brackets, and build a mobile deer hunting shack on the old trailer.

We've accumulated building supplies (hemlock timbers & steel roofing material) over the last couple years. Total all in cost for the build should come in at under $200.
We also have a good amount of Styrofoam 2" board, so the hunting shack will be well insulated. Since this trailer/hunting shack will be moved with the Honda Pioneer side by side around our woods on some rough woods roads, it needed to be bolted together, not nailed. We have the timber framework about completed, it is now ready for the roofing metal.
The floor of the trailer is a 4' x 8' sheet of marine plywood. The entire project doesn't have a single nail in it. It's all structural lag screws, and construction screws. The wooden structure is bolted with threaded rod to the angle iron trailer frame.
The roof and three vertical walls will be skinned with roofing steel. The entry door will be on the end of the trailer opposite the trailer tongue.

We will add the insulation after the shack is skinned with roofing steel, add a couple windows, a door, black out the interior, add some camo paint to the exterior, and get it moved into place for the season.

IMG_20240825_180504043_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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IMG_20240825_180543895_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

It is still a work in progress, I want it set up in the woods at least a month prior to opening day so the deer become accustomed to the hunting shack.

Looks like good work, will this be setup on your property, and when it's in position will you remove the wheels, lest someone decides that they want it some night.

Have you decided on roofing and insulation materials. Imagine you could insulate the floor and walls to keep heat in while using it, especially the floor to keep feet warm.

Maybe a Harbor Freight solar panel(s) on the roof to help keep phones charged, some LED lights, weather station etc.

Yes, it will be placed in my 70 acre woods. Other than my woods road that goes to the interior field where we will set it up, there is no other way to get in or out of the woods.
My access road is behind locked steel gates. I'm not concerned at all about it being stolen. The interior field is landlocked by heavy forest and a ravine, excepting my woods access road.
I won't bother taking the wheels off. It's been years since we have seen any trespassers. After having several arrested over 20+ years of land ownership, everybody leaves us alone.
We have trail cameras set up to monitor the property as we don't live there.

Steel roofing material for the roof and three walls. It will be insulated with Styrofoam 2" board, including the ceiling and likely the floor.
The entrance door will likely be assembled from wood products, and then insulated.
Thanks for the Harbor Freight idea, they are building a store in my town in a location that was formerly Tractor Supply.
Tractor Supply built a new building in a better location and moved out of their older plaza location.

We had nice weather at my location, I worked on it today. I ended up replacing both inboard wheel bearings, and due to shitty OEM single lip grease seals, it got water intrusion and bearing corrosion.
The rolling chassis and timber framework is complete. I bought some abrasive cut-off wheels today for cutting the steel roofing material when out on my parts run.

I got an email from my lawyer today.
They filed my complaint yesterday in State Supreme Court against the two corporate defendants.
Both will be served with the court paperwork by process servers.
This lawyer isn't fooling around. He had the paperwork filed with the court in less than one week from my initial visit.
The prior lawyer wasted three months of my time and did nothing for me.

Be interesting to see how this plays out....

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
.....It's been years since we have seen any trespassers. After having several arrested over 20+ years of land ownership, everybody leaves us alone.
We have trail cameras set up to monitor the property as we don't live there......

Sad but that's what you have to do, and then word gets out.

Fortunately for me the surrounding property owners do a good job keeping trespassers away so few if any ever make it to my property. But those neighbors, or really their children and guests, have a habit of drifting across into my property during deer hunting season.

I wanted to clear up an item I failed to mention previously.
Here in NY State, Village, Town, City, and County Courts have financial (Dollar) maximum limits that you are allowed to ask for in a lawsuit and/or monetary dispute.
I recall County Court having a top limit (money amount in dispute) of $25,000 maximum. Village, Town and City Courts are less. Significantly less.
Upstate NY has different dollar caps for the lower tier courts vs downstate. (NYC & vicinity) Allegedly due to the cost of living. It's all a scam.
State Supreme Court has no such dollar lawsuit maximum limits. You can ask for 759 Trillion Dollars in your Court Complaint/lawsuit. That certainly doesn't mean you will receive that amount.

I had a licensed contractor prepare an estimate for me, for restoring the property to previous condition. Prior to the trespassing and tree cutting, and access road building.
My contractor estimate far exceeds the lawsuit limits for all of the lower tier courts.
State Supreme Court also allows awarding punitive damages, so you can influence future behaviors, via their bank balance.
That is the reason for filing in State Supreme Court.

When I bought my recreational property more than 20 years ago, it had been previously leased by a neighbor/landowner. New Jersey cops. (deer hunting lease)
These jersey cops also own a separate parcel to the south of me. My purchased land, that they previously leased, plus what they own was a HUGE parcel for their hunting group size.
If they had really wanted the land I eventually purchased (that they previously leased) they could have bought it before I did. They chose not to spend the money.
They kept track of the potential closing date for my purchase with the previous landowner, who sold both of us our respective parcels.

I ended up closing on the property just about ten days before opening day of deer gun season.
The first weekend after the closing, a friend and I established a primitive ATV trail around the perimeter of my new property. We also added several hundred posted signs.
The outside perimeter on my property is several miles.

We were just finishing up and getting close to dusk, and a car pulled up at the road frontage field. Several guys got out and told us they were the jersey cops, and could they still hunt on my property.
I politely told them no, that I had bought my new land for my usage, family and friends. I also asked them to please respect the boundary lines, as I had paid for a survey prior to the purchase.
They started with the "you are a fucking asshole" then jumped in the car and sped away flinging rocks and dirt from the spinning rear tires. Plus flipping me the bird out the window.

Exactly one week and a day later was opening day of deer gun season. I spent the entire day riding my ATV around my newly built perimeter trail, doing so was announcing my presence to all listening.
When it got dark, I loaded up my ATV and went home for dinner.
That night, we got several inches of fresh powdered snow.

The next morning, I decided to hunt, rather than ride the ATV around the perimeter trail.
After all, what deer hunter could resist fresh powder, seeing in the snow where the deer actually traveled.
I got back near my southwest corner, and surprise... Tracks from an ATV dragging a deer carcass out of the woods after I had departed the prior evening. ATV tracks, deer blood, deer hair.
I backtracked the ATV tracks/blood/hair and discovered that the deer had actually been harvested on the jersey cops land.
They conveniently had used my new ATV trail to skid out their deer using my trail on my land.

I immediately departed and drove to the nearest location that had a usable cell signal and requested a NYS DEC Police Officer from the Syracuse, NY Dispatch Center.
We connected at the village general store and drove to the road frontage on my property. (at that time, no cabin, no phone, no cell signal, no internet, nothing at the property, other than woods)
The DEC Police Officer had a deer flesh sniffing/trained German Shepherd dog, and soon we ventured off into my woods.
We all arrived at the southern property line and just happened to run into one of the jersey cops sitting just across the property line.
The DEC Police Officer asked the jersey cop if they knew anything about the ATV tracks, deer blood, and deer hair. The jersey cop stated we don't know anything and claimed they didn't do anything.

The DEC Police Officer, his dog, and I then walked to the southwest corner and followed the ATV tracks/hair/blood until the tracks exited my property on the western property line.
When we were at my property line, I told the DEC Police Officer he was on his own now, as the adjoining land belonged to someone else.
He told me that I was "deputized" and I was going with him. He asked how many hunters were in the jersey cops group and he was severely outnumbered. (also, out gunned)
At that time, my property was shotgun, slugs only. A pistol was also a legal hunting implement. I happened to have a Remington XP-100R repeater pistol in .35 Remington as my hunting firearm for the day.
I think the DEC Police officer appreciated an extra person, and especially one carrying a short portable high powered pistol chambered in a serious rifle caliber.
We've joked about that incident recently. (the DEC Police Officer and myself)

We walked up the barnyard road off of my property following the ATV tracks/blood/hair, and they went several hundred yards into the bottom level of a nearby farmers barn.
Two bucks were hanging from the rafters, and not a single license/tag in sight. The jersey cops were shooting deer, not tagging them, and going and shooting more deer.
The DEC Police Officer asked me to help him get the two deer down from the rafters.
Then we dragged them outside into the brush so if the jersey cops arrived to move/destroy the evidence, the deer would already be hidden, as it was almost dark.
He also took small glass vial samples of deer hair and blood if it was needed for potential trials/convictions. (animal DNA)

I then guided the DEC Police Officer back to his vehicle where he had the high powered vehicle radio and could call in reinforcements.
I sat in my vehicle for about 30 minutes drinking a coffee after the DEC Police Officer departed.
When I left my property for the evening, I drove by the jersey cops camp. It looked like the FBI and ATF taking down David Koresh in Waco, Texas.
NY State Police cars, County Sheriff cars, DEC Police cars, NY Forest Rangers trucks. Flashing lights and Police Officers/Rangers everywhere.
I smiled as I drove by. That was my first occasion dealing with trespassers on my land.
Back then, the jersey cops would have 15 to 20 hunters in their camp on the first day of deer season. Now it's less than four.

We got the interior field bush hogged yesterday, and more work on the hunting shack earlier in the week.
Some dumb ass wrecked the 20' foot ladder stand with a tractor. (me)
That will be a $450 oops.
The metal roofing needs a good pressure washing inside and outside, and the galvanized metal roofing will get some sanding prior to painting.

08120010 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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We have completed the mobile hunting shack! It has taken every bit of spare time available for the last month. The goal was to make it warm, dry, and mouse/bee/wasp/hornet proof.
The insects may build nests on the outside, but have no available pathways for building nests inside. The shack will be stored outside, and closed up for about ten months out of any given year.
Of course, I did end up going over budget.

Insulation work in progress but not yet complete in these photos. 1.5" Styrofoam in the walls & door, 1" Styrofoam in the floor & ceiling.

IMG_20240914_182556099 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20240912_182521439_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The four exterior sides. The protective films (inside & outside) on the plexiglass has not been removed yet. We will do that when it's set up on location.
I do not claim to be an artist, the camo paint job was done with 9 rattle cans.

IMG_20240919_170959075_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20240919_170917613_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr


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Inside.

IMG_20240919_171255511_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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IMG_20240919_171701415_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Because the hunting shack will be heated by a Mr. Buddy catalytic propane heater when it's in use, a propane hose pass-thru port was needed.
When the shack is closed up for the ten months of the year, a Fernco rubber cap will seal off the pass-thru port.
When the shack is deployed for use, the propane hose will go through the pass-thru port, and the remaining space inside the pass-thru port will be packed with kitchen scrubby copper chore boys.
(essentially, a non corrosive copper form of "steel wool" for keeping mice & insects out)

IMG_20240919_172240999_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

We used gardening geo-textile to blacken the interior to avoid being silhouetted against the white Styrofoam board inside. Also the reason for the fire extinguisher.

Very nice, looks good

We deployed the mobile hunting shack in the woods on Saturday. It's reasonably level, and supported by five cinderblocks with wood cribbing.

IMG_20240928_132345735_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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I've cut down several thorn apple trees in that interior field that would have been in the way when shooting. I also cleaned up several shooting lanes.
Just before leaving on Saturday, I tossed a rock at the wasp nest and several flew out of the nest and buzzed around.
We planned on returning on Sunday to do some ladder stand work.
On Sunday, I remembered the 12 gauge shotgun and a box of birdshot for the wasp nest.

Using an extension ladder, it was easy to get the old damaged 20' ladder stand down from it's tree.
The new 18' two person ladder stand went up in the former location for the old 20' ladder stand.
That Honda Pioneer made it easy to get all the tools/equipment/and ladder stands moved around.

IMG_20240929_113513950_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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We brought the seat frame section of the old 20' ladder stand home for some refurbishment.
It is "tweaked" ever so slightly. ie: twisted. No broken welds, no bent tubing, structurally it's fine. It's just not perfectly "plumb" but it is safe and serviceable.
I had a "take-off" John Deere seat sitting around, I bolted it onto the 20' ladder stand seat frame.

IMG_20240930_153904074_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

Just before leaving the property on Sunday at dusk, I went back to the edge of the interior field and the wasp nest, and fed them five rounds of 12 gauge 7-1/2 birdshot from about 20 feet away.
The nest disintegrated.

Need to camo paint the wheels of the shack

Better yet - camo paint cardboard to put in front of the tire and protect it from UV

I received a phone call from the lawyer's office yesterday. The power company has been served with court papers.
The tree trimming company is an LLC, so a slightly more complex procedure to get them served.
Forward motion, Progress!

^^^ oldbill123, Yes, some type of flat spray paint will get aimed at those white wheels. Thanks for the tip.

I received another phone call from the lawyer's office this morning.
The tree trimming corporate defendant has also been served.
They both have approximately 30 days to respond.

We got the final ladder stand installed at the property today for the 2024 deer season. It was in the low 40's early this morning and it warmed up to almost 70 by noon.
The stand we installed today is the one that I knocked down with the Kubota. After inspecting all the steel tubing and welds, only the lower section of the ladder was destroyed.
It was a 20' stand (to the shooting rail) and now it's about 16' so it's still quite usable as is. It certainly is comfortable with the take-off John Deere tractor seat instead of the small OEM foam pad.

There is a portion of the recreational property in the geographical center we always leave alone. We call it the "Honey Hole" as it holds deer during the hunting season.
Food, bedding, and water is available in the Honey Hole, and if the deer aren't pressured they stay there all day, and try and sneak out at dusk.
We never walk through it. We do walk around the perimeter of the Honey Hole on our trail/road system.

We had a ground blind at the northern edge of the Honey Hole that was quite productive, but some years ago that ground blind was made unsafe due to the large Hemlock tree the ground blind was under
got hit by lightning and the tree died. It's been shedding the tree top and large limbs for years and we took that stand down so nobody would get killed/injured by falling Hemlock tree limbs.
The ladder stand installed today will close off the northern end of the Honey Hole. It's also under 150 yards from the cabin and you can sneak into that location when life gets in the way of deer hunting and you only have a few hours available.

IMG_20241006_125810329_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20241006_125757121_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

The next three are from the seat in the refurbished ladder stand. When the leaves are fully down it will have better visibility. (about 6 weeks remaining for the leaves to fully drop)

IMG_20241006_122435775_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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We are getting so quick at putting up ladder stands this year we finished early and had time before departing for some recreational riding with the Bulldogs in back.
The little guy is recovering from a cauliflower ear, that's why his left ear is down. (head shaking/ear flapping from a minor ear infection which has been treated)
We use the Honda Pioneer side by side to pull the ladder stands up into the trees when setting them up. It's faster and easier than assembling a large crew of muscular men and doing it by hand.

IMG_20241006_133551010_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

I wanted all the major projects at the recreational property completed by October 1st. I didn't quite make it as today is the 6th. Good enough for deer hunting.

Four or five years ago I was gifted a new eight foot section of HDPE culvert road pipe. This is commonly used for state highways when a small stream is routed under a road.
It is available in multiple diameter options, and is made from high density polyethylene plastic and is double wall construction.
For highway road usage, it needs several feet of tamped fill on top of the culvert so it can support heavy vehicle loads.

For my usage, I'm only running human foot traffic, whitetail deer, and light vehicle traffic (ATV, side by side, and sub compact tractor) across the culvert.
I did a special trip, installed the backhoe on the rear of the Kubota, and installed the culvert.
I had a naturally occurring mound of fill material in the interior field close to the culvert location so the job was relatively easy and quick.
We have a small stream that drains a piece of the adjoining neighbors woody wetlands. It never has a high flow rate, but it keeps a small section of my woods chronically wet, difficult to travel across
in wheeled vehicles, and we even had a hunter have a hunting boot pulled off of a foot from stepping in the deep mud.

While I had the Kubota at the recreational property, and after installing the culvert, I cleaned up several shooting lanes.
From inside the new mobile hunting shack, you could only see the trail to the culvert from one of the hunting shack windows.
I removed several trees, some brush, and now there is a clear non obstructed view of the culvert trail from both of the hunting shack windows.

I also cleared a new shooting lane through the brush so the culvert trail is visible from the new 18' double seat ladder stand.

We've had some remarkable weather for this time of year, and a day spent out on the Kubota proved to be productive.
Tomorrow, we are planning on taking the two 20 pound propane tanks up to the property and setting them up in the two heated hunting blinds.
With three weeks remaining before opening day of rifle season, it is a good feeling to have everything completed.

IMG_20241021_111552803_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

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quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
I received another phone call from the lawyer's office this morning.
The tree trimming corporate defendant has also been served.
They both have approximately 30 days to respond.

The 30 days have expired. Have had any response?

I just got off the phone with my lawyer.
The corporate defendants have contacted my lawyer and indicated a willingness to settle prior to a jury trial in State Supreme Court.
We are running the numbers for a potential settlement.

quote:

Originally posted by cee_Kamp:
I just got off the phone with my lawyer.
The corporate defendants have contacted my lawyer and indicated a willingness to settle prior to a jury trial in State Supreme Court.
We are running the numbers for a potential settlement.

Unless they are willing to admit what they did as part of the settlement, I'd press for the trial. Make them admit it.