Big Country

As I may have mentioned, M and I have spent the last couple of winters hunting deer on some land that belongs to D's family.  It has been great and we have really enjoyed the deer encounters we have had.  It means a lot to us to be able to use that land and deer stand.

Well, speaking of that stand, it has seen better times.  For one thing the floor in the stand has a hole in it  (probably from trying to hold up M and I, small people we are not)  Also just needed some TLC.

Rather than just telling the owner of the place that it needs work and walking away, what I asked was could we come down and help with the repairs, put in some sweat equity, and that is the deal we made.

One Saturday morning early we loaded up with tools and supplies and headed into the piney woods of east Texas.

This is the stand "Before"

as you can see, there is a hole where there should not be a hole....

We got off to a little bit of a slow start, as M stepped on a nail in a old board.   So off he went to get doctored and then to get a tetanus shot.

so down one man, we pushed on.  First thing we did was shore up the platform itself as it had a little bend in it.  We added a second set of supports under the main ones, using the tractor to take the weight and then screwed in the joists.

We then added a few more support pieces to help with the "wiggle" and swapped out some of the rotted steps.  Final step was to put in a new floor to make sure some of us big people wont fall through it.

All in all, it was some tough work up on a ladder above my head, and without my best helper, but we managed to get it done.

We hope to enjoy some good time in this stand this year and for many to come, and hope to have some good deer encounters we can look back on.


Cherry Pie

DD