Hunting Cabin

[dan ny escarpment]

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=461837"/> When I built our 18 x 24 log cabin in AK the squirrels were the eventual big problem. They found a way into the ceiling space and would store/dry their harvested mushrooms there. I obtained the necessary permit from the state, cut the trees, trailered them to our site, two-sided them and built this cabin. Its was true heaven - we would go there and spend as much time as possible. Had a small generator outside, wired to provide light in the cabin. Everything else - stove & refrigerator were propane. Collected rain off the roof - in a whiskey barrel - for our water. That was one of our big regrets in leaving AK - we could no longer go to the cabin. Sold the land & cabin to a good friend and its still there being used. Cabin was built the summer of 1976 Looking back at all the effort required I probably would have built a pre-cut log cabin. We had to clear the site by hand, dig 24 holes-each 6' deep, pour full of concrete, extend each hole upward to a level plane with sono-tubes and pour them full of concrete. The sand,gravel, water & cement had to be brought in by hand, the concrete was mixed by hand. Each log was winched up to the site with the winch on my Jeep, pealed and two-sided with an Alaskan mill. The first layer of logs were 14" thick by 18" wide. You have no idea how VERY slick a freshly cut, peeled, two sided log that is 30' long can be and how hard it is to man-handle it into position. I would put the winch line on the end of the log, run the cable to an appropriate snatch block on a tree and, on command, my wife, who was in the Jeep, would activate the winch - pulling the log up to the cabin and slowly, carefully up the side of the cabin and over the top log on a wall and into position. You can only imagine some of the shouting scenes that developed from this operation. In those days I was young, fearless and slightly crazy. But with only me, my wife and my seven year old son we got the entire job completed in the summer of '76.

Wow, incredible place, reminds me of this The Story of Dick Proenneke and how he built a cabin by hand in the wilderness, DVD and VHSguy

 

[ultrarunner]

Juneau is where one of my good friends live... they are in their 70's and winter in California... just not ready to say goodbye to Alaska... about 7 years ago said the winter was getting to be a bit much... one of their good friends took a tumble and broke a hip... cracked the other on ice...

 

[Ed of all trades]

I would make sure you fame the roof with rafters so you can put a loft in it. Be a place for storage or an extra bed or a place for kids to play. Ed

 

[CurlyDave]

Just a thought here.

My "Redneck Hunting Lodge" is a 20 year old toy hauler trailer.

No it doesn't have the ambience of a real cabin, but every year it works very well for deer season, elk season and a couple of fishing trips.

And, when the game gets scarce we just take it to a different area. Hard to do that with a cabin. Off course, the heat is propane, but we always manage to have a fire pit wherever we take it, and the indoor plumbing is really handy on cold mornings. A little Honda generator and we have electricity.

For about the last 10 years the group I go with has hunted one particular area, but lately our success has been declining. Checked the statistics on the state website, and decided to go to a different area with better odds this year.

I don't know what your budget is, but I would at least think about putting the money into a "redneck cabin".

 

[5030]

My 'cabin' fits in the bed of my F350 4x4. I can take it about anywhere with all the conveniences, including someplace to pee.:drink:

 

[Zerk]

Not a real hunting cabin if you can't see your breath when you wake up in the morning... snuggled down in about ten layers of covers... Wondering about which one of you is finally going to get up and pee or build a fire in the cook stove ...

Not where I am from. we have wood stoves, often warmer then our houses.

Personally I think it is joke calling this a hunting cabin if you can see the house. It is an outbuilding or shed. Guest house. I hope OP is using the term in jest.

That being said have fun in your fort, until the wife flashes the porch light for dinner.

 

[Gary Fowler]

For what you are considering, a pre-built transportable building would be the way to go. You can get them with a "front porch" and they can be prewired and insulated. With only 150 yards from your house, you may consider trenching in a water line so you can at least have an outdoor sink for drinking water and hand wash. If you have a way to trench, it will be a really cheap investment and the outdoor sink drain water could just be routed to the ground away from your cabin so it evaporates naturally. Of course if later you wanted to add indoor toilet facilities, you would have to put in some kind of holding tank, a macerator pump would then allow you to pipe the residuals back to your home septic system. All in all not too much of an expense in order to have some comforts. A propane catalytic heater would be cheapest method of warmth. You could also run propane lamps for lighting. I visited a fly-in fishing camp once that had propane stove, hot water heater, refrigerator and lights which ran off portable propane cylinders which they flew in on their float plane as needed. They had a generator also but it just powered the water pump that pumped water up from the lake for washing dishes and shower. No indoor plumbing, still used the traditional outhouse for that task.

 

[Zerk]

It is only 150 yards, why not trench power to it? This is a tractor forum. Seems like you are trying to pretend it is something it is not.

You may want to do a homemade septic. Some are oil tanks with holes. But you can always just go outside to pee, and go in the house to poop. But you may want a sink.

 

[Zerk]

I can just imagine his wife and her friends talking about playing in the fort.

 

[Zerk]

laminate flooring to give it a rustic look.

.

This thread is a hoot.