Got a letter from FWP (aka The Fish Cops) yesterday. I got the antlerless elk tag I put in for. Same hunting district as the Beta Site, so when hunting season rolls around….
My goal (or fantasy, depending on how progress goes) is to spend the weekends up there during hunting season. I’d like to have some small structure built by then to sleep in during the hunting season…we’ll see how that goes. My buddy used the miniex to clear and level an area for a small structure. Now I just gotta get the dang thing built and appointed.
Still unpacking from last weekend. Next weekend I’m taking a friend up there to show him the place. Weekend after that I’ll start shuttling a small amount of stuff up there for hidden storage.
And, of course, I need to get the ball rolling on getting that small structure built. No shortage of things to do and to spend money on.
How about a small used camper?
I want something a bit more permanent and less portable.
Perhaps tour the sheds at the local big box store, maybe not to purchase but to get a feel for the size you may want to build. Room for a wood cookstove, camp chef two burner stove, counter space, a couple of beds and chairs. Be sure to figure in roof pitch and at least a one hundred pound snow load.
Or, maybe use all that downed timber to put up a frontier block house? (grin) That mini ex would make easier work of log handling.
The local Home Depot has a buncha ‘sheds’ (and I use that term loosely because they seem to have qualities that make them a little more suitable for habitation than a shed) for sale and some of them appear quite nice but not exactly what im looking for. But your idea to walk around in one to get an idea of size preferences is a good one.
Depending upon the size you’re planning on to erect…
You could pre-build in sections, then assemble on site…
This could maximize your time on site, and quit possibly,
help you accomplish the build way faster too…
There are 150 year-old abandoned cabins still standing all over MT. It’s not hard.
Following. Great inputs from readers. Concur with the recon or assessment of home depot type of kit sheds. If only to use those examples as a blueprint template or to assess their quickie build features versus your own mental calculations and ratcheted up building standards or ruggedness you would desire. Since you have an assessment of that location’s weather and climate conditions you can build into your design or methods more robust features or details that are needed “up there” versus a backyard shed. Think of snowloads, water sealing, with drainage and proper run off channeling, added thermal insulation or weather sealing as well as fire proofing or engineering features if you have a wood stove or such heating system. The hunting opportunity will allow you to of course get game meat for the freezer but is another reconnitoring mission to see who waddles around in your area of this property locale. Put up no hunting or trespassing signs now to signal to those legacy or generational interloper that have hunted there before that this is a private area, thank you for your attention, etc. Most hunters are ethical, but every clique has idiots that poach, shoot road signs, leave trash etc that you want to guard against infiltrating >your property<. Plan and strategize well in advance of your actions using safe work practices and it can be a fun time. Stay frosty up there.
In some States a ‘no hunting’ sign is blanket coverage, even for the landowner. No Trespassing is legally clear enough, as is ‘No Hunting without landowner written permission’. I don’t know about Montana, Wyoming F&W folks strictly enforce private property trespass/hunting.
Yeah good points. I just input for the Commander as a trick or tip since this will be the first season or full year cycle of occupation, and a few things like the cameras, etc will give a lived in and occupied or looked after property to keep any possible interlopers at bay. Send the subliminal message so to paraphrase. It is a jungle out there and the animals and wildlife are not the only hazards roaming around out there. Keep a good security posture no matter where you are at.
While at Home Depot you might want to check on deep freezers. That is a LOT of meat if successful. Also you worked on the secondary road so you might look at a twenty foot shipping container. Not the standard but the insulated one. They use them to ship frozen foods. Very well insulated. Stainless walls and they come with a hole on the back that would fit a stove pipe. You can either keep the cargo doors or build a wall with a regular door. We had two in Texas. 100 degree day they were still 70-75 inside (opened the doors at 5 AM for thirty minutes). By the time you go buy materials, transport, make trips to build the cost would likely even out if you can source them locally.
Actually, I will be looking at a container and the transport requirements in the next week or so. I just need to find the time to head over to the container place since they are only open on the days/hours I’m at work…making it difficult for me to get there. Gonna have to take an extra long lunch or something.
Don’t containers have problems with snow load on the roof?
BBS sheds won’t last – substandard construction material (2x2s, etc.) Start hauling known needs every trip. E.g., concrete blocks to build on (foundation or off-the ground). I am always using rebar and form spikes. Cans of OD spray paint. A roll of baling wire or three. Always a use and may as well go up fully loaded.
I’ve always considered my property tax bill to be my tag on my acreage.
You’re living the dream. I am living living it vicariously through you, thanks for the inspiration. Though, in the past week I dropped two oak trees (one red, one white, look at that sawdust and you’ll know) in pretty thick N. Florida woods on the Ochlockonee River, on a lady friends’ land,… Clearing them out is alot like work.