My Girlfriend happens to be one of those people who is chronically cold when outdoors. She loves deer hunting and struggles with the cold temperatures.
Here in upstate NY, if it is warm enough for sitting in a blind or stand and not be cold, the deer will lay in a patch of brush and sleep the day away unless you kick them up.
If it's cold outside, the deer will be up on their feet and moving, but the hunters are typically limited on how long they can sit quietly and not freeze to death.
She's spent thousands of dollars on hunting outerwear. I recently bought her a DeWalt battery/electrically heated vest for wearing at work.
She's a heavy highway/bridge Engineer, and spends most of her work hours outdoors.
Back about 3 - 4 years ago, the trailer I used for hauling a single ATV between the house and the recreational/hunting property was simply worn out. 23 or so years old.
The trailer is a Carry-On brand 4' x 8' steel utility trailer. It had seized a wheel bearing, and once it was back at home, it sat unused.
I saved it out behind my shop building as a donor source for rusty angle iron.
Last year, I decided to dig into the wheel bearing failure and see if the trailer could be made serviceable again for low speed operation in the woods.
I tore the seized wheel and hub off the axle, and with replacing all four of the wheel bearings, and some "love" on the axle spindle, the trailer could again be serviceable for slow speed off road/woods usage only.
We had been sourcing reclaimed materials for the build for several years. Big piles of wood, many sheets of roofing steel, and a big stack of Styrofoam board.
If I recall correctly, when the build was complete, I had almost $900 invested. Paint, spray foam, wheel bearings and seals, nuts, bolts, screws, LOTS of screws, Geo-textile, hinges, latches, acrylic, plywood.
I did all the construction in the driveway out by my barn/shop/storage building. In total, almost a month of "spare time" for the build. I am retired, so that's a significant amount of "spare" time.
The trailer originally had an expanded metal floor which had been replaced years ago with a sheet of concrete form marine plywood. (oil impregnated, so concrete doesn't stick)
The plywood was still in remarkably good shape so it stayed in place.
The goal was to build a mobile heated/insulated deer hunting blind with existing mostly reclaimed materials and not to use any nails in the construction.
After using the new blind for several seasons, one item has surfaced. It's a bit cramped inside.
A "workaround" for being cramped inside, when using rifles, already have the rifles muzzles pointed out the windows and leaving them resting/balanced on the leather shooting bags while you are inside and hunting.
Using handguns for hunting, the being cramped inside the blind is much less of an issue.
If your rifle is inside the blind, it can be a real challenge getting it out of the corner of the blind, and getting the muzzle pointed out the window in a timely manner, without bumping/banging it and making noise.
If I was starting from scratch again, I would have used a 5' x 8' trailer as a minimum size.
But I used the 4' x 8' Carry-On trailer because that unit was available.
Another item worth mentioning. My Girlfriend is severely allergic to bee/wasps/hornet stings and needs an Epi-Pen if stung.
The mobile blind needed to be sealed up tight enough that bees/wasps/hornets and critters/mice would remain outside the blind during the "off" seasons when it sat outside unused.
IMG_20240825_180543895_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240825_180504043_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240825_180518573_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240825_180532989_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrThe wood structure is bolted to the angle iron trailer frame using threaded rod/nylon lock nuts/washers. All wood is screwed together with construction screws. Not one nail was used.
Next, the reclaimed metal roofing was installed using the self tapping roofing screws with the little rubber washer/gasket.
The reclaimed roofing had some tiny rust perforations in a few places, but still was solid even though it looked poorly before wire brushing and cleaning.
Any metal roofing perforations used on the walls got sealed with auto "Bondo" and silicone rubber. New metal roofing was used on the roof.
IMG_20240901_182132060_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240901_182154545_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240901_182212837_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240912_182521439_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240914_182556099 by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_170855924_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrI used an entire case of insect resistant spray foam (12 cans) for sealing up all the little gaps. There's nothing worse than going into a hunting blind that has sat outdoors since the prior hunting season
and finding out your blind is filled with mice droppings and stinging insects! With wooden post and beam construction, and metal roofing for walls and roof, there are plenty of gaps that needed sealing!
I used 12 cans of Rust-Oleum spray paint for the "camo" paint job. Sadly, I am NOT an artist.
IMG_20240919_170939449_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrThe protective film is still on the acrylic windows here in this photo. We removed the film after setting up the blind in the woods. It protected the windows during transport & towing the mobile blind in the woods.
IMG_20240919_170959075_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrSeveral items here. Note the "sandwich" construction in the floor. Even the floor is insulated. We used a synthetic Geo-Textile for "blacking out" the interior of the blind.
Most synthetic fabrics will burn rapidly, and that is why the fire extinguisher is mounted on the door.
IMG_20240919_171255511_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrWith leather shooting sandbags on the 2" x 4" shelf below the windows, it is really close to shooting at the range on a benchrest.
IMG_20240919_171307223_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_171313208_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrThe acrylic windows are hinged at the top, and "dogged" down when closed with five of these on each window. The windows when open/up, swing up and in and are held open with a "J" hook rotated by hand as a hold open "latch"
IMG_20240919_171319885_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_171337378_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_171344751_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_171701415_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_172150891_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_172201852_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_172218138_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240919_172228818_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrNow let's dig into the heat for the mobile deer hunting blind.
We use a Mr. Buddy catalytic propane heater inside. It sets on the floor between the two chairs on a piece of field stone. Typically, they run on the small disposable propane bottles. (one pound bottles?)
Tractor Supply sells a extension whip hose and filter assembly which allows using a 20 pound gas grill tank outside on the hook which lasts for several years.
You need a place for running the whip hose inside the hunting blind.
I used a piece of steel tubing for the "pass thru" port for the whip hose.
A Fernco rubber plumbing cap seals the steel tube when the blind sets outside for 10 months out of a given year unused.
When the whip hose is hooked up between the tank and the Mr. Buddy heater, I pack copper "Chore Boys" around the whip hose for keeping mice and insects out.
(copper non rusting form of steel wool used in the kitchen for scrubbing baked on food at the kitchen sink, available at almost any supermarket)
I leave the propane tank and Mr. Buddy heater hooked up for the entire duration of hunting season.
IMG_20240919_172240999_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrWhen the mobile blind was complete, I used my Honda Pioneer 520 side-by-side for backing the mobile blind up onto a significantly larger trailer and hauled it up to the recreational/hunting property.
We kept the road speed at 35 MPH or below for the 20 mile trip so any chance of wind damage would be minimized.
We used the Honda Pioneer to unload the mobile blind off the bigger trailer and to tow it down my woods road to the previously selected site for setup.
We blocked the mobile blind up on multiple cinderblocks and wood cribbing.
If you saw my woods road, you would understand why no nails were used in the construction of the mobile blind! The mobile blind would have fallen apart.
This photo is from last year in the early fall. This spot we Bush Hog periodically for optimizing native grass growth. We typically Bush Hog every year during the Labor Day weekend.
By the time we start rifle season in the middle of November, the grass is lush and 6" to 8" tall and the deer love the grass as a food source.
IMG_20240928_132345735_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrI have knocked down some of the brush and thorn apple trees for improving visibility in the field for shooting deer, while not making it a wide open area which deer can at times feel uncomfortable entering during daylight hours.
IMG_20240928_132420434_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240928_132443748_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrHere is a "look" out one of the windows. You are actually looking through the acrylic panel, it's dogged down here in the photo. The maximum shooting range looking out the blind windows is slightly less than 100 yards.
IMG_20240928_132526663_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr
IMG_20240928_132534454_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on FlickrYou can sit inside the blind with the Mr. Buddy heater on high if it's down at or near zero Fahrenheit without freezing and cutting your hunting time short because you got cold.
When the propane heat is running, at least one window must be open for avoiding carbon monoxide issues. Even with one/both windows open, it's still plenty warm inside.
The Mr. Buddy heater is essentially silent when running on high, on low you can hear it a bit doing it's thing. I usually just run it on high when heating the blind.
All inside surfaces are insulated. Walls, floor, door, and ceiling. All inside surfaces except the two windows.
We installed several large "J" hooks inside for hanging hunting gear up on the rear wall so you aren't bumping and banging items and making noise.
We do have one of our Cuddeback/Cuddelink cellular cameras watching this field out in front of the heated/insulated mobile blind.
Link for the Mr. Buddy heater we use. https://www.mrheater.com/portable-buddy-heater.html
The extension whip hose that hooks up to a 20 pound gas grill tank and the required inline propane filter are off the shelf items at Tractor Supply.
The only drawback we have found with using the heated/insulated mobile hunting blind is that when you are tired and warm, it's really easy for falling asleep and taking a nap!
I did harvest my deer with a scoped Ruger revolver from the mobile blind this season.
I expect we will use it extensively between now and January 1st which is the close date for the late black powder/muzzleloader season.
