A finished product is what I had hoped for, and I finished product is what I produced.
Dun dun duh duh!
What you see here is a finished product of a redneck boy living out his dream. It’s the fulfillment of a hopeful father and husband investing in the future of his family more than he invested in the fickle stock market. It’s the sweat of his brow (and middle finger to the bourgeoise).
Let me tell you how my simple stick frame lean-to teepee came to be.
I first must confess my hypocrisy. I am writing this electronic article on an iPad, sitting on a wooden porch made by Amish hands in the middle of suburbia. Brute, et tu indeed. Gross.
Moving on, the desire of a treehouse hunting setup such as this came from my lucky experience hunting a relative’s property who had invested in similar treehouse setups. Having become addicted to these plastic euphorias, I desired that one day, I would have my own oasis amongst the unforgiving nature of my youth. Once I had acquired the permission and the monetary means of fulfillment, I began my scheming.
Anyway, it was time to get the posts buried and frame up the platform. Now, understand that this treehouse was a long time in the making. In an entirely ill-advised and 100% American investment, I made a 2021 Black Friday in the actual treehouse in question; a Booner Maverick blind. The transport from the store to the property alone is an Odyssean adventure worthy of the Siren’s lure, but we’ll save that for another time (and stronger ratchet straps than my truck had to offer on that multi-state, thunder-storm ridden night).
Suffice it to say that I got the parts back to the property in one piece. While I provided strong will an what my grandfather would call ‘gumption’ to the process, my brother-in-law provided the necessary engineering and common sense.
We started this process in the beginning of August. With football camp rapidly approaching (not to mention the cumulative obligations of being a husband, father, and employee), I knew that any minute I could reasonably spare would have to go toward the treehouse, regardless of personal feelings.
Good. So be it.
If I wanted to achieve my goals of this year and also my dreams of having a hunting family (while not actually having land of my own), I knew I’d have to suck it up, buttercup. Momentary affliction is but a passing grin when you are experiencing victory.
In that same early August timeframe, I ordered all of (what I thought would be) the necessary lumber to complete my project. I knew this project might fail, but I knew that if I didn’t make the full monetary investment up front, that my personal goal would certainly fall short. This is where the idea of basic is separated from the mediocre.
It’s now Labor Day weekend and I still am not finished with my project. Ugh. I wanted to have a solid month between my activity any hunting as to give my whitetail adversary some time to acclimate to normalcy. With that said, I realize my goal is shot. I have to continue working. What option do I have? Push further into September and maybe October? I don’t think so.
So I continue to knock out what I can. Thankfully my brother-in-law and I get the posts and frame for the platform up. Now it’s up to me to put on the decking – there’s a morning gone. Now the stairs; that should be an easy task right? WRONG. The stringers alone take out one of my small time windows, partially due to my inexperience and stupidity. Now I have time to add a few steps, but not all as I screwed something else up. What else can I mess up in this process?
Through all of the mess ups and second-guessing, I eventually come to a platform with a plastic treehouse on top of it.
This is my first foray into building a structure in which I plan to kill a whitetail. I don’t care that it took me 3 times as long as it’s supposed to. I don’t care that it’s not built with minimal waste. I care that (with the help of a good friend) I built this sucker with my own two hands. And when someone kills a deer or turkey out of this spot, it will have been done with my guidance. And when the meat of that animal is enjoyed with friends and family, I will have had some small part in the experience.
That’s why I built the dang thing in the first place.