Cutting Out the Deer Stand Sides

Materials List:
Cut Out and Paint The Sides ← You Are Here!
Prepare Lumber, Ladder, and Top
Assemble The Deer Stand

Start by shortening each 4 x 8 sheet of 1/2" OSB to 80". Note that you may add inches to total length if desired, but you must make changes as you build accordingly. You will then cut out a 26" by 54" door, as shown in the image on the left. To cut this out nicely, use a circular saw and a guide clamped on so you get a nice straight cut - note that you will be using the cut out piece as your door. You might want to cut out an extra 1/8" on two sides of the door to give yourself a little more play. Also, cut out a window or windows from the front and also sides (if desired). The shooting window(s) of your box hunting stand should be 45 1/2" up from the bottom.

Painting Your Pieces with Hunting Camouflage
You should, at a minimum, prime and paint the outsides of your wall pieces and all edges. Also, you should prime and paint the inside surfaces below windows and doors that may get wet. Make sure to prime and paint all edges thoroughly as these will quickly deteriorate if not sealed! We primed the pieces with a latex primer (oil would be better) and painted the outsides with fairly inexpensive green, brown, and black exterior paint. To get a nice camouflage pattern, we dabbed on green, brown, black, and then blended with an olive-color mix of all three paints. See a simulation of this camouflage paint process. You will want to attach your door and hardware and any plexiglas shooting window covers before assembling on site.

Door For Your Deer Hunting Stand
The door is fastened with two hinges and spinning wood door locks are fastened on the inside and outside of the door. A simple handle is attached on the outside and also, weather seals are made of 2 1/2" wide strips of leftover OSB (or plywood). There are 3 weather seal strips on the outside attached to the door and 1 on the inside attached to the wall, thus stopping all wind. I also made a 3" overhang by fastening a strip of OSB to a 1" by 2" piece of wood and then fastening this to the side - this is optional, but it will keep a lot of the rain off the door - see photo of overhang here. A short video showing the use of this door is shown here.

Shooting Window
The plexiglas shooting window cover should be a little bigger than the shooting window. I used hinges attached to a frame made of 1x2 wood strips, as shown below. I also attached weather strip and felt pads to dampen sound, as shown in the lower photo.

I used simple wood locking spinners to hold the window in place in and up position and also one to hold it down when you are not using the blind or you do not want the wind blowing it open - I found the spinners to be most reliable, simple to make, and quiet, as opposed to magnets or other noisy mechanical catches. Also, there is a 2.5" overhang over the window to help keep as much rain out as possible. A short video of the window in use is given here.

Shown below are photos of the outside of the window and all the sides of my deer hunting stand in one photo.

 

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