As the sun was coming up on the opening day of turkey season, something seemed amiss. Although it was foggy and visibility wasn’t good, I should have been able to see my tower bind from across Buck Meadow where Mike and I sat patiently waiting for the first gobble of the season. Peering through my binoculars it became obvious that the stand was no longer there, and the only question was what remained.
A series of nasty thunderstorms had torn through the region a few weeks earlier knocking down trees, power lines, and even some homes. I wasn’t quite sure how bad the storms were at Horseshoe Hills and considering the popup blind we were sitting in was fine I figured it must not have been too bad. Turns out I was wrong. When we walked over to where the stand should have been there was nothing. Looking down the hill I could see my tower, Redneck Ghillie Blind, and ladder were laying crumpled midway down the slope. I was too irritated to closely assess the damage but I could tell it wasn’t going to be good.
Fast forward several weeks, actually more than a couple months, and I finally carved out some time to assess the damage and make a game plan. On tear down day, I took about every tool I could possibly need not knowing what I was getting myself into. One thing I wasn’t prepared for though was bees. Yellow jackets to be exact and there were two nests worth of them. That necessitated a trip to the Punxsy Walmart for bee spray. I have no idea how I didn’t get stung, but I made it through unscathed. After dealing with the annoyance, I got to work.
I spent a full day tearing apart what was left of the stand and getting everything back to the top of the hill. I determined very little of the lumber was still usable beyond the ladder, and the frame for the Redneck Ghillie Blind was bent and broken. In the end I spent around $250 at Lowe’s for lumber and other materials and then put in another day of rebuilding. I had to put in another half day bracing the stand and screwing down the platform. It took longer because I braced it incorrectly the first time and had to redo my work. I stood that stand up by myself and by hand. It took all the strength I have in this 51 year old body to get it done, but I did. I pledged to never do it again however.
Instead of replacing the Redneck Ghilli Blind I decided for now to get a heavy duty Tidwe see through popup blind. It’s a great blind for just $159 and it buys me time to think about a longer term solution. I’m getting to the point in my hunting career where I don’t think this much work is worth it. I think I could be just as content hiding behind a tree on the ground.
And one more thing and it’s the elephant in the room about why the blind ended up down the hill in the first place. I still have to brace the blind by anchoring it to the ground, which I didn’t do the first time around. It lasted three years before the blow over so I hope it can last a few more days until I can secure it. One thing’s for sure. I don’t want to do this project again.