Well Wylie Harvey ( aka forum member WalknTall ) … has spent countless hours and taken buck and doe from the ramp stand on the ridge overlooking the swamp bush at the back of my farm . That stand we built ( with the help of many friends ) back in 2008/2009 out of wood and expanded metal . It has seen it’s share of storms and because it is tied into a couple trees it needs maintenance every season …
Wylie and I were having breakfast awhile ago and talked about other stand locations and a 2nd Generation Ramp Stand ( one that was made of steel and bolted together in sections at a new location so that we could take it apart and move it if we wanted to …
Well , again with the help of friends we kicked off the project in the spring … Had the steel order dropped off at my place then I trailered some of the steel about 40 mins North West of my place , to Iron Bridge Fabrications in Brunner Ontario where forum member Chris Heimbecker welded up the top section for us . ( A small project compared to what he is use to working on ! )
We loaded it up for the ride back home ….
I unloaded it at the bottom of the ridge back in the summer and the grass grew up all around it . And of course some surface rust kicked in ..
As many projects go it sat all summer / too hot / too busy / other friends schedules busy etc.
So this week I finally got caught up on some chores and got all of my own trails trimmed at the back of the property > using my tractor and some ratchet straps > I was able to hook onto the top section and move/drag it about 800 yards South/West to a newly scouted deer trail location . ( top ridge overlooking 25 yard intersection trail )
I hauled all my gear to the new location and got started with the install ….
Once I roughly pushed it in place , I used the tractor with a bucket full of rocks to anchor the base while I drilled the 3 inch channel and drove 3 foot rebar thru the channel to anchor it to the top section of the ridge > Then I used+ a towline/rope/chain combo hooked to the truck to pull/raise it roughly into position so I could start the misc cutting and bolting !
There is only so far you can go without an extra set of hands so I put out a call to some forum members > David , Robin and Randy showed up tonight with their tools and made quick work of the rest of the frame work ! ( It’s amazing how quick work gets done with a few friends helping out ! ) There was a lot of awkward drilling/cutting/assembling by ladder due to the steep nature of the ridge slope ! And of course the shooting lane trimming … ( Thanks guys > " Big Help " )
Basically wrapped up in a couple hours > Still some misc additions but it is a huntable position right now > It ramps out 20 feet from the top of the ridge > giving a wheelchair hunter an elevated "tree stand view" > Overlooking a promising intersection trail ….
Thanks again to all that have helped on this new ramp stand project so far … I will continue the photo journal right up to Wylie’s first successful session at the new location .
PS : Looking back at some spring pictures > I remembered the series of shots I got of a cat hunting … what are the chances of me catching a barn cat hunting ( stalk / pounce / hit / retreat with it's prize ) .
Man that is a perfect example of being in the right place at the right time !
Well back to work tomorrow > See what next week brings ! Good Luck all !
