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smithk
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:25
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I just recently purchased 60 acres less than 10 minutes from my home. I have two boys 10 and 12 years old. We love to hunt and fish and would like to camp more often. I work a lot of hours and trying to camp from a tent was narrowing down our opportunities with the constant weather changes. I am cheating compared to many of the other builds but I purchased a 10' x 16' lofted Derksen Cabin. It was delivered yesterday and my boys are so excited. So am I. We deer hunted on it this past fall. It is full of deer, turkeys, squirrels, etc. I have a 4 acre pond being built in the next few months so we will have some nice fishing one day as well. We have a small pond on it now but it stays pretty shallow only keeping small fish and frogs but fun for the boys to play. Once I figure out how to post pics I will. I love this site and enjoy reading everyones posts.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:29
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smithk, welcome and you are in for one heck of a nice ride. You kids are at the perfect age. I was an empty nester when I did mine, would love to have had it with the kids. But the kids come over now with our grand-kids and we all enjoy the place together. Only 10 minutes away, one could eventually live right there in a cabin. How cool. Mine is so much further away (310 miles one way) I could sure get lots more use out of it if it was 10 minutes away. Anyway, you are going to have a blast.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:37
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We plan to build a house in a few years but with having a little cabin there we may delay the build. We bought the boys a 500 Polaris atv that they will open on Christmas morning to add to our experience at the cabin. Now I will be finishing the inside with wiring and insulation. But no electricity for now, only generator. It was 30 degrees yesterday when it was being delivered and my 10 year old was shaking badly. I asked him if he was cold, he said "no dad, I'm just so excited!" My dad wasn't able to spend time with me when I was growing up but I go out of my way to spend quality time with my boys.
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SandyR
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:44
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I have three boys almost the same ages as yours, and can totally relate to what you are saying. Our boys are almost 13, 11.5 and 9 years old. They are so fun to be with now. We just bought 10.5 acres for them to dirtbike, hunt, and play on. We also are cheating and buying a cabin already build to put on our land.
I like the atv!
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hattie
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:45
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Welcome to the forum smithk.  Congratulations on your land. Can't wait to see photos when you get them posted.
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:47
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Quoting: smithk It was 30 degrees yesterday when it was being delivered and my 10 year old was shaking badly. I asked him if he was cold, he said "no dad, I'm just so excited!" My dad wasn't able to spend time with me when I was growing up but I go out of my way to spend quality time with my boys.
Wow, wonderful story. So cool to see the kids even more excited than dad. When I was young, my parent bought a lot on a lake, he started to build a cabin (it was a big house) but was just a cabin for us. Then we finally moved there when I was 12. I remember how exiting that was. Millions of acres of woods behind us, a lake in my front yard. It was a developed area, we had a club house, golf course. I remember boating, swimming, ice skating right off our dock in the winter, my dirt bikes on the millions of acres right across the road from out driveway. Dad took us fishing, hunting. I had a wonderful childhood. I bet your boys feel just like I did when I was 12 on that day we moved out there. Cool story. They will love that Polaris. And it makes a great implement to get work done around the place too. Those large 4WD utility quads are like a real piece of farm equipment. Go to Montana Jacks http://www.montanajacks.com/ they have loads of cool stuff for your quad and most of their stuff is for Polaris too.
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 13:27
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Welcome and you are doing it right! Have fun and getting them involved to the outdoors IMO is one of the greatest things you can share with them. Awesome
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 21:24
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Pictures of the first steps!
lane cut out
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more dirt work
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view from front porch area
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being delivered
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toyota_mdt_tech
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 21:35
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"instant cabin" has it advantages also. You are up and running in a day. Now you can still do the upgrades inside. Keep us all posted with photos. Exciting! 
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 21:39
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More pics of the installation. Now we are ready to finish the inside, build the fire pit and build a lean too on the side for grilling, lounging and storage. My oldest prefers to hunt every second we are there. Not much on helping with anything lol.
One excited boy
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front
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up the lane
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Using his homemade slingshot
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 21 Dec 2013 21:47
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Sorry, not sure why my pics are all sideways. But you get the idea.
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SandyR
Member
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# Posted: 22 Dec 2013 12:57
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Very nice!
Will your kids eat the squirrels??
Two of ours would, but not the 9 year old. He only eats venison, not beef. He also does not eat fish. Weird boy.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 22 Dec 2013 13:47
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My boys will eat anything if they shoot it. They enjoy putting food on the table. Makes them feel important "I think". They have been taught that we only shoot what we can eat, unless its pest related.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 25 Dec 2013 20:05
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Insulating today. Good thing for generators and heaters. It was 7 degrees 12-23-13. But I got a lot done today.
Missouri weather
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Its cold outside
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Too cold to set outside
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Just a little ice
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 25 Dec 2013 20:08
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Another toy for the ranch. Nice to use while at the cabin! Merry Christmas everyone.
My boys with one of their presents.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 25 Dec 2013 21:34
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Finished up my wiring. The building is only a lofted 10 x 16 so I just used R 13 insulation. I think it will work fine. It has made a huge difference so far.
wiring
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back loft
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starting to insulate
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Lets see if this is enough.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 11:47
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Little bit more work being done. Its hard not to just drink my coffee and stare out the window, or set on the front porch when the weather is allowed.
Insulation time
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Kitchen sink
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More insulation
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 11:52
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Fun in the snow
cabin in the snow
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Kids playing
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Lane to tranquility
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My little snow angel
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 11:59
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Had a chance to shoot some released birds. No, its not the same as wild birds but it gave my kids a chance to watch some amazing dogs work and get an introduction to bird hunting. My buddy manages a hunting ranch and they had some birds left over and invited my boys to hunt. It was awesome. Wonderful weather that day.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 12:53
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Quoting: smithk My buddy manages a hunting ranch and they had some birds left over and invited my boys to hunt. It was awesome
Nice work smithk, nice to see boys raised to be boys.
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gersus
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 14:41
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Awesome! IMO, boys need that experience of roaming around hunting, exploring etc. Good for you dad!
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 16:45
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As you can tell, we spend a lot of time in the outdoors.
crappie fishing
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turkey hunting
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stand view
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trail cam
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 1 Feb 2014 18:59
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More pics from the cabin. As you can tell I'm getting cabin fever and posting several pics. lol
trail cam
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trail cam in velvet
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over 120 year old building at our gate
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view over our small pond
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2014 19:55
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With all of the snow I have had to cancel school but that has given me time to work on the cabin. I know most people don't like osb but that is what I used. We primed it and painted it, it actually looks pretty sharp. I am going to stain some 1x2's and cover up the seams. I will also stain the ladder and the loft beams to make it all go together. Our land and cabin is only 4 miles from our house so this cabin is intended to be a step up from tent camping. Although it has turned into something much better than that but we plan to build a house soon so I hated to add the expense of t&g. I can't imagine some of you that have to travel hours and only spend the weekends at your cabin. I have the opportunity to work on mine daily.
Big Helpers
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Kitchen area primed
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back wall painted
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kitchen area painted
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 5 Feb 2014 20:08
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Few shots in the snow. I put up cattle panels around the cabin to keep the cows from getting near it. I have some cows that I'm wintering on this piece of ground. They will leave in April so I will remove the panels then. Had our first bull calf today.
lane to the cabin
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cabin
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across the pasture
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image.jpg
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 8 Feb 2014 17:15
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I finished painting the inside of the cabin yesterday. I stained my trim today and plan to install it tomorrow. Getting closer to being done. Its looking nice. Its so cold outside that I have to use my generator powered electric heaters running all day but the fumes get so bad from painting that cracking the windows doesn't seem to help. My throat has been bothering me all week. Thought it was a bug but now I am thinking it is from the fumes. Can't wait to be done.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 2014 19:45
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I was able to put up some trim today and stain the 2" loft boards to give it a finished look. So far I think its looking good. Had to take a break and go sledding with the kids. Make some comments guys.....I feel like I'm talking to myself.
image.jpg
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image.jpg
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image.jpg
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 2014 20:01
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I still need to finish up the loft ends. Waiting for some warmer temps and less snow to cut outside.
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turkeyhunter
Member
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# Posted: 9 Feb 2014 22:08
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Great camp~~~and excellent to see those boys hunting and fishing!!
nice deer on cams as well....and a nice gobbler and morels to cook up with him as well.
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smithk
Member
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# Posted: 10 Feb 2014 20:22
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Can't wait for spring turkeyhunter! Can't get here soon enough.
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