We are going to start replacing our old economies of scale 4'x4' shooting houses. They have served their purpose but they are just too cramped. We need more leg room but we don't want to over do it. What do you think is the bests dimensions for a two man stand?

FWIW, we are considering having the frames fabricated out of angle iron.

Have 3 that are 5x8 .

4x6 is perfect for 2 people, (this allows 3’ wide for each person), plenty of room yet not to big to haul and install.

I agree and that size also works out well if using OSB for the siding and floor.

perch and Mark hunt out of one that is 3'X3' but then thats them......

5x6 or 5x8 plenty of room to stretch back or stretch legs out and wide enough not to feel cramped

4x6 I built a 4x8 and it’s too big.

4' is not deep enough if ya wanta build a narrow shooting bench and use office chairs. And that's a fact , Jack!

...

Unless you're planning on stretching out and taking a nap then 5x5 or 5x6. I built most of mine 6x6 but have some 5x5. Have one 8x8 but you could spend the night in that one.

4x6 works good for us. Plenty of room.

4X6.

4x6

Thanks fellas

I like 4x8 with just enough height to stand up. Heat rises, if your shooting house is too tall, all your heat will be over your head. If youre not gona have heat, why not just sit outside?

4x6 is plenty of room, but your going to have a lot of scrap wood left over, so may as well go 4x8.

4x6 Anything wider than 4ft and you start loosing field of view unless your windows are huge which creates other issues

I have pretty long legs and a chair with any lean at all makes a 4' deep shooting house plain miserable for me, not to mention if I have to turn hard to make a shot out of a side window I have to nearly stand up to keep my knees and feet from getting caught on a 2x4 or rubbing the front wall. I build mine 5' deep and 6' wide. I have a couple that are larger, but 5x6 is as small as I want to go.

I have never been able to keep an office chair from squeaking. I build a 6' bench seat across the house. The key to a bench seat is to add an angled plywood back to it so it is more comfortable. I also use liquid nails and screws to build all my houses (4x6) and they work great.

I also build windows out of real 1/4" glass. The glass slides in a groove that I use my router to cut into a piece of solid PVC. I buy the PVC at lowes and it comes in 1x4. I can rip it to 1x2, cut my groove as close to the edge as I can while keeping a little lip (1/8-1/16"). The PVC will not swell if it gets wet so the glass wont stick. Then I have room left to screw the plastic to the wall. There is so little an opening between the window and the wall that bugs (especially wasps) cannot get into the house. Real glass is more expensive than plexi but it holds up better. It can be cleaned with windex, where the plexi will turn yellow and scratch easily. Another thing I do before each season is remove the window from the frame (when I am cleaning) and apply a little gulfwax to the edges. It makes the glass slide easy and quiet.

Another thing I add to my houses is a piece of stall mat. I get them at tractor supply and cut them to fit. Stall mats are heavy rubber mats and work as an insulator really well. If my feet dont get cold I can sit all day. I also cut a little strip of the stall mat and apply it to the bottom of my windows for a quiet gun prop.

With the windows and the stall mat, even on a real cold day the house will warm up pretty good. If you can keep the wind off you it helps to see more deer and not get so cold.

Those benches don't sound very comfortable to me. Kinda be tough shooting directions other than out the front too I'd guess.

This. The larger it gets the harder it is to see out of especially if only one person is using it.

I put mobile home windows in mine. Cost about $50 a piece so consider that.

Horse Stall mat on the floor.

Skip the office chair they make a ton of noise. I have bought several nice blind chairs cheap after season sales... leave them at the camp house and you take it with you. I also leave a metal folding chair in the house just-in-case. I use a Banded Swivel blind chair most of the time. Plenty comfortable but not enough you are going to fall asleep in it. I'm out there to hunt so that isn't an issue.

4x8 has always worked for me. Of course the bigger the better IMO. I use either plastic or metal folding chairs. Those folding stadium chairs never seem to be high enough to see out the window once you sink down in them.

Dr. B

My floors are plywood with low pile carpet , chairs are quiet. I guess if they squeaked I'd oil them. Office chairs are good for changing heights and spinning around to shoot out the side or back. All of mine have windows in all sides for a reason , deer get killed in all directions.

A 5’ wide one feels twice as big as a 4’ wide one once you get inside it

I like a 4x6 for 2 people. One advantage for this size is that if only one person is hunting it, it is not too big.

I don't build shooting houses with windows all the way around. I only hunt them when its windy or raining, unless I have one on a powerline where I can just see 2 ways. When the wind is howling, or its raining your not going to hear anything so you need to be concentrating on looking 1 or 2 ways, not 360 degree's. I'd rather cover 2 ways well, than 4 ways half ass. Having windows all the way around defeats the purpose of a shooting house to me. I'd just as soon hunt out of a stand. But that's just me.

whats this shooting HOUSE thing ya'll sissies are talking about???

IMO your open stand V shooting house because of wind is flawed . Open stand scent can travel any direction, shooting house with windows all around you simply close the one on upwind side, plus the house can actually hold scent. Been my experience deer are much more likely to silhouette you while moving too much than smell you in a house with windows on all side. My deer can come from 360 degrees. I don't understand why anyone would limit their view to one or two directions. All my houses have plots in front but deer are killed in other directions. One has many more killed out the back than in front.

It's where older , wiser hunters go when it's raining. My days of sitting in the rain for a deer have long passed!

older wiser hunters just drive around in the truck in the rain...heater....radio....dry....

You left out with a cooler of cold and frosties. Window shopping is great.

Where I hunt 2dogs, you have limited sight opportunities because its so thick. Watching down a power line or some lanes that have been cut with a dozer are the only way to hunt most of the properties. I agree the silhouetting of the hunter is another reason I don't like a window behind me. I'd rather not be confined to a shooting house but on those windy rainy days they sure are nice. BTW, the wind I speak of is not that a deer will smell you, its just damn cold on your body. I would have to have windows if there were windows on all four sides. Another thing, typically my windows are only 8" high. I don't get why some people make there windows so large. I don't bow hunt out of a shooting house. I don't bow hunt when its raining, hard to find blood after the shot.

Inside width 5x8

6x8 or 8x8

Been a while since I went window shopping. Bout time for a shopping trip

4x6 is perfect and because a sheet of plywood is 4x8 you can use the 2x4 foot scraps and save on having to buy an extra sheet.. we make all ours 4x6 plenty of room for 2 chairs and a pack or heater

I'm building one at the farm that will be 8 x 8 or 6 x 8. I want it to be big enough for two adults plus a kid, and plan to have a potty bucket for my wife.

Also plan to hide the windows with camo or black mesh to avoid the silhouette issue

If you plan on bow hunting out of the shooting house, 4 feet deep isn't enough for me. I cannot get to full draw in a 4 feet deep shooting house. If there will be no bow hunting, 4 feet deep is plenty.

Yep. And 4x6 at least for two folks. Build them on the ground, set and brace post with a joist system. Set them up with tractor and forks.

I built this 4 x 6 last year and I really wish I would have made it 5 x 6 instead. With a decent sized chair in there, you just dont have any leg room at all. The height is fine and the width but it just needs to be deeper. If you are going to spend $600-700 to build one, make 5 x 6.

Things have come a long way since we started nailing boards in trees back in the 60s. I had one stand that we named the Cadillac because it had a floor and a folding chair. It was a lot easier on the back than the normal 2x4.

I have a few shooting houses now, but they are all 4x4. I dang sure don't want anyone in a shooting house with me. Instead of office chairs or bag chairs, I like a plastic stack chair. They are very light and easy to shift around, and they don't give any like a bag chair when you sit down.

I just built three ladder stands like in the pic below. It’s roughly a 4’X 3’ platform built on 16 ft 4x4’s…big enough so two folks to sit side by side in some chairs….We’ll haul them to the tree and attach them first with some I-bolts and a heavy duty rachet strap…..then tack on a shooting rail and something to conceal the hunters….burlap, etc…we’ll probably go ahead and do something more permanent. By the time all is said and done we’ll probably have around $200 in each one. It’ll be comfortable, sturdy, and should last for quite a while. It’s all pressure treated wood.

Here’s the backside. Everything is put together with 3 ½ construction screws except for the decking….I used 2 inch screws on it. Pretty simple design but should be effective.

But CNC you can buy a well made welded aluminum one man, 16' ladder stand from Jimmy Andress below Dothan for $175. They would be easier to move, lighter to put up and I have some that are close to 20 years old and still good as the day I put them up.

I hear you……We’ve just decided to go a different route…..I have the ability to pull a truck and trailer right to where we need these to go….I’ll be sitting in a full sized chair with a little buddy heater at my feet and a solid shooting rail at the just right height in front of me.