Built some with OSB about 15 years ago and they are still fine. I would recommend sealing it with great stuff or some sort of filler to try and keep the wasps out as much as possible. Also plexiglass windows on hinges are nice to have. Finally, I would really look at elevating the stand a little more than four feet. Good luck doing it on a budget. They get expensive quick.

Joe; remember older we get the key word is comfort, build for it.

Oh, only other thing is plan the window height very carefully, so when you shoulder your gun it's comfortable and steady. I'm only 5-11, but most shooting house window ledges are far too short for me, I'm always leaned down and hunched over, don't feel steady.

Some friends of mine had buzzards roost in one of theirs over the summer, basically ruined the house to the point of being unusable. They sprayed it with Clorox and everything, still can't kill the ammonia smell.

The guy I hunt with in Namibia builds blinds out of boulders on the side of a mountain about 100 yards above a waterhole. When I hunted there in 2017 a leopard had killed an African porcupine and drug it into the blind to eat it. The quills of African porcupines are extremely long (10-12”) and considered good luck. I brought about 15-20 home with me in my carryon bag.

I’d build it modular at home and then reassemble on site.

Put a shelf in front of your main window deep enough to lay your rifle on (especially if its facing a narrow crossing) so rifle is already in window if you need to make a quick shot. It takes away a little space but you still have all the room under it and i always put my junk on the shelf that i may need (gloves, grunt, water, crackers, etc)

I think one of my summer projects will be building a 2-man shooting house up at the farm. I'll probably design it as I go rather than follow a blueprint (that's half the fun for me). That said, what general tips can y'all share...things to avoid (OSB?)...things you would different if you had to do it again....things that worked great for you? We're most likely going to put it on the edge of our most productive field and only elevated bout 4 feet. This is going to be on a budget, so no built in heaters or satellite dish like 257's. Feel free to post up some pictures if you have them.

How do you guys get the hinges to stay on the plexiglass?

I built one a few years ago. I had it set up in my back yard for a month or two before I took it apart and moved it to the hunting club. When it was in my yard, I would go sit it in and think of improvements I could make. I did not have any real plans, but just kind of designed it as I went, but I knew how I wanted to build it.

Here are some things I really like about the one I built:

It is modular. The base, sides, and roof all fit together and can easily be disassembled. Actually, me and my son assembled it by ourselves in the woods and it is on 10 ft 4x4's legs. There are no holes/gaps for wasps to come in. My base is 4x8 and the house is 4x6, so I have a small porch. I used outdoor plywood and treated lumber.

I used elevator brackets and anchored each corner. There was a big storm that blew down several LARGE trees are around the shooting house, one hitting a guy wire, and the shooting house is still rock solid. I put turn-bolts on the guy wires so I could tighten them as necessary. I used 4 screw anchors. ALWAYS screw them in where they are pointing TOWARDS the corner where they are attached (just like the power company puts in their guy wires).

I used structural screws.

I used real glass windows (Deer View). I can close everything up in bitter cold weather and stay very warm with just a My Buddy heater. The inside of my shooting house is ALWAYS dry.

I put in several fold up shelves. I place gear/equipment on shelves and that way it frees up floor space. I put in a little shelf with a lip along the front that is just perfect to prop a cell phone on.

My 2x4 built ladder has cutouts for the rungs, so they are inset, if that makes sense, and they have truck bed liner coating on top of them to keep them from being slick when wet.

All the windows have overhangs to keep rain out even when they are open. The bottom of the windows have a closed foam padding.

The angled roof overhangs each side by about a foot.

I put in a 4x6 removable indoor/outdoor carpet on the floor that I can easily take out to clean.

All the walls are carpeted up to the bottom of the windows.

I have screw in cup holders.

I mounted 2 battery operated lights on the ceiling.

The inside is painted black. I did not put a window on the back side, due to where it was going to be placed, but made it so I could easily install a window later, if I ever moved it or if something changes where it is. The door is on the end and that side has a smaller window.

I put in 2 millennium shooting house chairs.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

How do you guys get the hinges to stay on the plexiglass?

I built wood frames with a slot cut down the middle for the plexiglas. Then I built the frames around the glass.

How do you guys get the hinges to stay on the plexiglass?

No way to wasp proof them. Just set off a bug bomb about two weeks before the season and it will run them off.

How do you guys get the hinges to stay on the plexiglass?

No way to wasp proof them.

My dad, my son and myself built one this summer as a fun family project. It 8x8x8 and sits 12 feet off the ground. the exterior walls are tin. Everything is built out of treated lumber. the windows are glass and are 3' x 14". It has a 32" exterior door and steps instead of a ladder. The walls are insulated and the interior is old barn lumber. We carpeted the floor. Really way nicer than anything I've every hunted in, but my son wanted to design it, so now we have it. I'm not a shooting house hunter, but its been nice on days like yesterday where I can run in after work and hunt in dress pants and shirt from work.

All the rest of our shooting houses and porta toilets 20-25 feet up telephone poles.

8' tall? What do you have a loft and a ceiling fan in it? That would be cool!

No but I'm 6'5" and if I ever wanted to bow hunt out of it I could. My crazy son does want to put a toilet in it :-)

I have thought about taking a funnel and pvc pipe and burying it down in the ground, but afraid it would start to stink.

Medicated cattle ear tags.

For those that build at home and assemble in the woods, after you lift the platform up and put up the walls, how do you do the roof?

No sir they’ll get a wasp and a ladybug in em. But a bomb about Nov 1 cures that

I built 5 panels which included 4 wall panels and the roof panel. I installed 3 walls and then pulled the roof panel up and set loosely and the final panel is the 4th wall.

I’d build it modular at home and then reassemble on site.

For those that build at home and assemble in the woods, after you lift the platform up and put up the walls, how do you do the roof?

Let me resurrect this old thread real quick...I haven't dealt with OSB much. Are there any paints I should avoid? What would be ideal? Someone mentioned OSB is bad about soaking up a lot of paint. Any waterproofing of the OSB aside from exterior paint? I plan on the floor being treated plywood with the subfloor being treated 4x6s.

I'm going with 4'x8' and have two sides more or less done.

We have a few unpainted OSB houses. They have lasted 15+ years.

impressive

I agree with building them in sections and assembling on the site. I would also suggest, if no one else has, painting the walls black. It helps make it darker inside and makes me feel more concealed. Whether I am or not is debatable, but I feel more hidden, plus it makes it easier to nap.

I bought some cheap camo mesh off of Amazon to use as interior window curtains. Works great, got the idea from this thread.

Spend the $ and buy pre fab shooting house windows.. deer view windows and doors out of Texas.

Spend the $ and buy pre fab shooting house windows.. deer view windows and doors out of Texas.