7x16 Conversion from Georgia

[m.colley]

Made it here to the hunting lease about 1:30 Wednesday after noon and set up camp. The weather has been great. I hunted Wednesday evening and all day today. Haven't seen anything yet other than squirrels and rabbits. It's been a good learning experience so far. I'll post some pictures when I get back.


Martin

[hankaye]

m.colley, Howdy;

Nuttin' wrong with a squirrel or 2 in the pot for dinner nor a rabbit or 2 either.
chop up some carrots, onion, celery & some small potatoes ='s Brunswick stew,
have some biscuits on the side for soppin' up some gravy. All can be done in a
pair of dutch ovens over a campfire.

hank

[flboy]

Looking forward to the pics Martin.. Enjoy the Hunt! Hopefully a big rack will walk by.

Hank.. not cool to shoot small game when hunting big game... lol. I like the spirit though.!! My guess is that if Martin hit small game with his deer rifle... it would explode and you basically just see some ground meat and fur laying around. Don't ask me how I know that. :-)


Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

[hankaye]

flboy, Howdy;

Don, I'm very much aware, that's why I suggested the stew instead of grilled
or any other method that requires the full critter. But it goes without saying
that when ya hunts big the small show up and when ya hunt small the big show up.
How the heck do they know ...??
Besides, y'all's deer aren't much bigger then a squirrel anyway ...

hank

[McDave]

When y'all get serious bout huntin', let me know. I'll let you borrow this.



P.O. box 55, DUMAS, ARKANSAS
I would guess most any Razorback has one of these. Just be careful how you pronounce that town where it's made...just sayin'...

McDave

PS. It works for rabbits too.

[hankaye]

McDave, Howdy;

Can't read the book cover you need to have a conversation with yer buddy Mr. Jamison or use a tripod.
Besides McD, I haven't seen any tree rats out here yet. Some ground squirrels but they almost don't qualify
more like chipmunks with a thyroid condition.
Most folks that enjoy squirrel huntin' probably can get the critter outta his/her fur suit quicker then
it takes to set that contraption up. simply make a small cut across the shoulder blades, insert both
index fingers and give it a tug. Should pull off like a set of 'jammies. Rabbits are even easier as there is
more mass workin' in yer favor.
,

hank

[McDave]

@ Hank,
Your probably right about the Jameson, but I try to hold off till sundown. As far as tree rats go, well, you'd have to have trees for that. Unless you're near the Bosque, not too many trees to be had down there. Mesquite is more of a bush, and so many thorns I doubt squirrels would go near em'.... ...
But I have seen a Diamondback or two in the Mesquite bushes....

McDave

[Philip]

@ Hank, I have seen a Diamondback or two in the Mesquite bushes.... McDave

A little beer batter and they taste pretty good to.

[m.colley]

Well I made it back from the maiden voyage in one piece. Everything went good other than the actual hunt , the hunting sucked to be honest. Due to the full moon several nights the deer were feeding by moonlight. I jumped a couple but not soon enough to get a shot.

Overall the trip was a success as far as the CTC went and I learned quite a few things. Some were things I wasn't sure if I'd need and several I just haven't done yet.
Anyway I loaded up the trailer and she looked something like this.gallery/image_page.php?album_id=4250&image_id=145667&display=popup

and this

I ended up flipping the 2" drop hitch to keep the front of the trailer as close to level as possible. My truck did good pulling the load overall but a new TV is on the short list of future upgrades.The truck is a 2000 model with a somewhat tired 4.3L motor and 3.21 gears so she struggled some going up some inclines and was slow getting to speed from a stop.
I got to camp, unloaded and set up camp in less than a hour. My set up looked something like this.



My temporary shower set up consisted of this tankless water heater. Even though I had to ration water I still took two showers, washed dishes, made coffee etc etc all on about 15 gallons of water.

If anyone is contemplating such a unit as part of their build I highly recommend the unit. Its the Eco-Temp L5 model. It makes plenty of hot water and you can't go wrong with the price. I plan to make a semi-permanent mount for it on the CTC just above my water inlet on the front of the CTC. I just did the current version so that I'd have a way to shower this past week.

A DC to AC inverter will be in the very near future, I may actually use two separate inverters. One modified and one pure/true sine wave. Exterior lights mounted by the entrance door and ramp door will cut down on having to use laterns and make moving around outside easier. I never got around to installing my 12V/utility receptacles or my USB charging plugs so those will happen pretty quick.

Other improvements will follow like the fold up bed, mini fridge and a few others.



Martin

[flboy]

Glad you had a great time and everything worked! Sorry to hear that about the hunt. My daughter and son in law went up to Ga. to hunt last weekend and saw a few doe.. but nothing big.

Besides the electrical updates you mentioned.. any other things you'd change after the maiden voyage?

[McDave]

Hey Martin,
Wow! What a beautiful spot to camp/hunt. Looks like the weather was perfect for camping. I know you must have enjoyed some time off out there. It's good for the soul and the mind. Recharges the "batteries" when you can leave all the noise of life behind for a day or two.
Trailer looks great! Performed as expected. No issues other than future refinements and upgrades, I'd have to call that a 95% success. I deducted 5% for lack of venison, but that's why they call it huntin', not killin'.
Thanks for the pics.
Congratulations, you worked hard and did a very nice job. You deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Cheers, ... ...

McDave

[m.colley]

Glad you had a great time and everything worked! Sorry to hear that about the hunt. My daughter and son in law went up to Ga. to hunt last weekend and saw a few doe.. but nothing big.

Besides the electrical updates you mentioned.. any other things you'd change after the maiden voyage?

Hey Don
Some storage possibly, like a closet for hanging some clothes (like long jackets, insulated coveralls etc) and I may have a solution for that. Entertainment other than music for the alone times, like a small T.V. with video/dvd/blu ray would have been nice. Other than that The CTC keep me out of the weather, kept me from having to sleep in a tent, gave me a way to get all my stuff to my camp. It did what I hoped it would do. The upgrades/future add-ons will help make things just a little easier and in the long run will save me money.


Martin

[m.colley]

Hey Martin,
Wow! What a beautiful spot to camp/hunt. Looks like the weather was perfect for camping. I know you must have enjoyed some time off out there. It's good for the soul and the mind. Recharges the "batteries" when you can leave all the noise of life behind for a day or two.
Trailer looks great! Performed as expected. No issues other than future refinements and upgrades, I'd have to call that a 95% success. I deducted 5% for lack of venison, but that's why they call it huntin', not killin'.
Thanks for the pics.
Congratulations, you worked hard and did a very nice job. You deserve to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
Cheers, ... ...

McDave

McDave,
It is a beautiful place to camp, hunt or just hang out, 384 plus acres to roam around on and this year we added a additional 217 acres that we get on a year to year basis. The time off was much needed. Its the first year in 10+ years that I've taken a full week off in a row.

Yup I agree it was a 95% success. Like you said, the trailer did what I wanted it to do. It kept me dry, out of the wind and reasonably warm. Everything else will be like icing on the cake.


Martin

[m.colley]

They wife and I are heading out Wednesday morning to a State Park right up the road. It'll give me a chance to see how she likes the CTC.

Once I get back I have a wiring problem to fix. Its nothing with anything I did, its factory wiring. I have a dead short in the running/parking lights that is blowing the fuse in my TV. The part that sucks is now I have to take down my upper trim along the ceiling. I'm not even worried about finding it even though I know I will. I plan on re-running that circuit with new wire instead of trying to fix their mistake. They love using those damn scotch lock splice connectors. I'll make up my own pigtail connectors.


Martin

[McDave]

Well, it's good to get the ol' Lady's input and seal of approval on these things. I know if it wasn't for her, I probably wouldn't have done all this. I was doin' fine with a change of clothes and a wad of cash in the saddle bags, but she requires a little more civilized travel these days. You know what I mean.
Good Luck and Enjoy!

McDave