It is one-of-a-kind, and our customer wants to remain anonymous. It’s a doozy of a deer blind, so Duzy (of a blind — and his “stage name” for this blog post) it is.
Duzy’s deer blind idea evolved from having one in a sweet spot with a dirt floor to a fully finished party pad with an elevator.
He decided to wrap the two-story deer blind with our FatBoy log siding.
“It’s probably the most unique structure in North America,” he said.
We think that’s entirely an understatement. Our team members have been describing it as the “pimped-out deer blind” because there’s really no other way to do it justice.
“I’ve never hunted before,” Duzy said. “But I’m trying to live off the land.”
It all started when he cleared some trees from his property but left two large white pines and used them as the axis of the blind. His builder talked him out of a dirt floor; they went with cement and covered it with LifeProof vinyl that looks like wood. He installed garage doors on opposite ends so he could drive in and out. He decided to add a deck.
One day Duzy said to his wife, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a wood stove up here?”
That’s when it became clear that this wasn’t going to be an ordinary deer blind.
The second story was going to need easier access — because, you know, guests and groceries. He removed the garage doors so he could put in a lift.
He has an undergrad degree in mechanical engineering. He came up with an idea for a scissor-lift. He ordered one but it didn’t go up high enough. So, he fashioned one that has a 4’x6’ table (the rest of us would call it the floor of the elevator). It can hold 2002 pounds and goes up seven feet. Access for guests and groceries got a lot easier.
The lift has four posts with a floor attached. The “ceiling” of the lift is a section of the floor of the second floor. You take a couple steps up, push the button and up you go. It’s been tested for comfort and clearance by Duzy’s 6’ 5” friend.
“My wife likes it in the up position because she doesn’t have to wait for the lift,” he said.
Now, before you go thinking this is more party pad than deer blind, check this out: Duzy had a couple professional hunters come out and help him figure out windows and chairs for ultimate success. Each corner of the blind has sliding windows designed for shooting height. The three-foot-high chairs the pros approved are perfect. All the windows open. You can hunt from upstairs or downstairs.
Duzy shot his first deer out of one of those windows last year.
If you’re lucky enough to be an invited guest to this remarkable creation in a place the owner only will let us describe as being in northern Michigan, you could be lucky enough to take a shower upstairs (note the edge drain and Grado stone) or hang out in the hot tub.
The bathroom started with a toilet and shower with a half wall for some sort of privacy. His daughter saw it and didn’t like it. “You should make it a guest cabin,” she said. So, really, this is very much her fault.
The lower level is the bunker. If you walked in and headed straight, under the deck you’d find two log pullouts to catch a little shut eye before whatever fun might come next.
Duzy chose our knotty pine, edged on four sides for his interior. “I wanted it light and airy,” he said. He used our FatBoy half-log upstairs and on the log steps.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the windows that are the shape of the Chrysler logo; they’re a nod to the family’s connection to the company. It would be worse if we didn’t mention the name of the hunting blind in honor of Duzy’s dad: Dziadziu’s Cabin (pronounced jah-goo), which is Polish for grandpa. There’s even a special gift honoring a late, high-school friend flying at the cabin: the Polish flag.
Most of us will never see it with our own eyes, but the pictures remind us that there are no limits to the types of buildings our wood can enhance. Because, who has a hunting blind wrapped in FatBoy? Duzy. Duzy does.
Editor’s note: Our customer requested we change his name to protect his privacy.
(click on a thumbnail to view photos)
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