KEWAUNEE COUNTY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – When it comes to hunting success, many people say it could come down to having the right equipment for the job.
That’s true for one area man who turned an old school bus into a new hunting shack.
In a soggy field about a quarter-mile off Kewaunee County Highway X is where John Ferron tells FOX 11 he likes to hunt.
“Last year, during winter, in this hay field here, there was nothing to count 10, 10 deer in there. There’s another rub right there.”
And he says he also has the perfect place to hunt.
“It’s a school bus I got from a salvage yard,” said Ferron.
Yes, a school bus. A 1996 Blue Bird Midwest school bus to be exact.
“Just watch the steps, they’re steep,” warned Ferron.
Ferron created the shack about seven years ago.
“I wanted something that wouldn’t rot out. Because usually a shack, you put them out, and in five, maybe seven years, the water, and they start leaking and they start rotting.”
Ferron says there aren’t really any blueprints for a blind of this kind.
“I cut the bus in four. We used a Sawzall. Took the rivets out with a rivet gun, and took a Sawzall and then ran it around because I pulled the windows out and you can see the framing. So I just ran it along the framing, and cut it out.”
Inside the bus blind, it’s now about six by eight feet. The original capacity of 65 is down to about six.
“We got three chairs and then there’s a fold-up chair back here,” said Ferron.
A wood stove is designed to keep the shack warm.
“It’s made out of stainless steel pipe. And it will heat you out of here,” said Ferron.
If it gets too hot, this blind comes with its own emergency hatch.
Even though it’s set off the road a bit, Ferron says the big yellow blind gets plenty of attention from people driving by.
“They’ll pass and then they’ll see me and they’ll say ‘you’re the guy that’s got the bus for a shack.’ I say yup.”
Ferron says it was fun building the blind. He says it’s more than just a hunting shack.
“A lot of times you just come out here and sit and listen. You can hear the birds, and it’s quiet. Yet once in a while, you hear a truck on the road or a vehicle on the road, but it’s quiet, and it’s peaceful.”.
That peace may be broken when hunters return to the shack for the season opener on Saturday.
