TAYLOR COUNTY, WI (WTAQ) – The cold temperatures that typically come with the gun-deer season don’t bother one Medford area hunter.
Dane Hartl says he built his father Lyn’s eight foot by twelve foot tree stand when he launched his Wisconsin Landcrafters business ten years ago.
“When we started, it was nothing but a bare 40. There were some logging roads and stuff, but things really got kicked into gear when we built this stand.”
Dane says he was a little short on work at the time when his dad requested the stand.
“I said ‘boy you got to give me something to go on.’ He said ‘just build me a stand.’ And when the flatbed semi showed up with the material on it, my mom said ‘what are you building?’ I said ‘that’s dad’s deer stand.’ She said ‘Oh my God.’”
Lyn notes the benefit of having a stand that includes a stove, propane heater, table, and cot.
“I usually go in around three or four o’clock in the afternoon the day before the season, and I just settle down. I can cook in them, I can sleep in them, everything else. So that when the woods comes alive opening morning, I’m out there. And I’m not disrupting the deer, I’m not kicking them off their prime areas. I’m in there. And it’s a huge advantage that way.”
With all the amenities, Lyn says his family uses it for more than just hunting.
“We also camp. I take my grandkids out there. We do all kinds of stuff throughout the year. We go stay overnight, have a little game night. We have a campfire by it. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be using the property during that time of year.”
Wisconsin Landcrafters has built 43 custom stands to date.
Lyn’s model would run for about $20,000.
