Saddle Hunt Texas

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

For my record keeping purposes, here’s a build thread for my hunting shack on wheels. My life is all about efficiency and I need things to simply work reliably and have purpose while also being “nice”.

This thread will showcase mainly just photos, if you have a question feel free to ask about it and I’ll go into specifics on how I did it.

My rig will be primarily focused on off grid hunting, everything that’s in season but will also have functional storage for my wife and I’s other seasonal hobbies like paddle boarding, mountain biking, fishing, remodeling and overall preparedness. All being somewhat modular on load out dependent on trip use.

2023 144” AWD 2500.
Ordered 7/14/22 took delivery 12/16/22.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Got that carport built after the wild winter we had lol.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Had to get lit to start.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Tear it all out.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Had to get the vette paint corrected and ceramic coated cause “winter is coming”.
And had to put some JUNK in the TRUNK. Aka rear doors lol.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Bunk windows and rattle trap.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

All done sound deadening, working on insulation now, headliner, firewall, a & b pillars, door panels, walls and ceiling.

 

[30all]

Had to get the vette paint corrected and ceramic coated cause “winter is coming”.
And had to put some JUNK in the TRUNK. Aka rear doors lol.

5.56 or 300?

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

5.56 sbr by maxim defense.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Plans for the roof. Waiting the AC to hit the door. Then I’ll install fan and AC. Panels will come later.
Wanting to build a shooting deck up top. Gotta do more research on walkable panels.
Or might have to go with just 2 panels.

 

[hippy]

Subbed to the thread @Spare_Mag_Mike I'm also forward to watching your build.
Some questions.

1. Will you fit a remote 360 degree viewable thermal spotting scope to the roof so you can look about from in the warm via an internal monitor?

2. Will there be a nice sandbag type perch/porthole/window to shoot out of for simple quick pest control jobs?

Can't wait to see the end result.
👍

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

As much as I would love to mount a rovir mk2 to the roof. The van is just not stealthy enough to invest that kind of money.
Main reason is the running lights are impossible to turn off while in drive without pulling fuse. And all the interior lights from the dash are blinding under nods. Even the steering wheel controls are too bright…

No plans for a roof hatch doesn’t seem like a beneficial use of roof space for me maybe if I had a 170…

so best bet for me is to park the van and climb on top. Hoping to build roof deck with walkable solar panels. But I currently know nothing about them so maybe not we’ll see.

My true passion is saddle hunting. So you’ll usually find me one sticking up a tree in the middle of the night lol or mounted on a tripod scanning fields.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Got my @hein diy van roof adapters installed. Gunnna throw up the AC and the fan in the morning. Impressed with the fit and finish. DIYVan sure makes a quality product worth every penny and honestly I think priced reasonably. Ps for anyone wanting to install I used about 80% of tube of sika 221 (all I had) to lay these down had pretty good penetration. But I would suggest maybe a whole tube…

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Carport light. 10,000 lumen from HF getting me ready for evening pack up sessions. Gunna add 3 more. Talk about cookin with gas.

 

[vreihen]

You can't have enough lumens!!!!!

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Agreed!! Trying to muster up the motivation to get out there in this heat. Been at the Sitka gear Dallas store opener all morning. Kinda drained.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Alright so I got it done for now. I’ll have to tear down interior air distribution box when I decide to put a ceiling up.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

I’ll eventually paint all the white sealant black when I get to the roof work. Bout to get started on the diesel heater then it’s time to sit down and finalize electrical needs.

 

[Spare_Mag_Mike]

Got the heater mounted, fuel line ran and intake hose installed. Just gotta run exhaust… wanting to send it out the drivers side. We’ll see if I can make that work reliably… then just gotta run the wiring harness.