Homemade Jobs! We're All Guilty of Them!

Vantams

Vantams

New member
We've all done them! Homemade, rigged up creations that make our hunts easier, more complete or overall successful! We would love to hear about all the homemade jobs and maybe even share some ideas on how to improve existing ones! Go ahead and post all about them, and if you've got pics, throw them on too!
 
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Here you go for a homemade job! I designed this lanyard style for myself, as I got tired of calls clanking and swinging. That was few years ago, now besides calling up coyotes for a living, I spend every waking hour on the end of a sewing machine making these for guys. This one is a custom design to best hold my production howler. A one of a kind, version of my TT Stealth Lanyard.

I'm always playing around with something. From coyote drags to custom shooting chairs.

Homemade jobs are the birth of any good design!

Tony
 
Perfect example! Makes me wonder how many other homemade jobs out there could lead to an innovation in the sport and give us all that much more of an advantage! Thanks Tony!
 
M2D coveralls pal made from the fabric they sell, got one in the makes for me also.
Made a fake fur cover for the new shockwave call I have also & of course my own shooting sticks from 1/2" dowls.
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I like the custom made coveralls, i'm in the process of making my own ghillie suits for snow and sage! Are you able to order the fabric? Or have you got some connections?
 
Just made myself a white fleece balaclava this weekend for hunting in the snow. I wasn't happy with any of the commercially available designs so I did it myself and got what I want! It would appear high school home ec class paid off after all.
 
Like the Coveralls.

I made a snow poncho out of Coast Gaurd material it's flexible and sheds the water. I also made the bino and remote case from Military surplus i had laying around.. I go the idea here and it works great once you take half the velcro off it..
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I find that it's a good idea to off set the pouch so that it doesn't get in the way of the rifle stock. If you have a surplus store around i would suggest a 2qt. canteen cover and a H harness. Then some ellastic and a buckle and your in business.
 
While trolling the surplus stores i found where they were selling the military fabric for under a buck a yard.. Didn't mean much to me.. But then I bought 45 yards of it and made a car cover for it..
the big thing was making hooks that clip to the truck bed in next to the cab.. Then tie extra paracord to the corners (different colors to make it easier to sort out) but once it's clipped in, it only takes two guys a few seconds to hide the truck anywhere.. There is a channel at the bottom with bunggie cord in it to keep it tight..
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I started to try and sell the hides this year and after reading about the tools made a fleshing beam out of some wood i had..
Its made out of 2 2x4's for the base, and some small wheels to make it easy to roll around. the beam folds down flat and the support is just a piece of scrap held in place with dowl and goes into a mortise I cut on the bottom of the beam. The end pivots on a dowel as well. (no mechanical hardware except the wheels)
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It's 8" at the bottom and gets progressively narrower.. It's actuall the second one I made.. I made one and took it and some pelts to the local taxidermy guy to ask how to Flesh (might as well ask a guy for advice that does it everyday) and he bought the first one off me and i made another one.
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The key is to make the bevel about the same across the top as a 5 gallon bucket. I didn't at first and a flat beam is not efficient.. So then i had a broken bucket that i used as the contour guide and not the fleshing can get a 2" wide great push with each pass. Makes fleshing even fatty coyotes take about 10 minutes.
 
Off season target practice.. I hate the pucblic range and I have daughter I am trying to teach to shoot..
So i go out to the dessert and tried hanging a .5" thick 10" Gong target.. Well there are not that many tree's around so I made a tall Saw horse to hang it off of so that I can set it up in a wash and then move from place to place and further and further back to shoot at. I can set up like I am calling and practice shooting off the sticks and out of the chair i hunt with.. When the stand gets beat up (from the lead and case skins flying around I just get a couple of cheap 2X4's to replace them. The gong was about $50 and the saw horse thing was under 20.
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The nice thing is that it folds up and the black bungies hold it together.
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It has 2 gongs, the smaller 3" hangs in the center and lets me see if i hit bulls eye or just off. I do this cause a 3" is like $12 and cheap to replace when it gets beat up. Making my large one last longer.
I also made some spray paint templates. I spray them with one color, then hold up the template and spray and it puts the lines on just right every time.
 
Originally Posted By: K_V_VJust made myself a white fleece balaclava this weekend for hunting in the snow. I wasn't happy with any of the commercially available designs so I did it myself and got what I want! It would appear high school home ec class paid off after all.

Got any pics, did you use a pattern?

All great ideas guys
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Skinning is also a challenge. there are not always a tree around and most of the AZ tree's have thorns.
So I got some 1.75" square pipe and made a skinning rack out of 10 feet of pipe.. I also got some smaller pipe that fit inside for a slug to make it so that it's 2 piece and can be put back together.
It goes in the trailer hitch and there are curves in it so that i can put the tailgate down and use that as a shelf..

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I would plan to change the top to a pully and cable through guides and dog chains to hold the feet. It can be a struggle to lift a coyote to eye level and hook the rear tendon.
WIth the cable I would make it long enough to lower to almost the ground and then pull it up and set a few (3) points that i can raise and lower it so that the coyote is at a comforatable level.
By the 3rd coyote comfort is important because I start to get tired.
 
Originally Posted By: bigsky_songdogsOriginally Posted By: K_V_VJust made myself a white fleece balaclava this weekend for hunting in the snow. I wasn't happy with any of the commercially available designs so I did it myself and got what I want! It would appear high school home ec class paid off after all.

Got any pics, did you use a pattern?

All great ideas guys
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I found a good one at Kings.. They have a snow one and i got it on sale for $10-$15 I wish they made one out of their desert cammo. There doesn't have to be snow on the ground to be Cold.
 
Originally Posted By: VantamsI like the custom made coveralls, i'm in the process of making my own ghillie suits for snow and sage! Are you able to order the fabric? Or have you got some connections?

You can order the fabric off the m2d site by the yard of course.
It went up $1 a yard this month also.
 
I forgot about my skinning rack, great item for those who hunt alone.
My gun rack for the truck & my portable shooting table.
I made a full size coyote & Antelope target out of scrap plywood & a steel range target.
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i made a calling system for night hunting in anybodys rig. plugs in cig. lighter has tape player, 200.000 cp light. the light has 7 wires that turns on light has dim and bright on off for caller and volume control button for buzzer down in truck speaker plugs in side of box and so does light all fits in a box that a gas grinder came in. had pics on here a few years ago.good where you can call from rigs!
 
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Here's a decoy I made. The ground is usually frozen hard here and a wind blowing. A stakes is a pita to stick in the frozen ground so it stays up in the wind. With the antler, I can set it anywhere. The rod with the feather attached is a vehicle antenna so it telescopes in for carry or out whatever height I want. it also swivels to take advantage if wind direction and can be moved from horizontal to straight up vertical. and no batteries to die in the cold.
 
Originally Posted By: dan brothersGot anymore pics of that truck cab rifle rack 5spd.
Just this one. Took about 3 hrs start to finnish, still need to stain it though.
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