OT: Building in isolated location

[SteveHGraham]

I'm moving to America this summer, and this week I did a walk-through of the new place. The seller (must remember...not "owner") said raising goats was a problem on the farm, because coyotes ate the kids. Fortunately for me, bears don't particularly like my area of the county.

Now I have to get a rifle suitable for coyotes so I can do my part in exterminating vermin. I have .17 HMR and .308, with nothing in between except 7.62 x 39mm with iron sights.

[seal killer]

Steve--

I see an AR-15 in your future.

--Bill

[SteveHGraham]

EVERYBODY wants me to get an AR-15. Just seems like a lot of money for what you get. Also, I like the painlessness and low cost of shooting rimfire.

My .308 is an AR-10, or the DPMS version. I like it, but it ran me about $800.

[warmstrong1955]

EVERYBODY wants me to get an AR-15. Just seems like a lot of money for what you get. Also, I like the painlessness and low cost of shooting rimfire.

My .308 is an AR-10, or the DPMS version. I like it, but it ran me about $800.

Build one. Very small amount of machining, and simple, to finish the lower. And, you can buy uppers, actions, sights, and magazines, to suit your wallet!

[warmstrong1955]

And....as for Bill's pet....blackies are generally timid. They can be a real nuisance though. Trick is to not give 'em any access to anything they like....like easy opening garbage cans.
Browns.....they just as soon eat ya than look at ya. Bad attitude those critters have...and no respect, and no fear. No worries around your parts though.


Other Bill

[seal killer]

Steve--

Rimfire is my favorite, too. But, I don't think rimfire is for coyotes.

How about a Remington 700 in .223? That might be a nice coyote machine for longer ranges than an AR-15.

My South African friend just bought 300 goats to clear some property. They have to worry about a lot more than just coyotes. I will ask him how they plan to keep them alive and well.

--Bill

[SteveHGraham]

Lately black bears have been getting snippy with people in Florida. My main bear concern would be trash vandalism. I would shoot just about anything that made a mess for me to clean up.

As for rimfire and coyotes, I did not come up with the idea. I was Googling around, and I found that .22 WMR was popular for coyote shooting. Having never seen a coyote, let alone shot one, I cannot say whether it's popular for good reason.

I would love to try the .17 HMR on squirrels at long distances, because I like that kind of shooting, but I suppose it wouldn't be safe unless they were on the ground. I hate squirrels.

There is no season or bag limit on coons. I looked it up. I guess the government loves them as much as I do.

[pete]

It's really cool to see the grizzlys in the wild Bill. I've seen as many as 65 in one morning when there was a fish run on the Kimsquit river. And believe it or not black bears are far more unpredictable than the grizzlys are. They'll usually give a fair warning before attacking if they feel threatened by bouncing up and down on there front paws. Black bears not so much. Since you do have bears in your location be extremely careful with your garbage and always keep it in bear proof containers. The last thing you want is them getting in the habit of hanging around the house once you get moved in. You will get some come in simply because they can smell it for miles. So it's good to have ample lighting around the house if you go outside at night and it's still worth being wary just in case.They also can't see very well and that makes them more aggresive if they don't know what something is. I've been chased up a tree when I wasn't paying attention and got between a sow and her cubs. Having something like a short barreled Winchester Defender with the mag plug pulled and a full load of 3" magnum slugs would be something I'd want to have fairly handy in the house just in case. Picking up some bear bangers might be worthwhile as well if you start seeing them regular around the house. I'd assume you can get them where you are.

[seal killer]

pete--

I intend to keep the garbage in the garage until I haul it to the county road (one and a half miles) to be picked up. I've got a gauge and magnum rounds. I intend to keep it on the utv. I carry a Glock 19 to make noise if I encounter a bear somewhere.

I've never caught a bear at night on my game camera(s). Maybe they stay in the denser part of the forest at night?

--BIll

[pete]

It's not all that uncommon up here to hear of peoples remote cabins being ransacked by black bears since there not exactly stupid. If they figure there's an easy food supply they'll do a lot to get to it. Years ago I was talking with a guy that used to be an electrition who would be sent in to various areas up on the arctic DEW line. He was telling me he had pictures of a full grown polar bear that broke the small window in the entry door to one of the tiny cabins they bunked in and the bear got his arm inside and was waving it around trying to snag him for a snack I guess. But he said those claws were only 3'-4' away from where he was in that cabin. Bears are no joke if they get used to people and food being around. Yes it's neat to see bears just by looking out your window and some will even set up feeders just to see the bears up close. I haven't heard of any who didn't regret it later since the bears just became a large pita. When we had Grizzlys up in Kemess that got too used to the bear bangers we'd have to get Fish & Wildlife come in and dart the bear or bears and then chopper them out 100 or more miles away. I got to help load about a two year old darted grizzly into there pickup and then into the chopper net. A strange feeling to see all those teeth and claws right in front of you while handling a live bear. Even worse when the game warden tells you they know what's going on and can at times bite involuntarily even while drugged so I needed to keep my hands away from the head. If your ever out in the bush and you smell something strange almost like rotting meat then that means there's a bear real close and that's when you keep your head on a swivel. Surprising a bear in thick brush is not a good idea.

[seal killer]

All--

I've started the garage and shop!

The metal building will be 40' x 50'. It will have three bays running into the 40' dimension. One of them will be a drive-through bay. There will be a full bath and a laundry room (combined 19' x 6'6") at the in the SW corner of the building immediately upon exiting the house. My shop will also be adjacent to the house behind the bath and laundry room and extending to the rear of the 40' building. I believe that will give me a 19' x 28'6" shop. (That will be much larger than the one I had in my two car garage in KC which took up two walls.)

I had planned for a garage door entry into the shop from the rear (east; left in the photo) end of the building. However, it looks like landscaping on that side of the building and house will make that impractical. So, I will put the shop garage door entry inside the building, opening into the drive-through bay. Since all three bays are clear span--no poles or other supports--I'll be able to easily get equipment into the shop from inside the garage.

Here is a picture of the footings with plumbing stubbed up and gravel, ready for the radiant barrier, wire mesh and 3" of Styrofoam and then the slab . . .

To gain access to the garage you will walk out of the house (from the kitchen area; doorway shown in photo) into a 19' x 4' long hallway. Two doors in that hallway will open into the laundry area and bath, respectively. The shop will be behind (to the left in the photo) of that area.)

Also, as you can see in the photo, the roof is now sealed! After the garage is framed up and the decking in place and sealed, we will put metal on the two roofs and the sides of the garage.

All the windows are now in place, as well. I don't have a good picture of them because I can't back far enough away from the house to get them all in the picture without falling off the cliff. (Well, if I had used my Nikon I could have taken a picture with a wide angle lens, but I didn't think of it. I used my iPhone.)

We haven't set the sliding glass doors, yet. There are seven of them; four on the lower level and three on the upper.

Have I mentioned the electrical service in any post, yet? If not, then I have two, 200 amp boxes in the utility room in the house. One for the house and one for the garage/shop. I'll install a 22kva Generac, propane fired generator to keep the house up and running when power fails. We are at the end of the line and have experienced a two week failure already. "Neighbors"--all several miles away, but they are the closest--say their power is less than ideal.

The north wall of the house will form the south wall of the shop. THAT shop wall will be well insulated! (I will spray foam the ceiling of the garage and may spray foam the walls; I haven't decided on that, yet.) Other than that wall, the house will be covered with stone fascia. My wife is in charge of choosing it, but our goal is to try to make the house disappear into the landscape when seen from the valley below* or the mountains and ridges to the south. The forest will hide it from every other direction and the green roof will help it blend in with the pines when seen from the south or from above.

*I've been down in that valley south of the house. From our house, it is almost impossible to get there. The cliff down below the house is 80 to 100 feet straight down to the creek. There is a way one can either walk or take an ATV from our house, east down the ridge and then around south to the creek, ford the creek and get to the valley. Difficult. From the other side of the creek there is an ATV pathway from a highway miles away. I don't know how to get to it. The creek valley itself is extremely rough. The only pathway through it is in the water itself. Since the creek is mostly from a huge spring (the name of it is Spring Creek), it is always cold.

That's my update and I'm sticking to it.

--Bill

[SteveHGraham]

There is a Google car in that valley right now.