Things to take into account before you build a fire pit at hunt camp.
Before you begin building your fire-pit you need to find a proper spot for it .
- You need to take into account the prevailing winds at camp and find a spot that is going to allow the wind to take the smoke up and away from your campers and area where you congregate which will usually be close to your kitchen which is usually on a deck in front of your camper .
- Make sure it’s close enough to enjoy but far enough away so that winds do not blow any embers into your camper or onto your deck or through your main hangout area .
- You don’t want to be sitting around playing cards and suddenly a gust of wind comes up and blasts through chasing everyone out from what was a comfortable game of cards or your favorite camp dinner .
- Make sure it’s on higher ground than the surrounding terrain so that if it rains it doesn’t become a swimming pool if it rains which will take a while to dry out and make it more difficult to start a new fire .
- Position it away from your vehicles so that they don’t end up with a scorched paint job or filling with wood ash if you forget to row up your windows.
- Make it at least 6 -1/2 feet diameter inside diameter , This may seem large but you will probably be bringing in much larger logs than anticipated . If it’s cold wet and windy out and late at night and you’ve had a few beers there’s a good chance you’ll be burning anything you can get your hands on just as long as it’s not nailed in too well including decking , parts of outhouses , old used wooden targets such as pallets that have been blasted a few hundred times or especially full length trees that have fallen around camp area and are a quick drag into camp item as these can be dragged cross the top of fire pit and allowed to burn from middle of log out but this is dangerous method as it can act as a wick and the fire may trace the logs exterior or better yet the interior of the log if interior is hollow or dry rotted and fire will eat the log from inside out without being noticed and when you wake up the next morning you’ll find a fully consumed log lying on the ground burnt the entire length in both directions .
Build A Skid To Drag Lumber and Stones To Fire Pit
- Build a simple metal skid to drag building materials around camp . This can be old sides from a washing machine, metal plates from miscellaneous junk that seems to be at every hunt camp that previous camp leaser’s have left behind , An old car hood from a Volkswagen beetle would be the best as it has the right shape needed too slide over and around obstacles .
- You’ll need to connect chains to it that you can then connect to your car or ATV hitch to pull the skid but make sure to have enough length that if it snags something when it release from snag it does not fly up and through your rear window .
- I’m sure you’ve seen these videos of people trying to rip a tree trunk out of the ground using a chain and they romp on the gas and here comes the trunk flying through the air and through their back truck window,so be aware that the same can happen while dragging a skid if it inadvertently snags a root or vine or barbed wire etc…
Dig Your Fire-Pit Down In out Of The Wind
- Dig your pit down in to keep the fire itself from being exposed to the wind as the more wind the more danger of it getting out of control and the faster it will consume your fuel.
- Throw the excess soil around edges to build it up higher so that water does not come flooding in during heavy rain and then build your ring of boulders around the circumference of the pit .
- Build the windward side higher to block out the wind from rushing through and build the opposing side from where you intend to be hanging out the most higher to reflect the fires heat back towards you.
- If you can dig a trench or two and embed an old muffler pipe or any pipe you can spare down into the pit with one end in close to the middle of the pit but leaving it exposed so that it will provide air ventilation into middle of fire and other end of pipe leadig to outside of firepit and it also being open so that it draws aire through and into the fire .
Clear Away Any Overhanging Branches and Nearby Vegetation
- Make sure your area is relatively clear of any flammables so that you don’t start a forest fire at camp.
- Build a wind blind or break on the windward side by making it your location for firewood storage .
- By stacking all your firewood in a line and 4 to 5 feet high between your fire-pit and the wind you not only will you have fuel close by and ready but the wind driving through the woodpile will help to keep in dry and season it faster if it is freshly cut wood.
