I don't know if you are on private or public land (most require that you remove the stand every night, but we build all of our stands out of scrap lumber and some roofing material. We build box stands that are basically a 4X8X6 approximately 10 feet off of the ground. We cut shooting windows and door then use the cut out to make a shutter and door. The boxes are carpeted to reduce noise and provide some amount of insulation. We use old roofing material, or sheet metal for the roofs. Anchor them to a tree or with cable to those mobile home anchors. Add a couple of old lawn chairs and you are redy to go. They are safe for kids and protect from the elements. You cant fall out or drop your gun. And they are fun to build-gets the kids involved. The only real cost is the 4X4s we use for legs,. although some of our stands use scaffolding. What ever you can scavenge.
The down side is that they are relatively perminent, although we do move them before each season in the back of a pick-up.
