Four-story deer blind may be the county?s tallest

To say that Paul Darga, 69, of Pulawski Township has an elevated deer blind would be an understatement. It?s more like an extreme deer blind. Darga drives his pickup along Hincka Road and out in the distance above the trees what looks to be the top of a grain elevators peaks above the tree line. With no easy access road, the middle of farmland north of Posen would seem to be an unusual location for a grain elevator. The tall black structure isn?t a grain elevator at all; it?s Paul Darga?s four-story deer blind, which is probably the tallest in Presque Isle County, if not the entire region.

Darga parks his vehicle at the foot of the 40-foot tall blind and walks up a flight of stairs to the second floor. Even at this level, the view starts to become impressive.

DARGA, WHO finished the unusual project more than two years ago, heard one of his sons say they wanted to get himself the biggest buck in Presque Isle County. ?I said, I?ll go along with you,? said Darga, standing on a 3? x 10? deck at the entrance. His wife Barb said ?His projects are pretty cool, but he always makes things way too big. This was a challenge for him and he did it.?

Paul said ?The grand kids love climbing up there and looking around. You can see a long way.? Deer are usually visible from every direction. Barb said she was hoping to get away from the couple?s home on M-65 to escape to the upper floors of the blind to watch the deer in the fields. She not only has her choice of magnificent scenery in any direction, but she also can choose from three floors.

THE FIRST FLOOR is for storage, which is used for a number of items including a generator during hunting season to provide power for lights. The second floor is for relaxing, or a quick meal. There is enough room on the second floor for a small propane furnace, an easy chair draped by a blanket, a table, along with a small stove that is no higher than Paul?s knee caps. ?The kids can warm up pizza if they want,? Darga said. A 16-foot ladder firmly secured to the wall, which Paul built in his shop at home, connects the second floor to the third. A door has to be pushed up and over to allow access to the third floor, which has a couch and a 14-foot ladder that leads to the fourth level. At the top, is a single chair and windows on all four sides.

DARGA — USED 30-foot tall posts to start the project. He used concrete to anchor the posts four feet into the ground and built the first two levels at the site, while the other two were constructed in his shop at home. When it was time to stack the third and fourth levels on the first two he used a 1956 Lorain crane with a 50-foot boom to put the final pieces in place. Interesting enough, each level of the blind is about 100 square foot and would make four sizable deer blinds by themselves. The cost to build the structure is estimated at more than $2,000. Darga said there has

been some hunting success as well with a four pointer being shot. The horns hang above the stove on the second floor. This will be the third hunting season the blind will be used and there have been some adjustments as well.

ONE PERSON hunting said they got seasick because the top was swaying in 30 m.p.h. winds. ?He said it was wobbling up there,? said Darga. ?I said, ?no way.? I came by the next day to check the concrete around the posts. You would see the concrete cracking but it never did.? So Paul wouldn?t lose any sleep, he hired someone to anchor each side down. ?I?ve got it pretty well secured,? he said.

On the finished product, Barb said ?I thought he was crazy. But it all worked. You can see all of the fields, which is nice. You get up there and you can almost see Lake Huron. It?s very close.?