Stand Stealers!

[BLACKJACK]

If you find a bicycle on a public sidewalk, does that mean you have the right to take it? No! Taking it is stealing it. The same with a deer stand on public property, if its not yours and you take it, its stealing. Even if the stand is on a WPA where stands are not supposed to be left overnite, its up to the proper authorities to remove it. Stealing is stealing no matter how you sugarcoat it.

[Bogsucker]

Hey now perchjerker let's not be insulting here.

[Riverratpete]

Get a good key lock and cable... good luck to the sap trying to take the stand. Most people don't walk through the woods with bolt cutters.

[Bogsucker]

Tell ya what, I would not have taken the stand, however if I left a stand in the woods after season I would have no realistic expectation that it would still be there a year later.

[Bogsucker]

By law, abandoned property on state land becomes property of the state and subject to sale by auction. How can you justify leaving a stand on public property after season and not consider it abandoned. What sensible reason would a person have to leave a stand. None.

[This message has been edited by Bogsucker (edited 08-25-2004).]

[EXTREME]

This conversation is getting way out of hand! I do not agree with some of the comments on this forum stating that it should be taken or it is trying to secure a spot on public land. In the area I hunt (Grand Rapids area), it is common practice to hunt on public land. It is also common practice to place stands, permanent and portable, to reserve spots. It doesn't mean that the spot is mine...it just lets people know that I am there..and hopefully the "ethical hunter" will hunt somewhere else. As far as the "should be stolen" theme. It has been there for a year, it should be stolen. Do you expect your permanent stand to be there year after year? It really is no different. Tearing it down would (in my simple mind) be a destruction of public property. All that I am trying to say is that it sucks having somthing taken from you. Whether or not I should have left it out there or not; it still sucks. I was going to get that stand and move it to another spot...OH MY GOD; I was going to leave it overnight and secure a different spot; all to myself!!! What a unethical thing to do.

[Bogsucker]

There is no "reserving" public land unless it's it's a designated public blind or such. To think some people have the audacity to assume they have the right to pre-empt the use of public property by placing a stand is just beyond my sense of reason and logic.

[Mark Christianson]

Extreme
There is no such thing as reserving spots on ANY public land. I think if your stand is there, its open for use for ANYBODY.
Regardless if you paid for the stand or not.

Again, I don't condone taking the darn thing.

[Bogsucker]

And it is certainly not unethical to hunt a public area that someone else has placed a stand upon. Now if a person was in the stand I'd certainly not disturb the area, I'd leave quietly. But come next weekend if they are not there I'd not hesitate to hunt the area, though I'd not place a stand adjacent to theirs. But to leave a stand and expect it to be there a long time later is not realistic. It may be ideological but not realistic.

[This message has been edited by Bogsucker (edited 08-25-2004).]

[EXTREME]

If someone wants to hunt my stand; that's fine with me. Just leave it as you found it. As far as the reserve point. I never, repeat never hunt near another stand...unless it is broken down or I know that it is hunted only in rifle season and I am bow hunting. If there is that many people around I look for another spot to hunt. I respect that that person has found the perfect spot for the area and I leave it alone. I would feel guilty putting a stand next to another one. Kind of like hitting on a woman at the bar even though you know she is married. I guess being an ethical and respectfull hunter is wrong.

[Bogsucker]

No leaving your stand on public property is.

[EXTREME]

What difference does it make to you? You will probably put one in the next tree over anyway!

[bigbucks]

I've been following this thread & you both are right to some extent (IMO). I don't really think it's realistic to expect someone who's hunting public land regularly to have to take their stand down each time. How are you supposed to go out for a morning hunt & hang a stand before light & be quiet enough to actually have any chance of shooting a deer that morning? In the same token it really isn't right to try to "lock up" a spot all bow season.

As far as gun season goes I'd rather somebody put a stand where they are planning to hunt so you don't go there to hunt & have 2-3 guys on top of each other. Some people do really stupid things though too. I had a friend who put his portable up before gun season, went to get in it opening morning & some other guy's sitting in his own portable like 6-8 feet below my friend's portable in the same tree. By that guy putting in the second stand he just screwed up both their mornings, what good did that do?

[EXTREME]

I agree. This is getting to be like the presidential race. Bogsucker and I both have our opionions and both are right to a certain extent. The point is that we both care about hunting alot; enough to where we would post(argue) about anything that we believe is true. Lets put away the daggers and concentrate on the upcoming season. I am getting pretty jacked to sit up in a stand that first evening....and reading all these posts really gets me in the mood. So, with this said....the stand that was stolen was a material item. There build more of them every day. Lets just kick butt this fall and fill the freezer with nature's own Adkin's diet PS sorry for any stabs; a guy can get worked up about this sort of thing!

[Mark Christianson]

I sure am glad I hunt private land. What a can of worms.

Extreme,
You know darn well you would not want someone hunting out of your stand. If you came out to hunt and someone was sitting there, you know an argument would take place.
No worries, I won't be stepping on your public land to hang a stand next to you.
This is the number one reason I won't hunt public lands. All the personal views on what is right or wrong. Nobody will ever agree totally, and it just ends up where this thread has gone.
I have seen posts on FM in the past about peoples "run-ins" with other deer hunters on public land, and it doesnt go to well in some cases.
I have given up on hunting public lands for ducks in a lot of cases, because of the inconsideration of others. Its not worth the headaches to me.
I'm done. I'll just read now.

[jlm]

Ex-
Hey, too bad about the stand! This is a major risk with using public property. One suggestion I have for you is to purchase a good climbing stand. You can go ahead of time and prepare your tree and in the morning or evening, you can backpack your stand in and climb up the tree quickly and quietly. I love my climber and I take it with me out of the woods everytime with ease. Check them out and good luck with the upcoming season!

[Bogsucker]

We have gotten off the issue here that you're mad because someone stole the stand that you left in the woods last year. To answer your original 3 questions.

1)Thieves.

2) Probably not safe to leave a stand there after season.

3) Never had a stand stolen as I don't leave them in the woods. Actually I rarely use them.

[viking_fan]

FM does not advise destroying property. You may repost your point but please tone it down!

[This message has been edited by jlm (edited 08-25-2004).]

[Bogsucker]

By the way permanent stands are illegal on national forests, must be removed within 1 week of end of season, and discouraged on state forests and in fact from page 128 of the MN regs "Personal property
must be removed from State Forest lands."

[This message has been edited by Bogsucker (edited 08-25-2004).]

[viking_fan]

How about this !!!
If you find a tree stand take it down and leave a note that if they want it back you are bringing it to the DNR office in the area.
My bet is the DNR would end up having alot of tree stands for sale because pepole dont want the fine to go with it.

[10 poyntr]

Dead minnow cather, I agree with you. Nobody "deserves" a stand to be stolen if it's left up. What I may "deserve" is someone else sitting in it opening morning. I'm fully aware when I put up at stand on public land that someone else may locate it and sit in it. FINE! Just don't STEAL it! I"ve also been hunting for 30 years and have NEVER put a stand up where someone will find it. I'm very confident in my location, don't blaze trails to it, stay away from logging roads, and don't advertise my location. But, again, if someone manages to find it and uses it, well too bad for me.I'll take the chance that the 99% of hunters will leave it alone. Yeah, there is low life out there looking for the easy way out and will hunt anywhere. Doesn't anyone like to scout anymore and find there little nook somewhere? I like the comparison to someone leaving their keys in their car and "deserving" to have it stolen! By who? People we look up to? NO, people with no care for their fellow man.

[ricqik]

As much I as like to hunt private land no land owner had ever said yes to me. I know why but don't ask me why.

Now this is only for public land:
Here's what I do every season since I hunt soely on public land. If I want a particular area, I'll be there 2hrs before shooting light or well early in the evening. 10-15min to get ready and packed whenI get there, 10-15min to get to the tree, 10-15min to set up and sit in stand and the last remaining time to sit quietly and let everything settle and calm down. I've said it before and I'll say it again, public land is a first come first serve basis. If anyone should show up at an area and find someone else already there please move on. You all know it takes time to set up a treestand in the mourning so plan to be there earlier. It's frustrating when another hunter shows up and see's you but still sets up their stand within 50-60yds. Same with those who set up their stand previous nights/days and leaves it there. You find the perfect area and planned to be there after a day or two and early in the mourning after you have settled and all is quiet, you see another hunter come and sits in his stand he hung the day before close to where you are, worse he's right where you expect the deer to come from. It's just plain wrong to hang your stand the night before or earlier. No matter how you enterprit it, you are reserving a spot and it's wrong. Kind of like if you show up at the lake and see someones fishing rod and reel laying next to the water and later they show up and said it's their spot.

[Bogsucker]

ricqik,

I agree 100%.

[deadminnowcatcher]

What about leaving a stand up on public land for the purpose of bear hunting. The stand would not be "Reserving" the spot because the spot is already reserved by the hunter placing a sign and registering the bait location. And then taking the stand down when you do not intend on hunting anymore for the season and you take your sign down

[wannafishto]

Couple years ago, dad and I were deer hunting on public land in the Bemidji area. we have hunted there for about 10 years now. After the DNR stated that no more permanent stands could be used on public lands, we invested in several ladder stands and placed them in the area we hunt. I was using one and had shot a deer and we were traking it when another hunter appeared and started yelling at us that we had interrupted his hunt and that he had been hunting there for 15 years and so on and so forth. He used alot of profanity and actually made the statement to my dad that "he should be careful as he may get shot"! We turned the guy in to the local PD. It turns out he is a local SCHOOL TEACHER and when the police spoke to him he claimed that I (female) had made threats to him also. The PD refused to file charges as they said it was my word against his, even tho dad was right there. My father is 73 years old, and I could not believe that this guy would actually threaten him! Anyway, the point is, we don't hunt that section of the woods anymore, but this same guy built a HUGE permanent stand right where I had the ladder placed that season. Not only did is he a poor example of a sportsman, but he clearly violates the law at every chance he gets.
Dad and I used to sit in unused perms if we came across one, but if the builder came by, we relinquished the stand to them, same as we would hope someone would do for us back when we had perms. But, if the person wants to sit in the stand, we have NO right to ask them to vacate. Any stand on public land, perm or portable, can be used by whoever gets there first. As far as taking them from the woods, we chain and lock our ladders to avoid that, but if someone gets there before us there is really nothing we can do except be disappointed. Most hunters will vacate if asked politely. And, I actually prefer to know who is also hunting in the area and where for safety reasons. I just wish everyone felt the same. CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG? Let's not dampen the experience of a wonderful day in the woods by bringing the wrong attitudes out there with us, let's swap stories instead!