Luck ran out this weekend!

[leech~~]

Well after hunting on public land for 30+ years without an issue, our luck ran out this weekend when myself and one other in our hunting party found our ladder stands cables cut and stands gone!

Really sucks a week before opener but at least we found out this weekend and made other arangements for opener with back up stands.

The wives are like "I would file a police report"!

We're like, which tree out of the millons of acres do you want the police to start looking for them on honey?

Oh well part of the game when on public land. I'm feeling pretty lucky after all these years that it only happened once!

Good luck to everyone next weekend and may you not walk into an empty tree!

[Todd Caswell]

Really makes me wonder what people are thinking. I have never been walking through the woods seen a stand and thought about stealing it, now you have me wondering if we should be packing extra stands on friday, we put them up last weekend, acually have left a few in the woods for the past 6 years. And I know other people use them during the archery and muzzzy season and thats fine..

[tunrevir]

Never a bad idea to have extra stands with just in case! climbing sticks as well!

Tunrevir~

[kgpcr4]

Maybe you should not leave your stands on public land?? That's like claiming your turf. If I wanted to hunt that area what am I to think? You are really locking up that land for the whole season. Stealing a stand is low. Very low!!!

[boXCar JiggY]

pretty sad when ya have to start toting along an extra stand cause the one u set might not be there. Maybe I can convince the wife we need another ice castle in case the one we set up is gone when we get there.

[leech~~]

Maybe you should not leave your stands on public land?? That's like claiming your turf. If I wanted to hunt that area what am I to think? You are really locking up that land for the whole season. Stealing a stand is low. Very low!!!

There are 1,000's upon 1,000's of acres of state land out there. Go do the work and scout out a hunting area. No reason to sit side by side!

[delcecchi]

Looking at the regs, it appears the practice of leaving stands overnight is prohibited....

Quote:

Elevated Stands:

A person may not construct, occupy, or use any

elevated scaold or other elevated device for the purpose of hunting,

watching, or killing wild animals, except that portable stands may be

used if they are removed each day at the close of hunting hours and do

no permanent damage. Prior to the opening day of archery deer

season, portable stands may be left overnight in a wildlife manage

ment area by a person with a valid bear license who is hunting within

100 yards of a bear bait site that is legally tagged and registered. e

licensee’s name and address, or drivers license number, or MNDNR

number must be axed to the stand in such a manner that it can be

read from the ground

Maybe a CO took it?

[harvey lee]

It is sad that others have to take anothers property.

I have had 1 Lone Wolf climber stolen out of tree's on private property, and 1 other.

I guess that is the way it is nowaday's

Just pain sucks.

[TylerS]

Looking at the regs, it appears the practice of leaving stands overnight is prohibited....

Maybe a CO took it?

That's a pretty interesting point. It does appear illegal. So even if someone stole it, could they be prosecuted given the stands weren't supposed to be there over night in the first place?

[MUSKY18]

I don't think what Leech was posting about was the fact that he had his stand on public land......but more so the sheer fact that someone has such a low character value that they need to steal another persons property. If you want stands of your own and don't have them, work hard, save your money and go buy some like all of us other hunters have done.

[NoWiser]

Del,

I believe those rules apply to Wildlife Management Areas. I'm guessing it's more likely Leech was hunting state or national forest land, which have different rules.

I personally like it when people set their stands up ahead of time. It lets you know where they plan on hunting. I'd rather be a little disappointed a week before the season seeing someone is hunting an area I had in mind than to get there opening morning and see 4 orange blobs within 200 yards. Yes, I know public land is public land and everyone has the same right to it, but I was raised to respect other peoples areas and to move on if I found a stand. I expect the same, but maybe it's too much to ask these days.

Sorry your stands got stolen, Leech. That's low.

[laker1]

I think anybody who steals a stand should be banned from hunting for so many years.

That said rules vary from different public land,Wildlife Management areas,DNR AMA stands should be removed daily. If the rules were broke the stands should be removed.

Many counties allow portable stands to stay during the deer season,than removed shortly after.

National forests and state lands have their own rules.

I do hate it when I see a growing trend of some people buying multible ladder stands than bolting them to trees and leaving them year around on county land(cass couty etc.) that says it is completely illegal.

On the above case I know so little of the facts,like I said if it is a case of stealing stands by other so called hunters,than their hunting license should be revolked.

[nofishfisherman]

Looking at the regs, it appears the practice of leaving stands overnight is prohibited....

[CANOPY SAM]

Honestly, I wouldn't leave any type of portable stand on public land of any kind.

Would you leave your digital camera sitting on the gate post and expect it to still be there when you get back? How about your portable fish house? Would you leave this set up on public land for weeks on end and expect it to be there when you return to collect it?

I think, and please understand this is just my opinion, that you may be just a little too trusting. Setting up portable stands on any and all public lands may not be illegal, but I'm quite sure that it's greatly discouraged....primarily for the two reasons already mentioned here.

1) A portable stand is designed to be just that. Set it up, use it, and take it down at the end of the day. Permanently cabled to a tree it now becomes a permanent stand, and as such the owner is basically laying claim to that piece of property, only the owner of the stand doesn't own the property. An entire array of disputes could potentially arise out of this scenario.

2) How can anyone claim ownership of the stand if it does get stolen? It's been abandoned on public land.

Now don't get me wrong here. I'm not saying it's okay to take someone's stand. I too think that it's wrong, but it's a very difficult argument to win if you've intentionally secured the stand on public land.

For all practical purposes anyone could be sitting in that stand on opening day, and there isn't a darn thing the owner could do about it. And we likely all know how that scenario went awry in Wisconsin several years ago. A confrontation like this, with all parties holding high powered firearms, can go very wrong, very fast.

I wouldn't be even a little surprised if CO's cut down you stands. Make a call to your local DNR office and ask em. They'll tell you.

I've had stands stolen off of private property! It's a real kick in the head when you're headed out there to hunt only to find your stands gone.

[delcecchi]

It wasn't clear to me if it was just WMA or not. Here is what it says about State Forest land.

Quote:

state Forests

State forest lands are generally open for hunting and other types of

outdoor recreation. Hunting on private land within a state forest is subject

to state trespass laws. A partial summary of state forest use regulations is

included below. A complete listing is available from the DNR.

Elevated Stands

•The use of portable tree stands is recommended, especially those

which can be secured without driving nails into trees. Nails are a

safety hazard for woodcutters and harm the forest.

•Personal property must be removed from State Forest lands.

•it is illegal to destroy state property, including the cutting of trees for

shooting lanes.

•Littering and erecting permanent buildings are prohibited.

•Any permanent unoccupied stand or blind on public land is public

and not the property of the person who constructed the stand.

Sounds sort of ambiguous to me. If someone puts a portable up, how long does it have to be there to be considered permanent? What does "remover personal property" mean?

It was bad for an individual to take the stand, which is most likely what happened. But putting one up way early was taking a risk and pushing the boundaries of the rules.

[leech~~]

Del,

I believe those rules apply to Wildlife Management Areas. I'm guessing it's more likely Leech was hunting state or national forest land, which have different rules.

I personally like it when people set their stands up ahead of time. It lets you know where they plan on hunting. I'd rather be a little disappointed a week before the season seeing someone is hunting an area I had in mind than to get there opening morning and see 4 orange blobs within 200 yards. Yes, I know public land is public land and everyone has the same right to it, but I was raised to respect other peoples areas and to move on if I found a stand. I expect the same, but maybe it's too much to ask these days.

Sorry your stands got stolen, Leech. That's low.

Spot on NoWiser, it was state forest land not a Wildlife Management Areas as the rule quoted above pertains to. We also use them for Bow hunting so it's not like we throw them up ahead of rifle just to block off an area.

[BoxMN]

You can legally leave a stand or camera or anything for that matter, on State Land (not WMA) for 14 days. Once there for over 14 days it is assumed abandoned. Now how is someone to know how long, I know... I asked this question of the DNR enforcement division and also asked if I "moved it" even a couple feet, if I would then have another 14 days, and they said yep, I am okay.

That won't keep people from stealing it, but at least it would not be "abandoned" and you are legal. You were legal leech, as you likely know and so are folks who leave "portable" stands on (not all but most) State Forest Land and most county land. Until 14 days, at which time you are a litterer and someone can take it legally.

[brittman]

Times change and things evolve. 18 years ago I was hunting tax forfeited land in a permanent stand. Now we do not even use permanent stands on private land.

Rules on permanent stands, portable stands, will constantly evolve especially on public land.

It is not just stands that "reserve" a spot in the woods. Often large groups of hunters park and camp on trail heads thereby reserving the areas for themselves. It is what it is

[ozzie]

I hate to hear that someone stole your stands!! I have had it happen but mine was on private property and that hurts more!!! Personally I can't stand showing up to a public land weeks in advance to scout and see stands placed already...to me it basically is claiming public land. My feeling is that a stand should be able to be placed 24 hours prior to hunting and then should not be able to be left unattended for more than 24 hours straight. So basically you would have to hunt that stand daily and if you do you can keep it up until the end of the season if you aren't going to be there for a day or two then you must remove the stand from the woods. This way people know where active stands are and it becomes first come first serve not I have been hunting this spot for the last 30 years so beat it....also I think we should have to mark our stands with DNR #'s so that if you trash an area you can be held accountable!!! Can't stand to find a nice hunting place then find someone has a stand placed and then there is trash all around it or a bunch of trees cut down

[Todd Caswell]

I'm with others in that I would rather have someone put their stands up ahead of time, rather than waiting until Friday or opening morning, we have never had anything stolen yet, but I have had guys come in and put stands up within plain sight of me during prime time, last year I knew the guy had seen me so I got down, politely showed him where my stand was 75 yards away, told me if I wasn't comfortable with him being there I should move. OK left my stand and moved to another one. That night well after dark I went back in and set 2 different battery operated alarm clocks 100 yards from his stand one in front one in back. Alarm #1 7:05, # 2 8:05. About 845 I heard him start his rig up and leave, never seen him again.

[nofishfisherman]

That night well after dark I went back in and set 2 different battery operated alarm clocks 100 yards from his stand one in front one in back. Alarm #1 7:05, # 2 8:05. About 845 I heard him start his rig up and leave, never seen him again.

Are you saying you set up alarm clocks to intentionally sabatoge his hunt?

I get that him setting up that close is frustrating but going even lower than him doesn't solve anything. In reality someone could probably argue that you're guilty of hunter harassment if you intentionally set out to ruin his hunt. No wonder public land can be such a problem when you got this kind of garbage going on. What ever happened to being the bigger man and just walking away?

[FearNoFish]

Todd I think that is called HUNTER HARASSMENT and you can get in trouble for that, so be care full on how much you want to tell folks.

[CANOPY SAM]

That story is a little hard to believe Todd. If you really did do this, frankly, that's pretty bottom of the barrel tactics.

Seriously? Alarm clocks? How does anyone even think up stuff like this?

[Bear55]

I hunt all public land and while we all have a right to hunt anywhere we want we also should understand there are some unwritten rules and we all need a little space to enjoy ourselves. I don't think there is a way to put rules in place to make it fair and balanced for everyone and if we leave this kind of stuff up to the state we are just asking for trouble. I can already envision a 50 page treestand handbook full of new rules and regs.

Some might think it would be ideal if everyone packed their stands in and out every day, that sounds great but I'm not sure its the best idea for the very young and old hunters. I either use a climber or a hang on with sticks every time I hit the woods archery season. It's a lot of work and you are opening up the young and old to accidents. Yes ladder and perm stands are dangerous too and you can get up a tree safely with other stands but not everyone will follow those rules and get hurt, others yet aren't physically able to pull off the things other hunters are. Again no right or wrong answers but we have to keep everyone in mind here.

I didn't like others leaving stands up on public at first but now I like to know where everyone hunts so I can avoid them at all costs. Some people don't mind hunting with others, some of us hate it and are willing to do what it takes to get away. I've known many groups of guys who left their traditional hunting ground because it got too thick with hunters, if you don't want to see anyone else there are places you can go to do it but it takes work. At the same time guys hunting the same land for years need to back off, its not your territory and there is no reason to start a conflict over a deer. We just need to find and balance and govern ourselves a bit, leave the attitude at home and be as friendly as possible. If you run into a ******* don't let the guy ruin your hunt, best to keep your distance anyway and go somewhere else.

[leech~~]

I hate to hear that someone stole your stands!! I have had it happen but mine was on private property and that hurts more!!! Personally I can't stand showing up to a public land weeks in advance to scout and see stands placed already...to me it basically is claiming public land. My feeling is that a stand should be able to be placed 24 hours prior to hunting and then should not be able to be left unattended for more than 24 hours straight. So basically you would have to hunt that stand daily and if you do you can keep it up until the end of the season if you aren't going to be there for a day or two then you must remove the stand from the woods. This way people know where active stands are and it becomes first come first serve not I have been hunting this spot for the last 30 years so beat it....also I think we should have to mark our stands with DNR #'s so that if you trash an area you can be held accountable!!! Can't stand to find a nice hunting place then find someone has a stand placed and then there is trash all around it or a bunch of trees cut down

Better yet!

I think the DNR should setup Deer stands all over the state like Lac qui parle Goose blinds and we should have to draw for them so they know just who is out there and make it all fair for everyone because some people can't afford to spend all kinds of time & money scouting like others and it's just not fair to them!!!