Permanent Deer Stands on Public land

[Benny]

Well said, and about right on the money.

Benny

[echotrail]

For the record I would like to see perm. stands removed from public land also. Reason: I don't care how carefuly they have been built they are foreign objects in the natural setting, and for the most part, the old ones are not removed by the builder but just abandoned. (Like plastic trail ribbons) A hunter goes to a specific area because he/she believes they have an increased chance to fill their tag there. If Benny, or anyone else is using a stand or ground posting by a trail and a second hunter comes into the area, sees the first hunter and stays nearby it's because they have the same success beliefs but are too frustrated, stuborn, egotistical or stupid to move on. The problem is the ethics of the second arriving hunter. If the stand builder/user is the second to arrive then they should move on even if the stand is empty. The stand is the excuse for for having to be there and nowhere else. If you remove the excuse (The stand) the problem remains, the eithics. Everyone needs to have plan b, and c etc. Whew....that was a long climb to the top of the soap box!

[tripper]

Benny, if you are referring to me as being one of those trying to stir things up I appolgise to all of you, it has not been my intention.

As I have said maybe because I have so meny disabled relatives and older freinds (like your dad) I see more clearly how these different rule changes affect their ablility to go enjoy the out doors to the best of their ability.

OK, I'll get off the band wagon.

[Cooter]

I view it as first come first serve. If there is someone in the area, even if I have a permanent there, I'm going elsewhere. Likewise, if no one is in an area, I'll put up my treestand or sit as close to that permanent as I want. If someone comes and sits in it I'm gonna get upset and they're gonna realize that in a hurry. Of course, you always try being polite and nice at first.

[Benny]

No tripper your not the one I was refering to.

I won't go into details as to who I was refering to, but it looks as though they have left after chiming in with a new alias and taking a shot at my family.

I doubt it was any one of you who are civial and know who to write your opinion and not bash the other for his.

In all truth be told it realy doesn't matter to me one way or the other as I hunt on the ground in a chair any way.

But I do see a need for a safe reasonable stand for the older hunters or the physicaly chalenged who just wouldn't have fun sitting on the ground in the freezing cold we had the last few openers.

One of my thoughts isn't so much about banning stands or not , but that we are so devided and are realy playing right into the hands of the people who would love to ban hunting all together.

The bigger this arguement gets and the more attention it recieves from the media will only hurt hunting in the long run.

We simply have to get our legislature to include a law to be voted on by the public in a future election.Majorty rules and then we live together in the woods as happy hunters regaurdless of the out come.

Benny

[BLACKJACK]

ECHO, I think you hit the problem on the head, or at least half of it. One of the big problems with permanent stands is the stand builder 'claiming' that piece of property. It should be first come first serve to a spot but the problem is that 9 times out of 10, the stand builder is going to climb into his stand regardless if someone else is already in a stand nearby. Then angry words result and degrade the hunt for everyone.

The second bad part about deer stands is that most of them get to be eyesores after awhile and no one ever tears down old ones and hauls the junk out of the woods. Maybe the idea that has surfaced that you have to have your name and address on a treestand has some merit, it would make people accoutable for their leftover junk.

Deer stand advocates keep comparing deerstands to fishhouses, but one major difference is that a fishhouse can be set up 10 feet away from another and both could still have success, but having 2 hunters 10 feet apart deer hunting won't work for obvious reasons.

[lawdog]

Quote:

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We simply have to get our legislature to include a law to be voted on by the public in a future election.Majorty rules and then we live together in the woods as happy hunters regaurdless of the out come.

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HUH???? Ummmm Benny, FYI, the public doesn't vote on laws, the legislature adopts them. The only thing the public votes on is constitutional amendments.

Besides, with all your voluminous jarbled posts, its not at all clear what you think should be in this law. The one thing that does seem quite clear though is that your thesis on this issue really isn't about stands at all, but rather about claiming areas of public ground and the conflict that arises when other people have the audacity to think they too can use public land...

[bigbucks]

lawdog, I agree with most of your post, public land is public, people have to try to be fair & courteous. The cruxt of this discuss really isn't about permanent stands. Your ending is pretty antagonist toward's Benny though I'd have to say.

Benny, the bottom line is if you hunt public land sometimes your hunt will be ruined by other hunters who have a right to be there. Sometimes it will be purely an accident & the other person will correct it as well as they can & you shouldn't gripe about that, even though it's still frustrating. Sometimes the person messing up your hunt, may be rude & a jerk, that's the part these discussions hopefully help to lessen. I understand your point about having hunted the same area of public land for years, even decades, & can understand wanting to continue to hunt there, but it's public, other people still have a right to be there. Let's say hypothetically (sp), that I moved up in your area & discovered your "little piece of heaven" so to speak. Maybe I bowhunt, so I decide to hunt it during the week a few times when you're not there, of course I have no idea who "you" is or if "you" even still live around here. I see some deer, I'm looking for a spot to hunt opening firearms. I think, well maybe whoever's been hunting here moved, or doesn't hunt opener around here, or works weekends, or only hunts muzzleloader, etc. It's the one place in my new home area that I've discovered holds deer. Why wouldn't I be out there opening weekend? Now if you show up or are there when I get there, I'm going to be frustrated too, although not surprised, but also courteous while trying to find a place to hunt near there that will be fair to both of us. I realize that may not be how others have handled it, & if they didn't do it something along those lines they were probably rude, but if they did that act that way, what have they done wrong? All I'm saying & most of the other guys too, is that we have to share even when it's no fun.

It's no different than when you find a new fishing spot on a lake. Let's say you've been seeing boats on a spot pretty consistently that you've never fished, so you're a smart guy, some morning you get out there real early during the week to check it out & you hammer the fish. Now it's become one of your spots. You shouldn't go push other boats of it if there on it before you, they shouldn't do the same to you. If it's a spot of some size there's nothing wrong with multiple boats fishing it, neither person has the right to hog it or shove someone else off it either.

Sorry I wasn't that concise, it's not a simple subject, but I appreciate the discussion.

[Benny]

Let's look at this now from a little different angle.

The law says a stand on public land is open to the public, and any one can use it if they get there before some one else.

So why then would people want to ban them if they can just get there before the person who built it and have use of a nice stand with out paying any money for materials or using thier weekend time off to build it?

I am not talking about the eye sore ones, or banning them because some attorney thinks he is gods gift to the hunting world and can't stand seeing them in the woods.

Just simpley the argument about stands representing the view that the area is already claimed by the builder.

Benny

[dkhntr]

I honestly dont think I would have a problem with them if they were taken down every year. One of the problems I see is they get bad, rot unstable. The owner stops hunting there, and they are just left. Then it turns into junk in a tree. If they had to be liscensed like Bear stand/bait. I probably wouldnt mind. Then there is someone to go after to clean it up.

[Cooter]

Just want to stress my simple solution of first come first serve. Don't matter if there are permanents all over the place, they are not a reservation to that chunk of woods. Give some respect to your fellow hunters, I have never seen a public land situation where there isn't another place just as good to hunt a couple hundred down the road. Must be getting mean in my old age

[tripper]

cooter, getting mean is a sighn of having put your hand or foot in your own set to meny times. lol Had to take my bro. out of one of his sets a few years ago. He triped as he walked up to it and put his good leg in the trap, it worked perfect.

[M.T. Bucket]

I'm against permanent deer stands on public land.

- Whether intended to or not, they act as a "claim" on that area. Most people will not hunt where someone else has placed a permanent. I once ran into a candid old guy who was building a condominium of a deer stand on a public tract--I think it was state. He told me that he had 8 stands on that parcel, but none on his own land...didn't need 'em there. Noone in their right mind would try hunting that publicly owned 40. He was deliberately placing lots of stands on public land adjacent to his to keep others off and "extend" his back yard.

- They're an eyesore, especially when along hunter/hiking trails like we have around here.

- They rarely ever get removed when they become dilapidated. This is litter. You can't just throw a bunch of canvas, a lawn chair, a bucket, some nails, and treated plywood anywhere else in the woods, so why up in a tree?

- The trees that the stand is attached to are damaged, trees cut for shooting lanes are damaged, evergreens that have boughs cut for camoflage are damaged, and foreign objects are left in trees for someone else to discover with a saw later. Noone else can do this stuff without a permit.

- Many people with permanent deer stands create illegal ATV trails to those stands.

- There is no way to regulate the stands without COs hiking around during deer season and finding whoever is sitting in them. Because of this, someone can place as many stands as he wants--definitely something that could get out of hand.

[koWALLEYEski]

I also think perm stand should be removed from public land. I mean it is a hastle taking a stand down every time you go out but i have had incounters with some real ***holes. Excuse my lang. I have a story about public water. We were out hunting divers last fall. We went out to our normal spot that we have hunted for years. There was about 4 dozen bluebill decoys already set up so we just kept out dekes in the boat. We hunted over the decoys for a couple hours and then got chewed out by the owners of the dekes. I am just wondering what you guys what have done?

[Benny]

First off was the owner out there in his blind?

If they were not out there and it was public water then they were breaking the law.You can not leave deks unattended, even if for a short while.

I am not positive but there may even be a set distance you have to remain from the deks set to not get a ticket.

Now if it was me I would have motored on to a different spot, just because of the fact that the person might have been a lunatic and started blasting at you.

I also would have called the CO to report unattended deks.

Benny

[koWALLEYEski]

Thanks, I really never knew the rules about unattended dekes. Thanks A lot

[markharden]

I like permnent stand on publik land..give the place charactrs..make it look sweet

mark harden

[koWALLEYEski]

mark, what the heck

[lawdog]

He's a troll dude. Just ignore him.

[Mark Christianson]

I agree.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Just wanted to cast my vote.

Against perm stands.

[wooly1]

IMO - if perms are allowed - there should be a size limit, say 50 sq.ft. using natural material, i.e. untreated lumber. No shooting lanes further out than 30 yards. Also no walls and no roof. Minimal impact.

My 2 cents.