In all honesty, who leaves thier stands up overnight on public land?

[catman71]

I take my stand down and leave my steps in every night.

I know it is the law but it seems like people don't comply and COs don't enforce it.

What do you do? It basically ruins a morning hunt to be banging around putting up a stand but I still do it.

[Kodiak]

do you use the climbing sticks or the strap on steps? i take my stand down it is a pain, i wish they would change the rule. I would love to be able to lock it up there and hope no one steals it because carrying it in everytime is no fun. I even take my sticks down too.

[catman71]

I have a climbing stand I use most days, otherwise I have the screw in steps. You can still use screw in steps on public land, can't you?

[Kodiak]

no if it is wma or wpa, or federal land

[Powerstroke]

You only have to remove your staqnd nightly if it is on a WMA. Stand removal is not required if you hunt state forests.

[harvey lee]

I dont hunt public land very often,but if I did I would pull my stand.I hunt almost all private and on a place in North Dakota with a 1000 acres to hunt I have to pull some stands close to the permiter as I have had stands stolen.If you want to always have your stand to use I would not leave it on public land overnight.

[Ely Lake Expert]

We have one big two-man heavy duty portable that we leave up just because its to hard to get down. But the real question is if know one knows where it is, is it really there?

[matthothand]

I have multiple stands locked up in the woods on public land. I buy the cheapo stands so i can deal with a stolen stand easier. Also with multiple stnds in the woods I have plans 'B' and 'C' etc. if I discover one to be missing. I have had three stolen in three years but I still leave em up. It's worth it to me to buy a new cheap stand in the off season on clearance rather than lug in a stand and possibly steps of some sort if it's not a climber.

[Code-Man]

I put my stand high enough that I can put a bike lock on it and that if you pull it down there is a big branch. Figured if they want it that bad to bring a saw out there and cut it and take it they can have it. But I do have mine up there over night.

[Whoaru99]

Another consideration of leaving on public land is that if you do leave it, and someone chooses to sit in it, there isn't a darn thing (legally) that you can do about it. Except maybe curse, complain, and find another spot...

[ricqik]

Take your stand down at the end of the day. It sucks for most of us who obey the law to get there in the morning set-up and then only to watch you(those that leave their stands on WMA) walk toward us, get ready to climb into your now illegally set stand, get whistle at, which now usually ruins both yours and my hunt. Those who are more considerate and do leave or move down further, thank you. Those who are a-holes just climbs right in cuz they think they found the spot first because they have their stand already there. when the sun comes up, I'm should just start taking every stand I see from my stand or know it been there overnite. After all if left overnite on WMA it is considered abandond.

[Swill]

Is it me or is deer hunting on public land a mess? I have tried all this fall to find the perfect public land hunting spot that is "untouched" by others or at least out of the way,and it is next to impossible.

What is up with leaving your stands on public land? I know hauling in all your gear can be a pain, but is it not public land? So why get upset if someone steals you stand? Are you not stealing public usage of a piece of land that is open for all hunters on a first come basis?

Is this only a problem in MN because we don't have enough public land available for hunters? What about the far northern areas of MN?

I would be all for leaving stands in public areas if there were 100's of options, but when a guy hangs his stand and is only planning on hunting sat / sunday, that really wrecks is for the rest of us who could hunt on a Thursday afternoon.

Sounds like people are just selfish because they want that spot for themself, or lazy because it is too much work to haul in their gear each and every time.