Public Land Permanent Deer Stands?

[Wanderer]

Nicely said Craig S.

Hopefully this will be my last wind on the subject because I realized I didn't answer Shackbash's original question.

What happens if a CO catches you in a stand that IS illegal?

You will be cited. I discussed this with a CO a couple years ago. If you are on it, in it, or are making personal use of and illegal item on public land it becomes yours, no matter who put it there. And don't get caught by someone elses bait.

So I took a pass on the stunning vista atop a ridge in a partially logged area of County land that needs to be manned with 200 yd rifle. I don't know if the person who prehung the portable on one part of the ridge put up the other two stands to make it look like 3 people were covering it. I don't know if he left the pickle buckets with empty corn bags stuffed in them. I don't know if there really is corn piled or scattered out there.

But worst of all, I don't know if the CO knows and is planning a hunt of his own on opening morning. In my mind that beautiful spot is OFF LIMITS to me.

[Craig_S]

And for you, Lip_Ripper Guy, is why I post my feelings and the legal truth. You should feel completely comfortable hunting for the first time on public land. Any public land.

I wish I could say your experience will be the best, and your birth right to those public lands will be fulfilled.

Truth is that some Minnesota hunters have adopted a culture where you may be confronted for hunting somebodies percieved territory on public land. And to me, that is very wrong.

The good news is that there is a huge amount of public land available in Minnesota. I suggest you do some homework. Buy some maps. Scout ahead. And be prepared to walk some distance to your hunting area. Truth is that there are huge areas of public hunting lands in Minnesota that never see a hunter. Seek and you will find.

Craig

[BLACKJACK]

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One guy has that public deer funnel locked up for 25 years because he nailed up some 2x4's. Thats why its a sore spot.

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Wanderer nailed the issue right there!!! Public land means open to all, not just open to the first squatter with 2x4's.

[Black_Bay]

What's the difference between an unoccupied portable hanging in a tree and an unoccupied permanent stand in the same tree? To me someone hanging a portable before season and a permanent are the same thing. They both "stake a claim" in my opinion. The only way around around what some consider a problem is for the state to make it mandatory for all stands to be removed everyday. Personally I don't think permanents are a big deal. That's my 2 cents and you get what you pay for.

[Shack]

Thanks Wanderer,

I figured as such!

[luckey]

colonel42,

Let us know how it worked out with the 9 new guys in your area. Any incidences? Harmony? Issues?

[Shack]

Lip_Ripper Guy,

Go out and do not think twice about what you are doing is wrong, because someone strong arms you into thinking else wise!

I may have respect and pass up a permanent stand, to avoid a conflict opening morning! BUT! If I walk under or near someone on public lands on the way to the area I want to hunt, it will be a nice smile and a friendly hand wave is all they will get from me!

9 times out of 10, the person on public land in a stand will not do anything! They may be mad, but they do nothing! What can they do, its

public land!

[jbdragon17]

What is worse?? Someone who gets out in the woods and scouts a nice place to build a stand weeks or months in advance, or the guy who shows up Saturday morning on foot and just starts be-bopping around hoping to find a place to sit?

Everyone knows there will be people out hunting in either permanent stands or portables on state land. I think it is EXTREMELY rude to go wandering about in areas you may be unfamiliar with not really knowing if there is someone hunting there.

Put in some time and scout a place before hand. If you do that there shouldnt be any problems weather you use a permanent stand or a portable. There is a LOT of room out there and it shouldnt be too difficult to find a place no one else will be.

[Heartman]

Wanderer, your explanation is accurate and spot-on relative to the issue. As more hunters crowd into shrinking public opportunity(read good deer spots), a permanent stand effectively shuts down certain spots to hunters from the outside. Would I head to someone else's permanent stand in the dark opening day? No, but if I stumble on an unoccupied permanent stand while still hunting I do not hesitate to climb in, taking a break in a good spot. I've never had somebody come and ask me to move from their permanent stand situated on public property, but if I do, I think I'll say no and just sit there.

I discussed this with a CO, and the stand builder can certainly ask me to leave - it's up to me to make the call. If I say no, that's that - if he asks me again, he's guilty of harassment, an unlawful event. Where I hunt I have cell coverage, with the CO's # on speed dial. I also carry a pencil and paper, always, and the first thing I do is get the hunter's name and address.

Don't like permanent stands on public property- never did, never will. Things have changed, and some people refuse to acknowledge the fact, living in the past.

[UdeLakeTom]

We have sort of that problem.....years ago, we built a stand on state owned land, not state forest or wma, just state owned land, and there are differences as far as the regs go...anyway the boundary was not exact, the stand is about 25 ft inside the state land...our fault, but we have kept it well maintained thoughout the 30+ years it has been there. About 5 years back, there was a hunter in the stand on opening weekend. When my neice went to use the stand, he told her she had to leave as he did a GPS on the stand and called the DNR and it was on state land, not private property and that he had been using that stand for years. She left. Was he telling the truth about using the stand all those years, I doubt it. However he was correct that he could use it. Although, he hasn't been back since.

[Lip_Ripper Guy]

How do you propose a person goes about finding where these people are sitting? There are no maps, no assigned areas or stands...I could have gone out 4 weeks ago, but on public land #1 I have no idea where people will be, and #2 it shouldn't matter since everyone shows up the morning of the hunt. There aren't supposed to be permanent stands built, and a portable left out is public property.

Don't get me wrong, I agree with you that it is rude and would never hunt out of someone's stand. I think the only real option that makes sense would be to allow climbing stands, or portable stands only, and they need to be removed each night. Otherwise you have the situation where a couple 2x4's lock up the area for 25 years.

[jbdragon17]

I normally do a lot of scouting while grouse hunting. Also use Google Earth. I think it is pretty easy to find a spot no one else hunts. The party I am in finds new places EVERY year. Normally we try new spots out with a portable before we build anything, and all of our permanent stands are near or on the private land we have.

[IRISHSOBNO4]

WHAT JBDRAGON17 SAID.

NOTHING WORSE THAN HAVING 10 GUY'S STUMBLING AROUND WITH FLASHLIGHTS AND SETTING UP RIGHT NEXT TO YOU.

I SCARED THE dump OUT OF A GUY A COUPLE YEARS AGO TRYING TO

PUT UP A LADDER STAND IN A TREE NOT MORE THAN 10 FEET FROM WHERE I WAS SITTING. NEEDLESS TO SAY I LEFT AND DON'T HUNT

THE AREA ANYMORE.

GET OUT SCOUT, AND GET UP EARLY TO GET YOUR SPOT!

[colonel42]

As of last Saturday no one showed. I really find it hard to believe anyone can just walk into an area and not have a spot picked out. Especially nine people. Who know the guy that said he leased the land is known for his talk. We will see Saturday. Should say others in our group will see I'm so far back in the woods I will see no one unless they are dropped off by helecoptor

[germanshorthairs]

I have one question. What about the guy/gal that does scout a new area and cannot find a spot other than one near an already built permanent? Is he/she out of luck? I don't think he/she should be? He/She has as much right to be there as the next. One needs to be very careful about asking someone else to leave the stand they built-it is called hunter harrassment and the DNR is not tolerating it. One of the main reasons the DNR is banning them on public land is that too many people are acting like they own public land. I understand it makes it tough to know were other hunters will be but a portable locked in a tree a week before the season works just great.

[vister]

any stand left overnight in state land is considered "public" so you may legally enter it and use it as your own. the regs state that you must remove your stand at night, when you leave, that is why they encourage portables. personally, i wouldn't sit in a portable stand if it was in the woods other than my own. cause i would respect the hunter who placed it there, granted he may be in the wrong, or just left it to go potty! but i would know it may have been placed there recently. guess i've never had to deal with it as i have never hunted public land for deer. just squirrels, and it turned into a heated argument with a muzzleloader who didn't think we belonged out there cause he was trying to hunt deer. tough hop, its public land. but anyways, if i walked across a permanent stand that looked like it was in a good spot and had been there for some time, early bird gets the worm you can bet i'd crawl up in it. may turn into a confrontation, but i know the regs. i can use it

[bigdog]

I would think it would be poor judgement on someones part to put up a stand nearby an existing stand that looks like it is being used. What you could expect is to have two people staring at each other and neither having a good hunt. If there are active stands in an area, move on and find another location.

I do not agree with banning permanent stands, perhaps ones with sides/roofs, but not simple platforms. When I scout I use those existing locations to plan where I can be without expecting company, whether I am in a portable or a permanent.

[brittman]

The issues with permanent stands from a public ownership perspective is destruction of property ($$$) not hunter issues. Permanent stands leave nails in the timber if not kill the tree. People building permanent stands are more likely to construct huge shooting lanes further damaging the value of the forest when cut again. When the issue was first brought up - some stands and spoked wheel shooting lanes could be seen in photos.

I hunted out of permanent stands in Itasca county public land for several years. When deer were sparse. As deer population rose, more hunters began to wander through.

I suspect even without permanent stands many areas would be taken by mob rule. Campers and people take over an access road Friday and set up ladder stands. That is public land.

I do a lot of grouse hunting and have noticed nearly all permanent stands are no longer maintained.

Hunt on private land past 4 years. We all use ladder stands - nothing built into trees no more.

[subzero]

I've hunted in way to many decades I guess, I agree with the scouting before season and can say that when I scouted in the 60's a stand was built out of the surrounding materials. But everyone who scouted knew where everyone was at because of the stands built. It may have been claiming a spot but there is no difference that I see with a portable being left out. They are both considered public and are both staking the area out. The difference today seem that more people don't know if someone is hunting a area and end up see a colorful woods at daylight because they did there scouting and are all in the best spot in the woods.

[Scott K]

I very seldom hunt public land, I hate the over crowded factor. When I am sitting in stand, I do not want to see any other orange, at all, if I do I yell!

The problem I see with perm stands is, I could build one, hunt it one day, then leave it there, and never use it again because I dont think it is any good. Now anyone else walking through the woods sees the stand, thinks there is someone hunting it, and passes up this spot, now if you have an unused stand every 100yds, thats going to be alot of places that are being so called reserved by someone who isnt even there! Now a portable, if I see one of them, I assume he is hunting that spot for sure, the perm, you could only guess if someone is going to be there or not!

I say ban perm stands on public land, if you want to build a perm, buy your own land, and build whatever you want! The portables now days are almost as nice as a perm anyway.

[Craig_S]

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I could build one, hunt it one day, then leave it there, and never use it again because I dont think it is any good. Now anyone else walking through the woods sees the stand, thinks there is someone hunting it, and passes up this spot

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Another Bingo! Some folks have 5 stands, only one butt. Four are vacant ALL THE TIME

A couple of points: I hunt various public land around the state. Where there's overcrowding, it's sometimes because the intrepid sport isn't willing to walk more than about 1/2 mile. And he often sticks to some sort of trail. There's lots of room. But you're going to have to work for it.

I don't think the guy who scouts has any more right to the public land than the guy that doesn't - or maybe can't. Ever think he might be some young fellow with two jobs and a new baby at home? He might not have the time. Good sportsman will smile, whisper G'day, and keep right on hunting. It's public land. And it might be deer season, but some kid might be trapping too. And has every bit as much right to walk by your stand to check his traps, as you have to hunt the deer. Smile and whisper G'day. It'll lower your blood pressure too. None of us needs that deer to eat. It's supposed to be enjoyable, remember?

And, you don't have a right to build a permy. Some folks just think they do because they've done it so long. The privilege to do so is fading fast.

Craig

[USPENAMC]

i hunt rum river state forest and I am guilty of USING a permanent stand that I DID NOT BUILD but i think no one else does because we have never EVER seen anyone pass by the area or stop by the area. last year we bought 2 stands so we used those two and one of us used a permanent stand. If someone ever showed up i would give it up. With the clearings they cut down last year one of the stands was taken down. So i am guilty of using a permanent stand but we go to the same exact spots every year for the past 4 years. I guess to each its own. whatever the case may be to all of you be safe, and good luck.

[Bassboy1645]

The type of guys I always see are the angry hungover type hillbilly people or the shiny new city people nothing against that but try sitting in their stand. I did this once when I was younger. it was midweek so I figured nobody would be in a stand I had found. Wrong. he comes in at about 8am looking pretty drunk or hungover one or both of the two. When he saw me he said to get the "F" out of "his" stand. I calmly explained to him that it was considered public property with the intention of getting down anyways. but i hadnt moved when I said this at which point he unslung his rifle. There was that certain look to him that scares me. I didnt report this incident and I took a gamble confront the hunter. Point is I dont trust angry stangers with guns.

I hunt public land mainly all season even for bow. trick here is work for your animals. Go the extra mile or two literally! Go through the woods and into swamps where the four wheeler cant go. Then scout around or hunt. Youll be by yourself for the most part and can have some supurb unpressured hunts. Water makes it easier than one thinks to escape the crowds via duck boat or canoe or even waders. Good luck guys!

[maros91]

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rum river state forest

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I was going to take my dad, wife, and I there for opener. I was grouse hunting there a couple weeks ago and found 3 spots and found no permy's in the area. I told myself next chance I get I would put out those tacks that glo when you put your flaslight on them to find my way back to the area. The next chance I got was today at 9 a.m. I went to the first spot and found a guy hung a portable and took out the tree steps right were I was going to put my wife. I was going to put her on the ground next to a big fallen tree. Next spot was my dads. Pretty much the same story except the guys portable had screw in steps going up. I get to my place and somebody built a huge permy that could seat 5 people and had carpet hanging down all sides of it. I got ticked off and left. I will put all 3 of us on land I got permission to bowhunt. It is only big enough for 2 at the most. Deer hunting on public land stinks. I will have to go to the Gunflint near Grand Marais to get away from the crowd.

[ZOOM]

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It's public land. And it might be deer season, but some kid might be trapping too. And has every bit as much right to walk by your stand to check his traps, as you have to hunt the deer

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GOOD Call