If you put a stand on public land, is it still your stand?

[Horner]

I have a few hang on stands hanging on public hunting land.  I always take my steps out, at the base of the trees.  I have had stands hanging out for two years on this land.  This past gun season I took my muzzle loader and hit the woods.  I walked past one of my stand locations, and there was someone in my stand!  I wanted to ask him what he was doing but thought about it, and there was no way to prove it was my stand.  So I just walked by and continued my hunt.  After gun season I waited a month, to let the deer settle down before I went back out bow hunting.  I went to go hunt that stand location and the stand was gone.  I was mad at the time, but then thought its my falt for putting it up to begin with.  I guess I just had to much faith in my fellow hunters.  I guess since I did not say hay that is my stand, and no one else said anything to him.  He just thought it was his.  

Your thoughts please,
Horner

[ozy clint]

that sucks!  :(  

leave a note on your stands saying "smile your on one of my trail cams"

[Curveman]

No, he knew he was stealing. In my state (MA) the regs clearly stipulate that while you can not claim a hunting area as yours; they do ask that hunters be respectful of one another. Your property is still considered as your property.

That guy who stole your stand should be beaten and put it stocks in the public square!

[rastaman]

i've had the same thing happen on "private" land. i've never left a stand up on public land unless i knew i would be up and on it before anyone else had a chance....but never for more than a day.  i think you were probably lucky they stayed up as long as they did.

[vermonster13]

In Vermont you need to have your name, address and phone number on any stand you put on public land. Also it's first come first served if you leave a stand on public land as far as using it. Leaving one up for two years on public land is just begging for it to be gone. A fellow may have thought it was abandoned and took it(there are places I hunt that stands have been hanging for twenty years never claimed)or stolen by someone not necessarily a hunter but likely.

[Curveman]

I locked mine this year but the GW told me that 5 stands had been stolen-they think by one guy who saw a particular hunting area as his. There are more horses asses than there are horses in the world!

[Morning Star]

 I have had stands hanging out for two years on this land.

Someone could have figured your stand was abandoned if they seen it there 2 years straight.

In my State you have to pull them at the end of season on State land and you can't leave them overnight on Federal land.  A warden may take them otherwise.  Some might even say they become trash if left beyond regulation time.

Leaving stands up on public land is a touchy subject IMO.  In essence you have claimed a hunting spot on a public purchased resource.  Many people take offense to that.  Though not a good enough reason to steal, that could explain why they took your stand.

I understand why people leave them up. Many people have no intent of claiming an area,   however some do .  Those are the guys that yank my chain.

It's a risky proposition.  Anymore, I personally prefer to be portable and take my stand with me each time I leave.  Keeps the controversy away, doesn't advertise my favorite spots and keeps maggots from stealing my stands.

[Winterhawk1960]

Bryan......that WAS your stand. I just don't understand the "ethics and morals" of some of today's hunters. In my hunting career, I have walked by to many treestands to even attempt to guess the number of. I have never and will never climb up in someone else's stand, whether it is on private or public land....unless I have the permission of the person that does own the stand.

Something that I have done though.....is to try and figure out WHY they made a decision to hang a stand there in the first place. Sometimes it is quite evident, and other times I haven't a clue. I guess you could say that I take each and every opportunity to learn, and this is one of the ways that I do.

I am absolutely certain that if I walked by a stand that I had hung and someone else was sitting in it, that a conversation would occur. Depending on how that conversation went, and also depending on whether I had planned on sitting that stand on that particular day or not would make the difference as to whether they continued to sit in MY stand. Public land or not, the property that they are occupying is yours.

To me it is just like parking my truck in a "public parking lot" and coming out of a store and finding someone leaning on, or sitting on it. The parking lot is "public"....but the truck is MINE.

As I said originally, the morals and ethics of some people are truly disgusting, and I hate to say it.....but it's probably gonna get worse.

Winterhawk1960

[recurve_shooter]

I had a Summit climber stolen from USFS land across the road from my house a few years back.  It made me mad, but there wasn't much I could do about it since I did leave it there.  I had left stands before, but would always remove them before the weekend, or if I wasn't going back for a few days.

I would never take one, but there are many who will.

Needless to say, I now carry 'em back out!

[Biggie Hoffman]

In todays litigeous society, if you leave your stands for two years and somebody gets in one and it breaks and he falls, he could sue you to boot.

Tell him that Fedor Emelianenko is your brother in law.

[Dustin Waters]

why do we keep referring to this guys as a hunter?  He is a theif!  True hunters have ethics and morals and a respect for the land, and those before them.  This guy is not a hunter.  Rather just a plain theif.

Lets stop calling him a hunter.  Criminal is a better synonym for him.

[vermonster13]

Now Biggie how many do you think would know who he is?

[Gaff]

I DO!!!!
i've had 3 loc-ons stolen all on public land, and 2 were locked to the tree. i now use a climber 90% of the time. i also have started using the cheap 20-40$ loc-ons from dicks.

its a shame, but ya cant trust some people. i havent had a stand stolen in the last five years. but i bet ive had 100 screw in steps stolen!! thinkin about those lone-wolf sticks..

[Dave Lay]

like winterhawk said.. did ya park on public land? is it ok to steal your truck??  they are thiefs and they know it.

[Drew]

Originally posted by Horner:
I have a few hang on stands hanging on public hunting land.  I always take my steps out, at the base of the trees.  I have had stands hanging out for two years on this land.  

Sorry your stands were stolen. I don't think anyone should leave a stand up even over night on public land.

One it's public land for all to use even non-hunters. It looks trashy if your a non hunter enjoying the woods seeing treestands. It gives us a bad image in my mind.

By leaving it out in a way your claiming that area to hunt....think about it.

By your comment "taking your steps out" does that mean your using screw in steps? You could be ticketed for damage to the tree, same with a hang on stand with a chain...leaving it for two years would cause some damage to the tree.

These are just my thoughts on public land, I pack out what I pack in....even though it's an inconvinence.

[Horner]

Yes they where screw in steps.  Never really thought about the tree damage.  All the stands I have used are straps not chains.

Thanks for posting,
Horner

[George D. Stout]

Public land is public land, you shouldn't let your stands there even overnight as far as I'm concerned.  Nobody should steal anyone's goods, that's a given, but letting stands on public land is really asking for problems.  

Hundreds of people could literally do the same thing and create a heck of a mess in the woods.  Carry them in and back out on each hunt.

[Orion]

On state land in Wisconsin, stands must be removed at the end of the hunting day.  They may be left up on private land.  On county owned land where I hunt, the county premits two stands to be left up during season, but does require that your name and address is on them.

If you don't have an identifiable marker on your stand, an engraved name or something like that, it's difficult to prove the stand is yours.  I've never found another hunter in one of my stands, probably because I hunt pretty far in.  However, if I did find another hunter in my stand, I would not hesitate to ask him to vacate it right now. I wouldn't try to stop him from hunting in the area.  He has as much right to hunt there as I, but not out of my stand.  I usually chain my stands so they can't be opened and sat in.  However, after an episode in which I found another hunter in my stand, I would pull it and go elsewhere.

One might get the idea that the same stand hanging in the same place for two years was just left (Believe it or not, people do that.), but signs of use should have been sufficient to indicate that yours wasn't abandoned.  Some slob stole it, plain and simple.

I chain and lock my stands to the tree, but I've pretty much just been lucky to this point.  If someone finds one and wants it, chains can be cut.  The only way to guarantee someone won't steal it is to take it with you.

Unfortunate, but that's the way the world is nowadays.

[stick_string]

I will have to go with the minority on this one.  I do not lease here in Texas...prices are way to high.  So I go to public land, I have ran into a couple of guys who hunted areas "their whole lives..." and get quite aggetated when you are there.  They have permanent lock on ladder stands and will go out of their way to ruin your hunt if you are in their space. (Yep...had it happen to me).

On the land I hunt you have to take your stands down within 72 hours of putting them up.  Having said that...the folks I run into are never carrying stands or blinds which means they are leaving them.  

Personally I wish they wouldn't...public is public, if you leave a $20 bill on public land, folks will walk off with it, same with a stand.  Sadly we have become a society of selfish people...I pray it will change.

[stick_string]

and yes...I pull take mine in and bring it out each time.