What would you guys do about illegal tree stands??

[Chris Shelton]

So here in Maryland it is illegal to hand a stand of a permanent nature on public land. That includes hang-ons and ladder stands unless you remove them every day. During my pre-season scouting I ran across quite a few . . . and the dummies didn't even chain them or anything. No I am not asking weather I should take them.  My question is this. . . it is a little plot of land, and if I report the stands I fear that DNR will mess with the deer movement by marching in a removing the stands.  So what would you do?

p.s it is a small plot of bow only NPS land, only about 10-15 acres surrounded by NPS land that is not hunted.

[Mitch-In-NJ]

I think that if I saw that, under the circumstances you describe, I would not do anything.  At least not until well into the season.  By then, I don't think it will matter about them marching in.

[adeeden]

I have the same problem on some public land in IL. same rules on the stands must be removed daily, I take GPS readings on  there locations and contact the local CO. He has no problem removing them! Of course this property is considerably larger than the one you desribed.

[bowmaster12]

if safe i would remove the stand frome the tree (not steal it) just un chain/strap it and leave it at the base of the tree for the owner to find next time they came in.  Hopefully that would give them the hint.

[JimB]

I would turn it in.No reason they can't be required to follow the rules like you are.One trip in there to pull stands won't do any major damage to deer movement.When does your season start?

[mrjsl]

I used to have a really good spot on public land - it was as good a spot as I've ever found. Killed a lot of deer there with a bow over the years. It was a couple of funnels coming together about 75 yards apart.

This place was so remote that no one ever came across it, but I checked it each year around the time of the annual gun weekend on this place. Lots of people hunted the gun hunt there.

One year the day before gun day, I found where someone had come in by boat, parked right next to my perfect spot, walked right past it and out into a big section of woods about a quarter mile and  and set up a climber and then left. I knew exactly where they walked because they hung out a roll of white flagging along the way about every 15 yards they had a 6 foot long piece of it. At one point along the way they had brushed the leaves off the ground and made a huge arrow out of white flagging pointing toward their stand.

So, I followed the flagging to the stand, (illegal to leave overnight) and I climbed up the tree in it, used the pull rope to tie it to the tree about 15 feet up. I then slid out down the tree trunk, backtracked the flagging to the big arrow, made the arrow point in a different direction, and then hung the flagging back out so that they would end up back at the water 100 yards from their boat.

I slipped in a different way in the morning and watched the guy's flashlight bob around the woods. I didn't see any deer, but it was entertaining. The guy had planned to hike right on past BY FAR the best spot on a 17,000 acre NWR. I lost count of how many deer my buddy and I killed out of that spot, and we never saw another person around there after that.

[bucksdown]

i agree with bowmaster12, just in case they don't know the law, (which we know ignorance is no excuse) but maybe leave them a not with there stand at the bottom of the tree. they will either take it when they leave, ignore you, or put a lock on it. you would still have the option of calling dnr, or cutting the strap off or removing there attaching mechanism. it wouldn't cost them much. i certainly don't avocate, stilling it.  

[Plumber]

take them down an leave them at the base of the tree . maybe they will get the hint. or do nothing go hunt somewhere else why would you want to hunt on such a small place when you know someone can come in there an ruin your hunt at anytime.focus on hunting dont spend your season being pissed off at them.it aint worth it!

[Bowwild]

I dealt with this once at Patoka Lake in Southern Indiana.  I found a beauty of a new treestand built in one of the finest looking (and valuable) white oak trees you could ever see. I located the stand on an aerial photo and turned it over to the local Conservation Officer. The  officer sat near the stand on opening morning of firearms season and nabbed the hunter. He admitted building the stand and took the CO to his buddy who was hunting in a permanent (illegal) stand also. Both were cited for damaging trees.

Yep, this was a very disruptive activity -- I didn't hunt anywhere near this location on opening day because I knew the turmoil would disturb everything.

Not all officers would do what this one did though and stake out the illegal stands.

[jcar315]

Report it immediately with out a question.

[Buckeye Trad Hunter]

Originally posted by JimB:
I would turn it in.No reason they can't be required to follow the rules like you are.One trip in there to pull stands won't do any major damage to deer movement.When does your season start?

What he said.  Rules are rules and everyone needs to follow them.  If they don't know the laws then shame on them for not reading and learning them.

[Frank V]

Originally posted by JimB:
I would turn it in.No reason they can't be required to follow the rules like you are.One trip in there to pull stands won't do any major damage to deer movement.When does your season start?

           
I think this is the way to handle it.
Frank

[stevewills]

do it now so the woods will settle down a bit

[Brian Krebs]

It is a matter for the law.

[ranger 3]

I hunt on pl and you can't put a stand up before Sept 15 but a lot of people still do.

[Bjorn]

I would report it-certainly not take any action on my own.
Different story if the stands were on my land.

[hitman]

Report it to the law. If it is a savory character it could cause you more trouble than it is worth by taking it down yourself. It could be someone that don't know all of the laws.

[hitman]

Sorry, I meant unsavory.  

[magnus]

I'd report it as well. If you take them down. And the law comes good luck proveing they're not yours. Do it now so the area will settle down. Good luck.
Magnus

[JamesV]

Several years ago I scouted an area and noticed flagging tape everywhere which was illegal in the area. I spent several hours scouting and removing tape. Got back to my truck with a ball of tape big as a socker ball. Saturday morning, opening day of bow season, was in my treestand an hour before daylight. Atleast 5 different guys came by looking for their stand, felt bad, I had ruined their hunt and mine. Now I just paddle my boat and let them do the same......James