Ethics of removing tree stands from public land

[Northwoods]

I’ve been guilty of leaving stands up for a few seasons that I have hauled a ways in. I always have good intentions to at least lay them at the base of the tree after season but sometimes I don’t get back to them. I’ve also broken the speed limit while going hunting. With that said if I ever saw someone hunting in a stand that I had left I’d quietly walk away without ruining their hunt. I have hunted from other people’s stands that are never taken down if I like the spot and it looks like it hasn’t been used in a couple of years.

 

[Nicoli7153]

I can't get them all by myself. Feel free to help.

I do my part

 

[F250]

I would suggest a call to the local Warden. They may already be aware of some of those stands and are monitoring them in hopes of grabbing the owner. Also, I expect each state probably has different rules for the removal of such stands. One last caution… if you come across an illegal stand, don’t use it. If you are found occupying such a stand, you may be cited for the violation.

 

[Addicting]

I’ve noticed if you take a crap on the seat, the messier the better. The owners will get the message to not leave them up.

 

[Gellar]

Public is public and I don’t believe a tree stand marks someone’s spot, but a lot of guys do and the reason they leave stands up all year. I don’t have a problem with someone using someone else’s tree stand on public, but I don’t think I would use someone else’s stand. For 1, it’s an easy way to avoid a confrontation and 2 as I get older I don’t even like stands I’ve hung myself, let alone one that somebody else hung who knows when.

 

[MITCHMO]

I’ve noticed if you take a crap on the seat, the messier the better. The owners will get the message to not leave them up.

 

[TheTone]

I don't know about PA. But in Idaho you can file a lien on an abandoned vehicle on your own property, but not anywhere else.

I watched a two seater ladder stand over a couple of season on a school section ear me and had this same conundrum. It was obviously not being used or maintained.

The state sold the timber and the loggers ended my quandry. Still wondering if that went home piled on top of a truck full of Stihls.

I know where there is another two seater in our area. Had trail cams pics of the guys packing it in. I don’t think they’ve sat in it since that first year. Pretty nice stand. I’ve been tempted to pack it to a different wallow I know about on the same mountain side

 

[Addicting]

View attachment 318739

I washed a guys once with a bar of Irish springs bar soap. That grated metal is very hard to scrub clean with the soap. It shaves pieces off all over the ground.

 

[gouch]

I put up a stand on public land once. Sat there all morning and didn't see a thing. So, I decided to head back to the truck for a spot of lunch.

By the time I got back to my stand for the evening hunt, someone had taken a dump on the seat and smeared Irish Spring all over the ladder. I guess I'll just stay on the ground from now on.

 

[Gellar]

I put up a stand on public land once. Sat there all morning and didn't see a thing. So, I decided to head back to the truck for a spot of lunch.

By the time I got back to my stand for the evening hunt, someone had taken a dump on the seat and smeared Irish Spring all over the ladder. I guess I'll just stay on the ground from now on.

And that was the last time you hunted SW Michigan public land.

 

[Addicting]

And that was the last time you hunted SW Michigan public land.

If he is hunting from a stand for spring turkeys then he deserves it.

 

[Bob-WY]

Around here the game and fish needs to work through the sheriff to take them down. Call them and ask

 

[wa_archer]

I feel the same way about game cameras. If you’re actively checking and maintaining I have absolutely no issue. I have found ones strapped to trees that fell over, straps broke from being in sun too long, etc. found a tree stand two years ago been there so long had 8” of moss hanging from it. I feel like people that leave stuff for extended period need to realize it’s on public land and subject to being removed but most are fine with the risk. This is all in context of after season by a good time frame not during normal use.

 

[BrentD]

I feel the same way about game cameras. If you’re actively checking and maintaining I have absolutely no issue. I have found ones strapped to trees that fell over, straps broke from being in sun too long, etc. found a tree stand two years ago been there so long had 8” of moss hanging from it. I feel like people that leave stuff for extended period need to realize it’s on public land and subject to being removed but most are fine with the risk. This is all in context of after season by a good time frame not during normal use.

What is really odd is that many of these abandoned stands and cameras are padlocked to the trees. If they are so valuable, then why spend the money on the cables and locks?

 

[TrumpkinTheDwarf]

Sometimes I think guys feel like they have a better tab of who's hunting what, than is actually true... I know for a fact 5 bucks got taken out of a 4-500 acre chunk of woods I was hunting last year. I only ran into one of those hunters, and I spent some 12-14 days in the area. If my buddy who hunts there hadn't met a local and gotten the details, I'd have been clueless. All of which to say, those "abandoned" stands... might not be.

 

[D4570]

In MT I think I read you CAN use tree stands on public lands but if you leave it up at night anyone else can use it on a first-come basis, and you can't kick them out.
Thanks for your work.

 

[JDH]

I live in Michigan and had this conversation with the local conservation officer a few years ago. He wouldn't authorize removal, and didn't have the time to come out. I was advised that if I did take down a stand after season and it had no name/address & a warden happened upon me, I'd likely be ticketed for possession of unmarked stand after it was supposed to be gone. If I were contacted by a warden while removing a stand that had name/address and it wasn't mine, I would likely be ticketed for taking a stand that wasn't mine.

It's possible a different warden would give a different answer or that laes have changed recently. I decided it wasn't worth my concern and have learned to see-without-seeing these abandoned or left up stands.

I'd advice getting in writing from a CO if they authorize you to remove said stands.

I've always been leery of removing them for the same reason.

I have taken one though. I saw it one year during late deer season with limbs on it, obviously not being used. The next year the tree it was in fell so it was on the ground but in good shape. After the next season, I went back out there on the last legal day and brought it home with me.

Our DNR occasionally does a cleanup day where they ask people to send them locations of abandoned stands on certain properties and they will go out and remove them. They typically announce it on Facebook so you can imagine the comments.

 

[MTGomer]

Public is public and I don’t believe a tree stand marks someone’s spot, but a lot of guys do and the reason they leave stands up all year. I don’t have a problem with someone using someone else’s tree stand on public, but I don’t think I would use someone else’s stand. For 1, it’s an easy way to avoid a confrontation and 2 as I get older I don’t even like stands I’ve hung myself, let alone one that somebody else hung who knows when.

I think this makes sense. I’ve never hunted in the east and Midwest but I apply a similar thought to trail cameras.

I might look at the card but I don’t delete pics or tamper with the camera.

 

[MITCHMO]

Talked to a retired warden, he said don’t waste their time by calling them in. Do what we want with them. Maybe he said that because he’s retired . I have to go check some otters in at the field office, so I’ll get with them and find out when I’m there.

 

[perma]

I put up a stand on public land once. Sat there all morning and didn't see a thing. So, I decided to head back to the truck for a spot of lunch.

By the time I got back to my stand for the evening hunt, someone had taken a dump on the seat and smeared Irish Spring all over the ladder. I guess I'll just stay on the ground from now on.

That’s some f^€<3) up stuff man.