Public Land Stand Etiquette Question

[thusby]

In my experience these stands are rarely used, if ever. A lot of people go to the effort of putting these things in and use them for one season and abandon them. A huge chunk of the public lands around me are like treestand graveyards.

 

[greatwhitebuffalo]

I guess most of us might agree that this thread's a good 'eye opener' as to to what lurking out there in the woods....

 

[MN_Bowhunter4]

I pretty much ignore them unless someone is actively hunting from it. Like was said previously, it's illegal to leave stands on most public parcels in MN. If I see one out there a few days in a row unattended in a spot I want to hunt, I have no qualms about setting up in that same spot. That being said, I wouldn't hunt from another person's stand just based on my not knowing how safe their gear is. At least I know that my own gear is well cared for and in good working order.

 

[stealthy_bowman]

Walking through public land here in the east is like a history lesson in tree stand evolution. You are bound to run into a plethora of them, some of which date back 50 years or more. I kind of get a kick out of the really old ones, many of which are "permanent" stands built out of lumber, now decaying readily due to the passage of time. I like to wonder about who the people were that hunted those stands, whether those people are still around today, and what the area was like when the stand was new. Of course, there are plenty of newer stands around too; everything from old school loc-on's to the latest Wal-Mart special. If you go in there thinking that you will not set up any where near other stands, then you may as well not go at all because that would eliminate the entire area. The vast majority of stands encountered, seldomly have anyone hunting them and those that do are pretty darn obvious since any recent activity is easy to see. Those are the only ones I would avoid hunting near.

 

[Ajax2744]

In Colorado you have to put your cid number and dates of use on treestands hung on public land. They can't be put up more than 30 days before your season and must be taken down 10 days after. It also explicitly states a hung treestands does not reserve them for personal use and is a first come first serve basis.

I wouldn't climb into someone else's treestands because I don't feel like falling out of a tree from an improperly setup stand. But I also have no problem if a guy beat me to my stand and wanted to use it, as long as he treated it like his own and didn't beat it up. There's plenty of hunting space where I hunt anyways

 

[Shangobango]

Here the law is clear. Any stand or ground blind no made of natural unworked material that is left on public land must be left in a non-hunting position if not occupied. They must also have the owners name, address, and LDWF number attached. It is illegal for anyone to use a stand or blind that was not returned to a non-hunting position or that is not properly tagged regardless of ownership of the blind or stand.

If you hunt someones stand that was left in hunting position or is not tagged and the Warden sees you do it, you get a ticket.

Had a guy post on Facebook that his tower stand was stolen off if a WMA here. Of course the LDWF had it. Here’s your ticket and here’s your sign.

 

[Gerald Martin]

All I'm saying is if you are sitting in my treestand when I come back, I will probably very politely invite you to hang your own stand close by if you want, and give you the option of getting out of my stand or staying in it while I take it down.

Using another hunter's equipment without their express permission is incredibly poor etiquette.

Would any of you think of going into a public land camp and sitting in their lawn chairs since they weren't occupied when you came past?

 

[Ajax2744]

All I'm saying is if you are sitting in my treestand when I come back, I will probably very politely invite you to hang your own stand close by if you want, and give you the option of getting out of my stand or staying in it while I take it down.

Using another hunter's equipment without their express permission is incredibly poor etiquette.

Would any of you think of going into a public land camp and sitting in their lawn chairs since they weren't occupied when you came past?

If a hunter knows that his stand can be hung on public property but that it can also be used by anyone that comes upon it before him. Is it then the hunters responsibility to understand the rules and risks involved with leaving his stand in a public area?

 

[Wildabeest]

Using another hunter's equipment without their express permission is incredibly poor etiquette.

I think it’s equally poor etiquette leaving a stand up and thinking that reserves your spot for the entire season. If I leave my stand on public land and someone is in it when I get there, I’ll let them know it’s mine, wish them good luck and move on to another spot.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I think it’s equally poor etiquette leaving a stand up and thinking that reserves your spot for the entire season. If I leave my stand on public land and someone is in it when I get there, I’ll let them know it’s mine, wish them good luck and move on to another spot.

You are mixing two topics. If someone else is using their stand even if it's in the same tree, it's first come first served. It is public land. Someone else's equipement is their private property. Same thing as using someone else's truck, gun, camp, etc... without their permission.

 

[Sytes]

poor etiquette leaving a stand up and thinking that reserves your spot for the entire season

I think this is the issue... Typically, if a person takes time to place their stand, they are looking for the BEST location. If that's the case, I'm not a fan of someone demanding their "reserved" best location on our public land...

 

[Gerald Martin]

I will qualify my stance with saying if it's a natural blind constructed of onsite materials I would hunt something like that regardless of who put it there. Public material, public resource, open to whoever gets there first on that day.

 

[Wildabeest]

You are mixing two topics. If someone else is using their stand even if it's in the same tree, it's first come first served. It is public land. Someone else's equipement is their private property. Same thing as using someone else's truck, gun, camp, etc... without their permission.

^^^^^^^^^^^^. What he said. I respect your opinion Gerald, but I just don’t agree with it. We were talking etiquette, not property rights. The tent example is not comparable in my opinion because people don’t typically leave their tents up on public land if they are not actively using them. If they do, then I’d argue that’s bad etiquette as well.

 

[Shangobango]

I think this is the issue... Typically, if a person takes time to place their stand, they are looking for the BEST location. If that's the case, I'm not a fan of someone demanding their "reserved" best location on our public land...

It says in our regs that stands or blinds cannot be used to reserve hunting locations. Apparently it was enough of an issue that they put it in the regs.

 

[Borny1]

If I find another hunter in my stand again, I am going to walk up and take the pegs out with them in it.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I will qualify my stance with saying if it's a natural blind constructed of onsite materials I would hunt something like that regardless of who put it there. Public material, public resource, open to whoever gets there first on that day.

@Mallardsx2

I've been still hunting an area out here... actually more scouting, mid week last couple days of archery season, I make sure there isn't a car in the parking lot so I don't screw anyone up.

Anyway... holy hell are there a ton of stands around. In 2 days I found 10 stands.

4 of the stands were new, climbers and lock-ons. Those had tape with hunt ID numbers, which I'm assuming is the rule for leaving them on public land. Per MA rules you can't leave a stand longer than 30 days in the field.

The other 6 stands you could tell had been there for years some decades. A bunch were made out of wood and screwed into the trees, which is illegal. Several of the others were rusted and the straps were rotted.

So, the 4 "new" stands, clearly those folks are following the rules, would seem the right thing to do to not set up on top of them or to use their equipment.

The 6 old ones... I dk seems like either using them or setting up in an adjacent tree would be totally fine, if one was so inclined? What do you think?

-Talked to a guy at the trailhead as I was leaving, he said he was going out to check his stands for the shotgun opener, he hadn't hunted there for 2 years, had 5 stands up. I asked him if I could use his stand/ how people felt about that kinda thing... he said go for it I'm sure lots of people do, just be prepared to get down if I show up. Seemed reasonable...

 

[EastTNHunter]

It sucks when you walk into a place to find that someone has “claimed” the spot by hanging a tree stand in the only usable tree in the area. I don’t use hand ons on public land for this reason. I can’t claim a spot just by hanging a stand, nor should anyone else.

And why should someone have to get down out of a stand if they beat the other person to it?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

It sucks when you walk into a place to find that someone has “claimed” the spot by hanging a tree stand in the only usable tree in the area. I don’t use hand ons on public land for this reason. I can’t claim a spot just by hanging a stand, nor should anyone else.

Or hung four or five stands...

 

[Slm864]

The whole leaving tree stands on public lands is one of the most annoying things ever to me. I’d go as far to just consider it to be litter. You should be required to take your equipment with you when you leave or hunt from the ground.
People leave stands all over the place to “stake claim” to areas and most of the time fail to ever come back.
If an area looks promising I say set up and hunt it. I personally have never had a person return to hunt tree stands that were left behind therefore my hunt wasn’t affected.

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

The whole leaving tree stands on public lands is one of the most annoying things ever to me. I’d go as far to just consider it to be litter. You should be required to take your equipment with you when you leave or hunt from the ground.
People leave stands all over the place to “stake claim” to areas and most of the time fail to ever come back.
If an area looks promising I say set up and hunt it. I personally have never had a person return to hunt tree stands that were left behind therefore my hunt wasn’t affected.

Definitely a different public land culture with whitetail hunting. With lock-ons and or climbing sticks I can see why you would like to be able to keep them up for a while and even have a couple of stands. At the same time it’s public land and you are essentially removing opportunities for others.

I’m interested to see how more locals feel about the issue before I form a strong opinion.

On a personal note I’m very much interested in more leave no trace stand methods, I think that’s what I want to use.