Ethics?

[Dragsmack]

I set up a ladder stand on public land last week and will probably set up one more soon to supplement my saddle hunting and have opportunties for friends to hunt. I have had no issues with hunting public land so far. I locked up the new stand.

I told my buddy about setting the ladder stand and he said he wouldnt worry about someone stealing my stand but instead someone sitting in my stand. I told him that I wouldnt stress over someone sitting in my stand unless I was going there that morning. He seemed to think that it was ok to sit in someone's stand if it was on public land. I disagree. If i bought and placed a stand, I think it is lame if you hunt it, but maybe ok, but if you refuse to leave when confronted, we gotta a problem. Am I wrong?

 

[mattsteg]

You're not necessarily wrong, but you're not in the right, either. Most state laws its fair game as far as I know. If you "confront" someone - is either of you having a good hunt that morning?

Sure it's polite to avoid using it, or avoid using it when you're around etc - but trusting the world to be polite isn't foolproof.

 

[Nutterbuster]

My home state made it ill-eagle to leave stands, because it was argued a left stand was an attempt to "claim" an area. I wouldn't hunt another guy's stand, but I'd have no problem setting up right next to it. If the owner showed up and I was in the area first, I'd expect him to move on and maybe get up a little earlier next time if he wanted to hunt there.

Of course, I usually avoid other hunters like the plague, not only because I don't want competition, but I don't want drama. I think if more people took that mentality, then they wouldn't have had to make a law. To me, requiring a law to keep peace means that those being governed have failed at something pretty basic.

You bought and placed the stand, sure, but do you own the acreage it's on?

Just a thought. As long as you're not hunting my neck of the woods, I don't care if you build a condo and lob grenades from the balcony.

 

[sureshotscott]

Your dillema is a good reason why people use a "leave no gear behind" tree hunting solution like a saddle.

Sorry but that's how it is.

 

[Swampfox]

Back when I hunted ladder stands on public I made a point to not be beat to the stand. If someone beat me there, good for them cause they got up crazy early. I’ll move on to another stand or stalk hunt. Killing a deer you stalk is very rewarding so I’ll avoid the drama and go have fun.

 

[Apex7]

I believe that if someone is in a stand that someone else put up and that hunter shows up the the person in the stand should have the courtesy to leave the stand no questions ask. That's why saddle hunting is the way to go. Every thing goes in with you and out with you.

 

[Dragsmack]

I should qualify that you can place a stand 1 day before the season and remove it 1 day after the season. I see stands left up for a long time and have had no issues. I just cant wrap my head around thinking it is ok to sit in another person's stand. I wouldnt sit in your truck on public land. I wouldnt use your gun if I found it. We dont give up personal property rights just because we hunt on public land. I thought it was crazy that my buddy somehow thought I should expect this.

 

[Wolverinebuckman]

But how does the stranger sitting in the stand know that you are the true owner?

I saw a ladder stand on a HAP property last year where the guy took the bottom section of ladder with him, leaving the rest strapped to the tree.

I typically don't sit in other's stands, but actually did once this year. I was scouting my way in, got super deep, then found the stand. I finished scouting the peninsula, and it was too late to set up, so I just sat his stand.
I would have moved for certain had he shown up, but state law doesn't require it.

 

[mattsteg]

I should qualify that you can place a stand 1 day before the season and remove it 1 day after the season. I see stands left up for a long time and have had no issues. I just cant wrap my head around thinking it is ok to sit in another person's stand. I wouldnt sit in your truck on public land. I wouldnt use your gun if I found it. We dont give up personal property rights just because we hunt on public land. I thought it was crazy that my buddy somehow thought I should expect this.

State law here *explicitly says it's ok*. You can come take your stand home, but if it's on public land, it's a public stand.

 

[Dragsmack]

Back when I hunted ladder stands on public I made a point to not be beat to the stand. If someone beat me there, good for them cause they got up crazy early. I’ll move on to another stand or stalk hunt. Killing a deer you stalk is very rewarding so I’ll avoid the drama and go have fun.

I agree, early bird gets the worm, but I wouldnt try to beat a guy to a stand he bought and placed.

 

[gadrenalin]

Public land is usually 1st one to the area gets to hunt it but I have looked around after daylight and been able to see another hunter 100 yards away, bummer! I have mixed feelings about hunting a stand you find in the woods, I don't think I would hunt it because I would have my stand with me. How does the other hunter know the stand is yours and you did not just happen upon it as well?

 

[bigjoe]

Public land hunting is hard enough without having someone sitting in your stand. I have never had that experience. I always used a loc on or a climber. Even at my club, it is hard with guys hunting your stands. Probably harder.

I think the guys this year are a little surprised by the saddle. Especially since I am not a little guy.


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[Deltahuntr]

No I don’t think it’s right and would never hunt a stand I found on public land. It is not illegal to do just immoral. I have not hunted public land in years and am not current on all the laws/requirements. When I hunted public you could not leave a stand in the woods overnight. I believe that has been changed. The stand has to be tagged with the owner information and it must be removed after the season. If the stand was tagged appropriately then you could prove it was yours and ruin both parties hunt for that day. I’m not sure that even if it’s tagged properly that by law the other hunter has to leave the stand. The tags are probably so the game wardens can write a ticket after the season but not to keep the stand private.

 

[denots]

If I show up to my spot early in the morning and somebody is hunting in my saddle we're going to have something to talk about. I'm sure as hell going to want to know how they got my saddle from the camp out of my backpack and in the tree without me knowing. Saddle hunting makes this a non-issue for me. I've seen videos on YouTube where guys are arguing about who has the right to hunt where, instead of one person just respectfully moving on. They both stand there and argue as if they own this section of Earth. I find it very humorous to watch grown men act like children. That being said if I lug some 50 lb metal piece of crap in the woods and leaned it against the tree and I show up and somebody is in it and does not want to get out of it, I'm going to take my stand with me. If that means I'm going to have to push it over while they're in it................ well they'll learn their lesson. I promise you they won't forget that ride down to the ground.

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[wmahunterfl]

This past weekend was opening day for us in FL. A hunter put his climber in the woods the day before. Well we had some bad storms come through that afternoon. Anyway next day, he goes to get to his climber and cannot find it. His markers are there but no stand. So he looks up and some other hunter was in his climber and he was up 15 ft in the old mans stand. Now he had to put a lock on it. There is a new breed of disrespectful hunters out there. We are allowed to put stands out 1 day before the season in this area.

 

[ImThere]

We used to put out close to 30 stands on 13,000 acres. People hunted them all the time first come first serve. I will say sometimes I laughed when I would get flashed from a decoy stand we put in the woods as I was walking by!
On the other hand the biggest buck I ever missed with a bow was shot the next weekend from my buddy stand with a rifle by a stranger whom found the stand, it was empty so he hunted it and it paid him.


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[ImThere]

So you all think it ethical to walk out on public land that we all pay for, put up a stand and claim the area?
BUT it’s not ethical for someone else to find said stand and hunt it?

Just curious?


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[SkylineReaper]

I personally would never hunt someone else's stand out of respect the other side of the coin is if I go into an area and there is a bunch of stands that are empty in some Destiination locations I am definitely going to set up close by for all I know someone could've put a stand in at the beginning of the year and never hunted it once and they are taking a prime real estate I guess that's one of the many advantages of being a saddle Hunter you can pick any of the trees that a lot of guys can't hunt out of I am new to it and it has been a complete game changer and I will never go back

 

[Wolverinebuckman]

So you all think it ethical to walk out on public land that we all pay for, put up a stand and claim the area?
BUT it’s not ethical for someone else to find said stand and hunt it?

Just curious?


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That's where I am with this.

The time I sat the stand, dude had literally found the ONLY tree that could be hung on the whole peninsula. Everything else was scrub brush I had to hunch over to walk through. Good for him, seems we think alike!
I took the time to scout the public, crawl through the thicket, wade through the muck...just like him. He shouldn't just have a staked claim simply for strapping a piece of metal on the only hang-able tree in the area, should he?

Options at that point? Look up the tree at the empty stand, shrug my shoulders and sit down on the ground at the base for the last hour of light? Maybe climb the tree to just below or just above his stand and set mine up, carefully avoiding touching his stuff? Just call it a day, and miss prime time, because some guy (supposedly during the legal timeframe) strapped a piece of metal to the place I wanted to hunt, even though he isn't even there?
None of that makes sense to me.

I sat a tree the other day that someone, likely years ago, had screwed a gear holder into. Decided to throw my pack on it. Didn't see it as unethical to use that guy's piece of metal attached to the tree, is there a difference?

If you found the perfect tree and as you were setting your last stick, realized someone else had screwed steps in at the PERFECT height for you to use as a ring of steps, would you avoid placing your feet on them?

 

[denots]

So you all think it ethical to walk out on public land that we all pay for, put up a stand and claim the area?
BUT it’s not ethical for someone else to find said stand and hunt it?

Just curious?


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I was being facetious with my comment more than anything but that being said I wouldn't be mad about them being in my stand or even hunting the area. We all have rights to said property. But if that's the only stand I have to hunt, as in Louisiana you're only allowed to leave one stand on public land, or the only climber I have, I'm not hunting off the ground so they can hunt out of my stuff. They can have the area but they're going to unass my stand. To me it becomes more of a respect thing at that point. And if you don't have respect for me to get out of my stand so I can take it elsewhere to hunt out of it, I'm not going to have the respect for the tree that it's in and cut it down. I leave my car parked on public roads that we all pay for all the time doesn't give anybody to write to jumping it whenever they feel the need. And that goes for whether I lock it or not.

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