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Illegal Ladder Stands on Public Land

J

jjroberts1977

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2020
Messages
521
So, I put about 3.5 miles of hiking in on a piece of game lands near me this evening and found 8 ladder stands. You're only allowed to have them up on game lands two weeks prior to the season opener of archery and then they must come down two weeks after the last season which ends in January. I try to get as deep as possible when scouting, but the issue where I'm located is that there are typically many access points, so if you get deep from one then you aren't far from another. I just got back into hunting this past season after not hunting since I was a kid. My youngest son is showing interest and it's frustrating to find these stands "reserving" spots when I'm trying to find a good place to take him. How do others deal with this situation? Quite honestly, I want to take some tools with me next time and just take them all down. Does it do any good to contact a game warden? It seems like this doesn't create an even playing field for those of us who follow the rules.
 
Public land...call the game warden. If I get to a spot with a stand on public land "reserving" a spot and it looks like a great spot...then I hunt it. Maybe set up right next to it and if the guy comes to the stand then he and I will hunt it together. I'll try and wave him off but if I was there first then first come first hunt.
 
In one of the few public land hunting spaces near me, there are 2x4 constructed ladder stands so old that the wood has rotted, and 80s era beer cans/bottles on the ground near them. There's also a veritable museum of the evolution of metal tree/ladder stands out there in various states of "chains grown deep into the tree" and rust. DNR/Conservation Officers/Wardens won't intervene to remove them.

So I figure out if they're recent vintage (are the straps dull/weathered?) and how someone using them would access that spot. Are they near food sources, travel corridors, bedding? Are they on field edges (gun season spots) or in heavy bush (archery season spots)? Are they "general" spots, feeding spots, or rut spots? Are they in thick trees offering limited use until the leaves are down, or in mostly clear areas useful in early season? I best-guess what part of season people will access them and use that to shape where I hunt -- where the deer will get pushed away from them during entry/occupancy.

I made it a goal a few years ago to never hunt the same spot twice in a season - to force me to plan on unconventional/spur-of-the-moment, mobile ground and tree options. I scouted to find last year's buck sign and figure out why it was in that spot (food/bedding/travel/pinches/etc) I have had WAY more luck getting on highly-pressured public land deer in Michigan learning where deer are likely to move and picking a general place subject to weather/time of season and finding a specific spot when I got there, than I did by "picking a tree".
 
Well if they were lock ons you could take tools with you and take them apart.
 
I usually leave found stands alone but make mental note of the location.so I can go hunt it if the situation presents itself. At least around here the ladder stands I find are normally in stupid locations to begin with. 1 of the wma that I hunt is coastal wetlands. There are tons of small saltwater creeks that are to deep to cross at high tide and too muddy/silt to cross at low tide and wide enough u can't jump it. On that particular wma I take down found ladder stands and make creek crossing bridge out of the ladder sections....2 ladders lashed together with bailing wire is enough to support my weight to get across...I stash them in the bushes for later use....
 
Take it down and bend the joints where the ladder join together. You could also chain it altogether. Take the seat , foot section.. it’s just a ladder then. Leave it flat on the ground where it’s always wet...cause rust is your friend. Just watch for camera’s.. no really unless it’s unsafe or killing a tree leave it. Don’t invite trouble. I have been know to put a camera facing the stand to see if anyone is using it. Get in there first during season. Sit in it if you want.
 
there is a particular spot that some richard tries to claim every year by leaving a blind up throughout the year. i also know a few hunting buddies who now have hunting blinds. i dont feel bad for them, they abandoned it in the woods in attempt to claim a section of woods every year.

the lands belong to everyone, and if you dont follow the law by removing your stuff from the woods (which is the law here in MN), you lose the right to complain when it disappears. im probably in the minority here with that opinion though
 
Jay_Disarray said:
there is a particular spot that some richard tries to claim every year by leaving a blind up throughout the year. i also know a few hunting buddies who now have hunting blinds. i dont feel bad for them, they abandoned it in the woods in attempt to claim a section of woods every year.

the lands belong to everyone, and if you dont follow the law by removing your stuff from the woods (which is the law here in MN), you lose the right to complain when it disappears. im probably in the minority here with that opinion though
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Inside a blind like a good place to take a dump....hehehe


 
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This past saturday while scouting public I found ..

2 climbers, 1 ladder, A smashed up tent, An erect tent with a corn bag near by, 2 fold up chairs, a camera mount with no camera and trash. I hate litter.
Where i live in maryland, hunters have to pack in and out every hunt. Evidence shows these are local dirtballs because of near by private with the same setups and equipment. No doubt these fools are baiting on public and spotlighting with 4 wheelers. I think DNR knows about the 4wheelers but they're about to find out more....Always something
 
In the one of the areas I like to hunt there was an old ladder stand that had been put up on public and left in place for several years. The first year I found it I also found a small bait pile nearby (perfectly legal then). Luckily for me it didn't really affect my hunting because he was set up on the upwind side of the beech grove that is the destination site and well out of sight of the spot I preferred to set up in. The spot is really only good for a specific wind direction so I don't hunt it often but every year I would place a branch in the steps of the ladder to see if anyone was using it so that I would't crowd the guy if chose to hunt it. Several seasons went by without the branch being moved and the spot was never baited again after that first season so I assumed it was abandoned and no one was hunting it anymore.

One evening with an east wind I decided to go sit the back side of the grove. I went in with about about 4 hrs left to hunt and I picked a tree about 40 yds off of the stand and climbed up. About an hour before dark I hear some crashing coming my way and see large dark form coming through the underbrush. Cool I thought, here comes a bear. As it gets closer I realize its a hunter headed for the stand. Crap, I think, here I am setup within 40 yds of this guy's stand and he's actually showing up. Well, I make the decision to just sit it out, enjoy the evening in the woods and wait for him to leave. After all only one lost evening hunt right? I also don't want to disturb his hunt by backing out this late. After all I knew the stand was there when I set up.

Well he climbs up in his ladder and is no sooner situated and he takes out a rattle bag and grunt call and does a quick rattle/grunt sequence. Over the next ten minutes he repeats the sequence very minute or so. That's it, I can't take this for the next hour . . . I quietly pack up my stuff and rappel down. I'm almost to the ground when I hear a loud expletive. I wave, pull my rope from the tree and head in the other direction. It had to be a shock to him sitting there thinking he was alone in the "wilderness" only to have some guy come dropping from the canopy on the end of a rope, it still makes me chuckle when I think about it. :tearsofjoy:

End of the story, I moved off about 300 yds to the edge of clear cut for an observation sit so I wouldn't waste the whole night. About 10 minutes after I was set up a really nice 8 point with what appeared to be fairly fresh wound high and back through the loins walked by me fairly unconcerned. I didn't manage to get a shot a him but it just goes to show that being mobile has its advantages and you don't necessarily need a long time in the tree to get an opportunity.

FWIW that ladder stand was gone later that year. Bottom line is being mobile allows you the ability to make adjustments on the fly if a guy shows up to sit his stand even if you're in there first. I for one would much rather relocate, if there's time, than spend my evening hunting next to another guy. And ultimately, it's easier for me to move than for him to move. Getting into a discussion over who was there first isn't going to do either of you any good as far as hunting success goes. For me, most times its easier to just quietly move on.
 
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Report coordinates to game warden along with a picture of stand, litter and whatever else you see wrong.

It’s a personal decision how far you take it after that. Some consider it an act of trash removal from hunting habitat. Some consider it stealing. Some just work around it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
From what I understand even though he's breaking the law by keeping it there, you can still be charged with stealing if you remove it. Booby trapping it is also a good way to end up in jail if he gets hurt and you're on his trail cam that you didn't see...

Not saying that I've chucked the bottom section of a ladder stand into the woods, but it's not hard to do :)

Send the coordinates to the game warden, but I wouldn't expect anything to happen. I would just hunt the way you want and disregard other stands, most guys get out twice a year. I bet less than 5% of hunters spend near as much time in the woods as any of us in this forum.
 
BCHunter said:
From what I understand even though he's breaking the law by keeping it there, you can still be charged with stealing if you remove it. Booby trapping it is also a good way to end up in jail if he gets hurt and you're on his trail cam that you didn't see...

Not saying that I've chucked the bottom section of a ladder stand into the woods, but it's not hard to do :)

Send the coordinates to the game warden, but I wouldn't expect anything to happen. I would just hunt the way you want and disregard other stands, most guys get out twice a year. I bet less than 5% of hunters spend near as much time in the woods as any of us in this forum.
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Yeah, I just read report on Game Commission website and they mention finding illegal stands, but it doesn't appear that they are doing anything about them. Between stealing game cams, leaving stands on public land, littering, it's just a shame that some hunters need to be jerks.
 
jjroberts1977 said:
So, I put about 3.5 miles of hiking in on a piece of game lands near me this evening and found 8 ladder stands. You're only allowed to have them up on game lands two weeks prior to the season opener of archery and then they must come down two weeks after the last season which ends in January. I try to get as deep as possible when scouting, but the issue where I'm located is that there are typically many access points, so if you get deep from one then you aren't far from another. I just got back into hunting this past season after not hunting since I was a kid. My youngest son is showing interest and it's frustrating to find these stands "reserving" spots when I'm trying to find a good place to take him. How do others deal with this situation? Quite honestly, I want to take some tools with me next time and just take them all down. Does it do any good to contact a game warden? It seems like this doesn't create an even playing field for those of us who follow the rules.
Click to expand...
Just call a game warden if you’re on public land. I know guys that have had their stands ransacked and purposely leave decoy stands out so they could either record whoever it is stealing and looting them, or they leave the stand in a severely incapacitated (non obvious) state so that the person who climbs up to take them or ransack them, ends up with a nice little fall because most people in the woods taking stuff don’t harness off. If you’re on public lands it’s better to let the authorities handle the stands then risk getting yourself into a mess even if you’re in the right. PS if I see ladder stands(because those jokers are heavy), I’m not far enough away from where people are hunting so I’m looking elsewhere anyway, but that’s just me.)
 
Weldabeast said:
I usually leave found stands alone but make mental note of the location.so I can go hunt it if the situation presents itself. At least around here the ladder stands I find are normally in stupid locations to begin with. 1 of the wma that I hunt is coastal wetlands. There are tons of small saltwater creeks that are to deep to cross at high tide and too muddy/silt to cross at low tide and wide enough u can't jump it. On that particular wma I take down found ladder stands and make creek crossing bridge out of the ladder sections....2 ladders lashed together with bailing wire is enough to support my weight to get across...I stash them in the bushes for later use....
Click to expand...
Are you referring to Four Creeks or Lake George lol asking for a friend.?.?.?
 
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