Illegal Ladder Stands on Public Land

[Adrena123]

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.)

See but everyone has a different situation/scenario...

In my case it takes me 54 minutes to walk nonstop to this one spot on public where I eventually found a heavy ladder stand near by. It took the dude maybe 10minutes from his house, on his 4 wheeler, to ride it illegally on state land to setup the illegal ladder there. I guess he thought no one would trek that far so he would do as he pleased.....Guess he was wrong.

 

[Nutterbuster]

See but everyone has a different situation/scenario...

In my case it takes me 54 minutes to walk nonstop to this one spot on public where I eventually found a heavy ladder stand near by. It took the dude maybe 10minutes from his house, on his 4 wheeler, to ride it illegally on state land to setup the illegal ladder there. I guess he thought no one would trek that far so he would do as he pleased.....Guess he was wrong.

I hunt a local tract that is that way. Big square of like 8k acres with access on the south and east side. Several houses and a hunting club to the north. All the "nature trails" up that way are eat up with wheeler tracks and there are plenty of stands. Goes to show that walking far doesn't necessarily get you away from pressure.

I've got another tract where a couple thousand acres are basically land-locked with no access short of a literal 2 mile walk through some really hellish terrain. I pushed through it 2 years ago and found once good spot where I know you could kill a deer, but I also found literally dozens of stands placed by the local hunting club. And, even better, I came across a guy who was hunting the gas line that cuts through the property 2 weekends after end-of-season. He actually drove down looking for me. Kinda nerve-wracking.

 

[Adrena123]

I hunt a local tract that is that way. Big square of like 8k acres with access on the south and east side. Several houses and a hunting club to the north. All the "nature trails" up that way are eat up with wheeler tracks and there are plenty of stands. Goes to show that walking far doesn't necessarily get you away from pressure.

I've got another tract where a couple thousand acres are basically land-locked with no access short of a literal 2 mile walk through some really hellish terrain. I pushed through it 2 years ago and found once good spot where I know you could kill a deer, but I also found literally dozens of stands placed by the local hunting club. And, even better, I came across a guy who was hunting the gas line that cuts through the property 2 weekends after end-of-season. He actually drove down looking for me. Kinda nerve-wracking.

I feel your pain. I don't like headaches or drama period, especially when hunting. I would like to just move on to "other" places but where I live it has become so congested with people in the last 20yrs, it's hard to find remote locations. I don't mind the heavy hunting pressure we have, I just can't stand the Illegal BS that goes on...And it happens all over the place. Damn, I'm getting a headache

 

[MN_Bowhunter4]

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

Nothing irritates me more than finding stands on WMAs and AMAs. Nothing. It’s pretty dang clear that you can’t do that per the regs. I’ve never stolen anything, but I’ll unscrew steps (also illegal) and toss them on the ground (I don’t “hide” them, but I also don’t go to any length to make them visible). I’ve taken down a stand or too also and left it at the base of the tree.

I also don’t hesitate to hunt near them or walk by them if need be. I actually scouted a spot a few weeks ago and found a stand that I had to walk right under on my way in. I fully plan to be back during the fall too.

 

[jjroberts1977]

I feel your pain. I don't like headaches or drama period, especially when hunting. I would like to just move on to "other" places but where I live it has become so congested with people in the last 20yrs, it's hard to find remote locations. I don't mind the heavy hunting pressure we have, I just can't stand the Illegal BS that goes on...And it happens all over the place. Damn, I'm getting a headache

Same here in PA....

 

[sureshot]

Last year I resorted to putting a trail camera out to catch the four wheelers. One guy pulled in and parked his 200 yards away from me during gun season. I took his picture and his registration off his four wheeler and sent it to the game warden. I also sent him the trail camera pictures of the side by sides I got. He called me 2 days later and told me he ticketed the guy I photoed and actually found one of the side by sides and was going to talk to him but wanted more info from me on where the picture was from first. I was amazed at how fast he got on it. We'll see how traffic goes back there this year.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[harold wright]

Quit worrying about them. Someone spent money on them, leave them alone.

 

[kyler1945]

I see a stand, a hunter, a boot track, whatever sign of peoples- I mark it on onX. Then I keep right on living my life.

there’s a million analogies to this in your civilian life that you probably have the opposite mindset on, or worse yet, you’re the offending party.

 

[TreeCreep]

I cant find the picture but the State thinned out / created "habitat diversity" cuts in a few areas, they left a " semi" permanent stand on a tree with the top lopped off. Only tree in a 10 acre cut.
Funny image but disapponting that the owner just relocated to another tree to be left year round.

 

[jjroberts1977]

Quit worrying about them. Someone spent money on them, leave them alone.

So, if someone spends money on something whether it's used legally or not then there should be no consequences?

 

[jjroberts1977]

I see a stand, a hunter, a boot track, whatever sign of peoples- I mark it on onX. Then I keep right on living my life.

there’s a million analogies to this in your civilian life that you probably have the opposite mindset on, or worse yet, you’re the offending party.

Since we are making assumptions, I assume that LA has a lot less hunting pressure than my state which makes what you do easier.

 

[kyler1945]

So, if someone spends money on something whether it's used legally or not then there should be no consequences?

Why are you asking strangers on the internet for moral/ethical guidance?

I'm positive I can find about 50 things you do that are morally/ethically outside the norms of a civil society. Who cares?

Go hunt. If the stands bother you, take a crap on the seat. Call the warden. Shoot the feller who left it. But save your holier than thou implications.

 

[elk yinzer]

^Don't think you realize how pervasive an issue it is in some areas, oh holy arbiter of all things hunting.

 

[jjroberts1977]

Why are you asking strangers on the internet for moral/ethical guidance?

I'm positive I can find about 50 things you do that are morally/ethically outside the norms of a civil society. Who cares?

Go hunt. If the stands bother you, take a crap on the seat. Call the warden. Shoot the feller who left it. But save your holier than thou implications.

Thanks for the laugh!

 

[Nutterbuster]

Every time I find an illegal stand, I call the warden, take pictures, post them on social media, and contact my local representative and senator. It has exactly the same effect as shrugging and moving on, but I like to jibber-jabber and I actually have a daily post limit on the forum now, so...

 

[Fl Canopy Stalker]

Every time I find an illegal stand, I call the warden, take pictures, post them on social media, and contact my local representative and senator. It has exactly the same effect as shrugging and moving on, but I like to jibber-jabber and I actually have a daily post limit on the forum now, so...

Is that why every time I am on EWO the screen pops up with a message saying Nicholas is on line and ready to chat? Lol
I figured you might be using those ladder stands that you find to make new look outs for the night time chicken bandits.

 

[kyler1945]

^Don't think you realize how pervasive an issue it is in some areas, oh holy arbiter of all things hunting.

If someone needs to ask strangers on the internet why it's a bad idea to steal, damage, or otherwise touch an armed person's belongings(and one that has clearly shown a disregard for the law), I'm not sure we can help them.

Calling the warden is a completely harmless option - if he shares your information with the offender, and the offender harms you in any way, the state/fed is open to a really nasty lawsuit. He won't.

Doing nothing is a completely harmless option.

I'm not taking a position on stands left in the woods being right or wrong. I'm just trying to figure out why we're talking about it.

If we need to make sure people suffer consequences for breaking the law anywhere and always, let's apply that logic evenly. I bet the OP has never gone a single MPH over the posted speed limit. People who drive over the speed limit make my life less safe by an extreme measure. And I can't enjoy my neighborhood with them speeding through all the time. Should I buy a radar gun, record their law breaking, and report every incident to the police? Should I put nail strips, or speed bumps in the road? Should I go to their house and burn their car so they can't impose on my well being? Should I drive their car to work because they sped?

 

[LtMoe66]

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.

Either call game warden or cut them up. That is one thing that pisses me off!! They try and take over a place to call there own! I found 2 this year that looked like the people were logging the place they cut so many trees for shooting lanes. Most of these hunters seem to be more gun hunting also.

 

[jjroberts1977]

If someone needs to ask strangers on the internet why it's a bad idea to steal, damage, or otherwise touch an armed person's belongings(and one that has clearly shown a disregard for the law), I'm not sure we can help them.

Calling the warden is a completely harmless option - if he shares your information with the offender, and the offender harms you in any way, the state/fed is open to a really nasty lawsuit. He won't.

Doing nothing is a completely harmless option.

I'm not taking a position on stands left in the woods being right or wrong. I'm just trying to figure out why we're talking about it.

If we need to make sure people suffer consequences for breaking the law anywhere and always, let's apply that logic evenly. I bet the OP has never gone a single MPH over the posted speed limit. People who drive over the speed limit make my life less safe by an extreme measure. And I can't enjoy my neighborhood with them speeding through all the time. Should I buy a radar gun, record their law breaking, and report every incident to the police? Should I put nail strips, or speed bumps in the road? Should I go to their house and burn their car so they can't impose on my well being? Should I drive their car to work because they sped?

I respect your thoughts on my post, however, my question was "does it do any good to call the game warden?" In jest/frustration I made the statement about taking tools with me next time and taking them down. I didn't ask for anyone's opinion on that.

 

[elk yinzer]

I have talked to a couple different Wardens and Deputies and have received a few different opinions from basically admission that the problem is out of control and there is nothing that can be done, to one Warden recommending to take them down, leave them along access roads, and have the food & cover guys pick them up. So as with many of our game regulations it seems a lot of power of interpretation is left to the officers.

Here's one, there are about a dozen matching ones in one area I hunt (state forest). We've got some real doozies up here in the big woods, these guys with the CCC camps, a lot have the "spot claiming" mentality firmly entrenched. It's pretty #$%*#D up to think it's a good idea to construct permanent stands on public land to claim a spot. At the same time there is enough woods that you just play the hand and figure out how to use it to your advantage. Having grown up in Western PA suburbs I know that out there in the smaller woodlots it can basically be an insurmountable PIA.

Honestly a lot of the public lands in highly inhabited and fragmented areas PA should be on some type of limited quota system, but most people aren't smart enough to realize what is best for them and there would be a huge outcry against that.

Here's a couple more year-rounder pure douchebaggery on public: