54 replies to this topic

[tracker1]

for my hang ons that i leave in i make sure they are the kind i can fold and lock while hooked to the tree.

[hikerman]

I had my homemade ladder stand and ground blinds stollen, what a pain!.

Having someone sit in my stand realy kills my day.. But, the officer who tought my hunting couse said:
Lets say I scout an area, put up my stand and only hunt once a week. Someone else scouts that same area and happens to feel that is the ideal spot also, and would like to hunt there. Who am I to claim that area of the woods to be reserved for me? Also I may not hunt there for weeks.

One area I hunt on public land there are two other guys who have put up 6 wooden stands one less than 60y from my buddies. All their stand are in key areas.

The reason the laws state first come first serve is to deture a fights between hunters.
If you see someone in your spot move on. Goes same with ground blinds.

Edited by hikerman, 25 January 2012 - 09:10 PM.

[irish1169]

I get what your saying, ive moved out of good looking areas because of guys there before me that i didnt spot right away. Im not claiming the woods, im claiming my stand. Big difference. A guy puts a note on my stand asking to swap spots or something with his number, ill give him a call. If some one puts up a stand near mine i have the choice of moving or staying, this is about a stranger in your property. To me thats the difference. My one time of this happening to me, the mans age, then the fact he was willing to get out of the stand stopped a probable conflict.Like i said i see your point of view, just dont agree with it all.

[ridgehunter]

As a disabled person in Michigan, I would most likely have to give up deer hunting if I did not have the opportunity to hunt private land.  I need assistance to hunt so I can not get back, anymore, to the places where the woods would not be run over by hunters.

As a person that lives in the southern part of NLP, I suggest that hunters locate the parking areas for the state land that they want to hunt.  By knowing the access points ahead of time, it is at least possible to assess whether other hunters are nearby.  The theft, vandalism, and littering on state land in Michigan is overwhelming at this time.  I love Michigan and have hunted here my entire life but this situation is terrible and I feel badly for anyone that has to hunt strictly on state land unless they have huge amounts of time to scout out remote sites and have large amounts of time to hunt.  Also friends of mine have been held up at gunpoint when bringing out their deer during archery season so I would never suggest hunting alone unless you are completely confident out there.  These friends have lived out in wild areas all their lives and are first class hunters.  They no longer bring deer out alone and they usually set up hunts so someone is not far away.  Part of the problem is that Michigan does not allow archery hunters to carry firearms with which to defend themselves unless they possess a CC permit.  However small game hunters and others can carry legally on state land at the same time the archery season is open.  Michigan seems to have the opinion that every archery hunter will be a poacher and that he or she does not deserve the right to protect themselves while on state land.

[irish1169]

im glad you have some private land to hunt, i dont worry to much about getting my deer taken. I will most likely be done efore rifle season, or take a break for it.

[Birddogm33]

It is sad that people are thieves, but it is life. I lock every thing up with my name and address plastered all over the stands. If I am not going to hunt it for a few daws I take the last couple of steps down. It slows them down, but bottom line, if they want it it is going to be gone! Sad fact.

[ridgehunter]

irish1169, on 27 January 2012 - 08:11 AM, said:

im glad you have some private land to hunt, i dont worry to much about getting my deer taken. I will most likely be done efore rifle season, or take a break for it.

My first blind which was a portable was specially set up for my disabilities and it was on the private land that I hunt.  It was destroyed by trespassers.  I am just posting this to show that crime does not happen just on state land.

The deer theft that I previously described happend during the early archery season.

[anewdef]

I scout for my setup, then use a hang-on with climbing sticks. when I leave, I take the bottom or bottom 2 sections with me. works great, and its only an extra 4-8lbs!

[irish1169]

I found another stand yesterday when i was squirrel hunting. Guy has a perfect spot. Im guessing not alot of stealing in this area, because i know where five stands still sit. In my state your supposed to pull them after the season is over. So they must not be to worried.I found a spot a hundred yards away where the trails converge and am thinking about setting up there.

[TeamCrooks]

Sadly, this is like anti-gun laws.  The "bad guys" are law breakers by definition.  Doesn't matter what you do, what  laws or regulations you pass, some jerk will screw it up for you.  I could tell you all sorts of stories from my over 30 years of hunting on public lands.  Example:  back in the eighties hunting on Fort Dix, NJ.  I used to hang a lock on stand @ 12' up in a tree and lock it in.  The bottom 4 screw in steps, @ 1.5 feet apart, were removeable.  The top 4 were simple screw ins.  So the bottom step when I left my stand was @ 8 feet above the ground.  Went out one day to find my stand hanging from the chain that locked it up in the tree.  Someone had gone to a lot of effort to steal it, only to find it locked there, so they'd tried to bust it down.  if only the jerks would use that energy for something positive.... what a wonderful world it would be!

[irish1169]

bad as it is that they tried to steal it, i still would have liked to see there face when it wouldnt have come down.

[TeamCrooks]

Yeah, it would have been a youTube moment!  **LauGHinG**  Now you could set up a trail cam to catch the thieves, BUT they'd probably steal ThaT, too!! (or bust it up...)  It's like "anewdef" with his hang-on and climbing sticks, only we didn't have climbing sticks OR trail cams back then!!  I've started turning inexpensive lock-ons from Sportsman's Guide into ladder stands that are back-packable.  I even made a single pole ladder stand using the aluminum poles that the army uses for camouflage netting setups. You can buy them surplus...  It's fun tweaking my gear like that.

[irish1169]

Just took a drive through one of my favorite hunting spots with my wife early this morning, a big horse camp. Saw 28 deer out there, alot of traffic in this area so ill use my climbers. But i was happy to see so many survived our mild winter this year. Alot of yearlings with the does still. Any one know how long they stick with mom? I thought that they left each other earlier.

[jdp1207]

Growing up we were taught to respect other people and their property, and if a hunter puts the effort into scouting and putting a stand up it should be for that persons use only.
I've had people hunt my stands here in Arkansas so I use their lack of self respect to my advantage.
This past fall I had one hunting my ladder stand. He left me a water bottle full of his urine and cigarette butts snuffed out on the frame of the stand. Since that ladder is set at a junction of several travel routes the deer just moved around him, and I used my Summit Goliath and moved almost daily in about a hundred yard radius of the ladder and tagged out before modern gun opened.
Last account I had of the guy, he had "seen" some trophy deer, but didnt get to use a single tag.
Karma

[Downeaster]

I haven't found a hunter in my stand, but I have found a gutpile numerous times out in front of it.  My friend
thinks it is funny how I can pick out the good spots for other hunters.  I suspect that other hunters will use
my stands on occasion, as long as they don't steal it I can't complain too much.  I have a climber that I
don't use much anymore due to age, but do have 4 ladder stands behind my home all set up.