Pudster wrote:Illegal stands are covering Wisconsin's public land. I dont tolerate them anymore, and I use to report them but Wardens seldom have the time to deal with them. My solution is to just cut the straps and pile them up at the base of the tree. Many times they will just take the bottom stick or two, I usually have a 2 foot climbing stick & 3 step aider with me, so I just set them up and cut their straps & leave their stand lay. I only do this during the off season, as I dont want to chance cutting down someones set up that they are hunting legally. My theory, base on how stupid some of these stands are placed is that they are mostly decoy stands. I think these violators hang cheap stands in good locations for 2 reasons. 1. most hunters will see the stand and move on to a different area, this in essence reserves an unhunted spot for themselves. 2. They dont ever hunt these stands, they put up their regular stand and sticks each time they hunt, that way even if the warden is trying to nail them for leaving the stand he never will be able to, as they never touch that illegal stand. I am sure there are also just lazy people who put up there stand and sticks and never remove them just cause they are lazy.
boogeyman- I love your idea but I would be afraid you might get a ticket for hanging an illegal stand as well!! You would go broke here buying cheap stands to hang above thej!! Cut the straps!!! Easy and it solves the problem, for a while anyway!
I feel ya Pudster. I will admit nothing I could do would ever make a difference. I don’t care to spend my time running all over the county playing games. But I do think I can make 1 or 2 at least stop and think. I imagine them arriving to their stand 30 minutes b4 daylight and discover my handy work. I would guess they would have a moment of look what some sorry SOB did. Which is funny cause it’s my thoughts when I discovered their stand.
To be honest flagging tape ticks me off a lot more than pre hung stands. I mean that stuff has a way to turn the most beautiful woods into trash. But back onto the illegal stands…. Has always been my opinion that folks who do so begin to think they own that area as years roll by. Most the public I hunt is only a few hundred acres. You get 8 or 10 guys hanging permanent stands thinking they own the place it goes South quick. I’ve discovered many climbing stands, or mobile hunters equipment left just “hiding” in the woods on the forest floor to save them a haul. This doesn’t bother me the least. But when we start just turning a cheek to perm tree stands we might as well let them deliver a high dollar shooting house.
In regards to a comment made about they would just hunt out of my stand. I can assure u they wouldn’t ever hunt out of mine and if they did…. Well they are a bad mammajamma and have earned the right for a permanent stand! Mine don’t even have a seat…. And for u new hunters, never and I mean never put your weight down on a stand u didn’t put up yourself. It’s a accident waiting to happen!
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
-John Wayne-