DNR mulling overnite stands on public land

[Bukmastr]

I hate it when guys "claim" spots by leaving up permanant stands. Some of the spots I hunt are a mile out thru cattail marshs to get to a small island ajacent to a bedding area. The reason I get big bucks is cause I do the work. I already have to deal with running into chained up stands on public. Making it legal would just make the situation worse.

I disagree with you Bukmastr. Like you, I do my homework for deer season. My spots are deep into the thick cover, and I have a long trek back into public land as well. I do chain my ladder stand up as a precaution, and it really is first come first serve out there. If you do the work, scout and find a good spot, and are the first one there to setup, I think there's nothing wrong with setting a stand there. It lets others know that someone is hunting there so you're not bumping elbows in the morning heading out there. I guess I don't see the problem with it, and I enjoy knowing that I have a spot to go in the morning and don't have to worry about somebody else being in the spots that I have scouted for stand sites. Just my two cents.

A big part of the reason I believe I have shot a good number of decent bucks on public land is because I don't put to much pressure on my spots... I hunt almost every day of the bow season only taking a day or two off a week. However, I rarely ever hunt the same tree more than twice a season. I generally have a specific buck scouted out and wait till sign tells me he is useing a specific bedding area then slip in for the kill. The issue is, guys who chain up treestands and claim locations tend to over hunt them and ruin the area for mature bucks. Sometimes it takes several seasons after the guy leaves for the bucks to start bedding there again. At least when they have to haul there equipment back and forth like I do they seem more likely to move around more and not ruin spots.
Maybe a little of it is greed on my part. I would be ok if the State opens up leaving stands out, heck I am dealing with outlaws doing it now... The good part would be, at least I would know where not to waste my time.

[DairyLandDeerHunter]

I hate it when guys "claim" spots by leaving up permanant stands. Some of the spots I hunt are a mile out thru cattail marshs to get to a small island ajacent to a bedding area. The reason I get big bucks is cause I do the work. I already have to deal with running into chained up stands on public. Making it legal would just make the situation worse.

I disagree with you Bukmastr. Like you, I do my homework for deer season. My spots are deep into the thick cover, and I have a long trek back into public land as well. I do chain my ladder stand up as a precaution, and it really is first come first serve out there. If you do the work, scout and find a good spot, and are the first one there to setup, I think there's nothing wrong with setting a stand there. It lets others know that someone is hunting there so you're not bumping elbows in the morning heading out there. I guess I don't see the problem with it, and I enjoy knowing that I have a spot to go in the morning and don't have to worry about somebody else being in the spots that I have scouted for stand sites. Just my two cents.

A big part of the reason I believe I have shot a good number of decent bucks on public land is because I don't put to much pressure on my spots... I hunt almost every day of the bow season only taking a day or two off a week. However, I rarely ever hunt the same tree more than twice a season. I generally have a specific buck scouted out and wait till sign tells me he is using a specific bedding area then slip in for the kill. The issue is, guys who chain up treestands and claim locations tend to over hunt them and ruin the area for mature bucks. Sometimes it takes several seasons after the guy leaves for the bucks to start bedding there again. At least when they have to haul there equipment back and forth like I do they seem more likely to move around more and not ruin spots.
Maybe a little of it is greed on my part. I would be ok if the State opens up leaving stands out, heck I am dealing with outlaws doing it now... The good part would be, at least I would know where not to waste my time.

I hear where you are coming from Bukmastr, and I agree with you about guys over-hunting certain spots. I should have clarified in my first response that I chain my stand and leave it up for the one day I do hunt a specific spot just to avoid theft. I do like to chain it up the night before though, if I plan on hunting that spot the next morning. I, like you, won't hunt the same tree twice unless I give it a rest for a certain amount of time, and the deer sign shows me they are back in that area. Guess we are kind of on the same page huh? Sorry for the confusion.

[Luv2Hunt]

I totally agree. these are still public lands. Sorry

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/resources-board-to-discuss-letting-tree-stands-stay-ho3dfsf-135436083.html

Looks like they are considering letting hunters keep stands and trail cams on public property over night. I hope they dont allow the stands. I think it would lead to arguments in the woods and stolen stands. 95% of my hunting is public land, the last thing I'd want to see is the landscape dotted with other people's permanent stands.

Trail cams I would like to see able to stay overnight. They dont bother anything and if the DNR were smart, they'd figure a way to help keep track of the deer herd using trail cams left on public land.

[willypete]

I had a friend who put up a small portable stand 2 weeks before and some guy came in with a big ladder stand and basically put it right on top of it. My friend was so ticked opening day he sat in his own stand and when the other guy came he must have thought he wasent going to actually sit there and half way up his ladder he was eye to eye with my friend and almost fell off. He quietly scurried down his ladder picked up his rifle and left. My friend used the guys ladder as a shooting rail and actually shot a doe. At some point before the next morning the guy got his ladder stand and was gone.

[hot tamale]

It is legal to leave stands up from the beginning of archery season all the way through to the end of the season on Federal lands in Wisconsin. I guess i would think it would be legal on all federal lands.
our state forests however say you have to have them down at the end of each and every day.

I think this is a bad practice.
In wisconsin, the deer herd is overpopulated in some areas (and years ago it actually was).
by letting a hunter put a tree stand up the day before and leaving it up does a couple of things:
It reduces the number of accidents that occur from a hunter trying to set up a stand in the dark early morning or afterwards in the evening.

it reduces the amount of gear a person carries into the woods each day (gun or bow, stand, climbing sticks, fanny pack, etc.)
I agree that stands may get stolen and often do, however if the hunters realize that this may happen and the state is not responsible for them, then let them hang 'em.
I could also see a potential danger in leaving some stands out.
a few years back I heard of a group of bowhunting youngsters were going out and hunting out of stands left in the woods, stealing them or wrecking them in some way so hunters started to "fix" the stands so that they would break or a cable would give way when stepped on if it wasnt set up correctly before use. sort of a booby trap if you will.

either way, i am for setting up stands the day before the season opener and the day after it has to come down.