Thoughts on finding tree stands??

[jkelbe]

I am curious on peoples thoughts on finding Tree Stands on public land. I was recently out scouting some new public land and found 5 stands in one area about 60 acres. Frustrating. While leaving stands more than 72 hours is against the rules, I now know of probably 15 stands on public land that are up all year. It is starting to get to me a bit. I really try and stay away from other people, but sometimes I want to hunt where I want to hunt. I have walked 2 miles for a spot before and I don't want to do that every time, it's exhausting.

So what do you do when find an area loaded with tree stands.

A) take it as a sign of a great area and hunt there anyways
B) just hunt the less desirable areas around them
C) move areas and avoid it due to too much pressure
D) Take a pole saw and cut the stands down
E) Report the stands to GW

I stay away from the last two but curious if anyone does do that.

Also what do you do if you set up near a fixed stand and they come in an hour after you have been on stand? I guess they are not going to leave since they are not mobile.

[RedBear78]

Yes sir it can be frustrating.I hunt Angelina ntl forest and know of several stands left out there.I’ve hunted it enough to know some of the guys hunting and their habitat.Most of em hunt occasionally and I’ll hunt where I want to hunt and then I’m just easy and give them space if I think they may be there.I’ve never reported any one I figure don’t make trouble if I don’t have to.If it got to that point I’d just hunt somewhere else.No mater what things will get tight and close it is public some are idiots but I’ve met a number of good folks that have shared valuable info.

[nocam7]

I was under the impression these stands become public property and I will sit in your spot.

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[Bayouboy]

Do you ever find feeders? When I hunted Davey Crockett I used to find pipe feeders and bucket feeders on occasion.

[Planopurist]

I don’t hunt much public, but why do you stay away from ‘E’?


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[SC-001]

I was under the impression these stands become public property and I will sit in your spot.

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This or drop pins and turn them in.

E) Report the stands to GW

Unless where your hunting is a WMA game warden has no authority, call the controlling authority.

[jkelbe]

This or drop pins and turn them in.



Unless where your hunting is a WMA game warden has no authority, call the controlling authority.

It is a WMA, but I don't think the GW cares. But it's the same as taking them down myself. I dont want to mess with people's stuff as I don't want them taking my cameras.

Thank you everyone for the feedback so far.

[jkelbe]

Do you ever find feeders? When I hunted Davey Crockett I used to find pipe feeders and bucket feeders on occasion.

Nothing fresh just old stuff destroyed by weather.

[ElfEyes]

I couldn't count high enough to count the stands I've found over the years. I used to get frustrated because I don't like to cramp anyone's style now I've just said to hell with it. If the signs fresh enough I'm hunting it. I've carried my climber through a thicket and a overgrown pine stand just to find a nice ladder stand in DCNF. Sure was a good view that afternoon but I didn't see any deer. He also had an old corn sack on the ground. I don't corn but I don't eat cry about people that do bc this is supposed to our public land. If Mr green jeans wants them bad enough he'll have to get out of the truck.

[White Falcon]

E

[Froggy]

I spent 21+ years working on the Caddo/LBJ National Grasslands. I found many stands over the years and have helped the Forest Service LEO remove hundreds. We had piles of them at our Work Center. The LEO would leave his card pinned to the tree. It's funny that no one ever came to claim them.

There is a reason those rules were put in place by the FS back in the 1980's. Some groups were coming in and claiming areas, feeding corn, cutting shooting lanes, putting up box blinds and even plowing food plots. We even found No Trespassing signs on some units.

It's not fair to the law abiding hunters that they feel they can't hunt an area they want to, because some unethical hunter can't follow the rules.

I'd suggest option E. Report the stands to the Forest Service District LEO, not the TP&W Game Warden.

[SabineHunter]

E

[HighwayHunter]

I always leave them alone. I have been surprised by the effort some put in to have a permanent set up. I once walked almost 2 miles into a creek bottom, hunted the edge of the thicket in the morning then tried moving into the thicket the next day only to find a nice lean to that had sign of active use smack in the middle of the thicket. It was a great spot, but I left it alone. I don’t think I’ve been back to that spot since because it’s such a pain, whoever put that stand there was determined as hell.


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[Bayouboy]

I never had to hunt deep in DCNF. Few hundred yards off the gravel roads along creeks and thicket edges always put meat in the freezer. Hauling a deer out any farther would be a big
p i a!

[bossbowman]

I spent 21+ years working on the Caddo/LBJ National Grasslands. I found many stands over the years and have helped the Forest Service LEO remove hundreds. We had piles of them at our Work Center. The LEO would leave his card pinned to the tree. It's funny that no one ever came to claim them.

There is a reason those rules were put in place by the FS back in the 1980's. Some groups were coming in and claiming areas, feeding corn, cutting shooting lanes, putting up box blinds and even plowing food plots. We even found No Trespassing signs on some units.

It's not fair to the law abiding hunters that they feel they can't hunt an area they want to, because some unethical hunter can't follow the rules.

I'd suggest option E. Report the stands to the Forest Service District LEO, not the TP&W Game Warden.

I would select E, if the GW doesn't care contact the other one in the county you might be surprised different responses you get from different wardens, I have. We used to mostly hunt corp land so we would have to call the fed not the state guys its funny you mentioned piles of them and no one comes to claim them, seen he same thing an this was years ago, they had multiple intermodal containers full of confiscated stands and were running out of room.