I've dealt disrespectful hunters, on private land, for the past 4 or 5 years.

I'm now 19, but last season when I was 18, I hung my 1st stand and picked out my own location w/out any input from my father. In the past he always helped me pick a spot and hang my stand, which I have killed two well respected 120-130 class bucks the past 2 seasons.

Well, I was proud to finally do everything on my own and ready to geta chance to kill a nice deer, being able to later say, "Yea, I did it all on my own, and didn't he teach me well." I went home all pumped for opening weekend the next week. When it came to opening weekend, I headed out to my stand in the afternoon after work and found that the treestand I had hung just a week earlier was missing! As you can imagine, I was extremely angry, frustrated, and dissappointed. I had put in all that time into scouting and hanging the stand in 85-90 degree weather, and didnt even get one hunt out of it. That was the first time me or my father had a stand stolen.

The next weekend my father was scouting out the northern end of the woods to find himself a location, he decided to go to the south end where I would have been hunting to check out how good that spot I was in looked. He ended up finding a stand 10 feet from where mine was. Hecame home that evening and told me what he found where I WOULD have been hunting.He told me he was dissappointed in himself forretalliating. Ithought he took their stand, but instead he took outtheir screw-in steps and layed themat the base of the tree to hopefully teach them a lesson, and of course to stand up for his son like most fathers do. My dad is a very respected person and hunter around where I hunt. Most other hunters would probablyhavevandalized or taken that stand and taken the spot back. Instead, I think he did the right thing in making their hunt just a lil tougher letting them know that it could have been worse than them just having toscrew the steps back in to get up the tree.

(While scouting again this season I found the same stand in the same tree. Once again in probably one of the best spots on the property.)

To me if someone wants a spot bad enough to steal, then take my spot, because I will not be like you who can't do the work myself and find a good spot. I just hope if you know who I am to thank me when you kill that wall hanger and see all them deer I would have seen.Who amI anyway?Just a young hunter trying to be successful doing what I love to do most. Thanks, nice to know I'm appreciated.

Am I wrong? Have I done the right thing and stayed away?