I've never hunted back east and have never used a stand. It's just not the way we hunt here in the open west. So explain to me something.

Is it proper to take stands, ladders etc and leave them in the forest. I don't have a problem with leaving them for two weeks or what ever the hunting season is. Some of the post above sounded like the equipment was left eyar after year. I think I'd be put off if I found other hunters placing such objects and leaving them all year. If you own the land, I don't care, your busienss, but on public land. I think every hunter should remove anything they packed in. Whether thats a Coke can, a candy bar wrapper, a blind or a tree stand. You should leave the forest the way you found it.

The reason I ask, is because a family hunts the same area I do. They pack in all kinds of crap every year and hide it in the trees when they go home. They have a cache that includes a big army wall tent, metal folding chairs, a big metal grate to put over the fire etc. Since they have all the comforts of home they bring a large group up hunting each year. Woman, children, dogs etc. It's a regular circus at their camp. I'm not against them bringing their family and having a good time. But I think they ought to follow the same rules everybody else has to live by. My wife doesn't want to go rough it, and I can't pack in all the comforts of home for her. Hence she doesn't come. That's OK, I enjoy the weekend with my friends.

It the crap wasn't so dang heavy, I'd probably clean up the crap and pack it out. I just find it extremely distasteful that others think they own this part of the national forest use it like a storage shed.

Don't take me wrong, we pack in a wall tent, sleeping bags, cots etc and leave the camp set up for two, maybe three weeks. But we pack everything out when the hunt is over. And if we are very successful, and we end up packing out a lot of elk meat, it requires an extra trip back to get the gear.

So enlighten me. Do you leave your tree stand for longer than the season? If you do, I might take it to clean up what I consider a mess that somebody left.