ORIGINAL: waiting_for_a_gift
If I found aloc onstand that I was absolutely sure was on public land, and it was the "off season", I would take it. Anyone leaving a stand out there should have no reasonable expectation of it staying there anyway. It is illegal and stupid. I would never take a stand during the season, but might report it. More often the stands you find in these situations are crappy homemade ones, not worth taking anyway.
Does the same apply to pick up trucks? If you found one on public land, during the "off season", and no one was around, would you try to take it? Even if it was there for a couple of days? Why does the scenario change when the value of the object taken changes?
Reading this thread, I'm not sure (and the original poster doesn't appear to be sure) that this stand was on public land or not -- he indicates that it may have been on a developer's land or a public right of way... or on public land... therefore the legality of it being there in the first place is unknown (I won't address the stupidity part - that's open for debate).
ORIGINAL: chazspot
The stand was not on the private property we were hunting. It was adjacent to it. I am guessing it was state property as it was next to a highway, but there is some new home contruction near it so it could have been owned by a developer, not sure. That is why I questioned with why bother talking it down?
So, judging from this statement, it could have been in position legally, placed there by the person who owned the land or perhaps by someone that the land owner authorized -- or it could have been there illegally. Likewise, it seems that the hunting party may or may not have been authorized to be there in the first place (don't ever hunt on land that you aren't 100% positive who owns it).
So, it appears that your friend/brother may well have stolen someone's stand from a place where it was authorized to be but he wasn't.