fastetti

When I thought about this topic a little more, I think we all forgot to mention one thing. Where in the country you are and how much public land is available. Personally, I live in Chicago and there are many more public land hunters than in other parts of the country. Theres a spot outside the city where anyone can bow hunt and people leave stands all the time. You can bring a stand in but most of the trees you can put it on already have ladder stands on them. In a situation like this, I would have no problem using someone elses stand. Im thinking that some of you guys that are saying no either A) only hunt private land or B) hunt vast expanses of public land where finding another area is always as option.

Some of you have to realize that in places where public hunting is extremely heavy, sometimes there are so many ladder stands up, you might as well hunt them. If I bring my climber in and see a ladder stand 20 ft away, Im going to use the ladder stand but keep my climber close by. If someone shows up to use that stand I would politely leave for another spot and tell them the action I have been seeing. If you place your stand in an area that many people hunt and get mad for someone using is when your not there and is polite to you when you show up, then I wouldn't want to hunt with you.

Now, If I was hunting a VAST expanse of land (thousands of acres) then I might be a little mad if I showed up if someone was in my stand. Think about it though. Someone could put a ladder stand out and leave it for years and never show up and ruin many other peoples hunting in that area for years to come. Its may sound bad, but leaving a tag on your stand that says "2010 Deer hunting Stand" then I would know that you are actually using it there and its not left from seasons past.

I really think that this has to be a case by case situation and really depend on the amount of land, the shape of the stand and if it looks to have been used lately. Im actually curious now to see if the the stands I walked by in college 6 years ago are still in the same spots. Hmmmm.....