I never leave anything in the woods anymore. I lost a stand on my own property to theives, and I' ve seen people suddenly show up on hunting day with tree stands that they " found" in the woods. I mean, how could you possibly think that someone just forgot about a stand in the woods. Or perhaps they dropped it in a bush and didn' t know it. There was a ladder stand against a tree where I hunt for several months last year before it disappeared. Don' t know if it was stolen or not, but I can tell you that there was no lock on it. I was amazed it lasted that long!!!