As ridiculous as this may sound, be careful not to scrape up the tree with your stand. That is the ONLY thing I can possibly think of that someone could yell at you about. And, unless you are spiking the tree with bolts, I think you are fine!

Would be funny if some bird-watchers came by, or lovebirds! (Ha! Ha!)

I would think that for it to be considered 'deer hunting' you would have to be attempting to kill deer. If no weapons are present, obviously that would not be your intent. I do think it may become an awkward situation if you had to explain to some LEO just what excactly you were doing in there, though, and that you hadn't 'laid' your weapon down moments before he saw you.

I would think that scouting from the ground without any climbing device would yield the same results in terms of scouting.

I would call your Fish and Game just to make sure, but i would have to imagine that its perfectly legal to go and observe the wildlife. There is no difference in my mind if you were in a treestand observing or just watching from the ground. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I did it here at a park and they were fine with it. I took in my climber and looked around. Gave me good info and some pics as well.

Montana Dave had the same thought as me. Hanging a stand would probably be your only issue.

Of course it's not hunting, but you have to make sure you're not violating some other law, like damaging trees or something in a park. If it's an area yo plan to hunt I think you'll do more harm than good. It's a known fact tht most big deer are shot the FIRST or SECOND time in a particular location. Everytime you leave a littel more evidence of your passing for the deer to smell or see. Scouting at this time of year isn't really going to tell you where they deer will be in Sept or Oct. I'd prefer to find a place where I can see a lot of ground and food without walking on it.

I'm really only talking about turkeys, right now. I might go in there once or twice in July/Aug......but nothing more than that. No need to. You're right, Dave........they change patterns from season to season.....month to month (sometimes) and sometimes even MORE frequently.

GMMAT, I hunt in a State Park and do tree stand scouting often duringthe off season, with camera. I've never even been asked what I'm doing by the DNR guys, although they do see me alot throughout the year.