I would never leave a stand on public ground.All your chain did was keep an honest man honest.Plus I never want someone else to know where I am hunting.A climber is a most when hunting public.I have had stands stolen on private property,right behind the landowners home.A theif is a theif.They will go through the extra work to steal it.If you put another one out they will find away to steal it or as much of your stuff as possible.Sorry they stoled your stuff but it happens every day around here.While other areas of the county have crime rates on the decline,Ohio's is on a rise.

a motorcycle cable lock werks wonders.

a few years ago, i had a loc-on and a ladder stolen also. I had an idea who did it but i was 100% sure.. So the next year i was out scouting the same area guess what i found my ladder and stand with in 75yards of where they stolen it. So i just took back what was mine, i left his bow holder and bow rope there because they wasnt mine.. So about 2week later i was talking to the farmer that was farming the ground and he was telling me someone stole his sons stand from the same woods i was hunting.. and it was public ground..

In addition to being unnecessarily negative, your post sounds like it was written by a grade schooler.

Don't kid yourself. There are guys that go looking for stands in the off-season. They bring what they need to cut chains and break locks. They sell the stands for cash.

It's sad that one cannot utilize ladder stands or lock-ons for public-land use without a lot of risk. Sounds like the risk is moderate to high in some areas that the stand will be messed with or stolen. I can't get over the story of the father and son walking out with someone else's stand. It's one thing to steal, but to do it in front of your child is on a whole other level.

As far as Valentine goes, I suspect he has a vitamin B12 deficiency. I've noticed many off the wall/negative comments to people's posts as well as my own. If not a vitamin deficiency then......use your imagination.

I have had a few stands stolen on private property. Was not happy about that at all. but i have learned that the person who steals your stand will always be back, especially during hunting season. If he saw a stand he will most likely be back to hunt the area. If you see someone.. question them hard and don't back down. I've gotten one of my stands back that way.

^^ This. Never leave a stand on land that has public access. Both because you want to avoid theft, but probably equally important to keep your stand location secret from others. For some reason, a known stand becomes a magnet for lazy hunters that can't/won't do their own scouting. It's mainly for this reason that I use a climber or pop-up and keep my trail hidden (use few, if any, visible trail markers...I use sticks, trees etc to mark it mentally). I prefer to avoid anyone when in the field, and take measures to ensure that I'm a ghost out there. ;) The best trips are those where I know where most/all nearby hunters are (unless they're really good at also covering their tracks), but they have no idea that I've been there...

You're even more limited when your tree stand is missing. ;) Or when someone uses your stand when you're not there and screws up your setup by busting deer. That's the tradeoff of public land...and the reason why it's best to go through the trouble of keeping your setups secret.

What a low life to steal someones treestand.. I mean you can buy one at walmart (a pretty dang good one) for like 60 70 bucks.. Thats ridiculous.

I scouted a new place recently and followed a trail, turned out to be a guy who'd just hung a stand. No markers needed some times. It was public land too. Guy even used screw in steps. This is what I'm talking about. The guy is acting like he owns the place and even the tree. What steps were you using?

Think about this. if everyone started claiming trees no one would be able to hunt who didn't squat in one. Leaving your stuff behind is stealing. Kind of like using the center of the road to park your car because it's a really good place to park. You can't leave your car parked for deer season on a public ground. Soon the dnr will start confiscating stands that will be required by law to have some kind of ownership label and holding them charging the hunter for having to haul (tow) it away.

Take your stuff in and take it out. No, it's not too bad you can't leave your stuff there all season and no I don't remove anyones crap.

There's a local public land that has one tree covering an open field and some bone head leaves his stand there.