Mike Hill

I have and honest question for all you guys.

Its a real nice day sunny in the 40s and you get to go out for and afternoon stand. You gather your gear put it in the truck and take off to your favorite stand. You get out of the truck gather your gear and boy you know it and can feel it this is going to be the day. You hit the woods but just as you come around the cornor where your stand is you see a guy gathering up your stand and ladder to take off with it. You know he is steeling it. I know everyone says I'd kill him but lets face it your not going to kill him and if you put a hurting on him you know your going to get suied. Lets face it no panty waving judge is going to know anything about a tree stand or care. And I work in a state prison and I have seen a lot of guys jailed for better reasons then a tree stand. So really what would you do. I have thought about this a lot and really don't know how to handelthis situation. It may never happen but like you guys know more and more tree stands are getting stolen it only a matter of time before this happens to some one.

Or what if your stand is stolen and you find some one hunting out of it on another property. You know its yours cause of the markings on it.

early in

Mike, thats a REALLY good question! I think if I thought I could physically beat him, I would say " yo, that's my tree stand and yor not going anywhere it". If he continued what he was doing, he would get an ass kicking! If I didn't think I could wupp him, I'd find where he's going and get certain info, such as vehicledescription, license plate#, description of him andtry to follow him. At this point I'd then go to the Police and see what they could do to help me.
I don't really know what else I could, I hope I never have to find out!

ron3775

I agree with you. Your not going to do anything physical to him. I do know that I would approach this individual with my weapon at the ready and ask him what he was doing. If he has a problem ask him to check the stand and make sure that it was yours. ( you should tag your stand with something). If it is, ask him if he would like to go discuss it with the local authorities.

Hiawatha

I was once at a house party and had my shoes stolen so i took someone elses. I suggest you do the same. Naw that was a joke well it did happen to me but if you find the stand again and you are 100% sure it was yours i would steal it back without question. First of all i would have chased him down, not put a lickin on him because like you say that can get ugly but i would have got my stand back. Now that didn't happen so no use in should have could have etc. I think you should do some investigating into that region for other hunters. Who has been in the same area as you, talk to landowners, and other hunters. Find out names, vehicle models etc. Most likely it is someone in the same region as you and they will be around again. If you do meet alot of hunters in the woods ask them if they would like to buy a treestand because you stole one last week and don't really need another one. Lots of guys have a big mouth and may slip by saying, no thats fine i stole one last week also. There's your man. Good luck but its most likely gonzo.

camoman73

Hmm yep id be carefull of my aproach,be prepared to defend my self and tell him put it down get lost,and i wont report you,if he gets irate well hell be sorry!If im in a mellow mood id get his plate numbers maybee pop a few tires and then call the sheriff

timbercruiser

Simple, I have two game wardens on my radio link. I would call and have them prosecuted.

Copper31

Real simple. Go back to my truck get my service firearm and make sure I had my ID and badge and give an active patrol a call. (part time officer)

RDHunter

If I saw someone trying to steel my stands I would get my camera out and take his picture and then use my cell phone to call the local police or the DNR.
Then try to stop him from taking my stuff , if that doesn't work I'll follow him to his truck get his plate number and let the police know about it.
If he starts to fight with then I'll just have to defend myself and kick the living s - - t out of him.

GregH

I don't allow stealing my things in front of me. If possible, I'll do what it takes to prevent the theft. Even if it involves force.

SaskBushMan

That's a easy one first I would not approach him, in this day and age you never know what people will do to avoid getting caught and he might shoot first and I don't think a tree stand is worth getting shot over. So the best thing to do is practice your stalking skills and follow him but stay out of sight, I doubt he will walk home with the stand which means you can atleast get a vehicle description with a plate # not to mention a good description of him. Then let the police take care of it not only will you get your stand back but he will get charged. I am a Loss prevention Officer and of have seen women try to chew a guys arm off to get away I have also seen guys pull knives and try to stab other officers to get away all over petty things. You never know with people they can be more dangerous than a cornered animal. I have hunted from a tree stand that wasn't home made once and it got stolen and it was on private land I really hate some people so I stick with the ground (enjoy it more anyway's)