mrbb

OK since the season is closing in fast here and or already going in some places
I thought maybe sharing some tips on how to keep your stands from getting stolen
might be worth sharing here
as sadly, its a pretty common deal in my area, sadly!

many yrs back, due to excessive amounts of trespassers
I started taking my ladderstands, and lag bolting them to the top of the stand section to the tree, with home made brackets(again ON personal lands, NOT game lands)
this also made things harder for guys to come and just take

I also would take a bag of quick cement and mix a bag up and add forms to bottom of legs and cement them to the ground with a piece of rebar hammered in
did this on stands I had along food plots, that I never planned to move!

the above helps on having stands taken, but I soon found guys IN my stands or that they had been in them

so next I started making doors, I welded on two hinges up about 6 ft and 8 ft off the ground, and used a piece of sheet metal, to cover 3 steps, framed it in thicker metal , so couldn't be pried apart, but was still light, and or even used wood sheets
and then added a pad lock that when door was closed , NO one could climb into the stand VIA The steps
I would also camo paint the doors too LOL

this solved the folks using my ladder stands

Next on Loc on stands

I made my own custom steps, that could be fast on off the tree
I got HD shelf brackets, (could hold a few thousand LBS)
and then drilled a hole out large enough to fit over a HD lag bolt, and then milled slot down so I would then place on the shaft of the lag bolt and the head would work as a backer to support and keep the step in place
I then would add about 4-5 first steps this way, and carry in the steps(or hide near by so I wouldn't forget)
and to date never had a loc on stolen doing this

YRS back API< made these types of steps, where I got my idea from, but they made them out of cheap aluminum and they failed and were pulled from the market
the steps I use, are very nice, there HD, can be just plain lag bolted to the tree, and there a LOT easier to climb with, being wider and bigger foot area than traditional screw in steps

also a tip, I personally always carry in a ladder to hang all my stands, I find it faster, safer, and I get stands in better places , by being able to see the veiw LONG before I work to get set up

a simple snatch block, up the tree, above where a laddersatnd will go, will make setting up ladderstand ALONE almost simple!
or if real lazy and can get an atv to the tree, even easier!


this is basically my treestand set up
it all gets strapped to my atv, can carry chain saw, tools , extra?? and all, and even get several stands on it at once
fastest easiest way I know to place stands, again, IF legal to do so

bronko22000

Its a shame these days that people have no respect for another's property. I use lock on stands and use a chain and padlock. Seems to work

TN Lone Wolf

You've got some pretty good ideas. Fortunately, we're surrounded by neighbors who respect property boundaries, so we've never had any issues involving stolen equipment.

super_hunt54

I don't use ladder stands very often anymore but probably will be again before long. Getting too dang old for ladder sticks and climbing stands. My hang on's I use a log chain with a super hardened lock and I use strap on sticks that go in and out very easily. No lag screws hurting the tree's that way. Other than those, I prep a few trees for my climber.

Back in Pa some years ago, I found a fella in one of my ladder stands on MY property. Guy said he had permission from the owner and that I should leave before he called him! Got me a good little giggle from that. Told him "go ahead and call him, but give me a second to turn my phone on so I'll hear it ring" I then gave him 2 options, come down out of my damn tree stand and get the hell off my property by your own power or I'd let gravity define his way of leaving! Totally screwed my morning hunt having to walk his stupid rear out to his truck, got the tag number and told him if I ever saw him on my property again he would be fertilizing my wife's rose garden! Roses LOVE that did ya know that! Guess he took me seriously (I was 100% serious) cause I never ran across that particular individual again

mrbb

on my one property I used to catch about 20-30 guys a yr on it
and about 5-6 every time would tell me they OWNED The place, when I would ask them if they had permission to be there?

I used to laugh and tell them, well them someone owe's me a lot of taxes back, as I been paying taxes on these lands??


the other very common story I would get when I asked if they had permission,
I used to get told they had permission from the owner from back in the 80's?
I used to tell them, well, I used to buy gas for under a dollar a gallon once too, doesn't mean I still can pay that at the pump!

but I honestly think about 90% of the people I catch trespassing every yr, tell me they have permission??
yet NONE do,
as I don't let anyone hunt the place, but two close friends, and they always tell me in advance when there coming and where they wll be, so we don't walk in one each other or crowd each other in one area on the place

but over the many yrs there, I have had trespasser want to argue with me, NOT come down out of tree's, threaten to call the cops on ME LOL
love that one, I used to say go ahead, your only helping me, be a lot easier for them to arrest you then!

same can be said about me TAKING treesatnds I find on the property, one season I got 16 treestands off MY land that were NOT set up by me
I always leave a note saying how to reach me, if they want them back, but they will be arrested once getting them for trespassing
never in all the yrs have I had one try to collect there stand/s back! or contact me asking for them!
I thru around and sell them

the crazy part is, when I catch folks, I tell thiem this is there warning, next time it will be criminal trespass I will charge them with, I also carry a camera and take a few pic's of them, notifying them of the warring on the deal
this way the Criminal trespass is a felony here in PA, and can cause them to loose there ability to own firearms, more of a threat to them it seems than just a fine!
I never caught the same folks twice since doing this!
but for almost 20 yrs, I catch a good 30+ trespassers every single yr, always NEW one's

PA< SUCKS on trespassing, the sate is useless in helping you more or less the game dept refuses to help , passing the buck
law enforcement seems to think its a silly issue NOT worth there time
and residents think they can go where ever they want, knowing the odds of a fine are slime to few!
very sad
as I hunt a lot of states, and the difference in mind set and help from the state on trespassing is Hugely different! many states will go out of there way to help a land owner, NOT here in PA!
not even close to being helpful here!

TN Lone Wolf

Wow, that sucks. Sounds like it would get tiring after two or three, but thirty a year?

Champlain Islander

In all my years of bow hunting I have only had 1 stand stolen. After that I always lock them in with a 3/8 inch steel cable around the tree and through the stand. I figured they could get the stand but would need tools that people ordinarily don't carry while hunting. Vermont is an open hunting state where you don't need permission to hunt un-posted private property so seeing others is a normal occurrence unless the land is posted with no trespassing signs. Most people around here are pretty good sportsmen and finding a trespasser on posted land isn't that common.

mrbb

I have posted signs NO lie every 15-20 ft, all my stands get cable locked as well
have had a good 15-20 stolen, by folks with bolt cutters, and just as many trail cam's that were also chained/cable locked to tree's
even had one guy cut the whole tree down to get a camera once?
I don't live on the property, so being there 24/7 isn't possible
and I get folks trespassing ALL yr, from atv-er's to hikers, or parents walking there kids and dogs??
even caught the state Fish communion officer trespassing over the yrs
all walk past posted signs here like there just pretty signs that mean NOTHING

funny part is, about 2 miles down the road is a few thousand acres of public lands, yet everyone seems to rather trespass
I spent more time on this property during hunting season I think throwing people out, than I get to hunt it
cannot tell you how many times I been up in a stand and see trespassers and had to climb down to trow them out,
even better I get tons of them that will sit on the border then after I kick them out, on someone else's lands, where there actually trespassing as well, but the owner lives in another state and is lax on them, has posted signs, but won't let me kick them off his lands as well(which I have permission to hunt and NO one else does, so every time I see folks on his lands I know there trespassing, I talk to owner often to stay up[ to date, but he still doesn't care)
I have property in several parts of the state too, and its like this all over PA< trespassing is a basic every day common deal here,m folks tend to think IF They live close to woods, that means they can use as they please?
and again, the state SUCKS< to help you with matters, all dept.s just like to pass the buck

cannot tell you how many times I have called asking for help, to get,
call local cops, they tell you call State police, tell state police its hunters trespassing, they tell you call, game commission, call game commission, they tell you its NOT there job, call the police, and round and round you go .
I have the local 3 on speed dial LOL
in every area I have land in!
and been useless tools in trespassing game for me!

the few I have had arrested and prosecuted,I think cost me more than they paid in fines, a JOKE here in PA, and thus why everyone does it, they know its a no loose game!

Bob H in NH

I had my first stand stolen last year, was in a choke point between two dried up ponds. I've had cameras out there and the trail it watched over had consistent traffic of deer, coyote, bear, raccoons and people.


Stand went up in Sept, went out thanksgiving weekend to hunt it (been in it lots of times that season) and it was gone.


they had to have planned to take it, because it had a 3/8 rubber coated steel cable that locked, they took the stand, steps, safety rope. They did miss the strap on step above the stand I used for a bow holder, it's still there today.


Pissed me off enough to buy a climber for use in that area.


All my stands are locked.