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National Forest Tree Stand Policy

In checking in with the USFS personnel for both the C/N National in Wis and the Ottawa in MI, their policy is you can leave a stand in for the season, it has to be marked with info, and it must be removed at the end of the season........

From what I see no one takes them out, and their user/owners claim the area, from what I see.........

What do you think of that policy....... I realize ethics come into play here, ,,,,,,,,,,,

Unless the regulation changed since I retired in 2012 the stand does not need to be marked with info.

BTW, this policy applies to ground blinds as well even natural vegetation blinds. Those must be broken up and scattered after season. Do you think that anyone does that?

I like the policy since I can have the stand in place allowing me to safely and quietly get into place in the dark. Having a stand in place on USFS land does not give ownership to that spot but courtesy should be given, both ways. If someone runs you out of the area then get a tag number and call the USFS L.E. folks.

When I was working if any stands were left in place they were confiscated and went up for auction. Any permanent structures were usually destroyed. Since this policy went into effect they number of permanent stands has dropped significantly.

I realize that people will have varied success in dealing with USFS people but the more active you are the more you will see results. There are those i the agency that would like to see this policy change but also they want other changes like no trail cams, areas closed to hunting, etc. Careful what you wish for ;-)

Also, most of the counties in this area allow stands left in place too, some require personal info on them.

No, I do really not have a problem with it, was just wondering about what others think....

My contact with USFS personnel has always been positive, work hard and always nice to me, and helpful....

I think what is positive, is most use ladder stands, and so that keeps the ugly home made stands out of the trees.... Most ladder stands are always close to roads.........

The LE guy out of Eagle River, said yes, that stand should be marked with info,,,,,,,,,,, He said stands that are left in areas, that is going to be cut, are now taken out, and scrapped.....

He reported very few problems with the system, almost none...................

The issue with treestands is quite interesting to say the least!

The big fear from most folks is that some people may use them to "claim areas" - well I guess some "may do" just that.

How much though has anyone given to the the hundreds of duck blinds that populate any portion of state owned land? How's does that seem to work out?

While were at it has any one thought of all those ice houses or shanties that congregate on our public lakes every year? How does that work?

Just a couple of thoughts!

Let me share my Nicolet National Forest experience from back in the early 90's. I scouted an area near Luna/White deer, dragged a wood ladder stand into the area two weeks before gun season. I laid the stand at the base of the tree with the intent of putting it up on opening morning. Marked the area with tape and figured I gave anyone in the area enough evidence that I would hunt the location. Well, I got to the stand 1.5 hours before the open only to find the stand up and ratcheted to the tree with a guy in it. Mind you, my name was burned into the under side of the platform. I walked to the base of the stand and not wanting to get into a pissing contest told the guy it was my stand, that I didn't believe anyone was hunting the area, apologized, offered to remove my stand and leave the area. The guy said it was not my stand and told me to get the "F" out of his area. I said I would but, not without my stand and that my name and info was burned into the wood. He climbed down out of the stand, dropped trouser and took a dump at the base of the stand. He called me MF and about anything else you could think of. He pulled up his pants, emptied his gun on some large pines and walked away. As he was yelling at me, I shouted aren't you going to at least wipe your ass? I still laugh today when I think about it but, it was a situation that could easily have become more dangerous if not deadly. My advice, take your stand out and just move if someone moves into your area. No deer is worth dying over.

10 - Obviously not the norm - sorry to hear about your encounter!

Hunted public land for many, many years and never had a problem - once many years ago, I had a stand stolen - but never had any other problems.

To each their own - do what makes you feel safe!

For years I hunted a stretch of public land and never saw another bowhunter. Gun hunting was another story however. But I enjoyed the area, shot some nice deer and I guess was just lucky!

Same here Bloodtrail. Hunted for years all through Forest, Langlade, and Vilas counties. Never had a problem during bow. Gun season is a different story. From the above experience to a guy off of Plum Vita road in Vilas that at 6:30 AM on opening day was so stinking drunk that he actually walked up to where I was sitting, sat down right next to me and asked if I wanted a hit out of his flask. He proceeded to tell me he was from Jackson and I was surrounded by Indians! If it wasn't so entertaining, I would have been really pissed. I ended up shooting a nice little six about two minutes after he sat down and was in the middle of telling me I WAS LOST. The nice deal was, the buck sprinted to within 20 yards of where my truck was parked and dropped dead on a little mound. I was literally able to back my truck up to the mound next to the road and pull the deer onto my truck bed. Forever known as the loading dock buck. I can write a book about gun season public hunting ground experiences. LOL

10 - it takes all kinds! Good story!

If this decreases the number of permanent nailed in stands, I'm all for it. But I all ready see more screw in steps left in trees.

Screw in steps are illegal on USFS lands. More info for the LE guys.

Not only USFS - but I am not aware of anywhere other than private property where they would be legal!

Nothing beats a good ole' ladder stick! Enough horror stories on screw in steps to fill Lake Michigan! :^)

those are some bad stories. I have hunted fairly remote public land in Bayfield and Sawyer county and have never had a negative experience. But I think leaving stands up does give people the perception the spot is "theirs" and they should be taken down each night.

Yep, I like the idea of putting my stand up in the dark in the morning at O dark 30 and then at the end of the hunt, I also like taking my stand down in the dark!

Does that make any sense to anyone one? Am I really alone on this?

That is simple insanity! Why would anyone want to come into the dark woods and try and put up a treestand in the pitch black? And then take it down in the pitch black?

And no, putting them up and down in the "dawn" light and "dusk" light doesnt work either!

Duck hunters keep their blinds up all season - ice fishermen keep there shanties up all season - so what gives?

I dont get it?

Konk - So did you testify in court against this bozo? What was the outcome?

Leaving stands on public makes no sense. Wardens/officers would be called multiple times daily. Use climber, in and out, no problems.

RJN, My experience shows the opposite. If stands are not allowed to be left up then the wardens get many calls. That is my experience when I was working.

As for claiming the spot; it doesn't take a tree stand for this to happen. Many times hunters just sitting on the ground claim the area. On more than one occasion I know of hunting camps set up that claimed a very large area as theirs and attempted to drive off other hunters.

When I leave my stand in place but later find someone on the area close by I talk to them. At times they did not know I was in the area but most of the time we work things out. There was a time when I did not want anyone nearby but began to realize I was drifting into the "claiming" view. If I am not hunting that spot that day anyone else can be there but the same day I would not go and hunt there if they were there first or I knew they would be. If I was there first it is nice if they do the same but it is not required just courteous. Most of the time we worked it out so we were not too close.

Truly, if I am set up in a certain spot that I have scouted and another hunter found the same buck they could scout and setup a fair distance away and hunt the same deer. No reason for either to feel that it is their deer or a need to set up too close. Even with that,their is nothing illegal about someone using the stand I set up but that is not a courteous act.

I remmeber a friend of mine that had placed a stand on public land earlier that morning.

He came back in the afternoon to find someone sitting in his stand. He saw the guy from a distance and the "squatter" never saw him. He backed out quietly and let the guy hunt! He walked in at closing and took his stand and the guy was allready gone. The stand however...was still there.

Wow - I would like to think I would have done the same thing,but I dont know.

Anyhoo - smokey ya make good sense my man! Logical post!

rjn - Really? I dont own a climber. I dont like climbers and sold the ones I have long ago. You limit yourself to telephone pole trees often and the branches you cut on State/County land to get that stand in position often constitute a violation!

So instead of setting up in a nice big oak, I found myself often in a telephone pole popple tree.

Climbers have their place - no doubt, but I find myself too limited to certain trees and areas.

So - allow treestands on public lands, just like duck blinds and shanties! Pretty simple stuff.

so I've found a great looking funnel and want to hunt it. Then I notice a lock on hanging in it w/ some steps that some bozo left from a month ago and who knows when he's returning? This just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and don't feel right about hunting there not knowing when the stand owner will show up.

Opening weekend of bow 1985 I was walking the edge of a standing corn field in the Northern kettle Moraine near Mauthe Lake and came across a guy starting to climb with his climber. We talked a bit and he asked he to hang out for a minute while climbed up the tree. He got to where wanted and thanked me saying I should come get him if I shoot a deer and he would help me drag it out. Real nice guy and true sportsman. As I walked back into the ridge, I could hear him start to climb higher. The next sound was sickening. It was a panicked yell and huge thump like that of a goose hitting the ground after being shot. I dropped my gear and ran to his aid in the dark. He was out cold but breathing. No cell phones, no smart phones, all I could do was run back to the car to go get help. When I reached the road, a car was coming down the road. I scared the piss out of the women driving but, thankfully she stopped. I told her what happened and to get help. It seemed like less than five minutes and a County sheriff was on the scene. To make a long story short, the guy was transported to the hospital in Fondulac. I have no idea what the final outcome was or who he was. I always wondered if he made it? So no, putting a climber or hanging stand up in the dark, in my opinion does not make sense. I will stick with my ladder stands or hunt off the ground.

Wasaudug - Any difference than setting up next to a duck/goose blind and not knowing if the hunter(s) will be coming out to hunt?

How about drilling ice fishing holes right next to an ice shanty because the guys that own the shantie set it up right over a fish crib?

If you dont like the feeling...move! If ya plan on staying and the owner shows up you may want to ask him/her about the screw in steps he/she placed!

Me. I'd find another funnel....as long as I can hang my stand and not die taking it out that evening!!

10 - Thank the Lord you were close and able to render assistance/good for you - hope his hospital stay was short and he did OK...

Here is what I think..... Public Land is Public Land, and belongs to all of us. As Sportsman and women, we all need to be respectful of each other while in the field. If someone has your spot, move on.......

That worked well for alot of years. When the rules changed, "Ladder Stands" started to pop up all over. I have no problem with that, as long as you take it down at the end of the season......

But if your the type that just leaves it up, year round, than dont expect me to yield that ground, since you have so called staked a claim, that I do not buy into.......

Last year I was going into a late season spot, in October, when I saw, a million ribbons. I followed them to a ground blind I built, and there was a note, "I have hunted this spot for rifle season, the last 20 years", so just so you know I will be at this spot on opening day, please do not pull my ribbons"

Well I left a note for him, in the ziplock bag, he attached to the blind. It read, " I only hunt this spot late season, with the ML. I wish you good luck on your rifle hunt, but why would you need all the ribbons, if you hunted here for 20 years.......

If your so paranoid in the woods you have to put up a ribbon every 10 steps, pull that junk when you leave

I usually can follow ribbons, to a spot, and you bet their is more garbage there, that I haul out........

Most of these ladder stand guys, leave all kinds of junk by their stands, most are gun hunters.... It is sad the garbage I have hauled out.........

I have to say though, most ladder stand guys and ribbon hangers, do not hunt far from the truck, so most spots I am at, they do not bother me,,,,,,,

I agree with you Razorhead. I have pulled a lot of garbage out and not just ladder stand guys. Now I try to get the word to the ribbon hangers to at least take them down when the are leaving.

Stands left up after season are breaking the law so work with LE and get them out. On FS sites they are left a note who took it and why. Funny, no one seems to come in a claim their stands.

Bloodtrail, of course i would move. Currently stands can't be left up overnight and people do for a few days anyway and thats fine w/ me. In hard to get to places they will never come out because the only time guys are around is during hunting season. Don't get me started on ribbons... The shame of the big woods, my Dad always says no ribbons or whistles. If you get lost get out or die like a man. I'm not sure if he is being funny or not but its a good line.

My advice to the folks that don't want to set up a stand in the dark is to sit on the ground. We had one old timer, now gone, that shot more bucks on the ground than I'll ever hope to shoot out of a stand. That way it's safe and your not breaking the law. The ribbon thing drives me crazy too, especially the line of them you find when out shed hunting. If they would just take them down, it would be one thing, but most don't. I just like having the feeling that I'm the very first person ever to see a spot but that's hard to do when you come across a ten year old wooden stand hanging sideways in a tree that looks good. Old words, very wise. "Pack it in, pack it out."

My 2 year old girl gets ribbons in her hair. So you big grown men keep using ribbons, they make the woods look pretty. Maybe spend more time in the woods getting to know your spot instead of the afternoon before the opener. The reason there is confrontation in the woods is because the person using the ribbons only knows how to follow his ribbons, he will be completely clueless to where he can go when I am there before him. And yes, you may have 'been here for 20 years', but so have I, I just don't leave the trail of ribbons and whatever other garbage so you don't know I'm here. I have the ability to be mobile even if it means that I don't get to hunt the stand that I had in mind that morning. Ribbons are literally for little girls.

If you don't want to set up/tear down in the dark, stay on private land with your crossbow, corn pile, and shooting house. Jeeze, some people have to have everything made easier. Why even hunt, it might be to hard.

There was a solution to all this. Back in the eighties, a guy out of the Fox Valley area made an all aluminum ladder stand with a 1/2" plywood platform. It was three piece, 8' to 10' and totally back packable. Best stand I ever owned! Not real wide but light as a feather and sturdy. My dad bought it for me. Well, some slob in Ozaukee County stole off the Leader Farm I had permission to hunt on, right in the middle of the rut. If I could find that stand new again I would buy ten! I used black gaffers tape to silence the vertical part of each segment for backpacking.

If any of you guys know of the stand I described, what the company was called and can tell me where I can find one please tell me. It was rated for up to 250 pounds and I heard he went out of business because some guy over 300 got hurt when it buckled and filed suit. Which, if true is just total B.S., people need to own their actions.

Wausaudug, you said "Currently stands can't be left up overnight" Not true, at least in this thread as it is about NATIONAL FOREST. Stands and blinds can be left through season.

Ratoney, I hunt on the ground a lot, more and more as I grow older. But even a ground blind can be left in place during season and must be taken away after season ends. This is for both pop up and natural vegetation blinds.

Rut says -

"Jeeze, some people have to have everything made easier. Why even hunt, it might be to hard."

Rut - Hello, it's not about "easier" it's about "saftey" - if you've been paying attention here.

I simply do not want an easier hunt, I want a "safer" hunt - nothing easy about putting up a tree stand my friend, especially at my age! But I'd like a little light to do it so I dont die in the process.

Ratoney - Yep, I'll just sit on the ground - Damn - Why did'nt I think of that?

Change the law -

Just like the duck blinds on State land and the ice shanties - why should we have to be any different? OMG!

Bloodtrail, if you use a headlamp and safety harness with linemans belt, it's easy and safe. Practice it at home, the exact same way you would do it in the woods. I am not young either, and since some serious health problems, I am not in as good of shape as I used to be. However, I still have no problem climbing and setting up/taking down stands in the dark. I do however practice this. If it's simply a matter of not feeling comfortable in a tree, maybe ground hunting is what you should try. A gillie suit and a crossbow would be a deadly combination on the ground.

Rut, not so fast! No guarantees. I few years ago, Deer and Deer Hunting had a story on tree stand safety. Far more can go wrong with a climber or hang-on stand then a ladder. The ladder has its issues as well. none are perfect but statically they pointed out that you are safer with a ladder as long as you don't go over ten feet. one guy in the article was wearing his wedding ring, and all the harnesses you spoke of. When he slipped, he reached for a branch and the ring ripped through his finger like butter. He went into shock and nearly died. I am rifling through old mags to try and find the article. I will post it when I do.

Besides, you guys that imply that you are somehow more of a man, a better hunter, more skilled, or tougher than anyone of us that use ladder stands is simply moronic. If you are really that good, your actions would speak loud enough that you wouldn't feel compelled to say hey look at me, look how great I am. No friends, I think you are more inclined to over promise and under deliver.

10orbetter,

Could you please find that article. I would really like to read it.

My pops years ago made a stick ground blind but when he went to hunt it opening evening a guy was sitting in it drunk. This happened in MI so he was also allowed to bait. My uncle had been baiting it for him during bow season for a few weeks before opening day.

Anyway when my dad arrived he told the guy he had built the blind and tagged it and that it was his spot and that he did not mind the guy hunting there when he was not there. He said he only can hunt in the evenings and the guy could have it to himself in the mornings but my dad wanted it for the evenings. The guy got up in my dads face and said 'no I will hunt it when I want to' and told my pops to go elsewhere. My dad said he was trying to be nice and would even help him out by continuing to bait the bait pile each evening and didn't mind the guy hunting over it in the mornings. The guy got even more angry and threated my pops and told him to leave and that it was his spot now.

My pops said fine and he told the hunter if he wanted to be that way that he would not be killing anything that day. He said "I know the deer patterns here and I will move up a few hundred yards and cut you off if you want to be that unreasonable. My dad went and sat down about 200 yards away and hunted the same area but could still see the guys orange hat on his head as it stuck over the top of the blind. The guy got so angry that he shot toward my dad with his gun about 30 minuets later. My dad was in the military but said even with his training he was scared shitless. He went for cover and ducked down behind an old fallen oak tree and removed his own orange hat. The other crazy guy took 2 more pot shots in my dads direction within seconds. My pops was not sure if the guy was actually trying to hit him but the bullets were striking within 50 yards of my dad.

He yelled to the guy that he was over there and the guy yelled back that he knew. My dad said if he didn't stop he would shoot back. My pops gave it a 2nd thought and decided to just crawl away but the guy took another shot as my dad tried to leave. My pops started to wonder if the tool would ever run out of bullets and was actually scared for his life. He wasn't sure if the guy was just trying to scare him or if he was missing because he was drunk but he was very worried.

After the last shot he finally just laid his gun over the fallen tree and aimed about 24 inches above the guys head that was sticking out above the blind and squeezed one off. The bullet hit the tree right above his head and the guy jumped up and ran for his life. My dad did not come home until wayyyyy after dark because he was not sure if the crazy hunter was waiting for him. The police showed up and my dad filed a report and even took them to the spot so they could collect the casings the hunters gun had ejected. Naturally they never found out who it was and the guy never returned.

My dad always told me after that happened that if a hunter takes your spot that it is better to just let it go if they get to crazy about it because you never know what ones will start shooting at you.

Rut - Your missing the point...again!

There's no need for me to wear a headlamp, linemans belt and harness and jack around in the dark!

The duck hunters aint building their wood blinds in the dark and neither should I have to put my stand up in the dark and then have to take it down again in the dark, when the duck hunters simply paddle or walk away from their "dont have to move" blinds!

Why is safety so complicated? I dont work well in the broad daylight let alone darkness!

Man o' man!

10 - nice post!!

Guys, I never ripped on ladder stands, I love them. On my land they are my stand of choice, I have 26 stands total up and 15 are ladders. There may be more by the time the season rolls around. But for public land sets, I like my climbers and my small hang on with sticks.

I think a ladder stand is only usable if it is a 2 man stand. I hunt ground most of the time but after trying out stands a few times I think the two man stands are the best. You can enclose the bottom half of the stand with camo burlap from the shooting rail down and still have lots of room to move and stretch out without movement being picked up.

The climbers and hangers are to small IMO and hard to get comfortable in especially if you have a bad back. A two man is the whip if you need to get comfy but it would be a real pain in the arse trying to pack that into state land. lol

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