Feeders and Tree Stands

[Palmer]

Near Bead Lake North of Newport, my Dad walked into an area that had always been posted "Walk in Only" in past years.  This year there was no posting at all.  When he got to the end of the road he was surprised to see a couple of huge feeders with timers.  He thought they were maybe 100 gallon containers.  A man yelled to him from a fortress propped up in the air several feet.  The man came over and told my Dad that it was private property. 

My Dad said no problem We won't hunt here anymore.  I didn't even know it was legal but after talking with some locals I here it is common practice to unload a truck full of alfalfa just before archery season.

We hunted about a half mile away from the folks with the feeders and over a 4 day period heard a lot of shootin' in that area near the feeders.  They had a lot better success then we did.  We only saw a few does and decided to hunt elsewhere.

It seems like feeders would be a huge expense to me.

[jackelope]

if one wants to hunt over feeders, one should move to texas.

[jae]

if one wants to hunt over feeders, one should move to texas.

I AGREE!

[Houndhunter]

ya i think its a good thing that we cant use feeders in washington, never ran into one while hunting but have seen a few salt licks

[Palmer]

No it's illegal in Idaho, legal in Washington.
 
I hunt a location every year for the last 7 years.  Now I have a hunter setting up 5 tree stands all around this same area for the last couple years except this year he was only 300 yards away.  When I talked to him this year, he says he's got his partner 500 yards away in a stand over a feeder.  He's also got a camera taking pictures of the same buck I harvested.  He said my buck was at his feeder on most days at 8 am and he was hoping his partner was going to take this buck.  I however rattled him in.  I reminded him that last year when he saw me come down out of the tree, I had told him I hunted this corner of the small clearing every year.  He replied that he'd been hunting the area for 20 years and had hunted the corner also.  I know it's public land so first come first dibs.  He was a good enough guy.  I figure the forest is big enough for all of us.  I'm just a little bothered that he keeps getting closer every year, has 5 tree stands for two hunters on public land, and now he is using a feeder, not to mention the fortress guys hunting feeders a half mile away.

I also noticed that I didn't even see a deer for 3 days, less than past years.  So I left the area for 3 days and came back.  That morning I saw my buck.  The other hunter heard the shot and helped me drag out the buck.  That's when he filled me in on his stands and feeder.

I do have a question or two.  How many feeders and tree stands can one person leave on public land?  For example, what if you walked into a clearing or forest to hunt and their were no hunters but you saw four tree stands and 5 feeders around the the area?  Does that mean you hunt it until the owners of the feeders show up?  What if your the first at your favorite tree with your tree climber but a vacant tree stand is already there?  I can see alot of conflicts arising out of these situations.

I think if its public land and your the first in by morning then regardless of tree stand or feeder, its your spot until you leave.

[high country]

I don't think it is legal to leave any feeders or tree stands on public land unattended. there are some obscure ruls on feeders in some areas as non native plants can wreak hell in some areas....don't quote me, but I remember this from a while back.

I have a group of friends that spends litteraly thousands on feed every year. they shoot dinks and I laugh about it....I will never understand it. they feed local elk and feel like they have special right to them and get pissy when I shoot em' on public land a couple miles away, I am supposed to thank them for feeding the elk that I shot.....again, I will never understand it.

[bearhunter59]

I just read it somewhere, so I'll have to try and remember where and go back and see what it says exactly, but if I recall correctly, the reg/rules on blinds/treestands, are that you can put them on public land, but it is with the understanding that they are first come, first serve.  Meaning, just because you paid for it and put it out there, doesn't mean that when you show up on opening day, and someone has already beat you to your own treestand, that you can chase them out of there.  If it's on public land, then anyone can use it, regardless of who owns it.  Might want to consider that...

[Palmer]

I just read it somewhere, so I'll have to try and remember where and go back and see what it says exactly, but if I recall correctly, the reg/rules on blinds/treestands, are that you can put them on public land, but it is with the understanding that they are first come, first serve.  Meaning, just because you paid for it and put it out there, doesn't mean that when you show up on opening day, and someone has already beat you to your own treestand, that you can chase them out of there.  If it's on public land, then anyone can use it, regardless of who owns it.  Might want to consider that...

I wouldn't climb up into someone's tree stand.  A hunter who was from Asia climbed into someone's stand because he was the first into the area.  When the five white hunters came to their stand there was a shoot out.  I heard only two hunters survived.  The Asian claimed he felt threatened due to racial slurs.  I heard this on the Savage commentator show 770 am.
 
I'd say the Asian had a right to hunt the area and the other hunters should have left him be since he was first into the area if it was public.  However, without knowing the full story, he shouldn't have pulled the trigger unless they threatened his life. 

To stay out of trouble I wouldn't go into someone's stand but I would be hacked off if the owners tried to chase me out of the area after I was first in.

[ICEMAN]

The hunter had trespassed onto lease land. He also dumped his orange, used an assault rifle and layed and waited to kill the other hunters.

[billythekidrock]

I'd say the Asian had a right to hunt the area and the other hunters should have left him be since he was first into the area if it was public.

Leave him be? If you scouted and placed a stand and found someone in it you would let them be?
I don't care if it is public land, it is my tree stand, he can get the heck out of it.

[jackelope]

The hunter had trespassed onto lease land. He also dumped his orange, used an assault rifle and layed and waited to kill the other hunters.

NUFF SAID.

[Buckshot Bill]

Does anyone have a link to the news article on this story?

[jackelope]

happened in 2004
http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/11/22/hunters.killed/

best i could find right quick.

[Buckshot Bill]

Becoming much clearer now.  See, you're dealing with Minnisotans and Wisconsins which are huge football rivals!  GB vs. Vikes.  The packer fans probably wanted to take out the vikings fan but he got to them first.  Those folks there are way to crazy about their NFL teams

Just kidding!

Very sad incident and that one of them was a woman.

[Palmer]

I googled Chai Vang and here is an article on the trial of Chai Vang:

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/09/10_kelleherb_vang/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chai_Vang#

Conviction
On September 16, 2005 Chai Soua Vang was found guilty of all six charges of first degree murder and two charges of attempted murder by a jury of eight women and four men. On November 8, 2005, he was sentenced to six consecutive life terms plus seventy years (40 for two counts of attempted murder plus five additional years for each count of murder in the first degree). Wisconsin is one of 12 states in the U.S. that does not have the death penalty.

Mr Vang should have let these folks turn him in.  However, I don't care where a person is from or what he looks like, if a man with a gun is trespassing on your property, be carefull and call the authorities if you feel uncomfortable.

This kind of a story reminds me of how fast things can go wrong out hunting.  I've read threads about hunters scoping each other - crazy if you ask me.  I've been in a couple situations where I told the person to call the sheriff and let them settle it.  That usually ends the confrontation or I just back down and move on.  Its not worth it.
 

[Palmer]

Getting back to the stands and feeders on public land.

How can you have feeders and several stands in an area over a weeks time and expect others to stay out of your stands or away from your feeders?  If I walked into public land and found a feeder, I might sit on it.

I like stands and support hunters that hunt them every day but if they have 4 or 5 in a public area, don't use them every day but expect no one else to hunt these areas - that doesn't seem right.  This is the situation that has been creeping up the last couple years where I like to hunt.

I wouldn't go into a new looking ladder stand but I have gone into an old one built into the tree above Nason Creek area.  If someone told me to get out, I would have scoffed at them and then told them to call the sheriff.

It reminds me of heading into our favorite duck hunting area.  We walked in 2 hours before sun up.  Someone had really built up a blind in the spot we wanted.  A half hour later a couple came in with their lab barkin' at us.  The husband called his dog back and waved to us.  His wife said, "Well they can't hunt there, we spent two hours building up that blind yesterday."  The husband replied, "let's go, leave them alone," and she yelled to us sarcastically, "I hope you enjoy our blind."  That's just the way it is on public land.  First in gets to hunt the spot.

[HuntingFanatic]

I think that feeders are only something that should be seen on the bubba channel in places that charge by the size of the deer you shoot. Definatly not on public land.

As far as tree stands on public land goes. I personally dont sit on them....although I have come across a few I was tempted to set my bottom in. Surely wouldnt take the time to build one. A few years back I ran into a real yahoo in a climbing tree stand. Acted like he owned it all. If you hunt on public land...for the most part you have to be expecting to see other hunters. Some where you want to see them, and some where you dont.

[ICEMAN]

I came across a place where some yahoo had pounded a couple of dozen 10" steel spikes into a massive cedar tree to get his stupid self into the crotch of the tree way up high. Spikes were pretty far apart, and spiraled up the tree. There is no way in hellllll I would have ever climbed that disaster. But some knucklehead did... (Didn't find a body at the base in the brush like I thought I would.) (Wynoochee area...)

[Buckshot Bill]

Personally, if someone wants to hunt from a tree stand, more power to em.  Great way to keep from being noticed in the field.  I tend to stay away from them during big game hunts unless I was archery hunting and only sometimes then.  I try and stay away from someone else's stuff to avoid the confrontation.  Like many of you said, it's not worth it.  If someone gets into mine then when they leave I take it down and go somewhere else.  I agree that if someone beats you to the spot then they have the right to hunt there as long as they want.  Just a cardinal rule that I was raised with.  Just have to get up earlier the next time/day.

[jackelope]

here goes at the risk of getting my head ripped off.
i do not agree with feeders at all...no where no how.
tree stands on the other hand are a matter of personal opinion. in different areas of the country tree stands are  the main means of hunting. people don't hunt on thousands of acres or square miles of public land for the most part, and usually during deer season back east, there are so many oak tree leaves on the ground that you can't move 5 feet without waking the dead they make so much noise. i said the same thing back when we had the mojo duck decoy discussion...
tree stands are a very effective method to employ. their popularity is governed by where you live in the country and how you hunt.
if i came across a duck blind that somebody took a bunch of time building, i would leave it for them to use.
same goes for a tree stand...it was kind of unwritten code back east that if you wanted a tree stand, build your own...stay out of someone elses, and if there's one already there, go somewhere else.
trust me, people back east can not fathom the idea of walking around looking for deer. spot and stalk is unheard of back there.

[Palmer]

here goes at the risk of getting my head ripped off.
i do not agree with feeders at all...no where no how.
tree stands on the other hand are a matter of personal opinion. in different areas of the country tree stands are  the main means of hunting. people don't hunt on thousands of acres or square miles of public land for the most part, and usually during deer season back east, there are so many oak tree leaves on the ground that you can't move 5 feet without waking the dead they make so much noise. i said the same thing back when we had the mojo duck decoy discussion...
tree stands are a very effective method to employ. their popularity is governed by where you live in the country and how you hunt.
if i came across a duck blind that somebody took a bunch of time building, i would leave it for them to use.
same goes for a tree stand...it was kind of unwritten code back east that if you wanted a tree stand, build your own...stay out of someone elses, and if there's one already there, go somewhere else.
trust me, people back east can not fathom the idea of walking around looking for deer. spot and stalk is unheard of back there.

I like hearing your opinion.  It makes me think that maybe there is a code of conduct in other parts of the country regarding tree stands.  I think they are becoming more popular for certain game and areas.

When tree stands are a couple years old and built into the tree, you don't even know if who built it will be hunting it that week.  As for a duck hunting blind, you're a nicer guy than I.  That's pretty cool that you would do that but not everyone would.

I've been running into a hunter who has 5 tree stands and a feeder within about 750 yard wooded area and only uses one or two per day.  He's kindly giving me the hint that he's claimed the area with his feeder and tree stands.  That's where I draw the line.  If I see you in a tree stand hunting an area, I'll leave you alone.  However, if I see a vacant tree stand in an area I planned to hunt then I'm going to claim first in.  How do I know if the hunter is going to be there to hunt that day.  I use a tree climber and lock it to the tree.  If someone got to the area before me, I'd have to hunt somewhere else.

[Palmer]

Feeders remind me of looking out your back porch for game while watching football.  It doesn't really seem like hunting.

[bearhunter59]

And just last week, I read on MSNBC.com about a white hunter that just got convicted of killing a Hmong hunter over squirrel hunting.  He claimed self-defense, but the dead hunter had 5 stab wounds and a shotgun wound.  They beleive it was a racial killing in retaliation for the incident that has alread been posted here...

Regardless of your feeling about either of these incidents, the bottomline here is that 6 people are dead, 2 people will probably spend the rest of their natural lives in jail, and all these families lives ruined and turned upsidedown all over someone hunting in an area that someone else beleived was "their" hunting area...

Is is really worth it?

[bearhunter59]

I personally have never sat in a treestand out in the woods, but I don't think I would have a problem climbing up into one if I saw it out there.  I look at it like fishin shacks along the banks of the river.  First come-first serve...

and here is the link to the other hunter related killing/conviction...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22008866/

[Ray]

I don't have a treestand.  I would never touch or utilize anyone else's treestand out of respect for their equipment. In my opinion they don't have a stake on the real estate but the equipment is personal and I believe in respecting people's personal belongings. For example: I would not take someone's motor bike or bicycle to "borrow it" since they were not using it for the day.

As far as hunter over a feeder is.. I don't plan on hunting over a feeder. I certainly would put a small lick out just to see what critters are in the neighborhood for the camera though.

[Palmer]

I personally have never sat in a treestand out in the woods, but I don't think I would have a problem climbing up into one if I saw it out there.  I look at it like fishin shacks along the banks of the river.  First come-first serve...

and here is the link to the other hunter related killing/conviction...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22008866/

I think what you mean is when you see an old tree stand built out of lumber, its been there for months or years, and is almost always vacant.  I could see the analogy.

On the other hand, some hunters bring in ladder stands for a week and I wouldn't climb into one of those.  But if they are in the area I had been scouting for a month, then I'd try to get there first in the morning to hunt the area without climbing into their stand.