Feeders and Tree Stands

[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.