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Rackaddict

Rackaddict

Life Member
There's an old Treestand in a tree on the public land where I hunt that has been there so long that part of the stand has grown into the tree. The law states that you have to remove your stands from public hunting land 15 days after the close of season. There's no name on the stand of who owns it either. I know of only two other guys that hunt there and they have no idea who it belongs to. For the past six years I walked by this stand more times than I care to remember and never once has there been any evidence of anyone getting near it. I'm not sure what brand it is and it's not a bad looking stand other than some weathering. The brush and weeds have overgrown the base of the tree and what was a field the stand was setting over is completely grown over by brush as high as 15 feet and so thick you literally can't walk through it in places.

My Question:

Am I justified in taking it?




Later...

While I was out shed hunting on the same public land this past February I found a bow leaning up against a tree. I was surprised to see a bow in the woods that time of year but on closer inspection I could see it had been there for a while since it had snow on it but since I hadn't seen it at the end of the season I assumed it couldn't have been there too long. It looked like a fairly new bow and an expensive one too.

It made me very curious as to why it was out here. I asked the guys that hunt there if they were missing a bow but they weren't. Did some kid take his Dad's bow out there and set it down and lose it? If he did, then did the guy know about it and look for it or will he find out when he opens his bow case later? It had a full quiver of arrows with the broadheads on them. It wasn't a finger shooting bow and I didn't see a release or anything else laying around.

My Question:
Am I justified in taking it?
 
Personally I wouldn't have anything to do with the ingrown treestand, If you claim it the state might charge you for the tree. The bow on the other hand is yours to keep, you did all you could do to find its owner, so you just found a once in a lifetime find. You are so lucky!!!
 
You might do the tree a favor and loosen the stand at least. I do believe somebody has a legitimate right to take the stand. If you removed the stand making the appropriate authorities aware and they allowed you to keep it, enjoy it. But to be completely on the up and up I think they, the authorities, need to make that choice. With that said I know there is that little monster in all our heads that says justified or someone else is going to grab it. It is not yours. We live in a world where most would consider both of these situations as a winning lottery ticket. I can’t teach my kids what integrity is if I personally can't display it. Help the bow owner find his bow. Don't leave it, help him find it. Inconvenient, yep but it is the right thing to do.
 
You missing a bow Pharmer???......
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take them with you, tell the local authorities, put a lost and found in the paper and the radio. wait a few weeks for replies. the police and dnr will have your name if someone comes in later. if no one claims them i say......................finders keepers.
 
With the bow the "right" thing to do would be to place an add saying you found a bow and if someone lost one to describe it to you in detail. I know a guy who is an avid grouse hunter and the same situation happened to him. He had a Winchester Model 21 (a grouse hunters dream gun). He left it on the topper of his truck while he was packing up and drove away with out taking it it. Didn't realize it untill he got home. Never saw it again and still eats at him. As for the stand if someone has that much disrespect for the woods F*&$ 'em and take the stand.
 
hmmmm, not sure if you would be "justified" in taking them, but if you are asking what i would do.....i would have taken them both home. may have tried th find the owner of the bow, but not the stand. leaving it up, untagged is against the law. chances are, if the DNR found it they would cut it down and either throw it away, or sell it at a state auction. you may as well have them
 
Here is what I would do:

Stand: Call the DNR, tell them where it is. Let them deal with it.

Bow: Take it home, but leave a note on the tree where you can be reached, put an add in the paper, radio call in show lost and found, notes on bulletin boards in sports shops. Do all you can to reunite the bow and its owner.

Rationale:

Tree stand, I don't like the government taking care of my problems, but I could get hurt trying to take down a tree stand that has grown into a tree. You don't know what condition it is in anyway, you can see it but what shape is it really in. As far as disrespect for the tree, maybe the guy had every intention of gettting his stand down at the end of the season, but he didn't see the car crossing the center line.....

Bow: Think of how good you would feel if somebody went through this much trouble to return something you lost. Could you really enjoy using something that wasn't yours? Even if I found it and did all of the right things to return the bow and it was never claimed, I'd give it to someone who deserved it. I personally have a hard time using/keeping/wanting anyhting I didn't earn. Finding it isn't earning it and taking adavantage of someone elses bad luck is....well...just not right. Remember the guy from another post who lost his Grouse gun? He felt bad for years. You could potentially save somebody from feeling lower than whale poop because they messed up.

FWIW, guess I'm getting a little preachy today.

The 'Bonker
 
Rack,
Bow may have been stolen. Kids figured out there was no way to take it home without getting caught so they dumped it.
 
The bow was a hoyt so I assumed that the guy just left it there in disgust.
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Seriously, both of these scenarios were fictional. After reading some of the responses to Ironwood's "Dirtbag" post I was curious as to what people would say if the conditions were a little different. I've enjoyed reading what others say they would do.

The treestand scenario is based somewhat on fact. There is a treestand in the woods hanging much the way I described for the past 6 or 7 years that has been abandoned. Truth is, I've thought about taking it down from time to time but never felt totally comfortable with it. ( Maybe I should and then I'll have Headgears Christmas gift out of the way.
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)

I'm not sure what I would do if I actually found a bow. I know I'd hate to lose mine that way. I doubt I would run an ad in the paper or hang up signs or any of that, although it sounds good. I would probably just hang on to it and mention that I found it to the owner of the bow shop that sold that type of bow locally. Then if nothing came of it I would go Bonker's route, in that I would more than likely give it to someone.

The reward for honesty may only be that you know you are. That in itself is reward enough.
 
Anyone ever find a pole trimmer in NE IA last year? I left it in a public area parking spot? Only used the dang thing one time. Put it under my truck b/c it wouldnt fit in my bed. went hunting and forgot the thing when i left. Gone the next time I looked for it!
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Oh yeah! Leave the stand, probably junk anyways and not save! Do your best to find the owner of the bow. People darn near need a second mortgage to afford one these days!
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I actually hid/lost my trimmer a few years back on some nieghboring propertys only to find it 3-4 years later shed hunting. It rang a bell right away and it still cut and sheared so I gave it to my buddy that was less fortunate to have one...
 
If the stand has been there that long I would take it down and toss it in the garbage. You may be doing someone a favor instead of having them crawl into a unsafe stand and have it break.

Last year I was hunting public land in Illinos and a guy there set his bow down to move his stand. When he came back his bow was gone. Sitting around the campfire he was telling this story to us. I told him I bet its still there and he didnt get back to the right tree. The next morning after a short hike there sat his bow right where he left it ( he went to the wrong tree)...........

Why he set it down is beyond me.........

Don
 
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