JNRBRONC
Well-Known Member
Okay, things are a little slow in the off season. I have a story/saga from last fall that might pass a little time.
I have permission to hunt some private property and got out there very early opening morning of bow season. I had the Lone Wolf Alpha in the tree a half hour before light. The sun comes up and there is very little deer movement. Soon, I hear a bunch of hammering and it sounds close. Being paranoid, I think it must be someone building a treestand on this property. I climb down and go investigate. Well, too paranoid as usual and it is just a neighbor reroofing his garage. I head back for my stand, taking a different path back to it. This new path takes me along the property line and I spy a treestand that wasn't there last year, in fact I'm positive it is on the private property that I have permission for. I go to the tree and start to climb up the home welded tree steps (lag bolts with bent rerod welded to them) to unbolt the homemade stand. The person who welded this homemade stand togethor was rather creative in how they chained it to the tree. There was a bolt tightening system that I could not undo by hand. So I had to climb down and head to the vehicle for some tools. Retrieving a pair of pliers and some vise grips, I felt rather smug as I returned to the tree. As I was approaching the area, a flash of light caught my eye. I studied the area of the flash and realized that it came from the lens of a trail cam. Cool, just scored a trail cam that was illegally placed by a trespasser.
After taking the cam off the tree, I went over to take the treestand down. I climbed up, loosened the bolt that tightened the chain to the stand and dropped the stand next to the base of the tree. As I watched it fall, I noticed that the old squashed down fence that is the property line was right against the base of this tree, which means the tree was growing on the OTHER side of the fence from where I had permission. The part of the tree that the stand was hung in crossed over the fence and was in the airspace of "my" hunting area. The property across the fence is not what one would consider decent hunting ground, so I assumed that the person placed this stand to watch the trail that was 15 yards inside "my" property (this was the trail the trailcam was monitoring). Realizing that I was in a very gray area of the law, I left the stand at the base of the tree. I posted two No Hunting signs on trees right next to the hard to discern fence, one had my name and cell phone number on it. I figured that between finding their tree stand on the ground and the presence of No Hunting signs, the person might be dissuaded.
Well, I was dissapointed the next time I returned to hunt the area as the person had rehung the stand. I was angry, but figured that there are lots of deer, I can share.
I hunted this area on a Sunday first part of November. I didn't see any deer I was interested in, so hunted elsewhere for a week. I return to this area before daylight and get set up in my normal tree. As the sun comes up, I notice something on the ground over by the other tree stand. I have deer move through under me and they become curious as they get downwind of whatever it is laying on the ground. They approach from downwind and scent out the "object". Okay, curiousity has the best of me at this point and I have to climb down to check it out. I walk over there to find the headless body of a buck, dead under the No Trespassing sign with my name and cell phone number on it. There is a foot wide blood trail that takes me back to the trail that is 15 yard parallel to the property line. The buck was shot in the right rear hip, must have clipped the femoral artery.
Can you say "livid"? I'm pissed now and start calling the local CO. It has been 6 days since I have hunted this area and the temps have been hot, one day hit 60+. The buck is really decomposing, nobody witnessed the shooting, I can't blame the CO for not being really interested in a "cold case".
I talked to a DNR officer at the Classic. His advice is to cut the tree off vertically above the fence line. That was my initial thought as well.
I really feel I need to knock on some doors and talk to the neighbors and tell them that I'm not happy about what happened. So far there is trespassing, shooting onto private property and wanton waste.
This might be a case where a portable stand (Lone Wolf Alpha) might be a bad thing. If I had a permanent stand hung in this area, they might not have been so eager to hang their stand. Then again?????
Not looking for sympathy or suggestions here. I'm going to go knocking on doors this weekend to talk to the neighbors. I will talk to the person who did this or to person who granted permisson to the party that did this. Fair warning that this had better not happen next year. Then, after talking to the neighbors, my chainsaw gets started.
I have permission to hunt some private property and got out there very early opening morning of bow season. I had the Lone Wolf Alpha in the tree a half hour before light. The sun comes up and there is very little deer movement. Soon, I hear a bunch of hammering and it sounds close. Being paranoid, I think it must be someone building a treestand on this property. I climb down and go investigate. Well, too paranoid as usual and it is just a neighbor reroofing his garage. I head back for my stand, taking a different path back to it. This new path takes me along the property line and I spy a treestand that wasn't there last year, in fact I'm positive it is on the private property that I have permission for. I go to the tree and start to climb up the home welded tree steps (lag bolts with bent rerod welded to them) to unbolt the homemade stand. The person who welded this homemade stand togethor was rather creative in how they chained it to the tree. There was a bolt tightening system that I could not undo by hand. So I had to climb down and head to the vehicle for some tools. Retrieving a pair of pliers and some vise grips, I felt rather smug as I returned to the tree. As I was approaching the area, a flash of light caught my eye. I studied the area of the flash and realized that it came from the lens of a trail cam. Cool, just scored a trail cam that was illegally placed by a trespasser.
After taking the cam off the tree, I went over to take the treestand down. I climbed up, loosened the bolt that tightened the chain to the stand and dropped the stand next to the base of the tree. As I watched it fall, I noticed that the old squashed down fence that is the property line was right against the base of this tree, which means the tree was growing on the OTHER side of the fence from where I had permission. The part of the tree that the stand was hung in crossed over the fence and was in the airspace of "my" hunting area. The property across the fence is not what one would consider decent hunting ground, so I assumed that the person placed this stand to watch the trail that was 15 yards inside "my" property (this was the trail the trailcam was monitoring). Realizing that I was in a very gray area of the law, I left the stand at the base of the tree. I posted two No Hunting signs on trees right next to the hard to discern fence, one had my name and cell phone number on it. I figured that between finding their tree stand on the ground and the presence of No Hunting signs, the person might be dissuaded.
Well, I was dissapointed the next time I returned to hunt the area as the person had rehung the stand. I was angry, but figured that there are lots of deer, I can share.
I hunted this area on a Sunday first part of November. I didn't see any deer I was interested in, so hunted elsewhere for a week. I return to this area before daylight and get set up in my normal tree. As the sun comes up, I notice something on the ground over by the other tree stand. I have deer move through under me and they become curious as they get downwind of whatever it is laying on the ground. They approach from downwind and scent out the "object". Okay, curiousity has the best of me at this point and I have to climb down to check it out. I walk over there to find the headless body of a buck, dead under the No Trespassing sign with my name and cell phone number on it. There is a foot wide blood trail that takes me back to the trail that is 15 yard parallel to the property line. The buck was shot in the right rear hip, must have clipped the femoral artery.
Can you say "livid"? I'm pissed now and start calling the local CO. It has been 6 days since I have hunted this area and the temps have been hot, one day hit 60+. The buck is really decomposing, nobody witnessed the shooting, I can't blame the CO for not being really interested in a "cold case".
I talked to a DNR officer at the Classic. His advice is to cut the tree off vertically above the fence line. That was my initial thought as well.
I really feel I need to knock on some doors and talk to the neighbors and tell them that I'm not happy about what happened. So far there is trespassing, shooting onto private property and wanton waste.
This might be a case where a portable stand (Lone Wolf Alpha) might be a bad thing. If I had a permanent stand hung in this area, they might not have been so eager to hang their stand. Then again?????
Not looking for sympathy or suggestions here. I'm going to go knocking on doors this weekend to talk to the neighbors. I will talk to the person who did this or to person who granted permisson to the party that did this. Fair warning that this had better not happen next year. Then, after talking to the neighbors, my chainsaw gets started.
