I had something happen a week ago that may change your mind about taking it. I had permission to hunt this place as well as another guy since last year. I knew where this guy had his stand perviously and went to see if it was there, as well as where it was last late muzzy. I saw that it was gone so I figured he wasn't planning on hunting there this year. Since this was the best spot on the place I thought WTH I'll put my stand in the same tree. (Now mind you if this guy was even close to that spot I would have set up a long way from him) I hunted there for a week and went back last Sunday to find this other guy sitting there by his truck with my stand. He says I have your stand I took down because you don't have permission to hunt here! I told him I know both the guy and his wife and do have permission from them both and they told me you also hunted out here more than once.
About this time the owners come down the lane and he gets this bright idea to drag them into it by asking them if I have permission to which they answer yes. Well this starts some sh*t because I told them he took my stand down without even asking anything about it. Well long story short I told them not to worry we'll take care of the problem between us on our own. I know his wife and she was to the point that she was going to tell us both that we won't be hunting there anymore. If you have a problem with someone that can be worked out with them and WITHOUT dragging the owners into it DO IT you will be better off!
On a side note the reason this guys stand was not there is because evidently it was stolen along with a stand on the neighbors property. So I'm just curious what you guys would have done in my situation if he would have yanked your stand down without even asking? Would you have told him tough sh*t, you're stand wasn't there and I'm putting my stand there or would you have told him like I did he was there before and he can hunt the tree? I really got to thinking about it and really think since he took my stand down without asking I should have told him to count his blessings I didn't kick his ass for taking it down to begin with. I also have my name on ALL my stands in permanent maker so he could have called before taking it down. Just wondering what you guys would have done?
G6-
It funny but I was in the exact opposite position as you last night. I had a tree cleared from the previous year and believe me it took at least 3 hours to get this thing limbed out. I try never to leave a stand out over the winter and rarely leave a stand out anyway, but this particular spot is one of the few that I hunt more than once and justifies a permanent set. Our family, prior to this year were the only ones bowhunting the ~400 acre farm, but during the offseason someone else was able to get permission, which was fine. I spoke with him this winter and he had said he'd seen a number of our set ups and vowed to stay clear of them being the new guy and all. I appreciated it and didn't think much else of it.
Anyway, I headed out last night to set this stand for the Rut and to hunt it as well. After the 3/4 mile walk in I got to the tree only to find a stand sitting in the exact tree I had painstakingly cleared. To top it off a 50 year old cedar tree which provided great draw cover was sawed down as well....making the setup far less appealing.
I decided to just hunt elsewhere, but I would never have had the gall to set my stand in another persons limbed tree (which equates to claiming it as his own in my book) knowing exactly who had done the work on this private farm. I probably wouldn't be as upset if the guy had done a take in/take down job while hunting it, but to go and leave the stand knowing full well that I had not done the legwork to prepare it.....foul play IMO. I certainly won't hunt the stand now since its not mine, but should I (I wont)? There is always 2 sides of the story, I'm not sure of the exact specifics of yours, but it sounds like the other guy had a beef that I find quite reasonable.
As for the guy taking your stand down, probably pretty sketchy, but he was likely heated due to having his stand jacked and it probably just stoked the fire when he got back only to find another stand in his tree to top things off.
Good luck the rest of the season. I try to go by the Golden Rule while in the woods, the problem is, not everyone feels the same about what is proper hunting etiquette.
