# Sharing a tree stand?



## island troller (Nov 14, 2007)

I have been hunting the same private property for over 20 years. This year another hunter recieved permission to hunt it also. I met him and gave him some addition information on the property and thought everything was good between us. To make a long story short, I caught him using my tree stand when I was not in it. I also found out that he was in it quite frequently. I have been passing on deer and waiting for this awsome buck that I was seeing. He knew this and shot a button buck out of my stand because I was passing on these deer. When I confronted him he denied it at first but finally admitted to it. I was polite about it but stressed to him that he could use it AFTER I shot my deer. Just wanted to hear some addition opinions as he will most likely be back next year.
Also, there are 2 things in this world that I will not share. One is my tree stand and the other is my wife. And the latter is negotiable.


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## Bigun (Jun 20, 2006)

My brother and wife are the only people who have free reign over my stands. That being said there were a bunch of us (4 or 5out of the 10 total in the area) who hunted a controlled hunt early this season and we all used each others stands. If I wanted to hunt one of the other guys stands I would send him a text message a day or two before hand and he would tell me yes or no, and they all did the same for my stands. It was nice because of the versatility and choice we had also in the evening we would all meet up in the parking lot and talk about what we saw, where we should move stands to, If someone bagged a deer we all could help drag it etc. it was nice to know there were other people in the woods who knew where I was and would look out for me and I would look out for them. I think the important thing was that we all communicated our plans with each other, had respect for each other and each others property. Even though we all agreed to let each other use the others stands we always asked for permission before doing it. I would be a little ticked if someone I never gave permission to used my stand without my knowledge, especially if I had been working on getting a shot on a particular deer, and they are very likely to mess it up for you.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

other than taking it down everyday your not in it, theres not much you can do about it.


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## Bigun (Jun 20, 2006)

ezbite said:


> other than taking it down everyday your not in it, theres not much you can do about it.


Lock a board over the ladder like they do at stores to keep people from climbing the stands.


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## luv2fish (May 18, 2006)

I have mentioned several times in other threads this same problem. I appreciate it greatly when a land owner gives me permission but have no control over them giving it to others. But about eight years ago I stopped putting up stands when I found out that the other hunters were using them. I discovered this when I would find trash at the base of the tree left by the other hunters. The last straw was when I had left one stand alone for about 3 weeks for opening day of gun and when I went to get up in it that morning someone had left a pile of human waste at the base of the tree, paper and all! Whether this was a hunter or an activist I don't know but this was such a disgusting act that I swore I would never put up stands again. I went out and purchased a climber. It gets cumbersome and tiring from time to time to constantly take it in and out of the woods and I am not as quiet as I would like to be. I also think that it causes me to be in the woods longer because the noise of putting it together can stir up the area and I usually don't see deer until I have been there for least an hour. 

I experienced a similar trash problem this year when I found a used box from chinese take out and a drink container in an area that was showing lots of additional deer signs and traffic, just as the rut was coming on, that was close to the adjacent land but still on the land I had permission to hunt. I did not have permission to hunt the other land. This material was not wind blown in by the wind. 

I have read many threads on this forum during this hunting season about the lack of courtesy, sportsmanship, and overall lack of safety in the woods and field and it is disappointing. I like to hunt, and have been doing so since I was a child with my father, but every year it gets harder to go back to the woods when things have become so unfriendly and the effort you put in is being undermined by someone else.


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## Ohio Hunter (Oct 31, 2008)

My 2 brothers and I have 6 stands on one of our properties and we bacically pick where we are going in the morning. Not very often do all 3 of us end up in the woods at the same time. If one of us takes a guest in the others are called first so the we have the option to give our opinion.


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## swantucky (Dec 21, 2004)

I would be pizzed if someone hunted one of my stands!!! To me that shows a complete lack of respect. Depending on the situation I would be in the guys the face. For him to lie about it shows he knew he was in the wrong and tried to get over on you. You may have to pull your stand and carry it in every time you hunt, there really is no other solution unless the landowner gets involved.

That being said for the most part the guys I hunt with and I share our stands. There is always communication about who is going to be where. We also treart each others spot with rescpect, scent wise and we would never think of leaving garbage in the woods.


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## Fishpro (Apr 6, 2004)

No way am I sharing a stand with someone. I do what I can to keep my scent and sound to an absolute minimum, but is someone who wants to hunt an area of mine going to do the same? I say let them do the work I've had to and find thier own stand sites.


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## Wannabitawerm (Apr 13, 2004)

I use a climber and unless I am invited to use a stand by the owner when they are not in it, I won't touch it. The climber is cumbersome at times, but I can move around to different area depending on where there is fresh activity. Does it work? Not always, but I have a choice.


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

On the farm I hunt between my brother and myself we have 3 ladder stands all close to main logging roads or oilwell lease roads. VERY SELDOM do I use these stands but they are there where they can be seen and used by anyone that is allowed to be hunting the property. If I pass by someone in one I stop to see who it is say hi and walk on back to where the deer actually are with my climber on my back


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I have no problem with sharing my tree stand with a buddy or especially with my boys. I trust them to treat it well and do their best to not educate the deer. If they do happen to make a mistake I consider it a part of hunting and who knows, I may have done the same to theirs if given the chance to screw up. But I would not like having my stand used by people when I didn't know about it and by people I don't even know.

Several years ago I used to hunt the property behind ours. I had met the family and discussed it and they had no problem with me doing so. They had a teenage boy that hunted some and I had some across him a couple of times while out and everything was fine. Then one time I had my tree stand set up in a spot that I really felt good about. I had hunted it a couple of times and the last time in I had a doe and her two yearlings come in and browse around me for a long time. The stand was well hidden and out of scent line. The deer left without a clue that I was there. I went back a couple of nights later and sat up in the stand with the same conditions and sure enough the same deer came in from the same direction as before. This time as they came down the hill the doe stopped at about 40 yards out on the upwind and stared right up at me in the stand. She proceeded to work her way wide through the area and not spend much time there. I could not understand why she busted me until the next night when I walked in to the stand. I got down there and you guessed it. The boy was up in my stand. He was very much a beginner with the hunting and hunted in jeans and tennis shoes at times. I am sure scent control was only something that he thought about when he was applying the Right Guard in the morning. I didn't feel I had a whole lot that I could do in the situation as it was their land however I did move the stand to a new area where he would not find me.


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## big_mike (Aug 2, 2006)

This happened to me this year. A guy got permission to hunt the same woods as mine because he moved in down the road. Anyway, the private owner gave him permission but told him if my truck was there to not go in the woods. I had an awesome spot by a thicket that I put a stand up just for the Rut. Well, when it came time to hunt, all the deer would stay just out of range, and look up at me all the time. I couldn't believe it. A couple of days later I saw this guy walking out of the woods with a climber on his back. I asked him if he had been using his climber, he said he was because the stand by the thicket wasn't producing like it was in the early season. I could have punched his lights out right there, instead I politley asked him to stay out of my trees, use his climber if need be but stay out of my stands. He agreed as he lit up a cigerette. Man I hate rookie hunters in my stands. The kicker, I have 2 ladder stands in that woods that I could care less if someone uses, but he used the best hang-on stand I got, because it was high and in a great location. By the way, I asked how he foud it, he said when he was roaming around the woods. NICE.....


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## icefisherman4life (Aug 5, 2007)

my cousin used to sit up in a board he would put in a V of a tree. he noticed a guy sitt'n in it one day so the next time he hunted before he climbed down he took a dump on the board. so after he took the dump the guy that was sitt'n on his board the day before passed him as my cousin was walking out and the guy was walking in. my cousin just smiled and said good luck tonight hahahahha.


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## Fishstix (Aug 16, 2005)

I have been hunting with the same guys for many years now. I have been hunting with my dad for 20 years and my two buddies for the last 4 years. When they come up to my property, they always wait to hear where my dad and I are going to sit, then the decidie where they are going to sit. The same goes when I hunt on their properties. Who ever the land owner is always has the first choice. I don't have a problem with them sitting in my stand locations if I decided not to sit there that particular day. I don't have a problem with them sitting there even when I'm not there. If I didn't want them to sit there, I would have made more of an effort to be there that particular morning.


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