Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
BassBoysLLP
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:50 pm

Good call on the rope swing. I think I may have to pick up a ladder stand for the family lake! :mrgreen:


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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby feutza » Thu Jul 02, 2015 2:32 pm

Does seem like a pretty good idea for getting on a rope swing

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Dewey
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:21 pm

Rome wrote:I was fishing the Cisco first week of June and we saw that stand. It provided great conversation for us for a while. One theory we had was coyote hunters using it after the lakes froze. Or, late season deer hunters after the lake froze. Or, my favorite one...a group of deer drivers had watched bucks from the mainland swim to the safety of the island year after year, but this year, they set someone up to wait for him.

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Lot's of interesting theories! :think:

Went back and investigated more and found another stand. This one is located on the bigger island directly facing the small island. There is only a narrow channel between the two islands. I missed this stand the first time as it was right behind me while focussing on the first one I found.

Did you see this one as well?

The other island is bigger but still not big enough to hunt especially considering how far it is from the mainland.

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Here is an aerial to get a better idea.

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One of those mysteries I will likely never find an answer for. :doh:

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headgear
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby headgear » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:07 pm

Not crazy far away from the mainland, maybe a pressured bed rifle season? Could be someone who lives on shore has seen some bucks swim out there? I know of an island in a highly populated areas, I have driven by it every day for 15 years and never seen a deer on it but have heard rumors of big bucks swimming there. Anything is possible, two stands on each island is telling me someone hunts it, they have witnessed a buck there. I most certainly could be wrong but it is an interesting find.
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Dewey
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:15 pm

The big island has a house on it. Thinking they own the small island as well.

My guess is at least a 1/4 mile to the mainland.
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BassBoysLLP
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:00 pm

Starting to feel more and more like osprey platforms.

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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Rome » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:55 am

Yeah, we saw the other stand on the big island as well. My buddy had a great theory on that one....the husband gets sick of the wife, and since he's stuck on an island with her, he can only get so far away, so what better way to distance than 18 feet of vertical space!!!
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby phade » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:05 am

Hunting in Virginia in the refuges (draw hunts), the islands were THE #1 spot for a draw. People were lucky if they got it 2x in their life because the draw was unit based (50 acre chunks) and the islands were one unit. 1/4 mile from mainland and very difficult to get to. Deer freaking everywhere it seemed. Everywhere. Hard as heck to hunt and more snakes than a plane. Me and my pops hunted it once in my younger 20s. Two persimmon trees on the bigger island, which was about 4-5 acres. Sure enough, as light hit, deer were swimming over to us. Unfortunately nothing life-changing came over that day and I had high standards due to the prestige of the islands, so no shots fired. But it was a sight to see and surely one of the moments that re-defined my understanding of deer and pressure related decisions.

I bet he shoots deer often from those stands.
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Dewey
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:34 am

Gotta add this is extreme northern Vilas County straddling the Michigan border so it's not exactly deer heaven. The population is very low here and has been buck only for quite some time now. They were even considering canceling the hunt in the UP this fall since the population is so low but stayed with buck only. I just don't see deer heading out to those islands in great huntable numbers especially since hunting pressure is pretty light up there.

Anything is possible I suppose. In the spring I have seen does swim out to islands on other lakes to give birth to fawns, likely because of less predators. On occasion I have also seen bucks swim to islands to bed but they are usually much larger islands that have good food sources on them.

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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Rome » Fri Jul 03, 2015 2:59 am

I'm going to be up there in a few weeks and will probably get together with Bruce Becker who guides out there (known him for years, he's neighbors w/ my dad's best friend) and I'll be sure to see what he knows about them.
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Dewey
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Dewey » Fri Jul 03, 2015 3:07 am

Rome wrote:I'm going to be up there in a few weeks and will probably get together with Bruce Becker who guides out there (known him for years, he's neighbors w/ my dad's best friend) and I'll be sure to see what he knows about them.

Cool. It's been bugging me and I really would like to figure it out! :lol:
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby bigwoodsmn » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:34 pm

Darin wrote:Either wildlife viewing area or game warden spot. I would think the warden uses it

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I agree...

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James
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby James » Sun Jul 05, 2015 4:29 am

Lakes that far up north freeze up pretty early. I'm not sure when the MI muzzleloader season opens/closes but I know that here in MN the lakes are usually frozen up pretty good with folks already ice fishing in Muzzleloader season.

After lakes are frozen up in areas like MN where lakes are potholes all over it isn't unusual to see deer establish trails in the snow across the ice to get from point A to B quicker.

There, that is my theory :)
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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby gjs4 » Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:02 am

Ice over location

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Re: Strangest place I ever found a treestand!

Unread postby Motivated » Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:35 am

Here's another idea--lookout post for criminal activity. Watching waterways for law enforcement boats. Not as likely but possible. Any moonshiners or pot growers up there?

In Indiana state police helicopters sometimes fly over in summer to scan for pot growers on public land.

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