!st time sit on new public, new dilemma on what to do

[Swedishbowhunter]

I had scouted some public this spring that I heard had a good number of big bucks in it. I found lots of buck beds, but nothing that said big buck sign. I picked out a small thick island that had some oaks on it closer to the better looking beds and I hid a camera on it. On my way out just off the island I found some white oaks and it looked to be a great spot to sit. Last night the winds was great to hunt those oaks so I made the trip back in. when I got to the white oaks where I planned to sit someone had an illegal stand hanging, and a camera. I figured I would be wasting my time there so I went and sat on the island where my camera was. I didnt see much fresh sign, & didnt see any deer. After dark I packed up grabbed my camera and got out of there. When I got home the camera had at least 3 mature bucks on it, and several 2 or 3 year olds all moving during shooting hours, very few at night. My question is will these deer get pushed back elsewhere with the action from the illegal stand hunter, or would you hunt near the illegal stand once just to see if they show. The island where I had my camera is very thick and hard to find a spot to shoot, I would need to make some noise just to make a few shooting windows so I am reluctant to hunt them on the island, & with the daylight mature buck photos I believe they would still make it to the white oaks where the illegal stand is during shooting hours. I am not sure what to try next.

[Swedishbowhunter]

Do most of you take the time to call the Warden about illegal stands or do you just ignore them?

[Matt Gill]

Sounds to me like it is for sure worth a hunt! If they make it to you and you kill one then awesome! If not then you got your answer and can begin devising a future plan on how to hunt them

[Thesouthpaw]

Just out of curiosity, what is illegal about the stand?

On another note, I would say pressure will certainly cause the deer to move somewhere safer, whether it be from you, or someone else.

[matt1336]

If there was no sign in the area, perhaps those bucks had shifted their patterns because of the stand/human stink. With the bucks in the area, I’d hold off on calling the warden. I wouldn’t want him in there...putting more pressure on the general area. When you’re done with that area, then I’d call the warden....IMO

[Bman409]

Just out of curiosity, what is illegal about the stand?

On another note, I would say pressure will certainly cause the deer to move somewhere safer, whether it be from you, or someone else.

Can't speak to this situation, because I don't know what state he's in, but any permanent stand on public land in NY is illegal. Everything has to be packed in, packed out by the end of the day.. at least on the State WMAs that I hunt

[Lockdown]

I would hunt where the sign is.

Yeah it sucks that there’s another hunter in there, but he might have set his stand and cam a while ago and doesn’t hunt early season

The spot I killed my buck Saturday had a box stand 44 yards away from me. There’s also a nice tree North of me 40-50 yards that had a hang on in it last time I scouted that bedding. I didn’t look to see if that stand was still there, and it didn’t matter to me because I knew the bucks were.

Sounds like you’ve got a hot spot on your hands. I would definitely try to pattern that hunter. Keep an eye out for boot tracks.

[stash59]

Just out of curiosity, what is illegal about the stand?

On another note, I would say pressure will certainly cause the deer to move somewhere safer, whether it be from you, or someone else.

Here in Wisconsin it's against the law to leave/build a stand or to leave a ground blind made of man made materials. Up/in place after the end of shooting hours for the day.
On all public lands in the southern 2/3's of the state.

Thus part of the reason for Dan's quest for light, mobile sticks and stand.

If the sign is fresh give it a go!!!

[okeweemee]

I had scouted some public this spring that I heard had a good number of big bucks in it. I found lots of buck beds, but nothing that said big buck sign. I picked out a small thick island that had some oaks on it closer to the better looking beds and I hid a camera on it. On my way out just off the island I found some white oaks and it looked to be a great spot to sit. Last night the winds was great to hunt those oaks so I made the trip back in. when I got to the white oaks where I planned to sit someone had an illegal stand hanging, and a camera. I figured I would be wasting my time there so I went and sat on the island where my camera was. I didnt see much fresh sign, & didnt see any deer. After dark I packed up grabbed my camera and got out of there. When I got home the camera had at least 3 mature bucks on it, and several 2 or 3 year olds all moving during shooting hours, very few at night. My question is will these deer get pushed back elsewhere with the action from the illegal stand hunter, or would you hunt near the illegal stand once just to see if they show. The island where I had my camera is very thick and hard to find a spot to shoot, I would need to make some noise just to make a few shooting windows so I am reluctant to hunt them on the island, & with the daylight mature buck photos I believe they would still make it to the white oaks where the illegal stand is during shooting hours. I am not sure what to try next.

I am a little confused about where you saw the sign in relation to the other stand but you gotta hunt where you have evidence of the deer.
Otherwise why go to the effort?
you dont have enough info to NOT hunt the place. imo.
Good Luck!

[Thesouthpaw]

Just out of curiosity, what is illegal about the stand?

On another note, I would say pressure will certainly cause the deer to move somewhere safer, whether it be from you, or someone else.

Here in Wisconsin it's against the law to leave/build a stand or to leave a ground blind made of man made materials. Up/in place after the end of shooting hours for the day.
On all public lands in the southern 2/3's of the state.

Thus part of the reason for Dan's quest for light, mobile sticks and stand.

If the sign is fresh give it a go!!!

Gotcha. In the states that I hunt, you can typically leave stands up through the hunting season.

[fr0sty]

They'er illegal in in MN, but I mostly ignore them.

Do most of you take the time to call the Warden about illegal stands or do you just ignore them?

[CattailCommander]

Hunt the sign, kill a good one then take a picture with your monster in front of the other guys trail cam.

[Swedishbowhunter]

Just out of curiosity, what is illegal about the stand?

On another note, I would say pressure will certainly cause the deer to move somewhere safer, whether it be from you, or someone else.

It is illegal to leave a stand up even overnight in this part of Wisconsin.

[Swedishbowhunter]

I had scouted some public this spring that I heard had a good number of big bucks in it. I found lots of buck beds, but nothing that said big buck sign. I picked out a small thick island that had some oaks on it closer to the better looking beds and I hid a camera on it. On my way out just off the island I found some white oaks and it looked to be a great spot to sit. Last night the winds was great to hunt those oaks so I made the trip back in. when I got to the white oaks where I planned to sit someone had an illegal stand hanging, and a camera. I figured I would be wasting my time there so I went and sat on the island where my camera was. I didnt see much fresh sign, & didnt see any deer. After dark I packed up grabbed my camera and got out of there. When I got home the camera had at least 3 mature bucks on it, and several 2 or 3 year olds all moving during shooting hours, very few at night. My question is will these deer get pushed back elsewhere with the action from the illegal stand hunter, or would you hunt near the illegal stand once just to see if they show. The island where I had my camera is very thick and hard to find a spot to shoot, I would need to make some noise just to make a few shooting windows so I am reluctant to hunt them on the island, & with the daylight mature buck photos I believe they would still make it to the white oaks where the illegal stand is during shooting hours. I am not sure what to try next.

I am a little confused about where you saw the sign in relation to the other stand but you gotta hunt where you have evidence of the deer.
Otherwise why go to the effort?
you dont have enough info to NOT hunt the place. imo.
Good Luck!

There really was not any big buck sign on the entire property that i scouted, and on my way in this time i didnt see any big tracks, fresh rubs, or scrapes. Looked to be like a dead sea, but i did notice several people tracks on the main way in. The only sign I had to set up on were trails coming out of the swamp onto an island, and I had found beds in close proximity to the thick island