Old stands…forgotten

[Willie]

Old stands…forgotten

Sometimes when we are out and about scouting we run across old deer stands. I usually pause and consider who might have erected it and what they saw. Some I think why in the world would he build one here and why so close to the ground?

Anyone else do this?

The sad one was the old oak that died. I can vividly recall killing a young buck out of the tree many, many years ago on opening day of the archery seaosn. No stand there just standing on a big limb.

I guess every thing has it’s day and age…and everything dies…

 

[mulsas]

...But a new tree will spring up in it's place.

I would guess the funniest would be the ones where you think "I can't believe someone was fool enough to sit in that."

 

[buckstopshere]

There's an old wooden stand on the property we hunt in Parke county. My buddy is the owner so I asked him about it. His grandpa built it back in the 60s and just kept replacing the dead wood. His dad took over that stand when his dad (my buddies gramps) passed away. He hunted it until the late 80s but age caught up with him.

My buddy can't hunt. He had an accident on the farm when he was 12. The stand has been in a state of disrepair for about 20 years. After hearing his story, the buddy who hunts with me and I decided to rebuild it. I don't have a pic but it's in a maple that splits three ways. Stand is 18 feet up, platform is large enough for two hunters in a triangular shape with rails on all sides. We built a new wooden ladder too. We do not hunt that stand out of respect for his Gramps and Dad. I do however enter into the woods right by it. Found a nice rub 5 yards from the stand. Those guys knew where to setup!

 

[HICKMAN]

Funny timing on this post, I took this picture yesterday while getting stands set up. Must have belonged to one of my uncle's when they were boys.

 

[Zoub]

Yes I do that and not just about tree stands. Been doing it since my very first hunt at age 5 or 6 in Nebraska. I wandered I to an old homestead and family grave plot. I was convinced I had found the Grave of Jesse James! Wishful thinking.

anything man made gets a look and I wonder about the people before me, be it 10, 50 or 100 years ago. Good for the soul.

 

[jburris]

theres an old stand in the middle of an acorn patch in the woods I hunt. Have been planing on rebuilding it for the past 3 years, just never seem to get around to it. Dont know who built it or how long its been there. owner of the property dosent know either. looks like its been there for a long time.

 

[mdeshon]

Willie, that first pic looks exactly like the stand I found on my family's property this year. Kinda threw me off for a min.

 

[williamnewman1]

what gets me is when I am scouting my property and see NEW stands up in trees that are quite obviously my property

 

[MRP2003]

William, you mean scouting and finding your new stands that Santa must have left you. We love the stands all the Santas leaves us every year.

 

[mdeshon]

Ive only found this one that I didn't put up. I think it was put there a few years ago by the neighbors grandson, since he is the only one we let hunt out there. But was odd that the one I found looks exactly like the one in his pic, at first I was wondering why he was scouting for tree stands on my property. LOL

 

[BMDRAKE71]

Santa tree stands are the best. My folks back in Maine regularly get two or three a year out the woods around their farm. Sometimes, they leave the stand up but put a game camera in an adjacent tree to find out who's placing it. One time we even caught a local town's deputy walking on our land. He was gladly handed over to our uncle... the Game Warden...

But, just as my family protects our lands back home in ME for hunting, I also would love to have an opportunity to hunt this state as a newcomer BUT I would NEVER trespass on someone else's land as I understand the issues of developing an effective deer herd.

Bruce

 

[vwarren]

Those old stands are great places to start if you've never hunted the place before...

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I love finding old stands, especially the old wooden stands. I really get a kick out of trying to figure out what the builder was trying to cover.

One thing that gives me the willies is when I'm out in an unfamiliar woods and I get the willies and start looking around and find an empty treestand covering my location. It's kind of unnerving that I blundered right into someone's ambush and they would have eaten my lunch if they had been hunting bubbas instead of bambis.

 

[Willie]

Those old stands are great places to start if you've never hunted the place before...

Maybe.. I know in the real old days if someone just saw a deer in a certain area - up went a stand.