I hit Richloam one eve with a buddy,I went on one side of the road he went on the other. It was getting late so I didn't have time to scout or move around. I walked out 300 yards right up to a ladder stand. Got me a buck that night and a comfy seat. When I find ladders I check the seats and see if they have leaf litter and are safe. If they are clean and active I usually move to another spot,if not and they seem safe then they're are fair game to me.
FWC just isn't there to protect and serve, but enforce the law as well. If they want to write a tickets for stands left out on WMA when the rules specifically state to get 'em out then they are doing their job. Now, if the FWC takes a stand out, puts it on a tree, leaves it all year and then writes tickets - that would be entrapment. So I guess folks who go out and sit in tree stands other than their own should be careful.......
so if you hunt from a stand on a wma you're gonna need proof you own it? have to carry a sales receipt? won't matter cuz they don't have serial #'s. what if you wanna give/get permission to use someone else's, more paperwork to carry? not really feasible/enforceable imo. plus as far as I know there are no laws against using an abandoned stand. still not saying it's RIGHT to use another's stand, BUT I ain't no angel ALL the time. If I left a stand, especially on public land, that is easily accessible to get in I would pretty much expect somebody else to use it but would hope they would be respectful enough not to leave trash around or damage it and to vacate if I showed up. I don't have the right to lay claim to any public land. first come first serve imo.
Let's go back - we are talking about stands that have been left all year and pursuant to that WMA's regs should have been removed after the season ended. Now, if you're in a stand that has been placed during the season and it isn't yours - I really don't see you having to worry about anything other than vacating when the owner shows up. BUT, if you do your pre-season scouting on a WMA and you find stands from the prior hunt periods you should probably make a note not to use them in case the FWC has located them as well and are setting up a revenue trap (which I doubt they would really do anyways.). So, if the stand has been there all year, you're in it and Johnny Law comes along, and they've been watching it, it is on you to prove that YOU DON'T OWN IT. Like I said before, I really don't see this happening too much unless the FWC guys are really bored.
CLIMBERS ALL THE WAY!!!!!!
not trying to make excuses, or feel the need to explain my actions but when I did it, it was my 1st season hunting in Fl and later in the gg season at chazz. for opening day I would expect the owner to show up and not use someone else's then. when I stumbled across it I had no idea how long it had been there and avoided it the first day. after a few subsequent trips I noticed more trash/beer btl's and assumed the owner wouldn't do that to his own site and it was being used by some slob hunters. curiosity got the better of me as it was in a nice spot and originally went up after checking it as able for safety just to see the view from up there and had been really wanting to get off the ground and started staying up there for longer periods. I used it that season only, maybe 6 times and never ran into anyone else. now I have permission to hunt private land with 3 ladders and 2 shooting houses and have fixed up each one I used, replaced seats/backs, cables,ratchet straps, whatever, and this spring got 1 of my strap ons back from N.Y. and hope to use that. like I've said theres no halo over my head. would I do it again? maybe.
