Deer stand 'mansions,' tree-cutting and food plots getting out of hand

[spinbaby]

I don't live in this area, but I can totally see our local hunters doing the same thing. They hit the woods every fall with ATVs and beer and trash the wilderness.
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http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/article/id/236338/publisher_ID/36/

It used to be that a deer stand was a couple of aspen saplings nailed between two trees, just a place for a hunter to see above the brush for a better shot at a trophy buck.

But increasingly across St. Louis County forests, including on public lands, permanent deer stands have become a whole lot more elaborate — some far too elaborate for county land managers. And hunters are cutting more trees near those stands so they can see deeper into the woods.

(snip)

It’s not just a couple of boards slapped into a tree, but tree houses with stairways, decks, shingled roofs, commercial windows, insulation, propane heaters, carpeting, lounge chairs, tables and “even some with generators so they have electricity,” Krepps said.

One deer “stand” discovered on county land was a cabin 18 feet wide and 20 feet long. And, increasingly, some hunters are buying elaborate manufactured stands and leaving them in the woods all year.

[Zalatix]

1. Occupy!!!

Where is that environmental organization whose name I won't dare mention for fear I might be PPR'd (or killed by a drone? )?

They ought to find and occupy these things.

[Fumesucker]

2. No car elevators?

Seriously though, a generator at a deer stand?

[Buns_of_Fire]

10. Well, you have to have power for the hot tub to work correctly.

[yellowcanine]

3. That's crazy. In Pennsylvania tree stands on state game lands have to be portable and they

can't be left up all year. - only 2 weeks before the first big game season and they must be removed 2 weeks after the end of the last big game season. Nothing can be nailed to trees and no trees can be cut either for the stand itself or for shooting lanes. Only disabled hunters are allowed to use ATVs on state game lands. State forest land has designated ATV roads and trails.

[DonP]

6. That's pretty much the rule in every state

They have to be portable, temporary and packable on an ATV or backpack.

Crap like the "stand" pictured are usually set up on private property.

A lot of guys I know that hunt get together and lease the hunting rights to a farm or two in Wisconsin or Iowa, but I've never seen a "clubhouse" like that.

OTOH I have seen some pretty outrageous Ice Shanties for ice fishing.

[MattBaggins]

9. People in NY have 20 by 20 sheds for ice shanties

They have them decked out with generators and a few have satellites and TVs.

[yellowcanine]

13. But they definitely remove those at the end of the season.

No tree issues either. I think the comparison is a weak one.

[MattBaggins]

14. It's not a so much a comparison

as it is a "lol the ice fishermen are as bad" tongue in cheek kind of thing.

[DonP]

15. I've been in ice fishing "taverns" on Lake Winnebago

Hell, they have mini-villages out on the ice, complete with street signs and a tavern or two with the beer set out back on the ice, Brats on a grill and a wood stove and bar stools and TV inside.

But ... it all gets towed back to somebody's back yard when the season ends.

Cutting full grown trees for a better field of fire is like taking a chainsaw in your golf bag to make sure you never have a bad lie.

[yellowcanine]

16. The golfing analogy is a good one......

Indeed, anyone who would cut down trees to get sight lines is not sport hunting, he is meat harvesting.

[yellowcanine]

17. Garrison Keillor has some great monologues about ice fishing on Lake Wobegon.

He captures the genre better than any other writer.

I have only gone ice fishing a few times in Pennsylvania. No fish huts so I pretty much froze my ass. One time I went one of the guys announced loudly that he was in charge of putting bait on all of the hooks which made him the "master baiter."

[DonP]

20. When my boys were younger I'd take them and their friends out

Even the clumsiest kid has a hard time falling through a 6 inch hole in the ice.

Plus I let them drill all the holes to use up all that energy.

[Skidmore]

4. I'll bet those deer don't even know they are there.

[yellowcanine]

5. Johnson said. “I don’t think a lot of our members are out doing that (cutting trees).

Sounds like some serious denial going on here........ "I don't think..." means he doesn't know. The hunter's associations should police this stuff themselves.

[Viking12]

18. The people building shacks and cutting trees probably don't belong to the association.

In my experience as an angler involved in numerous organizations I have observed that outdoor association membership is usually comprised of people that are looking for a type of experience that wouldn't build shacks

[Brickbat]

7. A lot of shit goes on in St. Louis County.

[Arkansas Granny]

8. Deer stands like that not allowed on our state unless it's on private property.

I know of a few that have screened windows, carpeting, heaters and porta potties, but they are located on private property and used more for observing game than for actual hunting.

[FarCenter]

11. Tree houses for men.

[Meiko]

12. Sounds like

the state is having some issues with the enforcement side of their wildlife division. Certainly there are laws on the books that spell out how big a hunting stand can be, if not there needs to be some, and soon. Could it be that the state doesn't have the manpower to deal with this?

Penalties for this type of abuse need to be an the harsh side including confiscation of equipment including firearms, this usually gets everyone's attention and the word spreads fast. Some of these people are building hunting cabins for crying out loud, it's a deal for the builder. The place is built out of scraps, they have no permits, pay no taxes and have a place to stay when they go hunting.

If it's on private land that's another matter, torch the place and just put your property of limits to all hunting. If people are going to abuse the privilege then they don't get to use the land. A few morons have to ruin it for everyone.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

19. Why don't they just attach a motor and tank treads to a lazyboy lounger?

They could lie prone like they do in their TV room at home and still fulfill themselves as great hunters.

[Odin2005]

21. As a hunter, I'm offended by this shit.

These "hunters" belong in the same category as those who do canned hunts (like Darth Cheney). We real hunters respect Nature, these bastards defile it.

[flvegan]

22. Cheers.

I respect your response. Thanks for it.

[Odin2005]

23. No prblem, my vegan friend!

I always like to remind people that the biggest force for conservation in this country is Ducks Unlimited.

[flvegan]

24. Thanks, buddy.

Except it isn't.