Treestand Theft

[joshlm]

My son is interested in going along on the hunt with me this year. I have looked at various ladder type stands ranging from 12 to 16 feet. My question is how to best make them theft resistant because they are to heavy for me to pack out all the time. I hunt on private land but had a treestand stolen a few years ago that was chained to the tree. Any recomendations would be appreciated.

 

[Sunray]

"...for me to pack out..." You? Isn't that what the young buck is for? snicker. I'd be asking the landowner if I could build one or more permanent treestands. A solid platform and some camouflage netting will do. Depends on the kind of trees available though.

 

[dakotasin]

'double bull' ground blind.

i don't know how tree-stand hunters can tolerate that sort of hunting, but it sure is popular in some places.

seriously, though... for taking a youngster out on a hunt, look at ground blinds. you can get away w/ more stink, more noise, and can move all you want - even jumping jacks, and you'll be fine.

ever try to keep kids quiet and still??

 

[GunGoBoom]

Just thicker chain & thicker lock - pick one too big for ordinary bolt cutters. 5/16th" or 3/8th" chain for cheaper stands, thicker for expensive ones. Thick lock - get one of those padlocks with a rounded profile if it's an expensive stand - the kind that leaves very little opening on the 'shank', if that's the right word, for someone to get bolt cutters on. I had a cheapie strap-on stand stolen this year already - it wasn't locked at all - should have known...

 

[hillbilly]

Here's an easy solution.

Take one weatherproof "game camera" that you can get from just about any hunting store.

Set it up in a good, concealed position that looks right at the tree stand.

You've got pics of the idiots stealing your tree stand.

There was a big, fat old redneck caught stealing a deer feeder in Northwest Arkansas just a couple of years ago, just like this.

There was this beautiful picture of the camo-clad loser strutting along, dragging the deer feeder behind him, and it was splashed all over the local TV channels and even in the local papers.

He was caught, prosecuted, convicted, as well as embarrassed and humiliated completely.

I even know of folks who set up one camera to cover the tree stand or the feeder, and then a second hidden game camera to cover the first camera, in case anyone gets cute and tries to steal that first camera.

hillbilly

 

[joshlm]

Thanks for the suggestions. My son is only 9 years old so I believe the ground blind is probably the best bet. I will however keep the other ideas in mind for when I go on my own with a treestand.

 

[belton-deer-hunter]

what a good way

to complicate a simple thing jsut get a pop up blind and dont spend 75-100 dollars on a camera or 250 or mnore on a tree climber just bring a pop up blind

 

[GunGoBoom]

errm, deer see blinds and know they're out of place; notsomuch with stands that stay there.

Hillbilly, lol, good idea - I'm sure it would take 2 cameras, like you say, cuz they would hear the first one take a pic, and go to it and take it too. Then the other camera catches them, and you have TWO counts of larceny - the stand AND the other camera - man I'd like to catch the losers who took my API stand the other day. Could be time for a trap...

 

[Byron Quick]

Yep,

I left a climber on a tree a couple of weeks ago for the evening hunt at a local WMA. It was gone when I came back. Sign in hunts there. It was on a Monday and only five people were signed in. All of them will be coming in the same way and are able to hunt on weekdays. Think I'll be waiting. The climber sticks up above the bed of a pickup and is pretty distinctive.

 

[GunGoBoom]

oooo, juicy - let us know the outcome, byron.