WTF?, WTF?, WTF!?!?!

So I just get a call from my Dad - 71 year old guy, still getting around but having a rough time to some degree and dealing with the loss of his wife of 20+ yrs. this past March. He's finally getting back to being a little motivated to hunt and looking forward to Mon. He heads down in his woods this afternoon to pull the seat cushion out of his 2 man ladder stand we put up 3 years ago so it'll be dry for Mon. and it's gone!! Not the seat cushion, the whole &^*#?ing stand. It was there less than 2 weeks ago. It took the 2 of us and a Kawasaki mule to get the thing there and erected. Had to be a pretty serious plan to get it out. He owns 50 previously unposted acres adjacent to a small SGL outside of Townville, PA. and has always been happy to let anyone hunt that asks and of course many that don't. Thought I'd post on the off chance that someone somebody knows showed up with a 2 man ladder stand in the neighborhood in the last several weeks. I realize it's unlikely and the chances of finding the perps are nill but thought I'd throw it out there. I'll be praying they fall out of it while putting it up, break both legs and are still alive when the coyotes find them. I'd prefer to think they stay alive for a while too while the critters begin by eating away from the legs up. Sorry for the rant but things like this sure do shake ones faith in our fellow man. Good luck to everyone who will be out ther Mon. & be safe.

That sucks! Does he by any chance have his name or other ID somewhere on it in the event you do stumble on it say in the back of someones truck or in the woods. That will help prove ownership and justify the beating!

Good luck.

I can understand your frustration. We have a good size piece of land that is posted well enough for anyone to know to stay out. About 5 or 6 years ago 1 week after the close of the rifle season we went to take down the ladder stands we had through out the parcel, 5 of the 6 ladder stands were gone (they were not cheapie stands either).

They were put up just before the start of the rifle season, so in a month time someone found almost all the stands we had out and took them. We called the police, they took a report and said "if they hear somthing they will let us know, but so you know it is highly unliky we can do anything about it" It sucks and very understandable that once they are gone...well they will not be found again.

We chaulked it up to lessons learned. I feel your pain

If you own the land - build the stands the old fashioned way - out of wood..

One time project - will last ten years.
No one will steal/mess with them.

Trees on your private property - drive all the nails in them u want.

Don't forget anyone caught trespassing with the tools to defeat even a light locking device don't have much room for explaining away the whopping about to be bestowed upon them.

I know some one is reading this who has stolen stands in the past. My question to you is this: how do you feel safe hunting out of a stand that you stole? I am cautious enough hunting out of my own stands, let alone one that I know **** well I deserve to fall out of.

    Now thats all settled hows the huntin??? Thats why I like it here -despite our differences we are all hunters and have a general standard of ethics.    
    Would LOVE to put some kinda tracking beeper devise in a stands frame-they would probably never steal that one though- Murphys law.   

I feel for you. This has never happened to me, but it's happened to other people I know. I get ticked off when people hunt my stand without my permission when I'm not there. There should be an insurance policy to protect hunters against theft like this.

I know how you guys feel when you have something stolen from you. This march I had a contractor put in a a/c for me and on the last day of work he stole my Colt Sauer 300 win mag S/N CR11338 I called the police but I can't prove he did it,I trusted this guy cause he installed a new boiler for me in febuary. Found out later he was hooked on cocain,my guess he sold it for drugs.Well come to find out in july he died of a drug overdose,so I hope the guy who bought it from him shoots himself with it.I feel really violated and sick to my stomach. Turned in in to my insurance company they gave me $2500.00 for the loss but I'd rather have my rifle back!!!!