Thwarting Treestand Theft
Cruise the Internet hunting forums and you’re bound to find a thread like it: Someone stole my stands. You may have experienced it. I know I have. Private land, public land, thieves know no boundaries. They are scum. “Hunters” stealing from hunters. Is there a lower form of life?
Coming out against treestand theft is like a politician coming out against drugs – of course everyone is against it, but is there anything we can do about it?
I can’t tackle the drug problem, but there are a few things you can do to keep your treestands. Many hunters, usually the ones who’ve had their stands stolen in the past, create extensive theft deterrent devices and utilize logging chains to secure their stands in the tree. Unfortunately, the scum who steal stands often will go to far greater work to steal them than if they’d just gotten a job and earned the money to buy them the way we do.
One quick and easy solution is to simply use a climber instead of a fixed hang-on or ladder stand. By toting in today’s lightweight climbers, hunting out of them and then packing them back out, you’ll always have your stand at hand. Summit’s Viper SS Climber folds together in an easy to backpack form and weighs just 26 pounds. If that sounds a little heavy or if you’ll pack it a long distance every time, the Summit Open Shot weighs only 14 pounds.
Some hunters are intimidated by climbers, but they really are easy to use and extremely secure to the tree. Summit’s climbers are the most comfortable in the industry, and are certainly worth looking into as either an every day stand or as a second stand for mobile hunts.
Sometimes climbers just aren’t the answer either due to inappropriate trees or the inability to physically move the stand up the tree. In that instance, a special type of hang on can help. The Summit Copperhead Compact hang-on stand attaches to the tree with a strap. The strap has a small bar on it that the stand “clicks” into, then the bottom is secured and you’re ready to hunt, making for a stand that hangs in just moments. It also folds nearly flat for easy backpacking, and weighs only 12 pounds.
The Copperhead Compact’s attachment system allows hunters to place hanging straps in different trees, then when ready to hunt just climb up and attach the stand.
Bringing your stand in with you on each trip may be a hassle, but it’s the only real way to ensure you’ll keep it. There are a few things hunters can do to discourage lazy or opportunist thieves, however. Removing the last few steps will keep discourage those thieves just passing through. Summit’s Bucksteps are so much easier to remove than screw in steps, which are dangerous and damage the tree anyway. Remove the last two Bucksteps and carry them out with you. This is a good method if you’re going to be returning the next morning, but when leaving the stand for longer periods it’s not much of a deterrent.