Dean Bortz: Should stands, blinds be left overnight on Wisconsin public land? Plenty of mixed opinions – Outdoor News
In January 2017, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board approved a rule change that has since allowed hunters to place stands and ground blinds overnight on state-owned land north of Hwy. 64 from September through January. The rule change followed public support for the idea during the 2016 spring fish and game hearings. Hwy. 64 runs across the state from Stillwater, Minn., to Marinette.
The rule change on state lands in northern Wisconsin likely stemmed from the fact that overnight stands and blinds were already allowed on federal national forest land and on some county forest land. Wisconsin now has 30 county forests covering 2.4 million acres – more acreage than the Chequamegon and Nicolet national forests. Not all county forest departments have the same hunting rules, but many counties do allow placement of overnight stands and blinds.
Hunters are limited to placing two overnight treestands or ground blinds per county.
I’ve heard more negative rumblings about this rule after the 2024 deer season than I have since 2017. Three friends who hunt from the ground went to public-land spots they’ve used on past openers and found ladder stands. No hunters, but stands. Now what?
Would the stand owner still be on his or her way to that spot? Stay or go? Or climb into the stand? Is a stand that’s left in the woods fair game for any early bird? Two hunters left. One hunter stayed, but moved farther away.
I’m also hearing some concerns from retired game wardens who have tracked issues with overnight stands and blinds since 2017. It sounds as though the level of sportsmanship related to stand and blind placement may be deteriorating and we’ll likely see a citizen resolution looking to nix the practice entering the spring hearings in April.
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I recently asked readers their thoughts on overnight stand and blind placement. That drew a strong response for and against. Here are the thoughts of a few readers.
A 72-year-old reader from Kiel has hunted the 33,000-acre George W. Mead State Wildlife Area south of Hwy. 64 and in central Wisconsin for more than 50 years. I had the gentleman’s name, but lost track of it. He hunts deer and bear in the Mead.
He wrote: “Why couldn’t I leave the stand up for bear hunting? What kind of hunter would sit over someone else’s bait? But I can’t leave a stand there like they can north of Hwy. 64 so I made a ladder stand on wheels. It really was not fun making all kind of noise dragging it in and out every day. I will not do that again. I almost had a heart attack. Sorry for ranting, but as a older hunter it almost feels like age discrimination when I hunt now and I realize why I see fewer and fewer hunters my age hunting. As a 72-year-old man with a back surgery and two knee and two shoulder surgeries, I can tell you the most dangerous thing I do is haul a treestand into the woods on opening morning than go back get for my rifle and day pack, then take it all down again at night because I can no longer use a climber. I wouldn’t have a problem with restrictions or time limits on stands, so my opinion is the south should join the northern half of state and make it legal.”
Jim Voigt, of Fremont, is against overnight placement: “No way. First come, first served. He who gets there first should have the right to hunt in that spot. I even see this with duck hunting. You go out to your favorite duck marsh and all the favorable spots have a flag on a pole sticking in them as if to signify that spot is owned by someone even though you’re in public water or land. In my day if you wanted a certain spot, you made sure you were there early enough to get it – even if it meant sleeping in your skiff overnight. Now, someone wants to plant a flag in my favorite spot and come out there 10 minutes before shooting time? NO OVERNIGHT PLACEMENTS!”
Menomonee Falls reader Kevin Gatzow checked in. By the way, Gatzow has been a subscriber since somewhere in 1993 or early 1994. He wrote: “Stand notwithstanding, first come, first served. It’s public land, no savies. Now for the encounter that is sure to arise, hopefully cooler heads prevail. You might make a new friend or not. If not, pack up and hunt elsewhere. The woods are huge.”
Joe Steckbauer, of Vilas County, wrote: “I, too, have had one of these situations. I live in an area with a lot of state land around me. My health isn’t the greatest, so I don’t venture too far in and have shown or explained to family where I will be. I found a spot with good sign and was hunting it. Then a ladder stand appeared just before gun season. It appears the owner only hunts primarily opening weekend. I stay clear during that time. I have scouted and found alternate locations. The owner leaves the stand up for awhile. So I use it when the owner’s vehicle isn’t around, whether it be gun or archery. That way I don’t have to set up my own stand. I figure the owner knows because I would show up on his trail cam. Like you say, it’s technically not their spot.”
Mike Shaw was freezing up a little bit in Glidden during that cold spell, but his ink flowed well enough for him to say: “Absolutely not. Public land belongs to everyone. If someone wants to section off a spot he can pay some taxes. Same thing with big docks on public water. I could go on forever, just not now.”
From Jeff Schumacher, of Kaukauna: “If I came upon a ladder stand in a spot that I have hunted before, and that was the spot I planned on hunting that morning and nobody was in it, I would sit in it until the guy showed up. Then I would promptly leave. Who’s to say that something didn’t come up that he can’t make it out or maybe he was planning on hunting Sunday and not Saturday. Either way, if the stand is open and on public land, I sit in it until I see him coming then, I get down and leave and do not cause an incident.”
Anyone who lives in the Wisconsin Rapids area and buys insurance probably knows Mike “Rueski” Ruesch. Ol’ Rueski checks in every once in a while just to make sure I’m not napping. Rueski wrote: “Hey Bortzie, you asked readers to send their thoughts, so here goes. If I hunted public lands I would not want to compete with an already placed hang-on, ladder, or ground blind. The most belligerent type of people want this advantage over others. Decent people are more accepting of the rule, even though setting up the same day is a royal pain in the rear. I think the rule, as is, creates the most balanced option.”
James Rozek, of Eldorado, wrote: “I agree with leaving stands up. Fishermen are allowed to put ice shanties out and leave them there the whole winter. Duck hunters are allowed to build blinds in the Eldorado Marsh. I have hunted in Eldorado Marsh my whole life up until 11 years ago. I’m 77 and when I was 59 I injured my left eye and left shoulder. I did not bow hunt for two years because I could not pull bow back and hold it. I did get a crossbow permit during that time. Where I hunted was about a mile from the parking lot. Because of shoulder and hip arthritis I could not carry a ladder stand in and out every day. I took the stand to my hunting spot and left it there. I would put the stand up, hunt, then take it down and hide it in tall grass. I did this for five years. One morning I came back to parking lot and there was a game warden there. He asked about my license and asked if I was hunting from a ground blind. I said, no, a ladder stand. He asked where it was. I said hidden in tall grass. He said I can not leave a stand on state land. That night I hunted and took my stand home. I have not hunted in the Eldorado Marsh since, even though I can see the area I hunted from my house. I now travel 15 miles a night to hunt private land.”
