I'll give them the season in the area and steer clear if it hasn't moved the area is free game in my eyes and will sit in it if I'm feeling lazy and don't want to carry in my stand. If the owner shows up I'll remind him to remove it the end of the season or it's getting reported Sent from my Pixel 4 using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
In SC, DNR will confiscate your deer stand if found once the season is over. I have found stands in the woods, some of them quite new, and always in a spot I thought too close to vehicle and/or foot traffic. Of course, some hunters have made a living killing big deer in such areas but these spots lacked desired cover. Deer will definitely hunker down near high traffic areas but usually around briary, tangled spots.
If they are abandoned we hunt it..if someone was to come in I would gladly give up the spot and go find something else! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Guess I should clarify I wouldn’t hunt in their stand but if it’s where I need to be i don’t have a problem hanging close to it Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Amen to that SC DNR surely doesn't joke around. Until I started hunting in SC, I never even knew game wardens would check hunters. Only ever saw game wardens while fishing when I was in Maryland. But IMO I would never hunt a stand that I or someone I know and trust hasn't hung. Way to many variables could go wrong. Not willing to find out what those variables are.