Well it's obvious that your advice and mine are at two ends of the spectrum.......
So the outfitter makes a living at it. It does not justify him breaking the law. That is indeed chickensh$$.
Yes, you're right about two ends of the spectrum. That's the good thing about this forum, a guy can ask for advice, get the whole spectrum, and make up his own mind.
The way I see it, if an outfitter hangs a tree stand where I want to hunt to "claim" the spot, the only way he's getting away with anything, and the only way it's affecting me is if I don't hunt those spots as a result. If I ignore his tree stand and hunt those spots, it's not affecting me, and it's really none of my business. Sure, I can report him, but that's as far as I'd take it--it's not my place to police the backcountry.
And that was my advice--ignore his stands and hunt where you want. And if he presses the issue, turn him in.
If I take his stands down, I'm placing myself in the role of law enforcement for something that is not affecting me. And I'm inviting a confrontation. That bothers me, smacks of a busybody who minds other people's business. Same as when I'm out walking my dog off the leash, he's not hurting anything or going near anyone, and some dickhead will yell "Put your dog on a leash." Yeah, I know it's against the law, but he's not hurting you or anybody else so MYOFB. When that happens I ignore the dickhead. But if he were to try and take the law into his own hands, he'd be inviting a confrontation and he'd get one.
Lastly, I agree that the outfitter hanging stands to "claim" a spot is chickensh**. That's why I'd just ignore his stands.
I wouldn't put myself in a position of having to draw down on someone for doing something that is just "chickensh** that I can ignore if I choose.
