I do most of the time, depending on where I’m hunting. East Texas, hell no. West Texas, yes

Absolutely not. I have my huts on our farm and our woods is almost in the center of the section but could be walked into. I do leave other shooting supplies and aids.
Have a great day.
Jim

I have, but don’t make it a habit. Typically I don’t because there’s no telling what I’ll see on my walk out. I may leave my bow in the stand depending on the weather and how long I’ll be gone.

Nope

No way! Because of the carnal nature of man and a life long experience in the worst of mankind I hardly leave toilet paper at my stand... come to think of it , I don't even do that.

No because i like to switch guns all the time.

+1... people are thieving bastards. I don't leave anything in my stands/blinds.

So in the world of illegal Mexicans you abandon your gun?

Until coming across this thread just now, I have never imagined anyone doing so...I mean, the thought has never crossed my mind that someone would leave a firearm unattended anywhere. The whole idea is just an anathema to me.

Used to leave my bow in the treestand overnight all the time years ago……….the gun, no.

No people like to trespass and steal. My cameras take pictures sometimes of people I don't even know. I have 3 cameras setup at the back of our property in lock boxes. The back of our property has a gravel road off the main highway for the gas well workers. People like to sneak in and trespass on private property especially
during hunting season.

I have never left a rifle in a stand. I usually never leave anything in a stand. However, for the last two years I'm on a lease with locked gates. If I know I'm gonna go back to that stand (box blind) I have left my backpack a time or two. especially in bad weather.

Never even crossed my mind to leave a gun behind

Never a rifle.

I have left bows a few times when I know I'm returning to the same stand the next morning

No. I hunt my own land and always carry my rifle out.

Hell no.

I’ve had tree stands stolen……I be darn if I’ll leave my firearm!

As a side note…… I’m hunting to and from my stand (when I stand hunted), so my firearm in in my hands! memtb

Hell no

No way! I could not leave my rifle hanging in a treestand over night, too many bad things could happen..My rifles are very light so i dont mind packing them in and out....Hb

ahhhhhhhhh........not only no, but HELL NO!!!!

I thought that is why Ruger came out with the American. Who would steal that?

Didn’t know this was a thing.

Same here. I feel like some old Gunnery Sergeant would wake from the dead and haunt me for all eternity. I don't even like to sit with my firearm more than arms length away from me.

Good one. Memories from basic training back in the 70's. Thanks got a chuckle out of that.

No. I take everything I bring in back out every hunt.

lolololol. It would take a really sick bastard.

No. Never crossed my mind to do so, and doubt it ever will.

I have, on occasion, left toilet paper near a stand. No one has taken it. I guess there's not much of a resale value on used toilet paper.

Even toilet paper is worth more than a Ruger American…

My late uncle told me about a friend of his that let him hunt out of a ground blind on his property. The oldtimer told him that he left a shotgun in the blind just in case a gobbler happened by. My uncle said sure enough, there was an old, rusted, long barrel single shot 12ga sitting in the corner. Curiosity got the best of him so he jacked with the old shotgun until he got it to open. Out fell a paper shell the fell apart in his hand!

Man, that's harsh!! LOLOLOLOLOLO

NEVER!!

I have killed deer walking to and from stands before.

Not unless my stand was my house.

Only time i leave a gun in the stand is if im just away long enough to answer the call of nature.

I had a friend leave his rifle in a stand over night last season. It was on a family members property in Georgia. He was going to hunt the same stand in the morning. when he went back it was gone.

That larned 'im......

Only if you want to donate your rifle ect. to the Illegals. Rio7

hanco, hanco, hanco.....

besides I see deer on my sneak going to and from my stand / blind , or sometimes i will decide to settle in against an ole tree or brush pile and never get back to my stand / blind . you just never know. and like others have said it could just grow legs and be gone when you get back to it !

yes this year for 2 weeks rifle stayed loaded and in stand but i hunt sunrise to sunset all day in the stand , makes life simpler but i am on my own land in a tamarack swamp with good neighbors .

Nope.

I've occasionally left some gear if I'm sure I'm coming back. Bucket to sit on, seat cushion, not much else though.

-Jake

Nope!

How does one kill a critter on the way to or from a stand if the rifle is in the stand??

Ain't no way.

Could I? yes. I get in the stand an hour before light and stay till dark, there's no walking about when I could shoot something.
Do I? no

Sounds like I’m about the only one who does. I’m miles from any roads, but y’all got me thinking that’s dumb. Some of my rifles are worth a few bucks, not big money, but wouldn’t want to learn a hard lesson. I didn’t figure many guys did.


I didn’t mention the stand was padlocked, windows locked too

No but the question made me think of "one time in South Africa". Friend had shot an Oryx and I was going to help drag it to the truck, 10 feet away. Laid my gun down by a tree and turned to grab a leg. South Africans were agast! Could not believe I would lay a rifle down and walk away. All 10 feet. Just could not imagine anyone would do that. Different places, different rules. Of course it takes them a year or more to get a gun after purchase.

Absolutely not. That would be a good way to get sued for all you got or will ever have. When I get too lazy to carry my gun to the stand every morning I'll quit hunting.

No I've shot many deer while walking back to truck or driving through lease on the way back to camp

I know of people who will leave their rifle overnight if they hunted an evening and hunted again the next morning. We leave our side by sides and atvs inside the gate a ways on the property we hunt.

I don't anymore. I once left a Ruger American in my blind overnight, came back the next day and a Sako Forester was in its place!

Absolutely not! Being a responsible gun owner means never leaving your gun unsecured!

No.

DF

Found poor doe. She may have been there yesterday, didn’t notice her, buzzards on her this am

I brought rifle down with me. Will do from now on.

I stayed in until almost 1 pm. Damn Aoudads come in the middle of the day

The only rifle I’ve had stolen was at a range in MA. Went down range to change targets at 200 yds. When I got back to the bench my C. Sharps 40-70 and my equipment box was gone. There were two shooters at the other end of the range both old timers but nobody recalled anything. I ordered a Shiloh the next day

Rick

😮

Thieves should always be beaten senseless
with quality hardwood pick handles or similar
until at least a week or so of recovery is required
Or caning by an expert in the field followed by
a lemon juice/ salt rinse

I have when I hunted another place I used to hunt but not on this place. Illegals are a lot worse than they used to be.

You're talking some truth here. Everyone I know that has had a lease in E. TX had gear stolen. Feeders, blinds, hog traps etc. Lots of meth-heads and low-lifes in E. TX.

I hunt central TX and I've never left a gun in a stand. I have 2 rules whenever I go in the pasture, rifle and bino's, this includes to/from the stand.

We have had an out of state member leave a rifle and shotgun in the locked camphouse so he doesn't have to deal with the airlines when he goes to/from the lease. But the camphouse is right in the main workings of the ranch where the rancher is visiting the barns, workshop, stock pens all day.

Hanco, do you have buzzards right now? All our buzzards in Mason county have migrated away for the winter. We just have the Caracara's right now. It's weird, I never would have thought buzzards were migratory, but they are.

We have a power line through our 2700acre lease in Central TX. The landowner occasionally finds water bottles, clothing or backpacks.

Years ago when I hunted far south, they'd sleep
in any unlocked blinds, and when you got dropped off
in the early AM you'd have to do a SWAT crackhouse
entry type thing with peestols drawn while one of
you eased the door open. Had 2 ways to call the
other hunters also
Last similar place had the lessee's camp enclosed
in a 1/2 acre of 8 ft chain link topped with wire.
Chained and padlocked at night and unlocked in
the AM
Buddies camp about 10 minutes SW of there didn't
have an enclosure, and they'd get there and a window
would be broken out and the beds slept in and
stinky and the fresh water tanks would be dry.
They finally had to leave everything unlocked and
bring everything back and forth each time and
had a plastic sign made up in spaneesh that
said that there is nothing of value in any of these
RV's . Please take any of this food if you need it.
And they put the sign in the middle of the picnic
table with 10-12 cans of vye-ainnies and beans
and such on top. It stopped for a while, but
eventually they would get there and the illegals
would sh*t everywhere out of meanness.
Not to mention the trash and dirty clothes and
dirty diapers strowed all over the ranch everywhere

Black buzzards were all over that doe yesterday

Never but will leave my backpack. However, I'm hunting out of a shot house and can lock it.

Never

No, never have - never thought that was a good idea. As a matter of fact, when I hunted the TX Panhandle and stayed in motels, I would take my rifle if I left the motel for any reason because I didn’t trust the staff or other patrons. If I went to eat, I’d make sure I could see my truck (rifle) at all times. I just don’t trust people anymore.

I never have, nor even though of doing so

Years ago in Mills Co (Central TX), shotguns and rimfires were sometimes left in the stand but not the deer rifles.

Too much liability to do it now days but there are times I wish I did have an inconspicuous shelf in my lockable stand to leave a short 22 mag for coyotes.

This morning, I dumped 2 more pigs next to one I shot 2 days ago. Only the Caracara's eating on that one and a deer gut pile, no black buzzards. Driving back this morning, I did see some black buzzards near San Saba and Goldthwait. Weird that they all leave our property for periods of the winter. Other times of the year, they swarm every dead carcass in the pasture.

There must have been a hundred of the bastards

Seriously??

No.

Left a pair of binoculars out overnight one time by accident. Overnight a mouse or squirrel chewed up one of the eyecups a bit. Never got it fixed, figured its a good reminder to not be a dumb-azz.
Would be really pissed if I left a rifle out and a critter chewed up a stock.

Why would you do that? I have a stand that the door locks, I leave my chair, my propane heater and other equiment but never, never my firearm!

Nope

Ron

Would never even enter my mind, even when I hunted private land almost exclusively. Not only are there thieves literally everywhere, it’s just totally irresponsible unless there’s a secure locker or other measures in place. Kids go where they want; I sure as Hell did.

after i read all these replies i just might start bringing my rifle back to camp now ? Pete53

Why not just leave your rifle leaning against the telephone pole at the local bar and grill!

No, never have. I don't leave anything of value in a fish house either.

So, if you're miles from any roads and feel safe enough to leave a gun in the blind, why the lock on the door and the windows? Conversely, If you feel like you need to lock the door and windows on a blind, why would you leave a gun unattended in it?

I hunt out of a open ladder stand. Leaving a rifle in the stand overnight is not an option.

I sit on a rock or a log. Ain't no leavin' nuthin'

I never bothered to lock it until last week, but this thread got me to thinking that wasn’t too smart.

I only leave my gun , bow , climber and back pack in the woods if I need to drag a deer out. I always get a deer right at dark and is dark by the time I start dragging. I burry it in leaves or under a log. Before first light , I am there to pick it up and this is on high pressured public land . never had a problem and never keep bullets in the pack or gun.

This thread is eye opening. Not in a good way either.

HELL NO!!!!!!!!!!!! Why would you do that?..........Apparently you've never killed a deer going to or from your stand?.........And then there's thievery to think about. Sounds like laziness to me. If I have drag one out daylight or after dark. My rifle/gear goes into the locked up truck. Then I go for the deer. Not hiding my high $$$ in a brush pile either.

This whole idea is utterly bizarre. People really do this?

Never would I leave a gun in a blind I don't trust people.

I drag with my rifle over my back. If it doesn't have a sling like my flintlock, I walk it twenty steps ahead then drag the deer up to it. Repeat as many times as needed

You will stop that the one time you go to retrieve it and a rodent has used the buttpad or stock as a tooth sharpener.

Gun to the truck then back to get the critter if I need to make 2 trips.

I've never heard of anyone doing this, even on private land. We don't trust anyone here in the Northeast. Heck trail camera theft happens here allover routinely. Another reason I don't use those either.

What's weird to me is people leaving their stand in the middle of the day, during hunting hours.

What's weird to me is people that can sit in one for more than an hour. Diff'rent strokes.......

Still hunting without a weapon is just walking in the woods lol.

Never....

Not so with the Ruger American Predator I have in 6.5 Grendel.

that sucker is accurate as hell, tosses off abuse, and punches way out of its weight class...

Shrap, not all of us can either afford or would want to hunt with a gun collection as beautiful as you enjoy....

My Ruger ain't fancy, but it certainly has done everything I ask of it, and then some..... there is beauty in that alone also...

and I don't have to worry about it getting scratched up or banged up out in rough terrain or bad weather...

there is beauty and convenience in that also....

I've never been trusting of the public EVER, to leave anything some Beavis or Butthead would swipe.

I can't even fathom leave a rifle behind. I don't even leave my rifle behind to move elsewhere to take a dump.

Don, the difference in the habitat we hunt might ‘splain some of that. There’s seldom a dull moment in the Eastern hardwoods. Wildlife density, not necessarily deer, is high and there’s almost never a time when there’s not something going on: birds, rodents, small mammals of various sorts. I once spent a bunch of deerless hours watching a woodchuck (he was living in the woods after all) trundling back and forth with his mouth stuffed with leaves, plugging up the doors to his den for the winter. Another time on a snowy day I watched a big fat ringneck a few yards away feeding off multiflora rose hips, jumping up and plucking them one by one. Wish I had video of that, but it was long before smartphones and video cameras were about the size of a handi-vac. I’ve had birds land on the barrel of my rifle, squirrels come within inches of climbing over my head, and the mangiest-looking fox I ever saw would’ve stepped on my feet if I hadn’t moved to ward him off. I’ve had some really close encounters too while still- hunting, though often those involved either deer holding tight in hopes I’d not notice them, or moving towards me on their own. Haven’t touched one yet, but have been about ten feet from one that moved the last few yards towards me, then fed off without catching my stink.

A few years ago I was hunting with some friend’s at a private ranch that was owned by one of the friend’s family. A little over 500 acres down a 2 miles private dirt road. There were several of us there for a weekend. As we were leaving we found some odd traffic on the way out and then a sheriff’s vehicle. Not a half hour down the road my buddy receives a call from his dad that his dad’s car and several items had been stolen from the property, including a few guns left in a wooden gun cabinet.

The cops found the guy in front of a cheap motel room down the road in either Killeen or Copperas Cove, I can’t remember, still in possession of all the items stolen from my friend’s dad. Nothing damaged or missing. They found him not an hour after he drove out in the stolen vehicle.

Everything was stolen from the house as the father ran down the hill to do some chore. He was only gone for maybe a half hour from the house. We all said goodbye to him just prior him going to do whatever it was that he had to do. That means the Norwegian who stole the goods had been watching us in hiding.

You never really know who may or may not be somewhere. So, no, I don’t leave guns lying around.

For sure...

That took some scouting and planning I’d say…

Isn't it against the law to leave any gun unattended anywhere including your house without it being locked in a safe or a gun lock on it?

As stated in other posts from the practical matter, many great shots can come up going to and coming back from the stand, why would you significantly reduce your hunting opportunities leaving your rifle int he stand?

I don’t think I’ve ever walked up on a deer I wanted to shoot on the place I hunt now. It’s very thick. Other leases, yes, carried my rifle to and from camp, jumped some good bucks.

I've left stands and cameras but never a firearm. On a good piece of private land it would be fine just never have.

In some states maybe but certainly notg in all of them.

I agree!!!

HS 58

It will never happen. I hun so far back in the marsh that I only saw 2 hunters in 8 yrs. hunting the marsh.. When I leave, there is no one there . By the time I get back to my truck , there is almost never another truck there. Most all the hunters head for the truck before closing cause they are afraid of the marsh and finding their way out in the dark. Even in high pressured hunting land , most hunters dont hunt much and are long gone , and close to the truck when they do hunt. One time , I hid my gun so good, I couldnt see it from 5' away.. Aint no one going to find it. The marsh is a nasty ass [bleep] hole full of fallen ash trees and 5' high marsh grass, cat tails and much holes... The deer are there though.

It will never happen. I hunt so far back in the marsh that I only saw 2 hunters in 8 yrs. hunting the marsh.. When I leave, there is no one there . By the time I get back to my truck , there is almost never another truck there. Most all the hunters head for the truck before closing cause they are afraid of the marsh and finding their way out in the dark. Even in high pressured hunting land , most hunters dont hunt much and are long gone , and close to the truck when they do hunt. One time , I hid my gun so good, I couldnt see it from 5' away.. Aint no one going to find it. The marsh is a nasty ass [bleep] hole full of fallen ash trees and 5' high marsh grass, cat tails and muck holes... The deer are there though.

No way.
Pondering building Dad a shanty, and I’m concerned with folks damaging it. Trying to come up with a window system that avoids that.
We had to go from keyed to combination locks, they kept breaking sticks off in the keyhole.








Might be interesting.


Loaded or ammo in a butt holder.
One round loaded with Bullseye.

Good chance I’d find out who stole it.

Be worth the price of one of Shrapnel’s American Rifles.

This thread is sadly shocking!😮

Cover the window opening with a removable board, hinge your window to flip up. When you want to hunt remove the board and allow the window to drop into place.

I took a gun with me to take a dump on an antelope hunt. Found a draw with trees. Coming out there was antelopes that moved in. I got one.

Always take my rifle with me when I hear the call of nature while hunting.

Always take my rifle with me when I hear the call of nature while hunting.

Good thread. I’ve learned I’m a Dumass

+1

I have left my backpack and rifle in a dry blind on a ranch we hunt that is a couple of miles in, but only when I walk out to my four wheeler after dark and plan to return before daylight the next morning. I only leave my heater and chair in my blinds on the club lease, but no firearms. Nothing has ever come up missing, so far.

Yep, just bizarre to me.

Do you put your nightstand gun away in a safe during the day while you're at work. EVERY day? Not poking but providing a "unattended" situation many probably have never viewed as such.

My nightstand gun is in a handgun safe that I can open in the dark in about 2 seconds.

Your house is a lot different than your tree stand. As much as I would like to, I'm not shooting poachers - trespassers roaming my property. A unexpected guest inside my house better have their affairs in order. But yes we put most of our guns away if we're going to be gone more than a few hours.

Same here. Hornady Rapid safe with the RFID in my cell phone case, that resides on my nightstand at night.

Same here. Hornady Rapid safe with the RFID in my cell phone case, that resides on my nightstand at night.

I used to hunt caribou 10-12 miles up a couple canyons from the trailhead. Walk in only. Usually only had weekends to hunt, do fast in and out trips, with a back-pack. 8 lbs matters...

I several times cached my rifle under a log until the next weekend, wrapped up in a plastic bag and hoped a bear wouldn't find it and drag it out. Never did to the rifle, but did do that to a chainsaw up there once, when I was clearing trail pre-season.

But generally - no. Besides liability, theft,damage concerns, that there is bear country, tho the people on the well traveled portion of the trail pose a greater risk, IMO.

Hanco: Been Hunting Deer (and other big game animals) for 65 years now and never once Hunted from a stand.
But IF.... I were ever to do so I would NOT even consider leaving one of my firearms in a "stand"!
Puzzling why anyone would ever do so.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

I only leave one thing in my stands, a Note, and this is what it says:

"GET THE F---- OUT OF MY TREE STAND"

I have thought about it

We have never had an issue
But man if I walked in the blind and my rifle was gone I would flip

The last deer I harvested this year was close to the public land I went to get the Rhino to bring it back

Left the gun in the blind and half way back I thought why the hell did I do that


Hank

Hanco repented. I think only Pete53 is still doing it

Nope

Yes, will not do it anymore.

I’ve left my bow holder or pull up rope. Never my bow or gun. I’m afraid someone would steal it.

Ron

I have had 3 different trail cameras stolen from me, by my tree stands on both private property and public land, how I wished I had of caught them in the act!

Comedy really isn't your game.
You should stick to being a sanctimonious cheesedick.

Illegals crossing on foot would for heaters in cabins and blinds.

Cell cams , you can track them
Kenneth

I've been hunting my farm the last 2 weeks. I left mine gun in the tree when I came down for lunch just so I could be like hanco...

😂

I once left my truck parked on the shoulder of the road and had a dipshyt leave a note under my windshield wiper telling me this was posted property, I didn't have permission to be there and if he caught me on it again he would have my truck towed and me arrested. I was hunting on the opposite side of the road with permission from the landowner. Next time I hunted there I left a note in my windshield. It said, " I'm watching you from the woods across the road, if you ever lay a finger on my truck again it will be the last time, I guarantee it". I never did get another note.

Lots of A-Holes in the bush, as I said I only wish I caught them guys stealing my trail cameras!

No, up here everyone knows most everyone and it’s pretty wide open but there are always a few unknowns and trespassers.
Not leaving any valuables in a blind or stand, even on my own land.

How would you feel if you went back to your stand at 0dark 30 and walked in and found some puke holding your own gun on you!

Foolish!

why would anyone leave their firearm unattended for any reason, anyplace?

Don't have enough hands to carry all of them.

after reading all these problems i guess i will have to just take my rifle back to the cabin most of the time.

And you've still only evolved to "most of the time". SMH

I took mine out yesterday and today, will from now on

No way no how. Bow yes I've done it overnight. Leaving one of my rifles in a tree, that's not happening.

In rural Maine we keep the rifles in a locked car for the evening unless they get wet.

I’ve left my Savage hog hunter in my camp trailer the entire deer season before. I guess I won’t do that again either.

I wouldn't even leave a rifle in the locked trunk of my vehicle.

I leave a 12 gauge at my Camp. Very different scenario than a deer stand

My 10 gauge stays in my truck until waterfowl season is over

Never I might see a coyote on the way back

With the number of camp breakins in PA I wouldn't even consider leaving a firearm in my camp if I had a camp. The number for guns that are stolen out of vehicles in the newspaper in the area where I live is staggering every year. Personally, I believe it is irresponsible to leave a firearm in a vehicle overniight even if it is in front of your home!

My camp was broken into two years ago. That shotgun was that well hidden they never found it

There was a time I never locked my vehicles

Maybe things are different it TX but I've shot quite a few deer on the way in or out to consider leaving my rifle behind.

my area has very few people hunting and not many people live in this area , its 8 miles to the Canadian border/ Northern Minnesota all the land around there is private, i am in a tamarac swamp on my own land . this year my rifle stayed in the stand loaded for 10 days and not even a human track near my stand within a 1/2 mile its very wild i see martins most days by my stand , fishers some days even a Lynx this year 40 feet from me laying down looking at me and always deer around, i am 1 mile from my old cabin too 1 1/4 miles from a dirt road. it is not the same as where most people hunt ,park at to hunt or live by to hunt .

Hell no! I once had my tree stand stolen…..and I was on private property! I never thought the some a$$hole would climb a tree to steal my stand! It’s only been 45 years and I’m still pissed about it! memtb

I still don't understand why you're fine with walking to and from your stand unarmed?

Your assuming or reading something I didn't. Some people don't leave the house without a pistol.

Anybody ever leave a rifle in a tent or camper and head to town?

Camper maybe, but we live in a somewhat more civilized region.

Plus, there is very limited cover …..pretty much unlimited visibility. Thieves can be stopped from very long range…..if you’re so inclined! 😉 memtb

And that makes sense. There are places that so few people go that it just does not matter. If there is a person back there to steal your gun, I can all but guarantee he is a woodsman with ethics. As for me again, I hunt very high pressured public land in S.E Wis. and almost never see a hunter , even in gun season. I also hunt in N.W WIs. and is much more populated than where Pete53 hunts and I have not seen a hunter since 2009 and am quite sure he was lost but too prideful to come to me for directions. I have never had a person on my trail cam back there except one time and had one out there for 10 yrs. There are places where literally , no one goes. My cam is about 3/4 mi. off the nearest logging road and I can only get there by john boat going down a river about 1/2 mi. However, I always take my gun cause I am only 200 yds from the john boat . EDIT: If I leave after a morning hunt and leave my gun in the blind,, I WILL SE THE BIGGEST BUCK IN THE COUNTY.

i always year around have my handgun on me even when walking to the mail box 100 yards from my house , and on my 4 wheeler in a boot there is a 30-06 BLR s.s. and at my house or cabin i have shovels too. Pete53

For me- that only happens in pitch darkness, WTF am I going to use the deer rifle on in the dark?

For me- that only happens in pitch darkness, WTF am I going to use the deer rifle on in the dark?[/quote

yep when i am in the stand before light and don`t leave tell after sunset or dark and nobody is in the woods on private land 1 mile from any road and in a swamp why worry besides not many people even know i have a stand back there ?

my rifle my pistols go where i go would not leave them anywhere i wasn't!!!

That’s “exactly” what I thought…..and then my tree stand was stolen! Jus Say’n memtb

I don't know but I like having it in the dark

I had two firsts this year. Left my bow near my tree stand and walked back to the cabin to get something. About 110 yards away. An odd spot on private property, didn't feel too strange doing that.


Gun season, sitting on the utility clear cut behind the cabin. I was sitting higher up the hill than usual, within sight of the structure, maybe 40 yards away? I left my rifle on the tripod to run inside and grab something. Literally in and out in seconds, still didn't feel right doing it.

I don't trust anyone.

Yep, we have to many bears I don't go in the wood's day or night unarmed.

I'm uncomfortable leaving my guns in the camper when we go to town. We're on private property behind a closed gate, so I believe it's safer than leaving stuff in the truck while in town. If we were in East Texas I wouldn't let anything out of my sight ! The folks in the Hill Country ain't near as likely to steal.

If I'm in one of my secure locking box stands on my own property I have left my little varmint gun in there once or twice (cheap 22lr for example), but never any of my deer guns.

I've never yet had trouble at the cabin. But I don't dare leave a gun there. Sign of the times we live in.

thats hard to do with us. Would have to carry 3-4 guns with us into the store all the time etc...

While I don't leave rifles in stands, we are lucky, the owner of much of the property in our area is well known. Should anything be stolen it would not end well for the thief and thats knowledge. Maybe not in your area, but varmints. Pigs. People.
Never without a flashlight and a gun of some sort. Just makes no sense not to be armed if you have clothes on.

I’m in East Texas now, won’t leave anything in stand now, even with a lock on it. Have one stand on power line right away. Lots of traffic

I’m a looonnngg way from the border, and have never been robbed here in 34 years, but I keep my doors locked and never leave a gun in my vehicle overnight, or even downstairs while I’m sleeping.

Having left things in the woods, both intentionally and unintentionally, and having had things come up that made me unable to go back to retrieve them for up to six months, the idea of risking that with a firearm would never even cross my mind.

It’s is a damn shame we have to lock our doors, guard our possessions!

Several years back, I gave my Uncle a custom rifle. Beautiful wood stocked Classic converted to the then new 300 RUM. He lived in East Tx, but had a Deer Lease up in Polk County. Base camp was a nice trailer house, several miles off the main road in. He left his guns (including the Custom) in the trailer. Meth heads broke in, stole everything. About 6 mos later, the Texas Rangers found it in a Pawn shop down in Chambers co. Thieves had spray painted it red! It
was stolen again out of his home by one of his Feral druggie granddaughters. He is in Heaven now, no one knows where the Big Red One is now, lol.

I never leave a gun in a stand. One of the guys who hunts in our camp did that last year. He got a late start into his stand the next day and came face to face with a real nice 8 point Whitetail on the way to his stand. All he could do is tell the deer how lucky he was. I don't think he'll do that again.

Now that's funny.

Leave a hunting rifle in a deer blind.

FUUUUUKKKK NNNOOO.

Never have. Never will.


Only thing left in my deer blind are empty Lone Star beer cans.



Best
HeavyDove

Leave your gun in a stand?
In New Jersey they'll steal the stand too!
I've had two tree stands stolen, and a third one shot to pieces.

No way although I have pondered if I had the money and a large piece of land that I would build several permanent stands that were large enough to put a day bed with a locker built in under it to place a T/C Conpass rifle with a Bushnell scope on it in just for giggles.

I leave a rifle in my pickup most of the time, does that count?

That is damn sorry for a person to do that!

as i posted earlier yes my rifle is loaded , left in my enclosed stand all season, on my property , in a tamarac swamp by the Canadian border , life up there is different its still honest ,very few people ,all white working good people ive up there . after the 1st 3 days with family and friends . i am one of the few people still hunting and being alone i hunt every day from before sunrise till after sunset 13 days in my stand after the family leaves.last year i seen my 1st ever Canadian LYNX in the wild, he was about 40 feet from my stand ,laying down watching me for about 10 minutes ,every other day i have 2 martins playing around my stand , some days a see fishers walking around by my stand , red squirrels , red fox ,grouse ,turkeys , even had a porcupine walk by about 100 feet away , sometimes a bear , 5 -10 deer a day but might be the same deer day to day ? this year never seen a a bigger buck it can happen ? after opening weekend the animals up there start moving natural again. most on this site will never have a chance to hunt in a area like this wild area but if you can feel grateful its a paradise probably the reason rifle stay in stand all day everyday. good luck next deer season ! Pete53