Louis County drew attention to the issue three years ago, the DNR has mulled banning permanent stands on all 3.1 million acres in 58 state forests. It's also illegal to cut any trees for shooting lanes in state forests. Permanent "structures" are illegal in state forests, which, like St. The DNR - at least for now - allows permanent stands on state forest lands but discourages the use of nails. The Minnesota DNR bans permanent stands where hunting is allowed in state parks or state Wildlife Management Areas, where portable stands can be used but must be removed each night. The Superior and Chippewa National Forests ban permanent stands but allow temporary stands to be left in the woods overnight, although they must be removed by the end of the deer hunting season. Cass County bans any kind of nails, bolts or screws and says any stands that have those or damage trees will be removed. ![]() "I have seen a trend moving to the portables with very, very few new permanent stands recently constructed."Ĭrow Wing County bans all permanent deer stands on its forests. "The local Chapter of MDHA (Minnesota Deer Hunters Association) in Carlton County supports a 'No permanent stand attached to trees' policy and has worked with new hunters about the benefits of portable stands," Bernu told the News Tribune. Freestanding stands are allowed if the walls are not greater than 42 inches in height with a floor area under 32 square feet, said Greg Bernu, Carlton County land commissioner.īernu said the issue of permanent stands on public lands may be solving itself as hunters move to portable, factory-built stands. Several other public-land managers have stricter rules on their lands.Ĭarlton County bans any permanent deer stand attached to a tree in any way. "So I think we've found a middle ground everyone can live with." But we don't want these big, unauthorized buildings in the woods," Meyer said. The county has drawn a line on what will be tolerated without banning constructed stands altogether. "If they've built this elaborate deer stand are they going to be territorial about allowing other people in their area? Probably," Meyer noted. One hunter was fined $139 for the timber he cut for shooting lanes, Meyer noted.Ĭounty officials say they are staying clear of the ethical issue of hunting from inside what is essentially a building - the fair chase debate - but they do feel a stake in the ethics and legality of claiming public land for private use. Thats a lot of trees that the county can't sell, and that's money out of taxpayer's pockets. In one area of county land it's estimated that a group of hunters cleared more than six acres of forest combined for their 47 shooting lanes. Some of those shooting lanes are more than 30 feet wide and up to 700 feet long. Multiply thousands of deer stands with the hundreds of feet of cleared forest for shooting lanes and the total is adding up. The county also is banning any cutting of trees for shooting lanes and any planting of crops to attract deer. And any stand torn down needs to be fully removed, or the owner could be fined for illegal garbage dumping. 31 and remain roofless and wall-less through Sept. Moreover, any stand with a roof or cover and any walls must be disassembled by Dec. And no one can claim the exclusive right to any portion of the forest simply by building a stand any hunter can sit in any stand on county land. But hunters are warned that if those stands are unoccupied, they are open to the public to use. The new policy still allows hunters to place permanent stands on county-managed tax forfeited land. ![]() Some guys are taking them down on their own. We're posting warnings on the stands we find that are too much. "Now that we've made it clear we have limits, it's getting better. ![]() We really hadn't developed any rules,'' said Jason Meyer, deputy county land commissioner. "That was probably the biggest problem we had. Those most egregious examples are being torn down. Another, discovered on county land, appeared to be three stories tall. Some of the deer "stands" were really cabins one was 20 x 18 feet. ![]() The Lands and Minerals Departments has developed a formal policy on what's allowed and what's not on the 900,000 acres of St. Since then, however, county foresters have been tearing down those hunting shacks on stilts, and posting others with warnings that they won't be tolerated.
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