St. Louis County foresters: Deer stand ‘mansions,’ tree-cutting and food plots getting out of hand

It used to be that a deer stand was a couple of aspen saplings nailed between two trees, just a place for a hunter to see above the brush for a better shot at a trophy buck.

But increasingly across St. Louis County forests, including on public lands, permanent deer stands have become a whole lot more elaborate — some far too elaborate for county land managers. And hunters are cutting more trees near those stands so they can see deeper into the woods.

Some hunters are even planting crops on public land to attract deer to their stands.