Jessica Mathews / news@whmi.com


A Chelsea man is jailed after pleading guilty to intentionally sabotaging a hunter’s tree stand in the Upper Peninsula.

23-year-old Thomas Steele III is serving a 60-day sentence in the Marquette County Jail following a court hearing in which he recently pleaded guilty to misdemeanors of aggravated assault and hunter harassment.

As part of the plea agreement, Steele must serve one-year of probation and reimburse the victim’s medical expenses for injuries sustained in a fall from his tree stand. Steele’s hunting privileges were also revoked for an undetermined amount of time. With Michigan a member of the Interstate Wildlife Violator’s Compact, the MDNR says Steele’s right to hunt will be revoked in nearly all 50 states.

Dave Shaw, chief of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement Division, said that “Hunter harassment is real and taken very seriously. Most hunters respect the land and each other and take pride in an ethical hunt. The DNR hopes that by sharing the details of this case, we can bring awareness to the consequences of this person’s unethical and dangerous behavior and know that it will not be tolerated”.

The harassment began in October 2020 on state hunting land in Marquette County. The DNR says a local Upper Peninsula hunter arrived at his tree stand one day and found a note on his trail camera, stating that he was set up in Steele’s hunting spot. Steele, then a student at Northern Michigan University, left his phone number on the note asking the hunter to call him. He deleted the pictures from the hunter’s trail camera.

The DNR says the hunter contacted Steele, apologizing that he was unaware someone was using the area. Over the phone, Steele insisted that the hunter stay off the land. Eventually, the hunter lost patience and told Steele he would stay away.

A press release states that “weeks later when the hunter returned to his tree stand, he surveyed the area, which looked untouched. He grabbed the memory card from his trail camera and then started to climb up his tree stand after determining everything was secure. He climbed to the top, which appeared intact, then stepped onto the platform of his stand and immediately fell 15 to 20 feet to the ground. The hunter landed on his feet but injured his ankle and back. Looking up, he saw that the stand was dangling from the tree, about 8 feet above ground”.

Concerned that Steele was watching him on a camera, the DNR says the hunter quickly limped out of the woods. Once at home, he called 911 and checked his memory card, which had been wiped clean of images for the second time.

DNR Conservation Officer Josh Boudreaux responded and took the hunter’s statement and launched an investigation.

Weeks went by and the hunter returned to the hunting location and used new straps to setup his tree stand. The next day, Steele – who was using a camera to spy on the hunter – sent a new text to the hunter, saying, “Are we going to work something out for this spot or what? I got a picture of you yesterday going in there with climbing sticks. Just not gonna respect I was there first?”

Boudreaux and Conservation Officer John Kamps continued to closely monitor the hunter’s tree stand and acquired evidence of Steele cutting the victim's tree stand straps a second time.

Boudreaux said the straps were cut in such a way that they would support the weight of the tree stand but would break as soon as additional weight was applied to them, having a trap door effect – adding the victim would have fallen 15 to 20 feet to the ground.

Boudreaux obtained a search warrant for Steele’s trail camera, which Steele had left on state land, and Conservation officers removed the camera.
The DNR says Steele thought the hunter stole his trail camera and left threatening voicemails on his phone and disparaged him on multiple local social media groups. Steele eventually called 911 to report his missing trail camera.

Boudreaux said he took the call and arranged to meet Steele in-person, with Kamps and public safety officers from NMU. During the meeting, Steele was said to have offered a full confession and admitted that he sabotaged the hunter’s tree stand. He was charged in the case in 2021. Steele, who was already suspended from NMU, withdrew prior to being expelled.

The DNR advises that in Michigan, no one can claim exclusive rights on public hunting land. Any tree stand or deer blind left unoccupied on state land can be used by another individual.

Photos courtesy MDNR. The featured photo is footage from a trail camera that shows Steele intentionally cutting the straps on a hunter’s tree stand located on state hunting land in Marquette County. The second photo is a close-up view showing a cut strap from the tree stand.