Disecting "First-come-first-serve"

I should mention that the "blinds" I refer too are not permanent wooden structures simply stalks of cane (bamboo or phragmites) stuck into the water bottoms around the boat.
So there are non-permanent "blinds". And the gentleman's agreement is that you put a small sign with your initials and year next to your sign so people will know if it is "fresh" or remains from last year.
 
Carl

Nice to hear the "gentleman's agreement" isn't under siege like it is here. Having hunted the areas you do I doubt many people understand just how condusive the muddy bottom of the Mobile Delta is to building blinds that require no building materials. Cane easily pushes into the mud and a boat can be pulled into cover and gunned from. Our TVA lake bottoms are a bit harder so building materials (2x4s, plywood etc.) are commonly used.

I don't have a blind on the lake and it's been years since I hunted the lake on opening day but it gripes me how people jump into blinds other people built and then claim they were there first. Let the blind builders have them for one day and then everyone can benefit from the blind the rest of the season. Some will say use a layout or a hunt from a boat instead but dadgum there are times when a floored structure that is there all the time beats hunting from a boat. Thomas and I have been keeping up with one particular area and may build a blind there. I just wonder if the headaches outweigh the good.

Eric
 
In Vermont, John Bourbon and I put out a box blind in the same basic location for years. We built a dock section, and used dock posts and clamps to secure it above the water level. Had to adjusted during the season as the lake generally rose during the fall. In Vermont public land is up to the high water mark. But to be legal, the blind must have the builders name, and town permanently affixed, and they must be removed by April I think... before the ice goes out. We always pulled it at the end of season as the ice would destroy it for sure. The wardens would check each blind and ensure it was properly labeled, and affix a tag to it to show they had been there. Initially I had issues with others using the blind, not conflicts over someone in it when I arrived as John and I are always set up well before shooting time.... but I would come to it and could tell that someone was there when we were not. I then started leaving a 5gal bucket in the blind for trash, and put my name and phone number in the blind, asking anyone wanting to hunt it to please call me first to ensure no conflict and also to know how much pressure the blind was getting. That worked well. Only a few times was I called, and if I was not using it, I gave my blessing, offered how to rig around it, and to let me know how they did....

I don't think we saw the hunting pressure you are seeing, and certainly not after the opening week. In Vermont, the deer season runs during the duck season, and Vermont is deer country!
 
In Vermont, the deer season runs during the duck season, and Vermont is deer country!

In Maine, our early season is crowded, but come November 1 and deer season, it quiets down nicely. By the time the bambi-killers are done, it's cold and nasty and only the folks who are serious are left--and they are mostly very considerate.

A companion problem to blind rudeness--the other side of the coin, maybe-- is people placing blinds in places where they screw up traditional shore hunting spots. I hunt Casco Bay in southern Maine in the late season. There is a corner with an island and two coves, and when the ducks are flying well in the late season, they fly past the island and into one or both coves very regularly. It's not uncommon to have parties set up on shore in each cove, and another party hunting from the island, all in makeshift driftwood blinds on shore. When the ducks are in well, all three parties can have good hunting at the same time. Usually one spot or another will be better due to wind and tide, but some ducks will decoy to each spot. The spots are close by my standards--within sight of each other, but maybe 400-600 yards from each other.

A few years back, someone constructed a "boat blind" out of sticks and grass right in the middle of the triangle formed by all three spots. I never saw them hunting it, but am told they were there for opening day, without decoys, and shot at a bunch of passing ducks. I don't think it was used much after that, as it's not a spot where ducks would decoy well. The problem was that with the blind there, the ducks' flight patterns changed, and none of the three spots hunted well for the rest of the season, even when the blind was empty. That one blind seemed to flare birds from the whole end of that bay, and a bunch of traditional intertidal "first come first served" spots were ruined for the season.

It was precisely these kinds of conflicts back in the early 20th century that led to the ban on blinds in Merrymeeting Bay.

Fortunately, in the rest of the state we have a lot of water and relatively few duck hunters. Most of us who like solitude avoid the spots we know are zoos on weekends, openers and the first week of the season, and can have things pretty quiet the rest of the season.
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It is unfortunate we have theses troubles.... I feel you build it ... you hunt it... But don't be greedy. I hate having the feeling like im in a rush to get to my own blind.... I hunt private land for these reasons Same goes with a tree stand. I would suffice to say if you built a blind and someone is in it. Load up your boat with your blind material then leave. Its yours take it. The jerk who was too lazy to build his own blind deserves it.
 
Initially I had issues with others using the blind, not conflicts over someone in it when I arrived as John and I are always set up well before shooting time.... but I would come to it and could tell that someone was there when we were not. I then started leaving a 5gal bucket in the blind for trash, and put my name and phone number in the blind, asking anyone wanting to hunt it to please call me first to ensure no conflict and also to know how much pressure the blind was getting. That worked well. Only a few times was I called, and if I was not using it, I gave my blessing, offered how to rig around it, and to let me know how they did....
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We always had the same experience. Broken brush told you someone else hunted it but that's about it. Usually you got a call asking if it was ok if they hunted the blind and if you said you were hunting it they would bow out 100% of the time or if you had room you'd invite them.
 
Duck hunting has always been a true Sportsman activity practiced by gentlemen. In years past I have been invited to join a hunt and extended the offer when It was only 1 or 2 guys. Those opportunities strengthen our sport and build mutual respect . When I see groups of 6 ,8 , even 10 guys going out in the marsh I can only wonder who their mentor was.
I would only hunt abandoned blinds; no name,no recent upkeep. If someone came in to use it I would like to think I would share it with them. As for walk ins there is nothing you can do but try to work with them. If It's easy to get to expect company on busy days or go deep.
Our opener is a week from Saturday ,enjoy , be safe and keep it classy.
 
Duck hunting has always been a true Sportsman activity practiced by gentlemen. In years past I have been invited to join a hunt and extended the offer when It was only 1 or 2 guys. Those opportunities strengthen our sport and build mutual respect . When I see groups of 6 ,8 , even 10 guys going out in the marsh I can only wonder who their mentor was.
I would only hunt abandoned blinds; no name,no recent upkeep. If someone came in to use it I would like to think I would share it with them. As for walk ins there is nothing you can do but try to work with them. If It's easy to get to expect company on busy days or go deep.
Our opener is a week from Saturday ,enjoy , be safe and keep it classy.
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So we have 8 in our hunting party opening weekend. Is there something wrong with this? My mentors were my Grandpa, Dad, and his best bud since grade school and his best bud's Dad.

Mark W
 
To each is own Mark,
I think you missed the spirit of my post.
I was specifically commenting on walk in hunts and conflict resolution as it pertained to first come first serve situations .

I have and do take part in 6 man hunts, but we never walk in.
 
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