Duck Blinds

Andy Dostal

Andy Dostal

Active member
There has never been a lot of discuccion on this forum about permanent duck blinds, and I am sure that in certain areas of the country, they are more popular than others. But I have a question for ya, just to see what plays out. In the State of Wisconsin, any navigable water is open to public use. Also, permanent blinds are legal when placed within 10 days prior and post season. Any permanent blind is open to the public once in place, on a first come first serve basis. So my question is this, would you go in another hunting parties blind?
 
Andy,

To first answer your question, No I would not use another persons blind. I base this decision on the fact that I prefer to hunt from my boat just as I have it set up. Thats why I have it set up the way I do.


Now, to add to the discussion. Some public areas in Iowa it is OK to build a [font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]permanent[/font] blind other ares it's not ok. I don't agree with the permanent blind concept when erected on public water/land. I have the same feelings toward tree stands being left in the tree the entire hunting season ( again were talking public land). Even tho said blind/ treestand is open for anyone to legally use, once it's there.

In the first place, I don't like the idea that some one "lays claim" to a given spot for the entire season. I equate this to going in to your favorite park and putting your table cloth on a picnic table for the entire summer. Just doesn't seem right does it? I know I can use it first come first served but I'm not out there to provoke a conflict.

I also just don't like seeing them in public areas and I hunt. I can't imagine how non-hunters may view them.


I know I just stuck my neck out there but thats how I feel.
 
I will be the first to jump in on this, as I HATE permanent blinds. Is seems to me, a lot people that put them up do two things: 1) Only on the first couple weekends of the season and two, are always the last ones out in the morning, generally get there just before shooting. I am sure some of you guys don't do this, but it seems like most do around here. I think their day has past and a person shouldn't be allowed to leave anything up on public ground over night.

Now that I have vented, no I won't use another guy's blind, however, if I beat you out and like that spot, I will setup right next or in front of your blind. Yes, I have had some interesting "discussions" in the morning and have had them try to "push" me out of the way, but I carry a cell phone, it's amazing how people change their attitudes when they see you start dialing.

Andrew
 
Andy, JUST YOURS HAHAHAH. Hows your summer going? Stopped by your place a while back but no one home. Missed you at Lacrosse, good times were had by all. Got into some house projects my self but the big change in my outfit is the camper is set to go on the back of my Silverado for N.D. this year. Then I can just sit out the freezing nights and turn up the furnace. New trailer in the works too. I'll post some pics soon. How's you fiberglass repair coming along? More later.
 
Andrew,

"[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica] I will be the first to jump in on this," Nope, I beat you to it buddy! It's my blind today buster so move on. BWAAAAAAAAA
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Andy,

In the pool I hunt we hunt permanent blinds sites managed by the DNR. We have a drawing every two years. I have been known to hunt someone's blind but I don't intentionally go out in the morning and lay claim. When I hunt another blind it's typically in the same area I hunt and I know who is hunting in that area as well as their hunting habits. It's always an afternoon hunt. Then if the owner shows up I will leave unless I'm invited to stay. The one thing I'm very cautious about is bothering anything in someones blind or leaving anything I behind including shell casings. Shoot I've had people leave their trash in my blinds. I even came in one morning to find my decoys all re-arranged. I was just glad they were still there. We can leave our decoys out all season but the last few years a number of guys have had all their decoys stolen so I pickup everyday now.

Ed L.
 
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Thanks for the replies, but I need to revamp my question. I was looking for comments just on whether or not you would use the blind or not. I don't even want to go there on the pro blind/anti blind topic. Personnally I don't care if they outlaw permanent blinds, as I am pretty set up to be portable also. From my personal perspective, if you know ducks are working in a certain location and the wind is right for a "public" blind, and the "BUILDER" is not there when you pull up, would you use that "public blind"? I say hell yeah, even though it causes a lot of controversey on the water, a blind does not establish ownership. Also, if my duck hunting mind tells me to hunt in X spot, that where I am going. It is lawful, and also somebody should stand up to the crowd who thinks that if they build a 2X4 shack on the water in a day or two, that they now OWN that spot. Public land is certainly not becoming more prevalent, and it seems to me that enforcement is also being stretched as thin as wire. I used to set in my boat, within 50 yds of the blind, esp. if the wind would be better that way. But it never failed, the BUILDER would come out and set up shop in casa de la duck anyway! You can probably tell I am pretty worked up over this issue. I guess the reason why is this thread where it seems like I am in the minority. http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB4&Number=1090492&page=5&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=all
 
Andy, The problem seems to be that the law allows this squatting to take place. I absolutly agree that it is a bad law and I don't understand why the Wisc DNR who seems to be smarter at least than the Minn would allow this. You remember when your buddy gave me a hard time about setting up "too close" to him. I haven't been back since so he won. Sucks doesn't it?
 
YOU should go back and as often as you like. He wasn't really pi##ed anyway just complaining, but its public water! The law must be first come first serve since the water is open to the public for recreation. Or then no duck blinds period. Either those who build them better get used to the fact that a blind does not give you any rights or a wake up whenever pass, or then the blinds themselves need to be outlawed. Heres where my comment about enforcement comes in. There has never been an active role enforcing blinds or the laws that pertain to them, however harassment charges are taken very seriously. Either the DNR should outlaw blinds and enforce it hard for one or two years, or there will be harassment claims from now to eternity. Thats my take on it anyway.
 
Andy,
I would, and I have, used other people's blinds--and up in that area near Duluth that you're probably talking about. One morning a few years back my brother and I pulled up to a point that we had hunted for years only to find that somebody had built a blind there. We set out our decoys, and sat down in the blind, still about a half hour before shooting time. About 10 minutes after shooting time a guy with two kids in his boat pulls up and starts yelling about us being in his blind and how if we were planning to hunt in it we should have called him the night before and let him know. (His name and phone number were posted on the blind.) First of all, the night before we didn't know where we were going to hunt. It all depends on wind direction and who is already out in that area setting up in the dark. Second, he seemed to think that since he had built a blind on that point, from now on everyone who hunted there would have to call and get his permission first. I had always liked that spot much more without the blind there, but since it was built you almost had to hunt from it or you would have a big obstruction on your left side. So there, I guess I feel the same as you do about this issue. By the way, the only ones I felt sorry for in that case were the poor kids who had to learn about duck hunting from such a hapless father.
Rick
 
A blind is on public land and your asking if I would hunt it if it was empty - heck yeah i would hunt it. what's the difference between this and some landowner coming out a tellin gyou can't hunt near his place even though you are the rquired distancer away and you are hunting on public waters.

I'll turn the question around on you andy. If you didn't hunt the blind built on public water but hunted from your boat right next to the blind, and let's say the blind builder shows up to hunt out of "his" blind. Do you think the blind builder would move on to another spot?

Like others have mentioned, cell phones do wonders to solve issues such as this one and I have had to pull the cell phone out more than once.

Mark W
 
I hate them as well...at least on public water. I've seen them ruin entire bays because of their obtrusiveness to migrant birds. Several times in my waterfowl career I have had guys come in and build on my preferred boat blind spots-in an effort to steal it apparently. God knows they couldn't get up early enough to beat me.

The only time I've ever hunted them is if I know they will be unoccupied ie the guy only hunts weekends or I've actually contacted them to make arrangements and of course offered something like a new propane tank or some shells for use. Or, to drive some a-hole out of the area by hunting his blind...getting there early and doing the work. In my experience, the majority of the time they do show up late and often times are clueless-the exception being leased water, private water or long time waterfowl venues where the blinds are pratically hallowed ground. I even had a guy start shooting clays from his blind one time while I was working migrant geese which he had no idea were streaming through because he only watched the air in front of his blind.

My all time favorite waterfowl spot(see avatar photo)was ruined by a guy that built freakin' two story mansion blind right in the hole. Migrants would avoid it like the plague that it was. Worse, he'd leave his decoys out legally and his spread was scattershot with no plan whatsoever. We tried to be proactive but he was a jerk. So, we did what any farm kid would do and put a giant reflective orange triangle sign off a grain wagon on the roof of the blind which they apparently didn't climb up to see very often. Birds would avoid him like the plague...even stupid birds. He left after a year and the blind was burned to the waterline by the DNR.

I'd be proactive about it and if the guy isn't cooperating then ask him-would he rather have a cooperative guy hunting the blind or some stranger that leaves candy bar wrappers and pop bottles all over the place.
 
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I'll tell you just what I think...

Permanent blinds are more and more attractive every year. I'll admit it, I'm not a Gorilla any more, but I'm a paid up Life Member of the SilverBack Club, and its nice to sit on a camp chair or on a bench out of the Pouring Rain with some wind brake around you.

I put one out on public water. It is open to whoever wants to use it. A note is painted on a inside wall asking the users to respect the blind, clean up after them self and put their trash in the bag, and have fun. The law is clear that it is a open to entry deal and it dosn't bother me one damn bit that someone else could use what we have built.

My crew hunts the blind for most of the season, Sept. 1 till its froze so solid I can't break the ice with the boat. Since we hunt most mornings, its open and used by others in the afternoon. Two years in a row after the season, when the ice racers and snowmobile crowd started using the lake they burned the blinds to the ground. Last years blind was made on skids, so after the ice was thick enough to walk on @ Nov.1, we broke off the supports and shoved it off the ice and into the bed of a truck. It's going back out again this year, and hopefully a lot more after that.

Would I use someone elses blind? Yes but I'd be polite about it, respect their work and if the builders showed up a little late I'd see if we could hunt the morning out together, instead of just shoving "my rights" in their faces. Up hear at least we still have enough room for everyone, IF everyone gives just a little, everybody can do their own thing.
 
You beat me by seconds Dave, just for that, I am going to go take that other pie out of the freezer and have it for dinner.

And Jay, love the farm boy justice.

Andrew
 
Andrew I 'd really like a piece of that pie. If you bring to my blind you can hunt all day. hee hee

The blind I hunt out of has been there for thirty years. It is on the shore. We try to make it so it doesn't look like a blind. Often people go by, see the decoys and are looking for us, until we stand up and they see our face. There have been some amusing times. Neophytes sneaking up on our decoys.

I hunt others blinds at times. Usually the blinds that are hunted only the first weekend or two and happen to be in a good spot.

My currant hunting partner built a blind too close to mine. I went over to talk to him and he didn't realize mine was there. I told him his was in a good location but not as good as mine and explained why. I don't think he believed me at the time. I invited him to hunt in mine and he could use it any time he wanted to just that I would be hunting it too. He gets up earlier than I do and usually has most of the decoys out before I get there.

God I'm glad I read Tom Sawyer when I was a kid. :) )
 
Thanks for vindicating me guys. It seems like most everybody here feels the same way I do. I don't know how many of you clicked that link I attached, but it seems like most people who replied to that feel like if you build it, others should stay out! I had one incident last year, and it was all due to a misunderstanding, but next time it happens I will for sure have the cell phone out ready to hold in the 9 button!
 
Andy:
Having experienced the duck blind situation from all sides I've bitten my tongue and backed off now that I have a few years on this body. I do have a question for you Mississippi hunters---is it legal to sleep over nite in a blind on the Mississippi during hunting season?
wis boz
 
Down here, we don't see many permanent blinds built. It's not illegal but you have to be a riparian owner to build structure over state waters and you need permits, etc.... In any case, most guys don't mess with it. They just build temporary blinds out of cane. Some of them are pretty substantial with a lot of cane and actually last all season. I have a couple of spots I put just enough cane to hold my boat blind in place. If the spot turns out to be really good, I'll pull the cane up before I leave to keep someone from using it.

We have an opening day gentlemens agreement where you don't hunt someone elses cane blind opening day. After that, it is understood that public waters are first come first serve.
 
Andy

Where I hunt this has been a real sensitive topic in recent years. With the influx of non-residents and increased crowding and pressure the blind arrangement that worked for years on our local lake is quickly eroding. There was a time when he who built it hunted it opening day but after that is was first come first serve. In my mind that offerered the best arrangement between builder and non-builder. Since the blinds are on pulblic land (at least the ones I'm referring to in this reply) nobody actually has claim to any piece of the river on any day of the year. But by agreeing to this the fella that puts his money and time in is allowed the luxury of hunting the blind on the opener. Beyond that everybody has access as long as they are there first which seems like a good deal to me since non-builders benefit from someone else's money and labor the rest of the season. All they have to do is concede one day. I'm certainly willing to do that for the benefit over the course of the season. Unfortunately, in my mind, less and less people are willing to make that concession. As a result we are seeing new and restored blinds torn down days before the season opener in acts of retaliation or prevention.

I personally see this as shortsighted. Many of the blinds I'm referring to are open water or far enough off the bank that later season shore wary ducks can still be sucessfully hunted. However, once the blind is torn down the millfoil choked slough that it once sat in serves as a feeding ground that has no cover making it much harder, if not impossible, on the hunter. Once a blind is torn down it's one less available spot forcing more to the shore.

I hate the fact that on our lake it has boiled to the point people are destroying others efforts. But it's the natural course of degradation when you cram more and more people in the same area.
 
I don't know about the legality of sleeping over night in a blind on the Mississippi but I can tell you it happens all the time. I remember a few eyars back where there was this one group who did this all the time except they would make a big party out of it. They were so drunk by the time opener rolled around (it was always noon back then) that they couldn't even see much less shoot a gun. No one hunted near them. They got turned in one year and it was sure a funny scene when they pulled up onto the landing to be jumped by local and federal agents. The drunk who got out of the boat to land it was immediately left behind by his hunting "buddies" who gunned the boat back down the channel. The drunk immediately passed out on the bank right o the landing. Was he, and his buddies ever in trouble. Haven't seen them since.

Mark W
 
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