Duck blinds on public property

[fishermanjoe]

My bud found a great duck blind on public property, lawn chairs, camo netting ..... the works. what is the general rule of thumb on finding someones blind on public property. use it, dont use it? what would you do? If its not yours stay out? he wants to hunt it, but i am a little on the fence about it. If we start to set up and someone else comes to the blind are we obligated to leave?

[sivart33]

sure its public?

[Dustin07]

the law is first come first serve, even if you built it. that is in the regs. so it depends on how much of a *censored* you want to be if you're in someone elses blind, LOL. Or how much of one they want to be if they think they get some kind of squatters law. 

I typically just stay away from other peoples blinds.

[boneaddict]

happens all the time, especially places like toppenish.   First come first served. 

[h2ofowlr]

If its public, it's first come first serve.  You can use it along with everyone else.  They quickly become overhunted from my experience as many guys will try to kick back in it.  Also the guys who built it will probably try to run others out.  They legally can't, but it always seems to happen that way.  Then someone will finally get pissed at them and tear it down, burn it, or cut it up.  I've scene it happen many times.

[bobcat]

I would say whoever gets there first gets to hunt it. Although I would feel kind of weird hunting out of someone else's blind.

[Dustin07]

I'll reiterate. the first come first serve thing is the law as written.

but like h20 mentioned they may try to throw you out. want to deal with a temper issue when everyone involved is armed? I don't.

and additionally he's right. every spot i've found that has perm blinds built seem to produce the least due to over hunting. fields 1/2 mile away could yield limits while what looks like a picture perfect setup is completely void of birds.

[Curly]

Think about it this way..... You can't just save the best hunting spots by setting up a blind and claiming the spot as yours simply because you put a blind there.  If someone beats you to it, then they get to hunt it.

[ducksdoom12]

if it is on public land then its first come first serve,

[Whitenuckles]

Think about it this way..... You can't just save the best hunting spots by setting up a blind and claiming the spot as yours simply because you put a blind there.  If someone beats you to it, then they get to hunt it.

Yep

[vandeman17]

I agree with the other posts. We have discussed building a decent little blind in one of the public spots that we hunt. If I were to do it, I would leave a sign or something inside saying something along the lines of, "feel free to use if we aren't using it but please respect it and clean up after yourselves" etc etc. I am not sure if this would really help much but it would make me feel better at least. My real worry is that by people seeing the blind that it would draw them to want to hunt that spot more and thus somewhat ruin the spot. I prefer to just conceal myself with the surrounding brush and such when we go to our spots.  

[h2ofowlr]

I would rather spend a dead afternoon building a nice blind away from the good spot.  That way I can hunt the good spot and I won't have to worry about the guy that's hunting the blind in the crappy spot.     A good old decoy blind.   

[Dustin07]

lol 

[Whitenuckles]

Wow, Thats a good idea

[Wile E. Hunter]

There are lots of places to hunt. Do you really need to go climb into this blind that they've taken the time, effort, and money to build? Sure, letter of the law says it's legal. Because something's legal doesn't mean it's right. I'd find my own spot. My

Wile E.

[fishermanjoe]

I talked with my bud more about it and from the looks of it its an older blind. the chairs have moss and there are no fresh shells. but he says it is still sturdy for 4 guys. He was out on this piece of water all day and did not find another sole out there.

[boneaddict]

I've made several blinds by the way and have NO PROBLEM with people using them.  UNLESS they don't police their empties.   I try to use natural materials anyway and if I sit, its a chair I packed.

[goober]

There are lots of places to hunt. Do you really need to go climb into this blind that they've taken the time, effort, and money to build? Sure, letter of the law says it's legal. Because something's legal doesn't mean it's right. I'd find my own spot. My

Wile E.

So, you basically feel that a guy should be able to secure a spot by building a blind? It's a public spot, so I'm going to hunt it. If they want to kick me out, that's fine, but it won't be there the next time they come!

[bobcat]

In my experience there are very few places to hunt ducks, and I definitely don't think someone should get exclusive rights to a spot on public land just because they built a blind there.

[h2ofowlr]

If you use natural material your fine.  If you bring in boards and tarps, etc.  It's actually illegal to construct a permanent fixture on state land.  They can come in and tear it down as well.  It's still done frequently.  When you head down to the gulf of Texas and Louisiana you see them all over on the various little islands.  If it's a good hunting spot with lots of birds I would use it as well.  I have had guys build crappy ones in spots that we hunt consistently and those usually end up getting pulled out.  If your going to spend the time to do it, do it right or don't build one at all.   

[Professor Chaos]

if you are there first and want to hunt it.  It;s yours

[D-Rock425]

My first year I hunted I built a little blind on public land now it gets over hunted and people have added way to much stuff to it.  It just stands out now and the birds don't use that area much.

[yelp]

If you use natural material your fine.  If you bring in boards and tarps, etc.  It's actually illegal to construct a permanent fixture on state land.  They can come in and tear it down as well.  It's still done frequently.  When you head down to the gulf of Texas and Louisiana you see them all over on the various little islands.  If it's a good hunting spot with lots of birds I would use it as well.  I have had guys build crappy ones in spots that we hunt consistently and those usually end up getting pulled out.  If your going to spend the time to do it, do it right or don't build one at all.   

correct.

As far as WDFW owned and managed lands...


WAC 232-13-120
Erecting and using camps, blinds, and tree stand structures on department lands.

  (1)(a) It is unlawful to dig pits for the purpose of hunting waterfowl, or to cut trees or attach artificial fasteners (such as wire, staples or nails) to trees for the construction of camps, blinds and tree stands on department lands.

     (b) All nonnatural materials used in the construction of blinds or tree stands must be removed from department lands at the end of the hunting season.

     (2) All nondepartment owned blinds shall be available to the public on a "first-come-first-served" basis.

     (3) Structures established as part of a camp must be removed from department lands by camp occupants at the end of the trip.

[Special T]

I knew a guide that built  wire blinds with a nice 2x8 seat  on the way to his spot.... That way no one would walk farther to get to where the actions was.... He was the only Part time Tenured Professor at CWU

[banannaclip]

pretty soon new regulations will state that you cannot have  camp,blind in one spot for more than 14 days ,you can move it once and leave for 14 more days then you have to pull it or game department will

[ctwiggs1]

Couldn't they get you for littering if they had a stick up their you-know-what?? 

I agree with H2O... you really need to make sure it's as natural as possible if you're going to be building blinds on state lands.

Curtis

[Stickerbush]

what if they build a blind in a spot you have always used? It happened to me last year, I show up one morning and there is a nice blind set up the obviously took some time to build. BTW I have never ran into another hunter there since then, I dont have a problem using it

[teal101]

We always just use the surrounding cover.  We've built a few rock blinds but never hunt those areas anymore.  All the yahoos do now though and it works great for us

[SnowDog]

I knew a guide that built  wire blinds with a nice 2x8 seat  on the way to his spot.... That way no one would walk farther to get to where the actions was.... He was the only Part time Tenured Professor at CWU

This is a great idea. I thought about doing it this year at a place I like to hunt.