public hunting is just that "PUBLIC HUNTING", if you don't want anyone in your blind, "get there first every morning" just like fishing, I have "honey holes" invariably, when I get in my spot and start catching fish, guess what here comes the inter lopers, some stay respectful distance away some don't, its like road rage, I am not going to get in a hassle with some dirt bag

I think its a generational issue and depends if you were self taught or learned from others.

I understand the argument that you shouldn't be able to reserve a spot. When I was in high school we used to build blinds with 4-5 boat loads of brush. Was nearly impossible to build a temporary blind and take it down after every hunt. You couldn't cut brush on the WMA and everything off of the WMA was private land.

So we had to cut brush at home before we went out. Carrying tents, ice chests, grills, gear, etc. every weekend wasn't enough room for brush. Everybody hunting their own blind and there was never any problems. Now after daylight, every blind was fair game. But to jump in a blind someone else built at 4:00 AM to beat them to it is just plain dirty.

I hunted the Texas coast for the first time this weekend. There were blinds everywhere, but there were more places holding birds with no blind visible, than places holding birds near a blind.

When the birds aren't flying in the area where I build my blind, I've never had a hard time finding birds in an area where there is no blind. Now I understand some areas are small and it would be impossible for everyone to build a blind, but the coast isn't like that.

My dad's generation would never even think about hunting another man's blind, it is about respecting their work and their effort. That's how I was taught, so that is how I will continue to hunt. I will respect your hard work and not hunt in your blind, and if you are in my blind, I will respect your legal right to hunt it and move on.

If everybody took the time to brush their own blind ahead of time, you wouldn't have to get out there at 3:00 to 4:00 to make sure you can find a place to hunt.

I love how they do it in Oklahoma. You are drawn for a blind permit and you are entitled to build 1 permanent blind. Many of the lakes have drawings on the same day so its hard to get multiple permits on multiple lakes. You build your 1 blind, display your permit number somewhere in the blind, and you have first priority until 9:00 AM. Any unoccupied blind after 9:00 AM is fair game. You can hunt in any blind prior to 9:00 AM, but if owner arrives you must leave if asked. At the end of the year, you must remove the blind. Its a win-win for everybody.

I also agree that when possible, you are better off just sitting in the grass than sitting in those box blinds, but sometimes there isn't enough vegetation to hide in.

Tx cat man you reference 20 years of hunting. Some of us had that and a whole lot more. I reckon I have built or had a hand in building at least 100 blinds in my years. I have had materials stolen, blinds torn up, walls kicked out, blinds burned to the water and anything else you can imagine done to them. The last time I went to the bay to scout out a spot, I was unable to find one point without a blind on it. Not one. I used to think the way you think about the ethics of hunting someone elses blind. Not no more!! The land these blinds are built upon belongs to you, me and everyone in the state. The minute you leave that blind it becomes property of the state and belongs to you, me and everyone else. If you are there when I get there, great! If I am there when you get there, then move along. If you ask nicely maybe I would let you hunt your blind with us

Well said.

Yes. Well said. I have scouted or hunted other areas where there is not a decent huntable location that is not already covered by a blind. Some even where blinds are not allowed to be left and no one enforces it. Your only choice is either to hunt in or near the blind or not hunt that waterbody.

Related trivia. Caddo which outside the WMA still has owned permanent blinds on public water. And well covered by those blinds too. I was unable to find a huntable location to access by kayak not near or within sight of on of those blinds. Is no more. They are removing them and no longer allowed after next year. I predict at some point in the future the general land office will do same for the coast.

Wish they would PULL(not cut) everyone of them after season.

Good haul!

Sorry bud, but you build a blind on public land and you take the chances that somebody else may hunt it, that a storm may destroy it or any other scenario out there. It's part of public hunting and doesn't have anything to do with respect or disrespect.

If you hunt somebody else's blind, clean up after you leave like a good person should anyway. Outside of that - it's a free for all.

You have just a horrible, horrible attitude. Glad you don't build blinds.

Sitting next to a blind, or even several yards off, is worse than sitting int he damned blind to begin with - because now you have a couple of different people competing for, and generally screwing up, the same hunting spot.

It's really simple - blinds are first come, first served. More than once we got to our blind (we were late) and somebody else was there. No biggie - we asked them to take care of it and have a good hunt. Never had an issue, and every now and then it's a good reminder that you cant' hit snooze too many times int he morning or you lose out.

In those cases, we moved on to an empty blind - because even though I build the pit blind, I didn't hunt it 100% of every day of the season. I wasn't lucky enough to have that much opportunity. So not every blind is occupied every day of the year.

The biggest problem with duck hunters is the lack of respect for hunting ethics - not whether or not you are a d-bag for getting to a spot earlier than me. I can tolerate somebody getting to "my" blind earlier than me, so long as they don't tear it up. What I can't tolerate is some jackwagon setting up 15 or even 50 yards from my blind and subseqently making a horrible hunt for both of us.

Get there first - that's step 1. Give plenty of leeway between yourself and the next group of hunters. Or work out a plan to maximize the hunting potential between the two groups. That's step 2. Enjoy the hunt and leave the place cleaner than you found it. That's step 3.

All are easy steps to follow. You should try it sometime instead of having the craptastic outlook you do.

So one guy is adamant that he is right and the rest of you are goobers. If you ever find yourself in that predicament the first thing you should do is re-evaluate your position.

Materials on public land are public property for anyone to use. It isn't "yours" to have for yourself. You just did everyone a favor, that's all. End of story.

I can think of one really great reason why blinds should not be built on public land and then claimed by such person/party by the respect bill of sale..........if such person or party does not hunt the blind in question on a particular day.....which would happen all the time.....why does the spot the blind is built in deserve NOT to be hunted by another person/party?

Make no bones about it, blinds built on public land are built to claim the spot more so than just because its a cozy way of hunting the spot. And thats just WRONG and disrespectful to others.

If guys wanna lay claim to a spot & think they can do it by building a blind there, they got another thing coming. If you want a spot to yourself & don't wanna worry about other people hunting it, you're gonna have to buy your own land. I'll be darned if you think the public property that I help pay for is any more yours than it is mine, just because you spent $100 on lumber & a day to build it. I work 100+ hours a week & spend about $50k/year in taxes to help pay for that land that you access. I'll still be respectful about it because I still think that the guy that built it has first dibs. That's still up for debate though. Like I said earlier, if you show up 30 mins before LST & ask me to move my spread, I'm gonna politely tell ya to get bent.

We need Rhett Adkins to write a sequel to "Duck Blind". WE can help him write the lyrics right not. Yall help me finish the new version of Duck blind.

Here comes the blind builder, hit the spotlighter
Shut up the Blind builder, he is nothing but a squawker
I'll say when, hold on yall wait
Get em boys, boom get bent
In the public duck blind, having us a good time
In the duck blind, got here first so now its mine