I'm fairly new to hunting (although not new to shooting) and this was my first year to apply for a drawn hunt (really the first year to know about it too). I tended to focus on applying for locations that had "assigned blinds" as opposed to compartments, as I figured it might be safer to hunt via blind as opposed to setting up in a compartment with possibly another person.

I'd like to get some thoughts on safety when looking at compartment vs blind on public land and also I'd like to know what (if anything) people bring with them when they hunt a compartment (portable blinds, etc). Does hunting a compartment change your rifle selection, particularly when the terrain is dense vs open (short range lever action vs longer range bolt)?

The big difference between the two, assigned blind means just that.

The hunt staff will take you to the assigned blind, put you in it and you will have a basic marked off perimeter around that blind that you can shoot in or move around in if tracking or retrieving a wounded/downed animal.

With a compartment, depending on the size of your group, the game being hunted, and the size of the WMA, can be from a few acres to several hundred to over a thousand actres in size.

Normally groups will not be mixed.

One group is assighened one compartment, whether the group is one person or 4 people.

The only time I have seen them mix groups is in cases where only 1 or 2 people from a couple of different groups were all that showed up for the hunt, and if it was agreeable to all parties concerned.

Some of the WMA's have blinds/tripods already in place, most don't.

From my experience the ones that are usually hunted by assignened compartment don't have blinds/tripods, or if they do, their maybe only one or two in the whole compartment.

If you have a tripod or pop up blind it is a good idea to take it.

One of the best pieces of advice I can give on the subject, is to call the number listed for the hunt you were drawn for and discuss the issues you think of with the personnel on the area.

They are most helpful in getting the folks that willbe hunting with them informed so that they stand a great chance of killing the game to be hunted. JMO.

crazyhorse, thanks for the info. I'm taking two sons on a drawn compartment hunt next month and had many of the same questions.

Like I said, call the office of the area you were drawn for and talk to one of the biologists and they will usually be most helpful.

Some folks claim to have had problems, I never have, but for the most part the information will be general about the entire hunt area.

After you draw for your compartment, get with your guide and ask that person questions pertaining to the compartment you will be in.

They normally are familiar with the individual compartments well enough to give you some starting points for your hunt.

Best of Luck to you and your boys.