Another duck hunting related thread?

[bassadict69]

I have a buddy of mine that is wanting to start duck hunting and he was asking me about putting a blind on one of our lakes. How does this work? Pick a spot and build it? Does this make it "your spot"? or is it like on WMA's and such where it is first come first served.

I ask because he asked me and I had no idea what the answer is...

[BassBUFF]

Is it going to be a floating blind or one built in trees?

[Railroader]

I work with a guy and i remember him saying that he had to register his blind? its on cross lake

[Shorthaired]

All public water in Louisiana is first come first serve by law. You can even hunt out of someone else blind and over their decoys if they are dumb enough to leave them out. (Just don't burn the blind or take the decoys.) If the guys that built them are dumb enough to announce to the world where the birds are then take advantage of it.

Now in reality the people that build blinds think they own the lake around their blinds. They will make all kinds of threats and raise hell typically. I've been called "a bad sportsman" by setting 300 hundred yards from an empty blind.

I would tell your buddy to build a boat blind and get out there and work harder than the lazy locals in scouting and finding locations. Or build a blind, get guns pointed at you, and be ready for it to get burned occasionally.

[Shorthaired]

It is illegal to remove moss from trees and to nail or screw into trees on public water. Hopefully we can get some legislation passed soon to better enforce.

[Shorthaired]

Sorry. Railroader is right. Cross owned by city of Shreveport and has a little different rules. There are some rules for some public waterways but generally nothing too contrary to what I posted above. State and fed WMA's are very different so make sure you look up specific rules for those places.

[thebassking]

Shorthaired, i agree with some of what you say in the fact that most duck hunters think they own a "spot", or entire lake for that matter.that being said i am a duck hunter and have put alot of time, money, and hardwork into my blind and decoys. If someone wants to setup and hunt close to me when i am not there then go ahead. why would anyone want to set up and hunt right on top of someone else anyway? that is asking for problems. That would be just like jumping 20 yards in front of someone fishing down a bank line. is it legal yes.is it wrong yes. we as sportsmen need to have respect for others and their time on the water. the rule of thumb i try to live by is duck season is 60 days a year and if i am fishing i will not crowd a blind early in the morning if someone is hunting it. If i am duck hunting and someone spent their time and money to build a blind then give them their space. they obviously spent the time and money to find a good spot a build a blind. there are too many places to hunt for us to be unsportsman like and hunt someones blind because we are to lazy to build our own.

[Shorthaired]

I would agree with you - except you don't own that spot you placed the blind. You want to hunt it, get there before anyone else. That's how fishing works as well.
I don't bemoan anyone that builds a blind - I may do it someday. But too many times, I've scouted and seen the birds really want in one hole and there is a blind there already. I move 300 yards away and the same guy put up a dummy blind to keep people from crowding him. I look to find another spot and there are multiple blinds there. Only true, sporting method is for everyone to acknowledge they don't own the lake or river, and have backup plans if someone is in your favorite spot.
I'm not looking to start the same fight that is discussed on other boards - just letting his friend know that he can expect blind owners to be pretty opinionated and normally not very accommodating.

[Zook The Spook]

Shorthair,

"new duck hunter".....problem with duck hunting today!

[KHill3611]

I agree with some of the things that have been stated. But the rule of thumb for most duck hunters is 250yd is space enough, we really dont like someone that close. There are people that dont respect others & hunt there blinds, thats why I lock mine. Blinds on Cross Lake & Black Bayou (campti} have to be permitted. I haven't hunt cross but on black lake you a 350yd space requirement to permit a blind.But if your friend time takes the to scout he can find a hole of his own.

[bassadict69]

Awesome info! I had no idea about the permits...seems like that is a decent way to keep things in check!

As far as somewhere like the river, I imagine first come first served causes some problems...especially when someone finds someone hunting a blind they built!

As for the new duck hunter comment...everyone is new at one time or another! At least this guy is asking rather than jumping out into some blind he finds and hunting. He does have a boat blind and has been out a couple of times but it has not went so well as far as finding the birds.

He is wanting me to go with him for the second split...will be the blind leading the blind! 

[Cass Caldwell]

So I assume you were never new at Duck hunting?  Came out of momma with a duck call in your mouth did ya?

Shorthair,

"new duck hunter".....problem with duck hunting today!

[DBrooke]

So I assume you were never new at Duck hunting?  Came out of momma with a duck call in your mouth did ya?

Didn't we all?

[LILPONDER]

Shorthaired- you must not know much about public hunting.  All blinds leave their decoys out unless you hunt the woods.  I have 200 decoys at my open water blind on bistineau that stay out so I must be an idiot.  And if anyone hunts my blind that's fine but move over when I show up.  My blind is anchored to registered poles driven in the lake.

[DBrooke]

Shorthaired- you must not know much about public hunting.  All blinds leave their decoys out unless you hunt the woods.  I have 200 decoys at my open water blind on bistineau that stay out so I must be an idiot.  And if anyone hunts my blind that's fine but move over when I show up.  My blind is anchored to registered poles driven in the lake.

Didn't yours just get stolen?

[LILPONDER]

Yes, but are you gonna throw out andpick up 200 decoys with 14 ft string and 3lb weight everyday?  It's an honor code among real hunters to not mess with others stuff that's what gives hunters a bad name.

[DBrooke]

I was just stating a fact is all. But I hunt roughly 50 days of the 60 day season here, there have been days we have put out 150 decoys and pulled them the same day (and IL strip mines go up to 30' deep easily in places), all depends where you are. As far as honor code among "real" hunters, it has nothing to do with are they real or not, it has to do with no matter where you are or what you do, there are thieves. The guys who stole my buddies outboard weren't hunters or fishermen, they were simply thieves. Give someone an opportunity to steal things on public water will bring a thief out.

[Shorthaired]

I don't own the spots I hunt when I hunt public land.  (And yes, I almost exclusively hunt public waters out of a boat blind, so don't think I don't know how all this stuff works.)  So I don't leave anything out there - including decoys.  Doesn't matter if I am using 2 dozen or 150 decoys.  Doesn't matter if I am going back for an evening hunt or the next morning. This has nothing to do with honor code or anything like that.  It has to do with the fact that leaving stuff on a public waterway interferes with other's enjoyment of that public waterway.  If someone decides to hunt that spot the next morning you are going to claim that he is a bad person because he is hunting over your decoys.  By constructing blinds and insisting others leave the area if you show up (I would never hunt out of another person's blind), leaving decoys out, and insisting others move blinds if they are close to yours, how are you not treating public waters like it is your own private lease.  You want all the advantages of a private lease at the public's expense.  Everywhere else, leaving anything on public waterways is called littering. 

I can't tell you the number of times over the last 12 years that I have scouted, found a place to hunt, hunted it 10-15 times, and then show up one morning to find someone has constructed a blind and left out decoys.  Now why do they have more of a "right" to hunt that spot than me?  Because they spent money constructing a blind?  I'm only one person - I only need one blind - but I hunt several lakes.  Do I really have to build 5 blinds per lake in order to not be run off by a redneck with a gun?

I'm not trying to convince anyone of my position because I know those who put blinds and decoys out believe in their positions just as much as I do.  I was just answering the original poster's question about being new to Louisiana duck hunting.

Lilponder, I have never hunted Bisteneau.  What do you mean, "registered poles?"  Do you only have one blind out there?  Seeing many mallards?  We have seen a ton of gadwalls but slim mallards on every hunt I've been on this year.

Zook, I try to take 15 people hunting every year who have never been before or who rarely go.  To me its something about getting out and hunting and fishing that makes us real men.  Very few of those people actually become lifelong duck hunters so I don't mind taking new people out.  Granted as the number of duck hunters increase, the problems associated with overcrowding will also increase.  Not real sure of the solution but hopefully that will come after I'm finished being so mad at the ducks.

[LILPONDER]

To drive a pole in the lake you have to apply for a permit with the Army Corps of Engineers.  It took me two years to get mine.  We hunt floating tank blinds on the south end of Bistineau.  They are all in 15+ feet of water.  They stay out all year.  Hunting the woods is totally different.  You can scout out a spot and set up there.  Open water you don't really scout.  I hunted fro years til i found the right spot to anchor my tank.  If you try and scout and set up in open water you are asking for trouble( not from other hunters, but from mother nature).  3-5 Ft waves are common out there.  Ive seen guys try to set up a boat blind 200 yards from me and it didn't bother me.  I knew their setup wouldn't interfere with mine.  About an hour after daylight a northern front hit and i had to stop hunting and go get them out of the tree they were hung on because of all the waves.  When i hunt the woods i don't leave anything out.  As for the guy from Illinois(shorthaired), If you really go around hunting other peoples stuff then you aren't a real sportsman, you're a mooch.  If someone hunts my blind that's fine when i'm not there.  But put everything back how you found it and don't break anything.  I've never had a problem out of anyone.  Maybe you just need to stay in Illinois with all the criminals and sport killers like Jeff Foiles and Foiles Migrators.

And the answer to the Mallard question- i wouldn't know what a mallard looked like this year

[LILPONDER]

Sorry shorthaired didn't mean you were from Illinois. 

[DBrooke]

Ummmmm I'm the "guy from Illinois", Shorthaired is from LA.

Oh yeah and What the hell does being from IL have to do with any of this?

BTW there's only about 25K mallards up 20 miles North of me

[Zook The Spook]

That means dont worry about Louisiana's hunting issues and your opinions dont matter!.....AS for shorthair, your telling me that you have more of a right to hunt a spot then someone who has hunted a spot on a lake for 50+ years 50 days a season that has put in countsless man hours building blinds, improving habitat, and clearing the hole (salvania,ect)  just because you showed up 15 mins before them youve lost your mind!

[DBrooke]

Glad to see that some duck hunters in LA are just as arrogant as the rest of the U.S. As far as opinions, perhaps your opinion doesn't matter either? Maybe if you can't handle people's opinions on the internet you should just stick to reading magazines.

[Shorthaired]

AS for shorthair, your telling me that you have more of a right to hunt a spot then someone who has hunted a spot on a lake for 50+ years 50 days a season that has put in countsless man hours building blinds, improving habitat, and clearing the hole (salvania,ect)  just because you showed up 15 mins before them youve lost your mind!

Not more of a right - an equal right.  Its a public lake.  Doing hard work or spending money doesn't convert a public lake to a private lease.  Just because I put out a bunch of structure doesn't mean I can run a bass fisherman off my crappie hole does it?  Just because my great granddaddy, granddaddy, dad, uncle, etc fished a hole every day since the lake was created doesn't mean they have the right to tell another fisherman not to fish there.  It is exactly the same rule for duck hunting.  Doesn't mean you shouldn't get out there and do the work if that's what you want to do, just realize you never will be able to convert it to the private oasis that most permanent blind hunters think they are entitled to.

Why don't we tone it down a little bit guys.  This board isn't duckhuntingchat.com where I don't think blood pressure ever goes down.

[sillybass]

That means dont worry about Louisiana's hunting issues and your opinions dont matter!.....AS for shorthair, your telling me that you have more of a right to hunt a spot then someone who has hunted a spot on a lake for 50+ years 50 days a season that has put in countsless man hours building blinds, improving habitat, and clearing the hole (salvania,ect)  just because you showed up 15 mins before them youve lost your mind!

Do you ever have anything nice to say ? Look at your 62 posts and tell me where you have helped or have anything positive to say.