Thoughts on shared blinds?

[tycoon]

I have always had my own blind on every lease I have ever been on. After reviewing the rules of a new lease that I am checking in to, I noticed that one of the stipulations was that no blinds were to be locked and that they were community property. I have a nice blind that I built my self, it's roomy, insulated, and I have always been able to leave my heater, binoculars, etc., and not have to pack all this stuff with me every time I go to the blind. I'm sure some of you are in a situation like this, how do you'll work it out? I guess it would be fine as long as everyone had comparable equipment such as feeders, blinds, etc. Just asking for some ideas....

[W-L-F]

We have 35 blinds & feeders on our lease they all are community property. We have a map of the place with all blinds marked; all you do is tag out for what blind you are hunting. We have never had a problem . Also you get to hunt different blinds instead of the same blind all season

[Traildust]

Take the chair out, remove the ladder.....I am not with the whole community blind system, I like to hunt scent free, noise free and undetected...Not so sure the other folks would do the same.....

Switch to a pop-up or small tripod you can take back to camp.....

[deerplanter]

I ran a lease like this before, and it worked fine but we had a good bunch that worked togather. The first weekend we would draw for stands and then after that we would work it out. We split all costs down the middle so everyone paid the same. There was only three of us that bow hunted and we all had the hunting habits so we had our own bow stands and nobody else could use them. This type of lease takes a bunch of good people on the lease and most of us worked together and did other things togather so it worked for us, but it wouldn't work on the lease I have now.

[trailboss]

Lots of different takes on this. I've seen people that are almost **** about scent control and don't even want anyone going near their stands. Then I've been on places that use the community blind thing and places that are a combination of both.

I can tell you that having run a day hunt operation for over 10 years now, that the community blind thing can work very well. We have dozens of hunters using each blind every year and scent control among these hunters ranges from extreme caution to reeking of cigarettes or cologne!

We kill plenty of big deer every year from each of our stands that are hunted by a number of hunters. I think the secret is to try and place hunters in stands that are favorable for the wind that day and try not to hunt the stands too often. Let them rest a few days between hunts. That's why we have about 20 stands and only book 5 hunters at a time.

As for leaving your gear in your own stand - that might be a problem with a community stand set up.

Good luck working it out.

Trailboss

[DrenalinJunkie]

If those are the rules of the lease then they are the rules of the lease. If you do not or can not agree with those rules look into another lease. Our lease is also set up on the "Share" system. and we have not had any problems. We all hunt our own stands opening weekend then you pretty much pick and choose where you go after that. Like W-L-F said, we have a map and you just put a pin where you are that way no one else bumps you while you are on stand. The big thing on this type of lease is that you are with a group you can trust. I have left binos, range finder, etc. in the stand and had no worries.

[bobo]

I just signed a lease yesterday (thank the lord) and it has 10-15 community stands on it that get fed corn year round.

If we choose to put up additional stands. "our honey hole" we can and that stand nobody can hunt. This way we have the best of both worlds.

[Chew]

I like the rule of everyone hunts your own stand but you can hunt another's with his permission. Generally, that permission would be asked after the hunter gets his trophy buck or if he brings it up first. If it was a lease where stands and feeders were already in place and you didn't pay for them or built them to your liking, then it would be different. I don't want some bozo that brings a walmart bucket feeder and a pallet blind thinking he can hunt my expensive setups.

[djc]

I was on a lease once, where after the first 2 weeks of the season, anyone could use your blind. I had awsome setups, completely brushed in, been feeding for 9 months. Then there were people who would come in a week before season, hang a 5 gallon bucket feeder that they filled only once, and have a folding chair they would setup behind a bush, and call that their setup. Then they would come in in the middle of the week and hunt my setups, leave cigarette butts, candy wrappers and soda cans in my blinds. If you have decent people on your lease it's ok, but if not, it can be a nightmare.

[Bullydog]

That issue hits home for me. I share a lease with 3 other hunters, and we have had recent issues regarding hunting out of other people’s blinds. I bought my blind, I added things I want to use which make me comfortable. I leave stuff in mine all year and I had been locking it when I was not there to make sure it stayed the way I wanted it. I never considered asking or bothering the others to hunt in their blinds, because I didn’t feel it was appropriate. Not that a change on scenery or location wouldn’t have been nice from time to time.

But, we decided on a new tactic this year. It took agreement from all involved and actually worked really well. We decided, since we are a 1 buck county, that when one hunter "tagged out", that blind would be available to the other 3 hunters "if" and only if they had not "tagged out". The owner of the blind always had first dibs to "their blind" if the were down there.

It worked great this year for us, and everybody really had a renewed sense of community at our lease. Since we all put in a Ton of work each year for the entire lease, it gave everyone a sense of freedom to be able to move around some.

Everyone harvested at different times of the year, so it worked out well. What was interesting was the team effort that arose out of this, as we spent more time trying to help the ones still trophy hunting, with scouting, etc...to help get them an opportunity.

Worked well for us sharing stands.

[12ring]

We always hunted our own stands opening weekend (unless somone agreed to swap) and then after that, if a hunter wasn't there, somone else could hunt that stand. But, we are all friends and have hunted together for years.

The only deal is that for you to hunt someone elses stand, you have to atleast be maintaining a stand/feeder yourself.

I ain't greedy. If someone wants to hunt my stand, have at it. I'll go somewhere else. It's all good!

But......... after Nov, I don't have to worry about anyone hunting my stand because I bowhunt year round. They all move to their rifle stands.

So...... I still hunt their bowstands when they aren't there!

As far as leaving stuff in your blind............... If you can't trust the group your hunting w/good enough to leave it, then I wouldn't be on the lease w/them.

Good luck w/it.............

[walker1983]

Just build a bowstand way up in a tree that no one else could - or would want to climb...

[Tx-Burt]

We have a setup like Chew and 12 Ring are talking about. It's all good, we are all friendly about it. I am adding 2 more bow stands this year, so we have more options instead of only rifle blinds....eventually they will all be bow setups but I can see how that may be an issue if you have people you never hunted with before.

[BIG D]

I like having at least one blind that no one can hunt without permission and then having a couple community stands as long as the the feeders at the community stands have a community of people putting feed in them .
At my stand, if I choose to feed twice as much as another guy, he cant just come over and reap the benefits of that.

[tycoon]

I like the rule of everyone hunts your own stand but you can hunt another's with his permission. Generally, that permission would be asked after the hunter gets his trophy buck or if he brings it up first. If it was a lease where stands and feeders were already in place and you didn't pay for them or built them to your liking, then it would be different. I don't want some bozo that brings a walmart bucket feeder and a pallet blind thinking he can hunt my expensive setups.

I have hunted with an arrangement like this and it worked out well. I will just have to see some of the other setups to see if they would be comparable to mine before I commit.