Blinds can put hunters in bind

After three hours of sitting still on an overturned bucket, I desperately wanted to stand up and walk laps around the stock pond where my hunting blind was placed. But to do so would betray my hiding place and make the discomfort all for naught.

I shifted slightly and returned my attention to the Louis L'Amour book that had helped to pass the time. A chapter or two later, my ears picked up on the sounds of deer walking through the dried scrub oak leaves scattered on the hill behind me. I exchanged L'Amour for my bow and knocked an arrow. Then I waited.

A three-point buck stepped up to the pond's edge and reached down to take a drink. I drew back on the bow string, let the sight pin settle on his chest and released the arrow.

Scenes like this take place every year at watering holes throughout the Southwest, where hunters have perfected the use of ground blinds as the means of closing the distance on big-game species such as mule deer, elk and even antelope. While the use of blinds is an effective means of hunting, especially for hunters who use archery tackle or primitive muzzleloading firearms, their popularity is creating issues that we as a hunting community need to consider.

"Increasing use of hunting blinds has resulted in resource damage, more litter, conflicts among hunters and problems for other land users," reads a policy on hunting blind use issued by the Bureau of Land Management in Idaho. That policy outlines the types of materials that can and cannot be used for building blinds, time constraints for blind placement and right of use.

Paul Podborny, a supervisory resource management specialist for renewable resources for the Nevada BLM in Ely, said the agency has no such formal policies on the use of hunting blinds in Nevada but encourages hunters to follow the unwritten code referred to as hunter ethics. Doing so, said Podborny, could go a long way toward preventing resource damage and confrontations between hunters in the field.

One of the problems associated with the construction of hunting blinds is the mess some hunters leave behind, which might include T-posts, wire mesh and even roofing felt. While ethical hunters will remove these items when their hunt is over, some among us simply walk away and leave blinds to become piles of litter on the landscape. This can be avoided with one of today's pop-up style blinds.

Then there is the question of ownership and who gets to use the blind.

"Under federal regulations, the placement of a blind on public land does not convey exclusive right of use, so it must be available to other hunters. This means that blinds cannot be locked or posted with 'no trespassing' signs," according to the Idaho policy.

Technically, this means that blinds placed on public lands are available on a first-come, first-served basis, but pushing that issue could lead to unwanted confrontation.

If you place a blind on public lands, Podborny recommends that you put your name and contact information where it easily can be found. That way, if another hunter would like to use the blind on a particular day, that person can contact you and coordinate schedules so confrontation can be avoided.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.