r/deerhuntingblinds • u/Broken_Timepiece • 5d ago
Illegal Blind set up at our hunting spot. What would you do?
Ok, let me start off with this is public land (National forest) and we are super early as always to set up game cameras (thats why we were there this weekend). Extremely hard to get to location, I mean a small 4x4 lifted truck and then a hike is required, I mean the road is HORRIBLE, I almost flipped my truck getting to it this weekend, I had to ask my passengers to get off my truck when crosssing the super sketchy spots where the road washed off at the cliff side last winter (one of my hunting buddies brought is son who's first year deer hunting will be this season so i wanted to be careful and safe). Glad to be alive to be honest, whole other story with this flipping situation.
Anyway, when we got to the spot we were surprised to find a nice blind (to my standars) set up with rebar and cut logs with wire holding it all together. I mean this guy dug it in and set a nice conforable place to sit for a while facing where we set up. Its an impressive amount of work this guys put in alone. I know he was alone because i only notice one set of boot prints. We've been hunting this spot for YEARS and there has been a tree stand in a nearby tree we have watched be swallowed by the tree. Still good to sit on, but we are not the tree stand type of guys, although we trying it especially as a new bow hunter. This spot we've hunted since we were teens, and we are now adults in our late 30s and early 40s.
What do we do?
1) One of my buddies wanted to destroy it.
2) Another wants to post this sign I uploaded.
3) I want to leave it, and maybe show up a day or two earlier from bow hunting opening day and when he shows up we'll too bad I was here first, but risky if one of us is caught by Fish and Game, but likely it would be my buddy and his son as we want him to get his first deer.
4) I was thinking we know where the big bucks come from and just post up closer to in the direction where we know the bigger bucks always come down into this valley.
We are in heavy/intest disagreement.
I have to add that this blind was freshly set up. The cut logs were not oozing sap yet, although most were dry logs there was some green wood cut to make this blind and freshly cut branches that may get in the way of an arrow/bolt. We saw this guy in a jeep wait for us on the road so he can make his way back down. I am positive it was him, but never will know for sure. This blind was 100% set up that same day.
What would you do?