What do you think I should do?

[xedge2002]

Here's a real kick in the groin. I got permission to bowhunt some land this fall. As I have gone out there bowhunting and when I went to scout it out before the season started I have seen deer trails all over the place. It is CRP so their really isn't good trees for a stand but there is patches of willows. So I bought a couple of ground blinds and put them out by the willows where I have seen deer and their are trails up the bingo hole. The owner said I could bowhunt it but not pheasant or slug which is fine with me because I have other places to go for those two.

Saturday night I get a call from him that his nephew was out pheasant hunting and found my blind and brought it up to the house. My first thought was oh sh*t. Because the blind isn't exactly obvious on how to take it down. But then I think he is a hunter, and would respect someone else's property right? wrong. I go out on sunday to pick it up and find it leaning up against an old building. One of the fiberglass tent poles is snapped off and another pole has the piece of aluminum that attaches it to the hub snapped off!! In high school I had a job that I worked with metal every day, I know aluminum is a soft metal but it takes some force to snap that piece off of the hub. Also I had a hunting chair in the blind along with the window mesh, and the stakes for holding it down. None of that to be found anywhere. After getting pretty pissed off intially I put it in my truck and left. I'm glad I didn't go up to their house and talk to the owner at that point because I probably would have said something stupid and I want to be able to bowhunt it in the future.

The blind was $150 and the chair was about $20. I know that isn't a lot of money but I am in college and don't have free cash laying around to go and buy another one.

I know if it was me finding it on land I hunt I would at least walk back to the house and talk to the owner about it and see if they gave anybody permission to hunt on that land. So my question is what do you think I should do? Right now I am leaning towards calling the owner, telling him what happened and getting the name of the nephew. I definetly want at least the chair back because I do have another blind I can use. I would like to get him to at least pay for part of a new blind because he wrecked the other one, or if I can get parts for it get him to buy the parts to replace the broken ones. Also I had only used that blind 1 time, I had put it out the Monday before pheasant opener.

[harvey lee]

You have a real bad deal on your hands.I would without a doubt ask the landowner who his nephew was to get the chair back.I would also guess he will say it wasnt there as if he was going to return it he would have set it by the blind.

I would also believe that he should pay for the damages he did to the blind.

One question I have is was the blind right where you left it or did the nephew find it blown by the wind to another location? If the wind did blow it there then the poles could have bent tumbling across the field.

Your only option is to talk to the landowner and explain what happened and see what he might suggest.

I hate to say it but I would guess you are SOL and it was a hard thing to have happen.

My father many years ago after a guy did approx 1000 dollars damage to my car said that if thats all I ever lose in life I will be doing very good.

I know that doesnt help but its the truth.

[BuckRuttinFool]

I guess thats why they call them portable blinds....they should be taken down when they are not in use....Did you ask the land owner if you could leave stands and blinds out?? To go after a land owner or their nephew after they were nice enough to let you hunt their land is definatly a good way to be never invited back.

[tjm]

Go make 1 of these you have a perfect set up to use it

[nitroant]

Well, first, settle down, collect your thoughts (it seems like you are doing this) and then I would go visit the land owner and get the other side of the story. Find out if the blind was where you left it, the wind got it, or somebody else got it. Play it cool, your not going to get anywhere by getting all whipped up with him. If its determined that it was wrecked by the kid, you can ask why or see if you can get it paid for, but depending on the land owner, your pobably SOL. Not too much else you can do.

[xedge2002]

No the wind didn't blow it over or anything like that. I had another blind up since 3 weeks before hunting started and that one never moved until I took it down. It had 7 ground stakes in it so it should not have moved because of the wind. I told the land owner I would put up a couple blinds and leave them there until the season was over and he had no problem with it. I also wanted to leave them up so the deer would get used to seeing them on a daily basis. That way there wasn't all of the sudden this thing appearing out there that usually isn't there, even with brushing it in.

I'm not pissed anymore I am more frustrated that someone would do this to someone elses equipment without asking questions about it first. I also don't expect the landowner to pay for anything or do anything about it, he did nothing wrong.

TJM - How do you make that stand you have pictured? If you have plans you could send to me that would be cool.

[Gus]

Personally, I would just eat the cost and be happy I had some place to hunt. I know it sucks but that is what I would do. To me not ticking off the land owner would be top priority. surely a bummer deal though.

[tealitup]

Next time you go there ask the land owner to ask the guy if he seen your chair and if the blind was broken before he brought it in... just like you are questioning the behavior but without prejudice

[Sturg]

Last spring I had set a portable up and went out to turkey hunt a couple of days later and my blind was gone. I had staked it down. I was getting mad figuring someone had stolen it off the private property I had permission to hunt. I moved to a different location in the dark and tried hunting. Later in the morning I went back to have another look and I found my blind a quarter mile away. It had pulled stakes and tumbled across an open tall grass prairie. It was resting against a fence down a gully. It's very possible yours did the same. I would let it pass. The nephew may have found it some distance from the original setup.

[Scoot]

I totally agree with Gus. I'd be very tempted to take Harvey Lee's approach, but I'd likely not do that- there's nothing wrong with it, it's just not how I'd personally handle it. If the guy was nice enough to let you hunt there, you should focus on that. Leaving any equipment out in the woods/field is a risk. You took that risk and it didn't work out for you. I'd strongly urge you to cut your losses and not mess up your ability to hunt on this guy's land. Who would you side with- your nephew or some dude who you don't really know?

Good luck.

[lawdog]

I would ask him about the chair and about the condition of the blind. The landowner didn't wreck it, his nephew did. Make sure you don't sound accusatory and you are not a big jerk, but hey, $170 is worth a lot of land access... If your stuff is going to get trashed at this place, you don't want to keep hunting there anyway, its not worth it.

[bigbucks]

I think I would just talk to the landowner about it. Tell him it was damaged & you know it's not his fault, & he's not responsible. Just explain what happened & that it doesn't seem like it could have blown away. You never know he might say, well my nephew found it laying in a gully & that someone had trashed it, or he might say that $%##@ nephew of mine, he's always wrecking stuff. I'd just see what he says, if he doesn't know anything, maybe ask to talk to the nephew & see what he says, but I wouldn't accuse him of anything, just explain your concerns/frustrations. He's another hunter, there's a good chance he's frustrated about what happened too. Even if he did it & doesn't admit it, he might realize what happened & feel bad, so you won't have to worry about him doing that again.

[BLACKJACK]

Sounds to me like the nephew doesn't want you hunting on his own little hunting preserve!! Of course the landowner is going to side with the nephew, blood is thicker than water, but let the landowner know what happened anyway,

M A Y B E he might give the nephew he!!

Anytime you leave hunting gear in the woods its at risk to sprout legs and walk away. That sucks but its a simple fact. I'm even debating leaving a ground blind on my private property for a week for the deer to get used to, I'm afraid it might disapear. Good luck but I think you're SOL.

[David Frank]

I would also just explain what happened to your equipment to the landowner. As stated, do not accuse. Hopefully he will realize that his nephew was completely in the wrong and have a little talk with him about the integrity of our sport and respect for other people's property.

Dave Frank

[chucker34]

That sucks. I would take the approach where you consider it a loss but try to make it known you have taken the loss to the landowner. Maybe just ask if the newphew you brought a chair too because you didn't see it at the house and couldn't find it out on the hunting land. Then mention something like he must have had a heck of a time taking it down cause one of the poles is broken. Just see what he says.

I bought a blind with fiberglass poles this years and had one snap the first time I took it down. It's easy enought to do without a lot of force. So I took it back and bought one with metal poles instead. That seems to take the abuse of setting it up and taking it down better - for me at least.

[xedge2002]

I am going to talk to the landowner tomorrow when I get back from school. He is a pretty decent guy and my dad knows him pretty well, that is how I got permission to hunt his land. I had the same reservation about putting it out and having it sprout legs and disappear but you have to walk over a quarter mile to get to it. Also their is only one road that goes by the property and that T's on the end and the one leg is the owners driveway and the other takes you right back to the main road so their isn't too much traffic around there. So you can't see where it is unless you are actually walking in the field and you have to be within about 200 yards of it on the right side to see it. So I felt pretty safe that it wouldn't disappear on me.

But I will see how it goes and let you guys know what happened.

[xedge2002]

Well I talked to the owner, he wasn't real happy with his nephew and had a pretty good idea the blind was damaged when he called last week. I didn't talk to the nephew because I figured the owner would tell him exactly what happened and what was damaged and I don't have to worry about it happening again.

I called Cabelas (they made the blind) and they are sending out replacement parts for the blind. I never would have thought it would turn out this good but I am glad it did.

Thanks for the suggestions you guy's offered!

[LoonASea]

Thats good to hear every thing worked out for You !!!

Good Luck with the rest of Your season

Randoid