ORIGINAL: wack

"you might as well have been hunting out of his blind....Ive had this happen to me and it pisses me off to no end."

Any blind or stand unoccupied on public hunting ground is public property and if you leave it there you should expect it to be used by other hunters. This isn't the old west , you can't just steak out your claim and call the area yours. You want your own private hunting area, go buy some land. If you don't want someone to use your stand or blind on public land, either do not leave it there or make damn sure you are there before anyone else. That does not give anyone the right to take someones stand or blind off of public land though, that is stealing.
First come, first serve is the rule of thumb. Some seem to think that's on a seasonal basis, I think it's on a day to day basis. I don't know how anyone could expect to put up a blind and expect anyone to honor "your claim" if you are not there. Deer hunting starts just before sunrise. You got your butt out of bed and got to the woods before that if you want to be successful. If you couldn't drag your butt out of bed in time to get out before sunrise, you've got nothing to gripe about when you walk in an hour after sunrise and find someone beat you too your spot. I hunted public ground this gun season and some of the other hunters were in treestandS at 3:30 am. If I'm in my stand at 3:30 am and someone walks in after sunrise, they'd best move on, blind, stand or not.
In the senario above, I believe cal was in the right and the other hunter did what was right also by leaving but you can't ever count on someone else doing the right thing. Pissin' off strangers with guns is never a good idea no matter how right or wrong you are or think you are. We are all brothers in the woods and the spirit of cooperation and brotherhood can go along ways to make the best out of any situation. If georgiahick finds me sitting in his blind and approaches me with a pist off attitude, neither one of us are going to have a good hunt. He shows up with a good attitude, friendly demeanor, I'd move on or maybe even work together to make it the best hunt possible for the both of us. Be nice, make a new friend and you've got another hunter hunting your area to watch your back. Think about it. Rip on someone sitting in your blind or stand? Just what might trhat get you?
The only difference between hunting with your buddy and hunting with a stranger is communication. The old saying, 2 heads are better than 1, talking to a stranger hunting the same area you are can be a real learning experience for both hunters. With the wrong approach, it can get ugly quickly. We're all doing something we love to do or we wouldn't be out there. Work together.
One of my most memorable public ground hunts I had a guy who I kept running into several days in a row. He scared deer away from me, I scared deer away from him, we were both getting frustrated. One the 4th morning, we found ourselves 40 yards apart again, had deer go right between us and neither could get a safe shot off. I walked over to him, introduced myself and told him I had an idea. The deer we had just seen went into a lot of thick cover but had nowhere to go, had to either cross a big fast river or come back, but we had to move fast.. My stand, I could cover both eascape routs but he'd still be in the way if they chose that rout. I invited him over by my stand to cover the way they came in. When the 1st deer, a doe, stepped out by the river I dropped it. That sent the rest the other way, in 30 seconds we each had 2 doe down. Another 30 seconds later, we each had a buck down. My new friend and I spent the rest of the day gutting and dragging and we both agreed that it was the best hunt either of us had ever had but verry easily could have been our worst.