ORIGINAL: buckmine
I guess Minnesota nice doesnt include hunting.
It is hard to find nice out in the hunting woods. You should run into some nice folks.
I think using radios is illegal also.....
Pop up blinds on public land isn't safe either.
I've hunted in MN a few times and most (all?) of the folks I've met have been nice and reasonably considerate. I mean, on public land, really it's first come first served, even if you build a stand. That stand is on public land and if a person comes across it, you don't really know if it's a currently used stand or if it's one that was built a couple of years ago and abandoned at this time. You also don't know if the person is going to use it that particular day - and certainly if you build a stand, you can't expect it to "reserve" that spot every day, even if you aren't hunting. It's public land and the other guy has as much right to use it as you do.
On the other hand, I personally would tend to stay away from a stand if I found one in the woods, but I don't subsribe to quasi-personal areas on public land. I feel that if you build a stand on public land, you take your chances.
In fact, I might even venture to say that the regs specifically state this about permanent stands (some regs preclude building perm. stands at all!). You can probably look it up in the MN regs.
That's why I would never build a stand on public land. I invested in a very comfortable and safe climbing stand (Summit Viper) and that's the only way to go on public land, imho. Frankly, I think it's more comfortable, efficient and safer than a lot of lumber-built stands I've been in especially if the lumber stands haven't been carefully checked out and maintained.
On the other hand, if someone is in a stand, common courtesy, to me, means taking your spot at least 100 yds away. You certainly don't plunk down close and/or give the person grief.
As to the radios - in MN, they are only illegal to use "in the taking of game" - e.g. to coordinate a drive, to inform someone of a deer coming towards them, etc. They are perfectly legal for communication in all other situations such as calling for help taking care of a down deer, etc. There are gray areas of course, so it's always smart to use caution when using a radio while hunting. Do a search on this forum for radio and you'll find discussions.