I don't know reelfoot, but in my opinion there should be no permanent grandfathered privately owned blinds on any public land. . . . . . Wouldn't mind hunting up there but I've heard all kinds of stories and this one seem to be one of the worst.
It has not been an uncommon practice to allow local people to retain some bit of special interest for a generation or two after private land is taken by imminent domain for public use.
Since you're from Blount County, you likely know what happened to the local people living in Cades Cove when the federal government forcefully converted their private land to public use. I believe this happened back in the 1930's, and until the last living generation died out, they were still allowed to live there on the property their family once owned. Most left decades ago, but there was still one living there until only a few years ago, despite this being a national park.
The situation at Reelfoot is actually somewhat similar to what happened at Cades Cove in terms of the locals. Not saying either is right or wrong, just trying to help explain how it happened.
Imminent domain can be a sore subject for those who have suffered it.
I have an almost family friend who was forced off the family land by imminent domain sometime around 1940 due to the pending creation of Kentucky Lake on the Tennessee River. The family then moved themselves and their farming operations to the other side of Stewart County, buying a somewhat comparable farm on the Cumberland River (near Dover). Around 1960 this same family was again forced off their property with the pending creation of Lake Barkley.
Then there were all those Stewart County families now fully "lake-locked" by Tennessee's two largest lakes. So again, the federal government forced all those families off this huge land mass with the creation of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. It had previously been known as "the land betwix the rivers".
I can't disagree that the creation of LBL wasn't in the public and the future's best interest. But the imminent domain aspect about its creation remains a sore subject. Similar has happened in many parts of Tennessee, including the Reelfoot area.