Annoyed about hunter on edge of my property line?

[merrygoround]

Sometimes it is just ignorance on their part, as in the ignorant clown who had permission to hunt on the 200A next door, but chose to cross the boundary marking stone wall. He set a tree stand and climbing spikes into one of the nut trees between our fence (because fence posts don’t always pound too well at the base of or into a stone wall), and the stone wall.

Then there was the neighbor who built a luxurious, windowed, establishment right on his edge of our line, we had cleared land making a shot much easier.
He wasn’t ignorant , just rude.

[merrygoround]

Sometimes it is just ignorance on their part, as in the ignorant clown who had permission to hunt on the 200A next door, but chose to cross the boundary marking stone wall. He set a tree stand and climbing spikes into one of the nut trees between our fence (because fence posts don’t always pound too well at the base of or into a stone wall), and the stone wall.

Then there was the neighbor who built a luxurious, windowed, establishment right on his edge of our line, we had cleared land making a shot much easier.
He wasn’t ignorant , just rude.

[Calamber]

[QUOTE=S1969;8443744]
Just to comment on this, if you were referring to my shooting towards people walking dogs - there are no houses here, and they are farm roads, not public roads. I’m the only person in this story that lives here; and we shoot away from the public road, although it’s probably 1/2 mile away. The people walking dogs drive here, park, and walk dogs on the other property owner’s parcel, plus my parcel. I still don’t think I should shoot in their direction if they are out walking; it would be unfair to put them in a position to wonder if they might get shot.[/QUOTE]

I was making no reference to you, I was quoting most state’s game laws regarding guns, shooting, directions and residences etc. I do not see why it is so unnerving or rude, (what that means I don’t know) that someone is hunting the edges of a property. That does not mean if they flush game they are going to shoot it as it runs across your land, I assume they are hoping to flush it into their area. I have to appreciate how protective everyone feels about “their land” and “their rights”, but that is why we have laws, so that everyone knows the constraints and are not guided by something so subjective as “feelings”.

As for the person who was so outraged over the poster who said they could have hunted on unposted land, this may very well be in the middle of nowhere prairie land, or wide open acreages in the Midwest and had been part of the way in which the game laws were written. Someone in the congested east could not fathom this but that has been their states’ history, it is not a big deal. It is also, as far as I know, a courtesy in the states that I was familiar with (MD, VA, PA, DE), to inform the contiguous landowners that they are hunting and that if game is wounded, they would track it down. I would want someone to do that for me just so I am not startled by people who I do not know walking around on my land with guns, but, in an emergency, I would absolutely want them out there tracking that wounded animal whether I knew they were there or not. I prefer that the animal is not left suffering. All of the hunters that I have known, all of my life, are like that. I have not met the boorish drunks, I know there may be plenty but thankfully, I have never met them.

The most startled I have ever been with hunters was while riding ponies many, many years ago in Maryland and we came across people who had just wandered onto the wrong land while hunting. My companion simply told them that this land is posted no hunting and the hunters apologized and left.

[PassagePony]

[QUOTE=dog&horsemom;8445372]
I use to not mind hunters - until - (1) some trigger happy mexican’s out deer hunting shot at something moving - and it happened to be another mexican! shot in the abdomen and unable to speak English to tell EMS where he was - shot where I usually ride!
(2) I was walking in the woods with the dogs and came upon a dead buck with a beautiful head of antlers killed and not tracked.
(3) I’m out one morning feeding my horses and some man is in the woods next to us - and I"m asking him - who are you ? what do you want? turns out he shot a deer about 25 acres away and after tracking it - he found it about 2’ from my turn out shed! I’m lucky my horses didn’t freak out and run and get injured. Learn how to take the best shot that will instantly kill your deer or don’t shoot!!!

So, yes there are good hunters but who knows who they are and so YES - you have a right to be scared - real scared.
I do feel for the hunters who have hunted in their area forever and now its developed - thats why I think every County should have hunting preserves for …hunters!

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to Vent! Sorry you have to live next to that![/QUOTE]

You have good and bad hunters in ALL nationalities…I really don’t think there is a need to point out their nationality. I don’t see why this would give you heartburn unless you worked with the EMS or at the local ER where they were brought in and you had no one to translate.

While in a perfect world we who hunt deer want our perfect shot to drop the deer in it’s tracks, that is not the real thing. When you shoot a deer, even if you do get that perfect heart/lungs or lung shot, they are STILL going to run. And many hunters will wait 20 minutes or so, watching what way the animal went until they begin to track the hopefully seen, blood trail. If you try to track the animal immediately after you shoot it and it isn’t seriously injured, it will continue to run as your putting pressure on it. If you find that downed deer and it isn’t dead, your risking yourself and/or that deer as if it can get up and run further, it will or it will fight you or thrash around when you try to kill it.

Guess your horses aren’t use to people coming into their field or gun fire? Ours are, and they wouldn’t be going through a fence if a deer died near their barn either and stranger came to ask to retrieve it. They may snort at the smell of fresh blood and prance around but I can’t even fathom that they would “freak out and run and get injured”. Maybe they need more desensitization.

We had POS who felt because we had just moved here, our land was not yet properly marked, they could go into the woods and they poached two beautiful deer off the land. Did they do the responsible thing and take ALL the meat, no. They only took what they wanted and left most of the body behind, did this AFTER our land was marked too. We did find a new deer stand on our property, so we took it down and it is hanging in our tack shed, figured if he wanted it back he can come and admit it and ask. We now have a good friend who hunts on the property and he keeps an eye out for anyone who shouldn’t be there. If ANYONE dared thought well it isn’t marked so screw the land owner, won’t ask or find out and goes and hunts, we WILL prosecute to the full extent of the law or fill their butt so full of buck shot your fanny will be setting off metal detectors for years to come!! I would LOVE to see the law from that state that gives the right to any Joe Blow to go onto property on that state to hunt.

OP just talk to the hunter and air your views and concerns. If he is good hunter and worried about the well being of those around him and wants to keep ethical and polite hunters in good graces with the public, he will listen and act accordingly. Nothing wrong with talking to him is there or have you already?

[S1969]

[QUOTE=PassagePony;8450543]
If ANYONE dared thought well it isn’t marked so screw the land owner, won’t ask or find out and goes and hunts, we WILL prosecute to the full extent of the law or fill their butt so full of buck shot your fanny will be setting off metal detectors for years to come!! I would LOVE to see the law from that state that gives the right to any Joe Blow to go onto property on that state to hunt.

OP just talk to the hunter and air your views and concerns. If he is good hunter and worried about the well being of those around him and wants to keep ethical and polite hunters in good graces with the public, he will listen and act accordingly. Nothing wrong with talking to him is there or have you already?[/QUOTE]

I was curious, too, to see the law that allows hunting on unmarked land. I seriously doubt that is how it really reads - it’s probably more of a situation that you may not be able to prosecute trespassers that cross your land without it being marked, but I don’t imagine that would ever translate to “permission to hunt” on someone’s land without permission.

I have not talked to that hunter because I haven’t see him - I did see his truck a few times and tried to give a wide berth from the place I had previously seen him. He is not the property owner, nor do either of them live here (it’s vacant farmland/property) so I will try instead to discuss with the owner the next time I see him - that if in the future he gives permission to people to hunt, we’d like to know exactly where, and would like to have their name, etc. so if they need to track wounded game on our property we won’t call DEC.

I believe the season ended Sunday, and I was a little amused (and felt a little bad) that this guy drove out around 3pm and the neighbor’s kids rode their dirtbikes and ATVs through the property about 25 times before it got dark. My guess is he had a pretty uneventful last hunt. But, the property owner has probably given permission to 20 different people to use his property…not ideal for any hunter. And since he doesn’t live there, or hunt, he doesn’t dare either.

[moving_to_dc]

[QUOTE=Calamber;8450454]
…As for the person who was so outraged over the poster who said they could have hunted on unposted land, this may very well be in the middle of nowhere prairie land, or wide open acreages in the Midwest and had been part of the way in which the game laws were written. Someone in the congested east could not fathom this but that has been their states’ history, it is not a big deal. It is also, as far as I know, a courtesy in the states that I was familiar with (MD, VA, PA, DE), to inform the contiguous landowners that they are hunting and that if game is wounded, they would track it down. I would want someone to do that for me just so I am not startled by people who I do not know walking around on my land with guns, but, in an emergency, I would absolutely want them out there tracking that wounded animal whether I knew they were there or not. I prefer that the animal is not left suffering. All of the hunters that I have known, all of my life, are like that. I have not met the boorish drunks, I know there may be plenty but thankfully, I have never met them.[/QUOTE]

I have lived literally all over the country, with the majority of my years being spent in the Oklahoma - Kansas - Nebraska -Colorado area. I currently own 240 acres in 2 separate parcels in different regions of Kansas… I can tell you that EVERY landowner I have met is extremely pissed to have hunters on their land without permission. It is DEFINITELY a big deal. NOBODY should EVER assume that can just wander where they want because the closest house is 3 miles away, or the nearest paved road is 15 miles away… Many Midwest counties have maps available at the courthouse that tell you who the owner is and their contact info. SOMEBODY owns the land - not much BLM/government owned land out there smack in the middle of cropland. A responsible hunter, who is scoping out possible land to hunt on, will reference those maps and contact the landowner for permission. The hunters that don’t are the kind that give all hunters a bad name - the hunters that think they are entitled to hunt wherever the he** they want to.

[S1969]

^^ I agree. And I have heard the situation regarding the “if it’s not posted, you can’t do anything” even here in NY…not with regard to hunting, but apparently some people would like to interpret it that way.

As for hunters “wandering” accidentally onto the wrong property - first of all, that is NO excuse. Get the map or don’t hunt there. Secondly, I doubt it’s even true…of course someone poaching isn’t going to say “oh, I’m just poaching, don’t mind me.” Naturally they would say they were lost.

[Ghazzu]

“I was curious, too, to see the law that allows hunting on unmarked land.”

Here’s some relevant info.

[Calamber]

Thank you, and New York is one of those that specifically needs to be posted. So there you are. DC and Passage Pony, guess you need to check your state laws because in some states hunters are allowed to hunt wherever they want to if it is not posted and if you shoot them so “full of buckshot that they will light up a metal detector”, you will go to jail, which you would anyway even if they were trespassing.

Here is quite a bit more about the same subject, including legal cases. Bone up folks, it could save you a lot of time and expense.

http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1238&context=dlj&sei-redir=1&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bing.com%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Dis%2Bhunting%2Buposted%2Bland%2Blegal%2Bin%2BKansas%26form%3DPRSAMS%26pc%3DMASMJS%26mkt%3Den-us%26refig%3D0578a575d3724e8b8c4b6d2109fb1783%26pq%3Dis%2Bhunting%2Buposted%2Bland%2Blegal%2Bin%2Bkansas%26sc%3D0-15%26sp%3D-1%26qs%3Dn%26sk%3D%26cvid%3D0578a575d3724e8b8c4b6d2109fb1783#search="hunting%20uposted%20land%20legal%20Kansas"

[RacetrackReject]

If you have a hunter on your property line next year, just put up something that makes noise along your fenceline. We’ve used pie pans hooked to the fence with chain before. Typically hunters will find a quieter place to stalk their prey. =)

I had poaching on my land. My neighbor not only was sneaking out to my recently stocked pond (stocked twice!!) and taking all of my bought and paid for fish, but he also decided that shooting at deer standing in my driveway, between my trucks, while I was in the driveway was a good idea. I called Fish and Game. Idiot neighbors had their house searched and illegally caught game was found, so they were charged and one ended up going to jail.

I was worried about retaliation, but the game wardens that came out made it clear that if a blade of grass was bent the wrong way on my property, they would be the first people they came looking for. I did keep my horses in a field far from their house for a while though.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Calamber;8451056]
Thank you, and New York is one of those that specifically needs to be posted. [/QUOTE]

Sort of odd to include the words “unimproved and apparently unused land” . Apparently unused…based on who’s impression? I could see a lot of poachers saying …“well…it looks unused to me!” My property is posted and we also mow it, so I think that would make it clear that it’s not unused.

New York: A person may enter and remain upon unimproved and apparently unused land, which is neither fenced nor otherwise enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders, unless notice against trespass is personally communicated to by the owner.

I wonder where this text actually comes from? It sounds more like a definition of trespass as opposed to many of the other states that seem to be giving specific details regarding hunting. It surprises me that NY hasn’t made this more specific. They do tend to overregulate things.

[CVPeg]

He MUST be my ex-trespasser - or his twin brother or a disciple.

I know of no hunter honestly hunting land they’ve been provided permission to, who hunts in camo without reflective/orange.

And being at the confluence of 3 neighboring properties? It must be #2 after the “always wear camo” rule in Trespassing for Losers. If neighbor A approaches, you tell them that you had permission to hunt B. If B approaches, oops, you had C’s permission and didn’t know you had stepped over the line. And 'round and 'round. #2a? - make sure you have researched the property owners from public records so you can lie and drop names.

It took myself and 3 adjoining land owners over 10 years to nail our trespasser, who started off baiting each other by claiming the pattern above. I was referring arguments among the NJ atty with the 300 acres above mine, and the rumplestiltskin 80 acre owner next to my 97 for 6-7 years before I finally had us work together. And that was just a nibble of all the lands he has brazenly trespassed upon.

He hunted our area when young, and knows it all like the back of his hand - and feels entitled.

He was so bold as to put tree stands 20 feet in the air, and then chop down trees on my neighbor’s for a better view. Hunters w/ permission on my land tripped over him in a ditch one day. He left carcasses behind on properties where no one hunts at all.

We were finally able to nail him when he moved his tree stand from tree-reduced neighbor to my land, we got ENCON to confiscate it, and then called the idjit up to see if he wanted to come and claim it. He did. A couple of us showed up for the arraignment. He begged the local justice to allow him to keep his license since this was his “livelihood”.

He is also a school bus driver. :mad:

My past stories of my ex-trespasser is somewhere in the COTH annals.

If there are any issues, one is really supposed to be carrying written permission.

Ask him if he drives a school bus, then call ENCON!! :grief:

Good luck!!

PS He lives about 60 miles north of me - my hunters knew of him from others, and he does this as well in the northern part of the state as deer season starts earlier there. Then moves south when bow season starts down here. :mad:

[Hilary]

Late to this party, but in NH unless my land is posted (and Posted = specific signs 50 feet apart around the ENTIRE property) people can come on the farm and kinda do whatever the like. Now, if I find them, I am within my rights to give them a rash of sh*t about being polite and asking permission, (my favorite is "do I come to your house and hang out in your yard without asking?) and I do.

I have less of an issue with hunters than hikers who get lost, but I worry about them because I have horses and a pond. These are considered “attractive nuisances” and if someone pesters a horse and gets kicked, falls out of one of my trees, or gets wet in my pond it could be my fault.

My solution to unwanted/uninvited hunters is to make sure I invite my friends who hunt to do so on my property. Nothing dissuades a rogue hunter than a bunch of legit ones.

I’m sorry you felt your farm was invaded, but he really didn’t do anything wrong, so to answer your question, you can feel annoyed but you don’t have much to to go on. He wasn’t on your property, as far as you know he wasn’t doing anything to endanger anything on your property but you somehow feel violated because he was next to you and you didn’t know. I do get that, but I would suggest making friends instead of enemies if you have that chance. A good hunter will keep the iffy ones out of your hair.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=Hilary;8453203]
I’m sorry you felt your farm was invaded, but he really didn’t do anything wrong, so to answer your question, you can feel annoyed but you don’t have much to to go on. He wasn’t on your property, as far as you know he wasn’t doing anything to endanger anything on your property but you somehow feel violated because he was next to you and you didn’t know. I do get that, but I would suggest making friends instead of enemies if you have that chance. A good hunter will keep the iffy ones out of your hair.[/QUOTE]

I agree; I’ve said all along that I do not believe he was doing anything legally wrong but the question was whether it was good form to hunt someone’s property line. I think there are a lot of differences between what is legally correct and ethically hunting. For example - while it may not be illegal for someone to hunt on your property without your permission (if it wasn’t posted), it’s not “ethical” and most good hunters would never do this. For one thing - it’s rude, but more importantly - it might endanger other hunters that DO have permission to hunt your property since they wouldn’t know where they are.

There’s a huge difference between people who wander across property lines or get lost, because they are not using a weapon that might travel yards (or hundreds of yards, or up to a mile). In my opinion, there is NO excuse for someone to be lost while hunting, and I think it’s equally bad form to hunt property lines for the same reason.

As for my own property - it’s an open, 8 acre field. There is no place to hunt here unless you utilize the other posted properties. Which is essentially the same for the adjacent property where this person had permission to hunt; there is very little room to hunt without encroaching on the posted, industrial properties in the area.