Trespassers

[Lefty]

I hunt exclusivity public lands archery hunting. And that may change a bit this year.

Last weekend I met a gentleman who is handicapped with a disabled hunters permit and hunts with a crossbow. Last year he and three other archers had exclusive permission on a large valley river bottom ranch with lots of big bulls and bucks. A blind location( his jeep)was set up so the jeep was somewhat hidden near a trail that some of the bulls used to walk back to the bedding area. For the previous week all four hunters met and patterned and planned strategy for the elk. Opening day there were 4 trucks with 7 hunters who came though posted gate openings who didnt have permission. The local Sheriff and CO rounded up the "hunters" . The landowner wouldnt press charges and the trespassers were sent off with a stern warning.
None of the hunters were local and 2 trucks from other states.

I manage the goose hunters on a corporate farm. Even with my name and phone number and permission required to hunt we still have "hunters set up spreads and driving across ag fields with out asking
permission.
More curious than anything do many of you who hunt on private property have problems with blatant trespassers.
I know some people there is lack of, or miss communication, but others, i just dont know what they could be thinking

[Indian Summer]

In Pennsylvania it's a free for all. Unless a property is known to have a serious anti hunter for an owner people are all over the place. The properties that are heavily posted have their work cut out for them. But in Montana and even more so in Wyoming trespassing is rare. It definitely happens and always will but like any other types of crimes the criminals are a low percentage. I do know of a ranch in the Bitterroot where it's a never ending battle to keep shed hunters out. One thing about my experience though is all of my hunting is in areas where there are endless amounts of public land to hunt. The mulie hunting is really good on private and some elk find their way to private but there's no reason to bother with them.

This year for the 1st time ever I will hunt some private land for elk. Not much. 2500 acres. There's more land, mostly state, out the back door. But to the north and south are other bigger ranches. One is huge and is outfitted. I know what a difference a fence can make so I can see the possibility of skirting the back property line of the ranches. To avoid any questions or problems I bought the onXmaps card for Wyoming for my GPS. I'm really curious to see what the other land owners and people who find their way into the state land (if they do) will be up to. It's all a very different world to me hunting elk like that. Makes me nervous because I feel like there's a chance of other hunters having an impact on my hunting.

So the piece of private I have could be very valuable IF the place has been respected in the past. A refuge for game can be priceless. But lots of times if nobody every runs people off of a property the locals and any friends can get in the habit of calling it home. Maybe that's what happened in your case?

The guys who had permission to hunt there should lock the gate.

[wawhitey]

2500 acres is a nice chunk of land IF people dont trespass. Thats a big if. I have permission to hunt a guys land, id have to look it up but its somewhere between 2000-3000 acres. Beautiful property, full of whitetails and a handful of elk. Despite being posted it gets hit by dirtbags every year. I wont even hunt it during rufle season because i know ill have a hard time not starting an incident. Found a treestand hidden in his property and told him about it, he said its not supposed to be there, nobody had permission, go take it its yours. Its been sitting in my garage since. And i dont feel the least bit guilty about it. There are miles and miles of public land around it, theres just no excuse for that crap.

I checked a cam on my property during late rifle whitetail season, and imagine my joy to get pics of the dbags from the neighboring property dragging a 5x5 off my land. And imagine my surprise when the guy refused to return my call. Anyway, he did wnd up calling me back, but not until the gamie paid him a visit that cost him a few bucks. If he does it again hell lose his rifle / animal / hunting license.

[Indian Summer]

A big problem here in the east is that people post property that isn't theirs INCLUDING public land. It happens so much that if you paid attention to all of the signs you'd be lucky to have a place to hunt. It's not too hard to tell if a spot is truly private but I have to admit when I see a few ratty old signs on a big undeveloped hardwood ridge those signs might as well say "Good Hunting Here" because I walk right past them. I have never been stopped when doing this and you can't imagine the number of tree stands I find. Hundreds.

I know a spot in Montana where the whitetails are pretty much unhunted and there are some giants. There are also elk right along side the whiteys. But there are also wolves so they are about the smartest spookiest deer around. really hard to hunt. I don't care though... it's just a nice feeling to know that nobody else is around.

[Fridaythe13th]

I know a guy made a habit out of trespassing. He told me it was more fun to be hunted while hunting. While it's not for me, he did make a good point. Thousand's of dollars to lease a hunting wood only $700 for a fine if you get caught. The fine might have gone up that was a few years ago.

[VT Sasquatch]

I have problems with trespassers at times. I am in the east and have a small hunting property but people still come on periodically to hunt deer and turkey. It is posted all around. The crazy part is that there are literally hundreds of thousands of acres of public and paper company land that all around. Why they end up on my property in a mystery.

[Swede]

I don't have enough land to get a trespasser and I don't hunt private, so it is hard for me to say how significant the problem is. I see the reverse where private land owners claim public land and try to control it. The best advice I have is to know where you are, and just be careful not to cross the line.

[Lefty]

Like many States Minnesota with three violations you would lose your hunting trapping and fishing privileges. So for three traps on the wrong property or three traps without tags I strictly followed laws I triple tagged my traps because guys would steal tags.
Some trappers are jealous or possessive of their trap lines.
Ive been ticketed twice ( and dismissed) for trespassing while trapping, both times by those that claimed to be the landowner:The one property belonged to the feds, The other property I had permission from my landlords uncle who wanted me on the property.

I’m really careful now, Too many times I’ve been given permission by someone who wasn’t the owner or had the authority to give me permission.

[wawhitey]

This is the kind of picture you dont want on your property.

[VT Sasquatch]

That stinks, Whitey. Is that in Washington State?

A buddy of mine gave me a trail camera for Christmas. I am going to set it up on my property the next time I get up there (it's six hours from home). I'm not sure I want to see what goes on when I am not around.

[wawhitey]

That stinks, Whitey. Is that in Washington State?

A buddy of mine gave me a trail camera for Christmas. I am going to set it up on my property the next time I get up there (it's six hours from home). I'm not sure I want to see what goes on when I am not around.

Yup, washington. About 200 yards or so behind my house. Pretty bold. I went runnin up there and made the mistake of yelling before i caught them. Saw them hustling away down the property line. They ditched the deer then took off. Came back for the deer later. Idiots.

[Elkduds]

That stinks, Whitey. Is that in Washington State?

A buddy of mine gave me a trail camera for Christmas. I am going to set it up on my property the next time I get up there (it's six hours from home). I'm not sure I want to see what goes on when I am not around.

Yup, washington. About 200 yards or so behind my house. Pretty bold. I went runnin up there and made the mistake of yelling before i caught them. Saw them hustling away down the property line. They ditched the deer then took off. Came back for the deer later. Idiots.

I hope they catch those 2 D bags. That is a pretty good look @ them. Have you posted the pic elsewhere?

[wawhitey]

Long story short, since i wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt i didnt post my property line so i was unable to hammer them for unlawful hunting, but the guy did get a 300 dollar ticket for no hunter orange, and hes been put on notice, and ive posted my property. If he does it again hell lose his animal, his gun, and his right to hunt in 42 states for 2 years.

[Swede]

Wawhitey, your picture reminded me of what happened on my 2.5 acre place near Winthrop Wa. a number of years ago. It was the early 1980s on the first day of rifle deer season. I was in the house getting ready to leave at first light. All of a sudden there were gunshots right outside the house. My son and I went outside to look and saw two guys with their truck still running and parked in the middle of the highway. They were hurrying onto my property. They had a dead buck on the edge of my garden. We were both surprised when they immediately started to gut the deer right there. I should have turned them in, but instead just chewed them out and ran them off with their deer. I was living on the Twin Lakes road at the foot of Sun Mountain.

[Stick]

Oklahoma has made it rough on trespassing. $500.00 fine for first of offense. The second though is a felony!

A good deterrent but sure makes it rough on my coon hunting buddies. Them dogs can't read them signs.