In Minnesota, if the land is not posted, you may retrieve the deer without permission but must leave if told to do so by the landowner. The regulations state:
"A person on foot may, without permission, enter land that is not
posted to retrieve a wounded animal that was lawfully shot, but may not remain on the land after being told to leave."
That exception makes sense to me. I own my own land and have had people trespass and treat it with disrespect. So I know firsthand how frustrating trespassing can be.
But if someone followed the letter of the law as state above and treated my land with respect, I would have no problem with them retrieving the animal from my land under those circumstances. Of course, I post though, so it wouldn't happen.
Where I hunt, and where my neighbors hunt, we are all very cordial and respectful of one another. None of us, and I know this, would hesitate to let another retrieve a deer ifit crossed onto another's property, so we always ask permission.A quick phone call and I'll be right out to help you is the response you usually get.
Now if I knew the deer had crossed onto someone's property - a gut shot or whatever that let them go a long ways - and there was a good chance they'd deny me the opportunity to recover the deer, I might very well break the law and recover the animal. Though illegal, it would leave me with a sick feeling in my stomach to allow the animal to rot in the woods and know that I had taken its life for virutally no reason. And avoiding that feeling would be well worth the citation and fine.
I see that as a once in a lifetime situation, however, as I have taken every step possible to avoid such a situation in all of my set-ups. Get to know your neighbors landowners neighboring the land you hunt and even those who don't like hunting would likely give you permission to retrieve the deer.
Tresspassing to find a mortally wounded animal
