If you go onto his posted land, you are trespassing. If you hunt there, you are poaching. It is just that simple.

Where I grew up in Illinois it was my understanding that even if land was not posted you needed permission from the land owner to hunt. It certainly would never have been my expectation that I could hunt land just because it wasn't posted. My father told me to refuse permission to hunt our land to anyone who stopped by to ask, other than family -- cousins, uncles, etc. My father was a reasonable man, and if a stranger stopped by to ask permission from HIM and this stranger was personable and indicated he was the right kind of hunter, I bet my father would let him hunt the property . . . if the game population allowed this. If there were just enough pheasants for us to hunt, he would be likely to tell the stranger this story when he turned him down, but maybe suggest some place he personnaly knew of that had better populations and asked him to drop my father's name when he asked permission. If the stranger was insincere or overly slick and was trying to put one over on my dad, I think that stranger would be out of luck.

The land owner you describe may be selfish. He may have inadequate concern for the future of hunting. Heck, he may even fail to attend church regularly! You may try enlighten this man and improve his character and show him the shortsightedness of his ways, but you can't hunt on his property!!!