RE: something to think about
The only thing I can think of worse than having trespassers on your hunting proprty is not owning any of your own property to be tresspassed on! My suggestion would be if you know they are out there before hand, meaning not walking in on them, I would call the law and wait. Confronting someone while hunting, especially with a firearm, is risky in several respects in my opinion. Say you are going in to your stand and encounter a trespassing hunter. You do not know what he may be capable of (and vice versa). If you as a land owner start yelling at the guy, which he deserves, you might put him on high alert becasue now he is dealing with an irate person with a gun. Even though he is tresspassing and obviously should not have been there, if he perceives he is being threatened he might do something stupid or perhaps jusifiable depending on the situation. I don't know how the laws are in all states, but in IL you can't use lethal force to protect property. I am not sure I would start snapping pictures of an armed person, whom I absolutely do not know from Adam, becasue as I said before, you don't know what he is capable of. Look at it this way, say somehow you ended up on someone elses property as a simple mistake while doing a drive on new property you are hunting with a friend. Even though you should not be there and it is truely unintentional, how would you feel if you were appraoched by an angry land owner toting a firearm. Even ifyouare at fault becauseyou werenot absolutely sure ofthe property lines, I think a reasonable person could feel threatened by an irate person with a firearm, especially if it is somehow displayed in a threatening manner.I suppose my overall point is, avoid a confrontation of any kind if at all possible and call the law. And if you do encounter someone, I think I would try and be as civill as possible while still getting my point across about the trespassing.