Originally Posted by
homers brother
It's been quite awhile since I had that happen to me. Lately, I find it's the "outfitters" who are leasing the hunting rights on the landowner's deeded ground who are more likely to confront you on the public side of the fence and attempt to convince you that you're trespassing.
I'm not sure there's a "best" way to deal with that. I don't walk the fencelines separating public and private land, tending to stay at least a couple hundred yards or more inside the public boundary. I'm not even sure the guys I've run into can read a map, or know how to use a GPS for that matter. Goat country is pretty open, and there's really no reason that a landowner or outfitter would be able to approach you without you seeing them long before.
Some of the "outfitters" are too aggressive or their guides are simply poorly informed as to where the privately held property ends. I have seen a couple of big outfitters guides act this way and have heard lots of stories from local guys about them. ROAD CLOSED signs, etc. When you made statement about them a couple of names popped into my head.
BLM land seems to be a local hot button issue. Some realize that it is public land, but some have leased the property for many years and consider it to belong to their family. Most folks are reasonable about it but not everyone. I have had pickup trucks follow us around on BLM land with two or three guys staring at us through binoculars and spotting scopes to intimidate.