As the owner of 10 newly aquired acres I hope that I never encounter this problem ,
but I know that I will sooner or later since mine abuts a much larger woods where the landowner doesn't allow hunting . All those deer in his cedar thickets are gonna be awfully tempting to somebody sooner or later .

In my state written permission to hunt a given property is required by our game law , and the hunter is legally required to know the boundaries of that property to avoid trespassing on the neighboring parcel . Deadly force is NOT permitted unless the trespasser poses a direct threat to your safety , nor is holding the offender for law enforcement . A game warden may not investigate unless a complaint alledging a game law violation is being made , and even then he must witness it personally . The LEOs won't even come out for a hunting related trespass , so most folks just shoot over their heads or around them to make their point . Trespassing still occurs , but it's usually not the same person twice ...