Bob H in NH

building a road is not corner jumping. Logic would say the argument that you "crossed" private land also means you stayed on public land. the main "gotcha" here is how accurate is a GPS?


I find it wrong that public land can be landlocked by private land, there should be some right of way required. However that also goes against public land rights, so it's a catch-22.


I was in WY in October and we looked at a house for sale. It was on a dead end road and all the land behind it and the other houses was public. We chatted with a house owner and asked about a 2 foot gap between his fence and the property we looked at. He said since it was all public, they agreed to leave that gap for people to walk in. It wasn't wide enough for an ATV, heck even a horse would have had a tough time, but you could easily walk it. Then again there really was no place to park, but at least there was access.

flags

Most the civilian GPSs being sold are accurate to within about 4 meters. Military GPS is more accurate but not by much. 4 meters is a little over 12 feet. So the GPS could actually have you that far into private land.

Topgun 3006

That's exactly why I stated that even if the county people said to go ahead that I would not corner jump unless that corner was clearly defined with an official metal survey maker. My Garmin GPS on a good day is accurate to about 10'-12', just as you stated, and that is with the WAAS feature activated.

bdan68

If the corner isn't marked with a monument, the hunter with a GPS can find that corner just as well as the landowner. So how are they going to prove you were trespassing? If you're using the GPS you're using the best technology available. The same as the sheriff would use, or the game warden, or the landowner.

mthusker

One organization I would encourage folks who are interested in keeping public lands accessible is Montana Public Land/Water Access Association. I personally know a couple of the gentleman involved in this grass roots organization and they are of the highest standards. They go by PLWA. Mission: " The mission of the PLWA is the restoration, maintenance, and perpetuation of public access to the boundaries of all public lands and waters in Montana". Please check it out and if you are interested and able, support it!

Champlain Islander

Being from the east the first thing made sure I had straight was the seriousness of trespassing laws when hunting away from home. In a situation where an angry landowner might tell you to get out back east could end up in jail or at least a court summons in the mid west or west. The best thing I could suggest is to stay away from any situation which could result in getting into trouble. I had a friend who ran up against Indian tribal law in one of the Canadian provinces. He was misled by an outfitter and I believe it cost him many thousands since he killed a buck on Indian land.

gjersy

Right on Im a logger, i use my GPS to mark property lines, all the time! My GPS is accurate, the WY fish & game use the same tech? Prove I trespassed!? I did not trespass!?

Topgun 3006

Your GPS isn't really accurate enough to use it for that purpose unless you back off a good number of feet to allow for it. Sooner or later if you keep cutting right up to a line just using your GPS and the other property owner proves by a legal survey that you took some of his trees you'll be paying him for them.

Topgun 3006

It's really a little more complicated than that when the people you're arguing with all are residents, are probably all friends in that area, the landowner is probably a big taxpayer and may have even donated money to one or more of the officials during an election period, etc. Most NRs would probably just pay a ticket because it would cost a fortune if they were to plead not guilty and take it to court. Do you know how easy it is for them to keep delaying each stage/procedure when you show up thinking it will only take one trip to plead and finish your case? There are preliminary hearings, pretrial conferences, etc., before the actual trial itself and at each of those stages there is a big chance that you would show up and the opposition would ask for a delay for some reason and it would probably be granted.

gjersy

Hey Topgun Legal surveys are off a bit too. My GPS is accurate