Believe me, there have been some I really lost my cool with.

We have had a chronic problem with one of our properties here in OK. The place is posted. Could tell stories all night about the problems we have had there and the trespassers we have run off.One of our neighbors who lives near that property has had really big troubles with trespassers. One day he saw a new truck parked on his place and four hunters on the place. He says that he did not startthe grass fire that destroyed the new diesel pickup. Maybe the exhaust system did it-who knows. But he no longer has a trespass problem.

The worst part about all of this is ... when you ask them why they did not come to the house and ask, they tell you because they knew you would not let them hunt. So they basically are saying, we knew we were not welcome, so instead we just violated the law instead and hoped that they would not get caught.

well the thing that trespassing does is to make people hate hunters. i have neighbors that don't let anybody hunt because of the bad hunters. all trespassers do is make people that wouldn't ever think about being anti hunting become anti hunting. the sad thing is its just not hunters that do it i got some timber and have trouble with morel hunters too. the biggest trespasser's i get are pheasant hunters. hunters have to remember that their are more non hunters out there than their are hunters and every body is watching you. every time you brake the law or do something that people might not think is ethical you make another person join the anti hunting movement.


sorry about this post but it hit home yesterday. my brothers and i only get to hunt twice a year thanksgiving and Christmas because of our busy lives. we went out to our ground and their was a group of people hunting when we got their.

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.

If they have a weapon it is criminal trespass.You have a right to protect yourself and your property. Remember the eight landowners in I think it was michiganwho were killed a couple of years ago by a trespasser. Call the law, but if you are going to confront them, be prepared to drop them.

"I don't know how the laws are in all states, but in IL you can't use lethal force to protect property."

This is not the case in OK.

"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."

All of our places are fully fenced and posted. The vast majority of trespass cases are deliberate and premeditated.

ihave run a few dozen trespassers off our properties over the past ten years.It is best to just walk up to the trespasser and calmly inform him that he is trespassing on your place and ask him to leave. Most of themhave leftwithoutany trouble.

Threetrespassers gave metrouble. One was a chronic trespasser who cut our fence several times until i caught him on the place with his 4 wheeler.Held him at gun point for the sheriff. He had felony wants in TX and he went bye-bye. One OK City lawyer gave me some crap until i told him that he was setting a very fine example for his 14 year old son who was trespassing with him. He was part of a gaggle of guys who leased the hunting rights on a section across the road from us. There were no quail on the place because itis grazed to death. He saw quail on our place and decided to hunt there despite the no trespass signs.

The trespass problems on that place havegone away since i invitedadeputy to hunt there. Nothing like asheriff's truckparked on your place to deter trespassers.

I had two major problems with tresspassing. Number one problem was not addressed by the law but I did take matters into my own hands after 20 minutes of getting rid of the chicken **** cop. It was during fire arm deer season and this fellow was deer hunting 20 yards from my house in a stand of pine trees. The cop refused to go in there and get him out because he wears a brown uniform. I did ask him where his blaze orange vest was.
I went andf got my 12 gauge pump and started mowing tree tops down and the tresspasser decided there just might be a hunting accident if he didn't leave.
I guess word got out a crazy man owns this property as I haven't had much trouble since with hunting on my property.

Second time The law did what they were supposed to but I was in a different county. They came to the property with in just minutes and excorted the tresspasser off the property. Word got out I don't care for pukes who don't ask premission and will take them to court. No body gets to slide as far as I am consirened. If you think you are too good to ask I will press charges, or if your to lazy.

I had a jerk park in my drive so they could cross country ski on my land since they saw my tracks. I had their van towed. The cop just laughed at them when he came and they started ranting about their van being towed. Their lucky I didn't just run over it with my tractor.

I hate tresspassers with a passion. Worst scum of the earth next to those who litter.

Al

SHills,
True, to get a conviction...but the fact remains it is illegal to trespass in NY.

Maybe the posted signs should read -

"If you want to hunt, have the decency to ask."
......"Hunting by Written Permission Only".......

Something I've encountered around here, more than once, is a piece of property where you do have full permission to hunt is suddenly posted and nobody knows who put up the signs. Just this fall, one 160 acre tract that I have standing permission to hunt suddenly had a posted sign on the gate. The owner was as bewildered as I was.

In Missouri, purple paint on trees or fenceposts means POSTED, NO TRESPASSING. Heckuva a lot harder to tear up.