non (but not anti) hunter needs education please
 

Would you help me figure a couple things out? We have a new situation with new hunters, and I want to understand it before talking with them. I don't want to be *that* neighbor that the hunters roll their eyes at, and I'm not trying to curtail hunting on adjacent properties – except to the extent it's being done illegally or unsafely.

Mine is a horse farm with a pasture/hay field that borders on woods. There's a high-traffic game trail that meanders across and in some places straddles the property line (which is delineated with fence posts, but no actual fencing).

I was trudging through the woods along our borders over the weekend to check our signs, and at a point where the trail straddles the property line I found a trail cam mounted on my parcel and a tree stand opposite it on theirs – the tree stand is oriented perpendicularly to the trail and pointed directly at my land.

It didn't take me long on here to figure out that there's debate as to the ethics of hunting a property line, but it's not prohibited and so I don't see any point in arguing about it – as long as it's being done safely and legally. (I know I can make them move the camera, but IF they are otherwise being respectful of my property I think the neighborly thing is to let it stay where it is.) So here's my first question: is there any way that a tree stand oriented in such a way can be used to hunt only their property? To stay off my property the shot would have to be straight down onto the trail. I don't know enough about hunting to know whether it's possible to use this setup without trespassing. (I want to think the best of them, but this is not a right-to-track state and they're new hunters who haven't asked permission to access our land to retrieve game.)

And here's my second (multi-part!) question: is there any way for me to know that the property line is being hunted safely, or anything I can do to make it more likely? I'm feeling unsettled at the thought of horses at the edge of that pasture, or taking a ride or walk around my fields during hunting season. I'm not going to engage in harassment, but also I don't want to have to avoid use of my own property from September through February. I suppose I could put tarps in the trees so there's no clear shot onto my field, even by accidental discharge, but that would be ugly and scare the horses. How do those of you who do hunt property lines balance the interests of hunters and adjacent owners? Is there anything I should expect as a matter of courtesy or safety from the folks hunting my border? What do hunters expect as a matter of courtesy from the neighbors?

Any advice is appreciated.

well I feel your pain, I have had major issue's with trespassers
do NOT know what state your in, so, rules can and will be different pending where you live

so hard to give exact info to you!

first off legally all you have control over is YOUR land , sadly folks can and DO sit right on borders, and even worse, MOST will think NOTHING of shooting an animal on your side IF they think they can get away with it
yes some are respectful and won't,m but my experience is more will than won't

untill you can catch them ON your side of things, there isn't anything legally you can do, and even IF you DO catch them on your side of things, its NOT all that easy to correct in many place(PA my state is almost impossible to get help from the law side of things, and fines are rather silly IF you get them to enforce things)

what you can Do, and might be your best option, is when you see these hunters there, GO and talk to them and express your concerns with them
from there you will either have nice folks that understand, or you will find out what your in for!

if there nice and move off or??
OK< keep tabs on things and maybe you will live peacefully along side of them

if they give you grief, well then you also know what your in for, and time to step up things
you can use trail camera's to catch them on your land, you can also TAKE there trail camera, let them know of they want it back., they can contact the local police to get it, as that would admit there guilt of being on your side of things placing the camera
I have NEVER found any willing to do this LOL
I used to leave notes saying where there camera was at when I find them on my lands!

you can start talking to your local game dept (IF, IF they enforce trespassing, here in PA they don't and outright refuse to do anything to help you, where as some states game depts will do plenty to help you)
there are legal hunting rules on distances from a building, road and such,safety zones and such, but they are mostly for road right a ways, and house's occupied buildings.


you can also contact your local police and ask for information on what options you have, to know again, what is needed to prosecute if it gets to that
there is a lot more than just saying they did?
it saddens me to say it, but hunters are HUGE trespassers in my area,
far too many feel due to they grew up near a place, had permission in the past, or?? that they just have a GOD given right to go where they please, and its the LAND owners problem if there ON there land!
sad, but been my experience again m,ore often than not, here in PA!
had a gun store, worked in a deer processing butcher shop for many many yrs, and talked to thousands of PA hunters and heard so many say like things, hunt all over the state of PA and again, same mind sets and views in FAR too many here!

good luck to you, maybe if you list what state your in, more options can info can get to you here!

You sound reasonable. Find them when they are not in the tree stand and have a conversation. I always advise non-hunting, landowners to allow at least one person to hunt. If they do, you have one hunter. If they don't, they get them all. That one hunter should drive all trespassers out. I'm not advocating giving them free reign. But, if the conversation is cordial, you could offer retrieval rights for their time and effort preventing others from crossing the "fence". Just a thought.

And, you are correct. If you go in with the stay the he!! off my property "don't even face it with your stands" attitude, you just started a property line battle that may never end. Same with the tarp idea.

If the conversation is not cordial, then I advise finding a relative or friend to start hunting your ground.

If it were me, I would attempt to have a non confrontational conversation with the hunter. Tell him or her your concerns and explain you do not want any rounds coming onto your property because of your horses. Let them know the camera is on your property, if you don't mind it being there tell them that as well, I would also tell them if they shoot a deer on the other property and it comes onto your property, before they may retrieve it they need to contact you and that you are concerned with broadhead arrows winding up in your pasture because of the horses. If they seem to be reasonable people, you just may wind up with an other pair of eyes to keep an eye on your property. I would be cautious about having them actually tell trespassers to leave your property but rather tell you about it and get a vehicle registration. If you really want someone to represent you as an agent for enforcing trespass it will have to be in writing and notarized to hold up in court. If you do not know how to contact the hunter, leave a nore on their stand with your phone number telling them you would like to meet them and talk to them.

park a truck, van camper or ??? something right in the way !, build a cheap wall, have numerous parties on location

as for giving them notice in writing, that honestly isn;t needed, but sure helps
a easier thing to do in today's modern world is video the conversation with them
for yrs I carried a camera with me when I confronted trespassers, hard to deny you were there if I have you on camera?, the video just helps back up the fact you gave verbal warning to them
and 100 % yes, start talks off in a non aggressive tone, if they get aggressive,. just leave, its not worth the trouble to keep going!

as for letting ONE hunter hunt your land, I have tried that and its been ZERO help
I find the hunter tends to come to GET there deer, and then don';t see them much, plus they don't wish to get out of s tree stand till AFTER there done hunting, so NO help on letting me know folks are ON the property while there ON the property!

being told they SEEN"X" people on my land and only after there long gone, isn;t much help to be honest, better maybe them non, but< they didn';t do me any real good in stopping folks in the act, which is basically a required deal in PA!

Someone hunting right next to your land can be very beneficial. You can work with them to help keep and eye on your land when you can't.

I was not talking about giving the hunter notice in writing, I was referring to a post that told the OP to use the hunter to keep other people off his property. If a trespass case gets to court the person acting as an agent will need evidence he is acting for the land owner.

Hatfield, I believe the op is looking for advice on how to avoid an unpleasant situation, not trying to create one when it isn't necessary.

Thanks for the feedback --

I'm in NJ – there is no requirement that they be a certain distance back from the property line, and they are not in any of our buildings' safety zones.

I do plan on having a non-confrontational conversation with them, but I thought it would be helpful to understand a little more about hunting to make it a productive one. So again, thanks for the feedback. Theirs is an undeveloped parcel with no road access anywhere on our common property line, so I'm not going to run into them outside of the woods and I can't stop by to chat – I should be able to look them up in the property records and send a note that way, or drop one by the tree stand.

Between the barn, storage buildings, riding arena, paddocks and pastures there really isn't any place to hunt safely on our parcel, so if this turns into a problem I don't think having hunters here will be our answer. But that would be an issue for another day – for now I'm going to hope that they're reasonable, respectful and safe hunters whose presence will deter trespassers. We have woods along most our property borders, and I don't imagine any of you will be surprised to hear there's not a section we haven't found poachers in at one point or another – most recently literally 20 feet from one of our paddock's turnout sheds. And he was an acquaintance who “lost his bearings in the trees.”

I guess I'll just open communication to make sure they know that because of the horses and hay field we can't have shooting over the property line, and to let them know how to contact us to retrieve game (we have always allowed this – we just ask for a call or text first). And we'll see where it goes from there.