Outdoor

Being a hunter just like the rest of you, I was wondering if I'm the only one who thinks this way.....
Here in NH the fish & game have written clearly in the hunting reg's that all private land is open to hunting...period. I think this is crazy...who are they to tell the public ...oh yea it's ok... it's private but help yourself! It also states that we should respect private land. Now that’s staying on the fence!
I don't understand how walking into "private property" is any different than walking into someone's house...it's theirs not mine
I'm a land owner of 40 acres and I don't hunt my own property...reason being I just don't find hunting on my property to be any challenge...I know how they travel and where to find them....I have built food plots and trying to bring other game into the property such as wood**** and grouse. So I in turn have posted my property....fellow hunters have torn down my signs on a regular basis! I speak with no one so no one can say a good thing or a bad thing about us. No one has ever asked permission to hunt.
In 99.9% of the cases if I wanted to hunt a piece of property I would seek permission first...I just feel it's the right thing to do.
I think the state is dead wrong and I think you should seek permission before you enter private property...we have enough hurdles with organizations like PETA...why create something more?

specialist1

Legal or not, I could not ethically or morally hunt someone else's property without talking to them first.

PA Bow/Flinter

Growing up in PA, I was always taught to ask permission. I'm currently going to school at UNH Durham (right down the road from you) and I have to be honest, the thought of just walking on to any unposted property doesn't seem right. I stick to university or state land as I don't know any residents well enough to seek permission to hunt.

I guess I understand the notion of "If its not posted, its open" in areas further north (and in Maine) where paper companies own much of the land and landowners may not be around to seek permission from, but I don't think that gives anyone the right to tramp through private property, especially in more urban areas.

7MMXBOLT

Outdoor, I don't get it either. I have lived and hunted NH for nearly 50 years and its been that way as long as I can remember. The problem is if you don't want people to hunt your property "YOU" have to post it and pay for it yourself. It could cost a pretty penny if you own a huge chunk cause unless it is "PROPERLY" posted there is a loop hole. To properly post, it has to have a sign every 50 yards and it has to have all your contact information in order for it to legally posted. BS I say, the state should pay for that not the owner. I hunt NY & Conn also and you go to jail if you don't have written perimssion on your person when asked. It should be that way in all 50 states if you ask me. My land is just that "MY LAND" not yours to do as you feel. I only ask permission to hunt private land if it is posted and a good majority of the time I get it. If it not posted I don't even bother cause most of the time it is over run by YAHO'S and I wouldn't want to hunt there anyways. The one exception is we have a chunk of property in Lynebough (200) acres, a young women owns that we offered to post it for her in exchange that she lets only our group hunt there. She loved the idea and at the end of next season she will get the usual, a fruit basket with a nice bottle of wine and a goodie bag of fresh venison. Thats what we do for people who let us hunt their land. A show of thanks, respect, & appreciation goes a long way. Now she feel safe knowing who is on her property and she knows that we understand where she would like us not to hunt near with a rifle. She is even going to let us put in some food plots in two of her fields in exchange for us to cultivate a small area so she can have a herb garden. Such a deal!!

Bob H in NH

The "open unless posted" philosophy is just that, a belief or philosophy. Howver you are wrong in two aspects:

1) As a landowner you can close down your land in a heart beat, just post it.

2) You don't have to "legally" post it for it to be valid. Someone above pointed out the "legal posting" rules and that is an old belief and no longer true. If the land is private and the owner makes a "good faith" effort to either post, or ask people to leave, then it's closed, period. So if you have a spot where hunters or hikers or anyone else, is using to access it, a simple sign there is enough to have the land closed.

The only exception is public use tax status. If the land if filed under public use tax status, it HAS TO BE OPEN TO ALL.

Much of this is because there is much land, especially up north, that is private, yet owned by companies. If the law was flipped, then you'd need access from a corporation to go on the land.

Jimmy S

All valid points. These comments are also included on the NH Fish and Game website. Plus NH takes trespassing on posted land seriously. If a hunter knowingly hunts posted land, they can be prosecuted for criminal trespassing. Plus because it happens during hunting season, the Fish and Game can become involved and not just the local authority.

I have hunted NH for may years and believe in the intent of this law. Sure, we have slob-hunters that think they can hunt anywhere, including posted land but IMO, they are the exception, not the rule. That being said, it seems more and more land, especially in southern NH is now posted. All it takes is some nitwit to ruin it for hunters that are respectful and have been hunting that specific piece for years. Over the past few years, I have been forced to find different places to hunt because that land is now posted. Asking why to the land owner, they have stated because of so-called hunters trash their property as they main reason. Yes, I was disappointed but also respected the land owners rights.

To think that just because land is not posted and anyone can legally hunt it, that this opens a big can of worms here in NH is (IMHO) just not correct. As Bob H stated, posting any property can be done quickly.

Phil from Maine

Here posted land means just that.. If it is not posted then there is no problem hunting it as a rule of thumb. Posted can be done with signs or to rings painted on trees every so often to save the land owner money.. Here most all the land we hunt is privately owned and we never had any issues. Most of the land though is paper company land. Some of the roads going threw them is used at certain times of the year by the national guards and such. This means Federal Dollars are being used on them which require them to keep passable duriong the year. The exception is during the winter months that they are not required to plow them.. I do believe that sometime in our not so far futrue that these lands will be getting leased to hunting groups to help pay for taxes and the like..

7MMXBOLT

Bob, this was explained to me by a NH Fish & Game officer 5 years ago so the law must have changed since then. He said, Under the law, the way it was written at that time if a land owner has,

1) Not asked you to not hunt their property in the past.

2) Had limited signs but did not encompass the entire property.

3) Was not posted with a sign every 50 yards for the entire property to include contact information.

the land owner would not have a legal right to bring you up on charges for trespassing. He also said that this was because there would be no way of anyone knowing for sure where the land owners property would start or end and this was the only way to clearly identify that so that a judge could make a fair ruling on the charges. Not knowing if your trespassing "at the time" was an honest mistake on the trespassers part and could be thrown out. That was the loop hole he was taking about. It wouldn't be considered an ignorance of the law but an honest mistake and the courts would side with the defendant.

This also apply's to corporations. Fidelity Investments in my home town has their property posted in this manner and you don't want to be caught there because they will have you arrested. I know someone that was and it cost him dearly.

A friend of mine is a NH Fish & Game officer (or may still be) but I haven't seen him in a while so I will have to ask him if the law was changed.

7MMXBOLT

Actually I stand corrected it's every 100 yards. But you can be arrested if you are hunting land that is not properly posted and you "KNOWINGLY REMAIN". But I would think that would be hard to make stick in court. All one would have to say is they must have entered the property between the posted signs and never saw them. Again, a honest mistake on the part of the trespasser. Then that falls back on the land owner for not properly posting their property.

http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunt...unter_FAQs.htm

This is "common law" that has been on the books from back when the early settlers put the laws in place. So it's not a belief or philosophy but an actual law.

Bob H in NH

My understanding is that yes, the strictness of the posting rules changed, AND they introduced the concept of trespassing even when it isn't posted at all. You get a lower penalty I believe, but you are still guilty.

For example. Unposted land, you run into the landowner and he asks you to leave and not come back. For all purposes, that land is now posted TO YOU. If you are caught on it you can be prosecuted. Yes there's the wiggle room you mentioned, but it's still off limits to you. It was done to balance land owner rights vs public access traditions.

Same for a single posted sign where you park your car. It's posted. However you could make the argument that you came in a different way and didn't know it was posted, that will work EXACTLY once.