In almost 40 years of hunting, I have never come across a situation where a deer hunter caused significant property damage. I mean what can they do if you require them to walk into the property and use a portable stand? The small chance of damage by a hunter pales in comparison to the damage caused by several surplus deer who are gonna spend all spring and summer dining on corn on your south 40.

As for the liability issue, landowners are well protected. However, given how sue happy our society has become, it is not surprising that some people would be gunshy about potential lawsuits. Even the frivolous ones can be time consuming and expensive.

It might behoove hunters to work more diligently to educate landowners about the way they are protected. Its not the landowner's job to know such things if they have no interest in having hunters on their land. But educating them on the subject might just help to remove barriers to them allowing access to land.