me and my buddy went to put out apples at a spot from last year and found something odd. orange marking tape in several trees which seemd to go in a line up a draw in the woods. Several of the trees with tape in them had another orange strip tied to a bolt of some kind that was planted in the gound. we also found where some saplings had been cut off with hand trimmers but it was not fresh at all. We wondered why if it was tresspassers they would have bolted some of the marking tape in the ground....its the same stuff used to mark property lines but there is no line anywhere around....we are sure it wasn' t there last year and we are pretty sure its been placed since turkey season. Can anyone explain this or do we have tresspassers?

That is kind of odd. Normally when they survey a property line they spray paint on the trees that are on the line and will cut sapplings out of the way. I wouldn' t think that it would be trespassers because they usually don' t leave any evidence behind. If you are leasing the land I would suggest talking to the landowners. They might be able to shed some light on the situation. Let us know what you find out.

It can only be one of 2 things, It was either surveyors, Or if you are sure that this isn' t a property line, It could have been a seismographic survey crew. Or, it could have been some Aliens with Elvis helping out.

well it is not leased land. it is right in the middle of some woods on a farm that my buddy' s parents own. at first we figured maybe someone put up the orange strips to mark a path to a stand or something but unless you were coming from where my friend lives....it would take forever to get there.....i don' t undersand why surveyors would be in there with no property lines near? any other ideas?

It sounds like a property line to me. It might be some new landowners trying to find their own property line and marking in the wrong place. I have to agree with Ballistictip, if it was an actual surveyor they would more than likely mark the trees by a hatchet mark and orange paint. At least that' s what I' m familiar with...

It could be a town or county line. Definately sounds like surveyors.

Could be an easment of some sort. Any pipelines or utilities in the area.

i sure appreciate the suggestions.....it' s just hard to figure out because there is no property line, county,town, or any other line there.....its in the middle of the woods, in the middle of a farm. the only thing i could suggest and maybe this is a dumb answer but........the last orange strip we found was on a small tree that had been struck by lightning, and was surrounded by about 5-8 big pine trees that were dead possibly by beetles. Maybe the forestry service marks damaged tree areas or something....if thats not it i have no clue what is.

Or a watershed. Is there a possibility of a stream not too far underground?

well i dunno about underground....but there are two streams within yards of a few of the markings. most of the time they don' t have much if any water but since this was a wet year they have a little running. what could that mean?