brun0201

Hi there,

I'm new to hunting and am looking for opinions on public land use. Where I hunt is all public land. I spent the off season looking at maps of the area to determine good geographical locations to start preparing spots for deer season.

When I physically got to the area which is accessible only by one logging road I noticed someone had put up signs to keep out and during deer season blocked entrance to the area. This land IS public and also spans about 4-5 square KM.

I don't want to use other peoples hunting spots that they put effort into maintaining but blocking off access to 1200 square acres of public land and logging roads seems excessive to me. Am I wrong for wanting to use this land too?

mrbb

I would report any signs being put up to the owners of the land, be it state land, federal land, or??
as legally its NOT allowed to do so,
However, many public lands ARE land locked, meaning you HAVE to cross private lands to enter the public lands and, land owners have every right to post and NOT allow folks to use there land
SOME state lands have easements, but NOT all do

so, are you 100% sure its truly public lands where the signs are?

so again, report it if so to the right authority and if it is truly public, you have every right to be there as anyone else

BUT this also doesn't;t mean you can take over any spots you like or find, its a free for all on public lands
ONLY real rules I seem to find, is HOW the person was raised , if they are more kind and not wanting to sit next to you or use you as scouting tool cause there too lazy
or how ignorant or NOT they are, which again, seems to me to come from how they were raised and there morals they have or don;t!

Bocajnala

As mrbb said .. There is allot of public land that is land locked and not accessible without written permission. If that's the case you need to talk to the land owner and see if they will allow you to access the public area.

I personally think that public lands should have some type of access right of way. But that would be very difficult in many places, and it just isn't how it works.

If it is in fact public land that somebody is wrongly trying to keep people off of- Report the signs and then go hunt it
​​​​​​-Jake
​​​​​

brun0201

Thanks for the reply's guys. I'm located in Quebec, Canada. The government has a land registry map online that says who owns what. The access point and land is all public land. I think I'll just hunt it and hopefully run into who ever is trying to claim it so we can have a chat.

mrbb

your still better off telling the property authority, as I am sure they would want to know someone is trying to claim lands as there';s and can fine them and also, help other hunters out in the process!

Cub Slayer

Agreed. This is definitely the sort of behavior you want to discourage.

Erno86

What structure did they block the entrance area with?

Did they put a name signature on the - No Trespass posters?

A game warden would probably be very interested in investigating your case.

hubby11

Whatever is the equivalent of a game warden in Quebec, that's who I would contact. Not necessarily to report whoever posted the signs, but to make sure this is an area you are allowed to hunt. Then the authorities can proceed however they want with respect to the signs. Consider that someone might have thought they were in the right in posting either because they were mistaken or some other reason (animal rights activist, etc.). Better to find out beforehand rather than when you are in the woods resulting in a possible confrontation.