No Trespassing...

[Robert_in_NY]

In New York the law is such that if someone uses your land even if it's not posted their ability to sue you is limited. It was enacted to enable landowners to let people use their property without fear of lawsuits. If, however you charge for the use of your property then all bets are off and you'd better have liability insurance.

Posting only means that anyone who enters your property without your permission can be arrested. If you have success getting the local law to arrest them or not is another matter, usually the law will issue a warning the first time.

Here it is best to have the DEC officers take care of trespassing issues. Any time we have a question or complaint we call one of the game wardens. This is their field and they actually care about these types of violations.

In New York you have to have your land legally posted (there is stipulations for sign size, placement and legally signed). If your legally posted and actually catch someone on your land you can have them arrested. However, if you don't have it legally posted or posted at all but catch someone on your land you don't want there you can toss them off, file it with the game warden and have the warden warn the trespasser and if you catch them again then you can prosecute.

Its very diffucult to actually catch someone trespassing and you can go crazy if you have very much land trying to keep everyone off of it. We only really worry about our base farm where our animals are and where we spend a lot of time at. The rest of our farms and parcels we don't care so much about as its just too much work and headaches to try and patrol and enforce no trespassing on them. If we notice a problem we deal with it but other then that we just try to enjoy life.

We do post one parcel but we only provide the signs and we let our friend who has hunted that land for long before we have owned it take care of it. He puts our signs up, hunts the land and keeps an eye out for trespassers and other problems. He lives right there so it works out well for us as he is the only one who is allowed to hunt there and is a good friend so he treats the land as if it was his and takes good care of it.

The one thing that really bothers me more then people walking across our ground is the people who think its ok to drive across our ground. I get tired of having to fix ruts from stupid people who don't respect other peoples property and drive across wet, soft ground. I have caught one guy but it was on our farm we don't post so all I could do was toss him off and he has never been back. He would drive across and around all my fields and park on the back side of the vineyard there right next to the woods so he didn't have to walk very far. When I told him to never drive on my land again he said "ok, I just have to one more time to get my tree stand". To which I replied "no, you can walk to your tree stand and carry it". I loved it, you tell them no, you cant do this and they tell you they will do it once more anyway. But that guy is a poacher and he knows were good friends with a couple of the game wardens so he decided against pushing it.

Good luck and try not to get too worried with everything as its so very hard to monitor your property 24/7 but very easy to go crazy trying.

 

[weldingisfun]

Ted, not knowing in which state you reside makes addressing your concerns a little difficult.
That said, this is the law in Texas:
PENAL CODE
TITLE 7. OFFENSES AGAINST PROPERTY
CHAPTER 30. BURGLARY AND CRIMINAL TRESPASS


Sec. 30.05. CRIMINAL TRESPASS. (a) A person commits an offense if the person enters or remains on or in property of another, including residential land, agricultural land, a recreational vehicle park, a building, or an aircraft or other vehicle, without effective consent and the person:

(1) had notice that the entry was forbidden; or

(2) received notice to depart but failed to do so.

(b) For purposes of this section:

(1) "Entry" means the intrusion of the entire body.

(2) "Notice" means:

(A) oral or written communication by the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner;

(B) fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock;

(C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;

(D) the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks are:

(i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than one inch in width;

(ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and

(iii) placed at locations that are readily visible to any person approaching the property and no more than:

(a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or

(b) 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land; or

(E) the visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time of entry.(3) "Shelter center" has the meaning assigned by Section 51.002, Human Resources Code.

(4) "Forest land" means land on which the trees are potentially valuable for timber products.

(5) "Agricultural land" has the meaning assigned by Section 75.001, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.

 

[Milton Burro]

I had a problem with animal trespass on my property last year from two residents that live close by. After personal contact with the owners and two calls to the sheriff, I took the suggestion of the sheriff deputy and shot one of their pit bulls I caught chasing and snapping at the flanks of one of my burros. I agree with what the deputy said, it would be best if you could just shoot the owner because he will most likely just go get another dog and allow it to be killed as well.

Missouri Law:
Dogs may be killed, when.
273.030. If any person shall discover any dog or dogs in the act of killing, wounding or chasing sheep in any portion of this state, or shall discover any dog or dogs under such circumstances as to satisfactorily show that such dog or dogs has or have been recently engaged in killing or chasing sheep or other domestic animal or animals, such person is authorized to immediately pursue and kill such dog or dogs; provided, however, that such dog or dogs shall not be killed in any enclosure belonging to or being in lawful possession of the owner of such dog or dogs.
(RSMo 1939 § 14536)

 

[wetstuff]

In my part of the woods there are a number of Hunting Clubs that lease, or have purchased land. If I had a large parcel, I would probably invent a hunt club with a name that was associated with 'city folk' and post their signs, as other clubs do here.

What more intimidating than the thought of a 'Slicker with a Weatherby and Scotch' sitting in the woods waiting for anything that moves.


Jim

 

[jobguy]

My land (6)acres backs up to a development and a paved bike/walking path. I was mowing and spraying for thistles but people started using my land as a dog park and looking through my sheds at equipment. I let the thistle grow (some to 5 feet tall) only cutting when it is about to go to seed and then as high as possible. No more dogs or people. "I AM NOT GROUCHY" :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

My land (6)acres backs up to a development and a paved bike/walking path. I was mowing and spraying for thistles but people started using my land as a dog park and looking through my sheds at equipment. I let the thistle grow (some to 5 feet tall) only cutting when it is about to go to seed and then as high as possible. No more dogs or people. "I AM NOT GROUCHY" :laughing:

When I bought my land from the owner of 50 years the Poison Oak was so thick, it made much of it impenetrable...

Over the years, I have cleared and eliminated almost all of it... now I'm always finding trash down by my creek...

Saw the former owner over the Holidays and he asked about the old homestead... I told him I had cleared the Poison Oak and questioned whether that was wise... he purposely let it grow back in the 50's to keep the "Riff-Raff" out, in his words...

 

[Maxfli]

My neighbor parks vehicles in his barn. No Trespassing signs are clearly posted around his property. On 3 occasions people have stolen items from his trucks. He was going to put in cameras but his lawyer said here in Illinois you need to post a sign that says the premises is under video surveillance in order to use that video in court. And even then I guess is still tricky.

 

[TripleR]

We use a combination of NO TRESPASSING signs in addition to purple paint as we have several hundred acres to post and as mentioned people will tear down the signs.

I was in court one day when a young man was prosecuted for felony property damage after he went "mudding" in farmer's field. The farmer had place nails in boards in his field and the kid was caught when his tires all went flat.

My sons have a sign on one of our farms that should work fairly well, it says NO TRESPASSING BULLET IMPACT AREA. We have a range up there, so it is kind of true.

I do agree you should maintain a good sized liability policy on your property, we have one and it is not too expensive from what I remember.

 

[ustmd]

My land (6)acres backs up to a development and a paved bike/walking path. I was mowing and spraying for thistles but people started using my land as a dog park and looking through my sheds at equipment. I let the thistle grow (some to 5 feet tall) only cutting when it is about to go to seed and then as high as possible. No more dogs or people. "I AM NOT GROUCHY" :laughing:

In Texas we do the same thing, except we let the mesquite grow--the 3 inch thorns are a great de-motivators.

 

[Soundguy]

in my area, if you don't have your land posted, then you have a hard time getting the law to come out and write a tresspass warning.

on the other hand if posted properly.. and you catch them AND law gets there fast.. you can get them warned and removed. 2nd time they do it is a free trip to the slammer..

soundguy