Trespasser.....what would you do?

[kenmbz]

Norway and other European countries have right to roam, but I do think there are limits on location to house?

The problem here is, if my neighbor walks my property-no issue.
If anyone else wants to roam, they can ask.
If anyone wants to hunt, no, and we post.

I'm sure Norway and the rest of europe has hunting laws very separate from roaming laws.

We do have accessways around here where people give the right to walk trails through there property. It's voluntary for them.

Along the Canal, the access way is part of the state park and no land owner can block access to walk/fish etc.
No hunting along that area though and when you buy along state right of ways, the rules are quite plainly posted.

The only reason strangers would be wandering my land is for hunting or theft. Not really a way to get from place to place .

 

[TractorGuy]

There is a small piece of property adjoining mine that is being cleared for development as I type. I have a few No Trespassing signs already but I plan to get some fresh No Hunting OR Trespassing signs posted before the construction workers or new home buyers arrive.

 

[Agvg]

Norway and other European countries have right to roam, but I do think there are limits on location to house?

The problem here is, if my neighbor walks my property-no issue.
If anyone else wants to roam, they can ask.
If anyone wants to hunt, no, and we post.

I'm sure Norway and the rest of europe has hunting laws very separate from roaming laws.

We do have accessways around here where people give the right to walk trails through there property. It's voluntary for them.

Along the Canal, the access way is part of the state park and no land owner can block access to walk/fish etc.
No hunting along that area though and when you buy along state right of ways, the rules are quite plainly posted.

The only reason strangers would be wandering my land is for hunting or theft. Not really a way to get from place to place .

The limit for camping is 150m and maximum 2 days, you can of course not camp on farm land and any used private land, no fishing or hunting and you must leave no traces.

Was wrong about meters and days, I have some areas that are popular to use and its no problem, we don have any liability so insurance or suing is not an issue, people can walk of cliffs or kill them selves as they like in nature, its not my problem.

 

[bdhsfz6]

There are idiots out there - take care of yourself.

AND, these idiots often have guns!

 

[bdhsfz6]

This is how I dealt with trespassers:

My land borders an old junk yard which has since been cleaned up. There is an old farm access road leading in from a township road that runs along the property line. A few years back, trespassers began leaving junk along the road. On one occasion, someone even left a junk car. I called the police and was told to install a locked gate. About a month after I did so, someone ripped it out, stole it, and left a pile of junk in it's place.

I set up an old game cam I had and managed to get a license plate number which I gave to the police. It was an out of date plate registered to someone who had died years ago.

I finally bought a Reconyx cellular game cam which sends pictures to my smartphone in real time. One night, a couple of months later, at 2 in the morning, it alerted me of a trespasser. I immediately called the police who managed to get there in time to catch the trespassers in the act of dumping a load of junk. They were arrested and heavily fined but did no jail time. I could have pursued the issue and sued for the cleanup costs but I wanted to reduce the chance of retribution. Thankfully, there was none.

This reduced, but didn't completely eliminate the illegal dumping. I finally closed the road permanently with boulders and logs. I had to put in another road off my private road to access that part of the property.

All totaled, it cost me around $2K and a lot of my time but the issue was finally resolved.

 

[shooterdon]

These are interesting threads. It is hard to keep your cool when people blatantly trespass. I have had signs torn down. My property borders state land on one side and abandoned property on the other side. I live here full time so I have little patience with trespassers or folks who are "lost".

 

[OldPaint]

Triggering revenge on the first offense is never the best approach. Approaching them during hunting season might not be a grand idea either, considering they are carrying lethal weapons, as you pointed out with your reference to the missing couple. NEVER go out there alone either until you have the situation resolved. Get Conservation and LEO's involved ASAP. You're gonna need some means of determining the poachers' access, if you haven't already. If you trail them onto someone else's property trying to catch them in the act, then you would be the trespasser trying to catch them. That's someone else's job. Whether they have permission on adjacent land or not, they don't have to answer to you for it if they're not on your property when you approach them. Check with the surrounding owners to make sure you have permission to be on their land, and explain to them why. You might just get possible names for your poacher(s) if the neighbors are leasing their land.

At the very least, if you don't want to press charges and start a feud, the poacher should come and remove/bury the offal from the kill, and remove his stand(s). There may be more than one poacher, and that's more chances to run across a very bad person.

IIRC, you said your land had been clear-cut, or "timbered", which of course, is going to draw deer, turkey, and other game with all the underbrush and cover. That is what drew the poacher, too. I don't remember what you described as road access to/around it, but if there's an adjacent roadway, that's going to make it a little tougher if they're having someone drop them off and pick them up. If they know they're poaching and don't care, they also know their life is in just as much danger as the landowner on a confrontation. That would be the most dangerous situation.

Wind carries scent farther in open areas than it does in forested areas. Deer don't look up, but they have excellent eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell. They know where not to be when they detect something that shouldn't be there, but get quite curious when their hearing and sight doesn't clue them in on what they smell, thus the snorting and stomping, trying to make something move so they can see it. That is the purpose of tree stands, especially for people that can't be still enough to hunt the deer on his own terms. That same advantage over the deer makes it next to impossible to approach a tree stand with someone in it. They have the high ground and can see you a lot better and sooner than you can see them (if they're not sleeping).

Most hunters will typically cut a trail for their access so they don't have to push brush out of their faces or make as much noise with it dragging on clothing when they're walking, or if they ride in close on a 4-wheeler. Either of those evidence trails is easy to find. If they walk in a long distance and don't cut an access trail, not so much. Knowing where they come from is the first order of business if you want to try to approach them, and being there when they show up. Don't try to walk up on them. I don't recommend doing either without backup (preferably a warden or cop) and cell service, and maybe even a body cam concealed. If you can find out where they park, make sure LEO is at the vehicle if the worst happens and they try to run.

 

[East30]

I had an issue a few years ago. I purchased a piece of land fall 2016, asked the owner about the people hunting the property for ducks. I had previously seen spent shells and the area people had driven to to hunt. He said no one had permission to be on the property at all. Since I was purchasing he gave me permission, but never hunted it.

Jump forward to the next year. I had built a pole barn, and was organizing it one weekend in mid-September. I heard a number of shots very close by. It was the youth duck opener. Stood outside the pole barn for few minutes, heard a couple more shots. Started walk through the 3 foot tall grass to the ponds. Got very close to where I thought the shots originated, but there was one last small hill to see if someone was over it, hunting the pond. I didn't want to simply walk over and get shot scaring someone so I figured I'd wait for another shot, if my guess was right to their location.

Waiting a good 10 minutes, then I made one step. What I didn't realize is that I was pushing pheasants through the grass in front of me. That step flushed those pheasants. Immediately 2 or 3 shots when off. I couple ducks flew over at the same time. (What timing) I yelled "Get Out" as loud as I could. Don't know why those words came to mind, but I yelled it as loud as I could. I walked over the hill to see a guy and his son. My heart was pumping though my chest. I calmly said to the kid, how's hunting this morning. The guys eyes were the size of saucers. He walked up to me and we talked about not having permission to hunt here. He apologized and said his brother had told him he could hunt here. I told him he could finish the hunt with his son, but my son was also youth duck hunting elsewhere, and if he came to hunt this land he would have to leave. Also he could not hunt here anymore after today. I told the kid he had shot a couple of nice ducks. As I was walking away, the guy picked up all his gear and left. Not had an issue since. I think he was more rattled than I.

People don't understand the impact of hunting, and being unknown, on a piece of property. I sure understand it more clearly now.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

So far, I've had pretty good luck. I have found one deer stand on my property. I put a No Trespassing sign on that tree, and the stand was gone a couple of days later. They are either respecting the signs or being more sneaky about it, but I haven't seen further evidence of trespassing.

Do you have this property well-marked with signs? In some areas, it's perfectly legal for people to trespass, if the land is not posted as No Trespassing. I find that bizarre, but it's the law.

Sadly, if you never police the area, some people will treat it as public land. I also use gamecams to get a better idea of whats happening on the land.

Good luck.

In Oregon, there are multiple levels of trespass. Entering onto private property is not a crime, and only becomes one if you are asked to leave and do not. Walking past a No Trespassing sign is a misdemeanor. The next level is malicious trespass; if you enter the property and cause damage of any kind, intentional or not, it is a criminal act. My dad once arrested a state cop for trespass when he drove across a field of young wheat leaving a mile of muddy ruts. He collected on the damages.

 

[IH3444]

TN bill will allow purple paint markings to be used as 'No Trespassing' signs​

TN bill will allow purple paint markings to be used as 'No Trespassing' signs Published: Jun. 27, 2017 at 7:54 PM PDT Along with several other laws going into effect on July 1, one is allowing homeowners to mark their property with purple paint to warn trespassers. The bill soon to be law was signed by Governor Haslam on May 4, 2017.