[Darryle]

Not unless I have specific permission will I ever cross another mans fence, regardless of the circumstances. I have called the Game Warden to help locate a neighbor once when a hog crossed thru a property I had permission to be on. Then it turned into a overwhelming invite, seems the hogs had been ruining this gentleman's garden.

 

[LeonCarr]

No

About 20 years ago the largest Whitetail Buck I have ever seen in my life was on the other side of the back fence of a 1600 acre farm I had permission to hunt on. It is the only time in my life that I blew a grunt call, and a deer answered me .

10 points, about 20 inches inside spread, chocolate rack, would probably score 150-160. He was about 100 yards away from me taunting me as I hid behind a cedar bush. I had the safety off of the Remington 700 .308 with 4.5-14 Leupold Vari-X III thinking, "Come on, jump the fence, nobody is gonna shoot you ".

He got tired of this imaginary buck grunting at him and walked off into the Mesquite on the other property. I was about 4 miles from the nearest human being and could have easily shot the buck, trespassed on the property, drug it across, and nobody would have been the wiser. I chose not to do it and shot an almost the same size 8 point the next day.

That was in 1996 and I remember it to this day. Do not go on someone else's property without permission. Ever.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[Neanderthal]

I would never trespass.

Here we have "no hunting" signs.

It would be a total lack of respect to the property owner to set foot on their property without permission.

I live in a small town and wouldn't be comfortable walking outside amidst 20 people I didn't know having a picnic on my front yard either. And I don't even have signs up!

 

[brookie]

I am amazed that this is even a discussion. If it were a situation of starve to death or trespass to harvest meat, I might consider it.

 

[emgerrish]

Last year my son shot his first ever large bull elk on land that he has permission to hunt. The bull ran after being hit and crossed onto adjoining property. He stopped at the property line and (in Idaho you had better know the lines if you plan to hunt, it's serious business) backed out. He could see the bull down on the opposite side of the dividing fence. When he got to his truck he contacted the property owners to explain the situation and asked for permission to retrieve the elk. They refused to allow him to retrieve it. To this day he is not sure if they left it to rot or if they went and got it. Needless to say he was pretty discouraged. I am proud of him for doing the right thing as hard as it must have been for him..
The upside, word got around and some other landowners gave him additional permissions on other land...they liked the idea that he understood the importance of honoring other peoples property.

I had a similar experience last year. I shot a deer that crossed over onto adjoining posted property. The landowners (a big buck club) do not allow anyone to access their land. I had to leave the deer for the coyotes 20 yards onto their property. Legally we could tag the other persons harvest.....

It's a good idea to line up permissions on adjoining land before you hunt, if it's possible. On my property my neighbor and I have a bit of a contentious relationship. He once hunted my land.... But, we do have an agreement to contact each other if an animal goes onto the adjoining land. We always contact each other before tracking and crossing the bounds. We have always allowed each other to track and retrieve and generally help each other do it.

 

[Terrapin]

Only time I'm tempted is out west where we have a literal patchwork of private and public grounds. When you hunt a block of public, you can end up in a corner with two blocks of private and two blocks of public. It is illegal to step over the corner from one block of public to another block of public, leaving huge expanses of public area land locked and virtually inaccessible without a plane. That's a tough pill to swallow.

 

[brookie]

emgerrish, that sucks. Anyone that would not allow someone to retrieve an animal like that is just a Dbag. You must have raised your son right and he did the right thing, you should be proud. I have always given access to my land to retrieve an animal and most time a lending hand. To come onto my property to hunt is another thing though, or anyone else's for that matter. This is one of the main reason I don't do the deer hunting I used to. Theft of tree stands and trespassing has driven me into the swamps for ducks and geese. I have actually had to kick people out of my own tree stand on my own property.

 

[McFarmer]

If was always under the assumption that you could retrieve game that went onto private property. In Iowa you have to leave your weapon behind, but you don't have to ask to retrieve game.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[emgerrish]

If was always under the assumption that you could retrieve game that went onto private property. In Iowa you have to leave your weapon behind, but you don't have to ask to retrieve game.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not familiar with Iowa law but here in New York you are not allowed to cross a property line to retrieve a kill without the landowners permission. If the land owner denies you you may ask an ECO (Environmental Conservation Officer) for help but if the property owner tells the ECO no he is powerless to do anything about it. The land owner may opt to tag your kill or leave it..you cannot do anything about it.
Idaho is the same as far as I know....

 

[Zbigniew]

If was always under the assumption that you could retrieve game that went onto private property. In Iowa you have to leave your weapon behind, but you don't have to ask to retrieve game.

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

That's what I've heard, too, except I didn't think you had to leave the weapon behind.

 

[Neanderthal]

The law simply varies from state to state.
For instance, in ND you have to put up no hunting signs, but in SD none are necessary. All private land is closed to hunting and trespassing automatically and you have to gain permission by asking for it.
I am pretty sure the retrieval laws vary also.

 

[emgerrish]

It would be interesting for folks to post up here with their local laws.
It is indeed the case that the laws are different from state to state.
I just spent the last 10 minutes digging through Kansas law..

You may pursue a wounded animal onto posted land even without permission but must leave (and presumably leave the game) if asked to by the landowner.

 

[terreythompson]

Definitely No! It's against the law and we should abide to it. Trespassing is a crime.

 

[warboar]

Growing up in Indiana I used to hunt my grandfathers farm and the neighbors. I used to help them tear down trespassers tree stands and makeshift ground blinds. My grandfather used to allow hunting but then his some of his livestock had been shot and the hunting ceased.
The neighbor's son would go so far as making sure the trespassers cars or trucks were not leaving their property and the county sheriff would be waiting for them when they walked out of the woods. Grandpa or the neighbor would get the deer and the Ahole got a trespassing fine and had to have their vehicles towed to a repair shop.
Now the laws are much stiffer people can become a little more violent to avoid the felony charges.

My suggestion would be to drive out further and hunt public land. If that's not possible then perhaps you can befriend a landowner. Offer to work the property in return permission to hunt.

 

[DblXX]

No

 

[NoShorts]

Never. My Dad taught us better. If you want to hunt on private property, get permission. It's the right thing to do. Just mho.

I was taught to ask. The worst they gonna do is say no. And if they do say yes great. I also continue to stop in and ask. I dont bow hunt but I squirrel hunt and I've got certain landowners who don't have a problem but there son or neighbor or whom ever does. So out of courtesy I continue to ask the land owner each time I'm going to step into the property. It's called respect...

 

[paparockcal]

It's not always easy to find out who owns the land but it is well worth the effort you put in to find out. People who trespassed on my family's land were never allowed back. Those who asked paid a whole $5.00 to get a landowners permit so we could keep track of who was supposed to be hunting on the land. We even furnished a Camp House free of charge. We all hunted and enjoyed having people hunt with us as long as they just asked. That way we kept out the drunks and those dangerous to everyone with the help of those legally permitted to hunt. If you really want to ingratiate yourself volunteer to help the farmer or rancher as it also will pay dividends with the tips where the best spots to hunt are at that time.

I can't tell you how many people I and my first cousin caught trespass hunting and they tried to bluff us that they had permission not knowing who we were and that we knew everyone that had permission. That was when we told them our names and you could see them swallow hard and say OH! :lol:

Its never worth it. We could have filed charges on people but as long as they were not repeat offenders we just let it go and informed the others legal to hunt there to be on the look-out.

 

[evbutler]

Interesting posts. Here in NC, in order to file charges against a trespasser, you must ask him to leave and not return. If he comes back, you may go to a magistrate and file charges. It is a misdemeanor offense.

However, if the property is posted, no first time warning is necessary. A game warden can cite a trespasser on posted land.

Having said that, my hunting club has a bit over 7,000 acres of prime hunting lands leased. It is all posted. When we find a trespasser, we send him on his way with a friendly chat. We don't want him to set fire to our hunting lands, so we keep it friendly. Thus far, it has worked. We had one guy who tried our patience so we had the game warden pay him a visit. After explaing the facts of life to him, I haven't seen him on the place since.

If a hunter asks permission to hunt on our land, we charge a daily fee of $25. I have had some of our SGW members visit us and they, without fail, went home with game. We write them a trespass waiver which they can show a game warden if one is encountered.

I might add that anyone hunting on posted land must have in their possession a waiver (permission to hunt signed by the lease/land owner). Otherwise, if checked by the game warden, they are given a trespass citation and have to pay court costs to a magistrate. They don't have to appear in court unless they want to protest the charge.

 

[HenryVac]

Good lord I can't believe this is even a discussion. That's a fast way to get shot at by "accident".

 

[Pine Creek/Dave]

J Bagley,

I do not trespass, I either get permission or I do not hunt the private land. I expect the same from others where my land is concerned.

Dave B - L.C. Smith Man