tresspass question

[MNpurple]

I have the next week off and will be bowhunting private property. Approximately two hundred yards from my stand is another piece of private property which is posted exactly by the book to meet legal requirements and I am sure this person would not let me retrieve an animal from his property because he is just that way. A good hit should put a deer down within 200 yards and the odds of a deer retreating to this particular property are slim. However, odd things do happen. According to Minnesota's regs.....

"Exceptions

• A person on foot may, without permission, enter land that is not posted to retrieve a wounded animal that was lawfully shot, but may not remain on the land after being told to leave.

So in this particular case, where this guys land IS POSTED, I would not be able to enter it to retrieve the animal should the worst case scenario happen, correct?

[LOTWSvirgin]

Call the warden show his it was legally shot and see from there. I personally would get it as long as it doesnt mess with his hunting at the time unless I was told to leave.

[reelguy]

You are correct. The statute is worded just as the reg. book states. If you want to read more about it, hunter trespassing is under state statute 97B.001. just google "MN state Statutes" and the revisor HSOforum will show up. plug the number in on the left.

[Archerysniper]

What I have done in the past is after the animal goes on thier property is ask the land owner and make it clear that if he denies permission you will be back with the game warden to retreve your animal and in most cases they will let you go if they have any questions take them to your stand and start tracking from thier with them.

[mrklean]

Like they said if he does say no tell h im that is fine and he will call the game warden to get if for you if he wants to go down that road.

[walleyehunter80]

I would retrieve any deer I shot anywhere it dropped no matter what anyone said!

[ChrisT]

I don't think you can stress enough to get a DNR officer involved if needed. Contact the land owner, if they either say no or are not avaliable get a CO down there. My party ran into an issue that got ugly a couple years back. We do drives during the second gun season and we know not to go on this guys property because he has denied us permission to hunt in the past. While doing a drive a party member shot a deer that literally fell across the fence and made it 10 feet on the other side of the fence. He left his gun jumped across, grabbed the deer by a leg and was yanking it across when the owner came flying up in a gator in a tissy. He ended up getting a ticket due to the fact that it was implied we did not have permission per previous encounter. We repeated the statement in the book till we were blue in the face, to no avail. Again, if it happens, get a CO!

Chris

[reelguy]

Guess I am wondering what good calling a CO will do? It clearly states land owners have the right to keep you off their land. I highly doubt a CO is going to walk onto the guys land and retrieve your deer for you. Plus if the landowner does not want the CO there he can tell him/her to pound sand as well. As long as he/she is not investigating a criminal matter, he would have to leave also.

I see the point of not letting a wounded/dead deer lay to rot or the yotes to get it, but that is part of owning your own land. You have that right. Now maybe if you talk to the guy nice and ask if you can't go on his land, if he will retrieve it for you? I have been witness to people going on land to retrieve wounded deer and they are slobs. That will make any landowner mad.

[harvey lee]

I would retrieve any deer I shot anywhere it dropped no matter what anyone said!

Its best to ask.

Thats one of the reasons we have the issueS and laws we have.

I would let another and also help him find his deer.

We have to remember that many hunters will break every law there is and the landowners will not allow hunters on their property as they have been burned so many times in the past.

Years ago in my Fathers last years, he quit deer hunting as he had had it with people who treaspassed and would not follow the laws.

This is the main reason landowners are somewhat angry at times.

We all would be. I now take care of a ranch in North Dakota where the deer hunting is pretty good. I'm to the point I will not allow hardly anyone to hunt as I have been burned so bad so many times by people who will do whatever they please.

These type hunters will ruin it for aLL THE GOOD HUNTERS.

We all need to treat the landowners like they are our firends and things could be much better for all of us.

[mrklean]

Guess I am wondering what good calling a CO will do? It clearly states land owners have the right to keep you off their land. I highly doubt a CO is going to walk onto the guys land and retrieve your deer for you. Plus if the landowner does not want the CO there he can tell him/her to pound sand as well. As long as he/she is not investigating a criminal matter, he would have to leave also.

.

The Co has ever right to get the deer off the property, if they are called they talk to the land owner and the hunter and find out what happened, he then goes to where the deer was shot, he then takes possession of the anaimal and decides if he is going to the hunter or keep it. If the hunter was sitting right on the fence where the no tresspassing signs were the DNR will probably keep it, if he was someplace else and the deer just ran and died there the hunter will probably get the deer back. That is excatly what the CO told us in bowhunter ed class during the spring. A CO is a member of the law so they can do that its just like the police investigating something.

[deerminator]

You also have to use common sense in the situation. Is it 50 yards into the neighboring property when it falls or hundreds of yards in through thick brush? Will it take you less than a few minutes to drag it out or a good half hour or more? More importantly, would you be screwing up this guy's hunting area, especially if he was hunting in a stand not far away at the same time? I own land and my neighboring property owners and I would all agree, go get that deer (no permission needed) if its quick and painless to the other landowner. If its more involved, call before you tromp across their hunting grounds.

[harvey lee]

Common sense goes a long ways. Due unto others also is a good way to look at how you approach the situation.

[vitalshot5]

I disagree that a CO can retrieve that deer off of private land. If a land owner tells him to leave he would have to leave also, He than would need a warrant just like any law enforcer would need, even if a crime is committed, unless he thinks there was a crime committed a co will not waste his time more than asking a landowner permission. he's surely not getting a warrant to go get your deer.

[summit090706]

I am not sure about this last post. CO's have a lot more power then other law enforcement officers.

[mudslinger64]

i dont believe they need a warrant,i will have to ask dan starr next time i see him...

[vitalshot5]

CO comes to my door and wants to come in and see my freezer...i say no and he goes and gets a warrant, also comes to my fishhouse and wants to come in and i say no, he has to go get a warrant, wheres the difference between that and coming on my land and i say no.....he than would need to go get a warrant. They indeed have more authority than poice/sheriff but I still have my rights.

[Ray1]

A CO used to be able to do what ever they wanted but like vitalshot5 says, they have to have a warrent.

[BlueLundFishrman]

I believe they use the "open fields doctrine" when checking for violations on land (in fields) or whatever. It allows them to search "open fields" without a warrant.

[MNpurple]

Interesting conversation guys. I was looking through the regs again in reference to my situation. It states:

To be legally posted, land must have signs:

—posted once each year that state “no trespassing” or similar terms either:

1) along the boundaries every 1,000 feet or less, or in wooded

areas where boundaries are less clear, at intervals of 500 feet or less; or

2) at the primary corners of each parcel of land and at access roads and trails at points of entrance to each parcel, except corners only accessible through agricultural land need not be posted. —with lettering at least 2 inches high and the signature or the legible name and telephone number of the owner,occupant,lessee, or authorized manager.

Now, this guy has custom made metal signs every 500 feet around his property (its not agricultural or with livestock), BUT his lettering is not 2 inches and although his name is printed, there is no phone number printed. He does not live on the property but comes down occasionally. I'm certainly not looking to try and tresspass; I dont want any part of that but just because I know this guy would say no to retrieving an animal, I'm not going to stop hunting my private property for fear a deer runs onto his. So, because the rules state lettering must be 2 inches high and a phone number is required, IS THE LAND NOT legally posted making it safe for me to cross and recover an animal?

[harvey lee]

Boy, thats what causes all the issues trying to beat the law. The reason we have to have these laws is due to that type of thinking. I found a loophole so I can go in.

Its too bad people need to find loopholes to justify what they want to do.

I personlly spend up to 20 hours a fall putting up new legal tresspassing signs so people don't try to see how they can get on the property because I missed one thing. So many have broken the laws becasue they think oh well, the letter isnt high enough or some other loophole.

So, now noone can hunt on the property I run due to a few lawbreakers or people, not sportsman that try to find a liitle loophole.

So, because some need to try and find a loophole, farmer Joe will say no to all and then they will whine all the more. I have lived and hunted in a rural setting all of my life and have never really heard of this happening so it cannot be that common.

Please just go up to the landowner and explain what happened and get your deer.

Maybe one out of a thousand say no. This is not the norm.

I will never figure people out.

How hard is it to get permission if one wants to simply access to get a dead deer?

I have talked to some about getting the trespass law changed so no signs need to be put up at all. This is costly and takes time. Then some clown comes along, takes them down, cuts the chain on the gate and drives in. I could go on and on about trespassers as they will do anything to get what they want.

If we were all honest, how would you like it if one came in, shot a deer while in there abnd then said they tracked it into your woods. It happens.

If the hunters would just go up to the landowner and ask, all would be much better.

No wait, his signs letters were 1/8 inch to small so I can do what I want.

great thinking

[BlueLundFishrman]

Harvey Lee,

You ask the question "how hard is it to get permission", yet in the same post you say you won't let anyone on to hunt. Maybe I'm not following exactly what you were trying to ask in the question.

[harvey lee]

I would let someone on to find a deer if it was legit as I stated in my first post but I will not let anyone on to hunt as so many cannot follow any rules.

I won't let anyone on any more and if you read my posts, I have been lied to so many times and have had to close gates. Then they ask and when you see them in the woods they also brought along 5 friends. I use to let people in but no longer due to a few that ruin it for all.

Yes it is getting harder to get permission due to those who feel they can do what they want and the landowners have had it with all of them. Oh, I forgot to mention that the renter lost a cow as one thought he could shoot a deer from the road and the bullet hit a cow.

Then we had to have the CO come out and set up a decoy to catch the night hunters shooting deer in the pastures. The bullets would fly by the house.

yes, the first evening they got three hunters shooting at a dumb plastic deer that didn't move at all.

Nice.

I have been outstate hunting and there have been times when I was told no I could not go on their land. It is their land andd they do have that right.

many hunters who have never owned land don't realize what type of hunters are out there.

[MNpurple]

Harvey I'm not looking for loopholes to benefit myself, only if the worst case scenario happens and I do not want a deer to go to waste.

A little background on the guy...he is a police officer in St. Paul who bought a farm in extreme SE Minnesota around Houston. He bought the farm because he had been hunting on some of my relatives farms and neighboring farms for years(deer and turkeys), he was a good guy and we all got along. He liked the area, so he bought a farm here, which includes some land that my relatives used to gun hunt on as well as other neighbors. When he purchased the farm, he shut the land down to everyone, posted it heavily and informed the neighboring properties (with a letter) no one was to hunt his farm (fair enough, its his and thats his right), even his brother is not allowed to hunt there and instead now hunts my uncles property. Fastforward to the next spring. After telling all surrounding landowners to stay off, he had the guts to ask all of them to turkey hunt on their properties. Needless to say, his neighbors said no because of how they were treated the year before. When he found out all his former turkey hunting land was off limits, he went the extra mile and informed his neighbors that he was going to install cameras on his land and if anyone was caught on his land, he would prosecute them.

There is an unwritten rule in my area of rural Minnesota, which is that you work with and you try and get along with your neighbors, you help them out, they help you out. The "big city" guy came in and imposed his will and now wonders why no one likes him or allows him to hunt. It is all a shame really. But, I do not think I should forfeit good land, and good hunting for fear a deer may run onto his.

[harvey lee]

It does not change the fact that you should need to ask to access his land.

Maybe he does not get along with anyone but when one tries to find loopholes, how are you any different?

Did he break any laws doing what he did?

Sounds to me like a bad deal with all the neighbors and I would guess every one needs to talk it out and give a litlle to benefit all.

I would say he has the right to tell others that he wants noone else on his property. I see no issue with others telling him he cannot hunt on theirs either. Pretty sad deal though.

I guess if you are that concerned about a shot deer running into his land, maybe don't hunt so close to his property line.

The unwritten rule you speak of is one that works most everywhere. Sounds to me like a family feud.

[MNpurple]

He hasn't broken any laws and neither have I. If I need to break a law to enter his land to recover a deer, then I am going to leave the deer lay as its not worth possibly losing a bow, a truck, or hunting privledges over a deer. But should I leave good quailty propoerty unhunted for fear a wounded deer jumps the fence even though I am 200 yards away from his line. I'm confident in my abilities, but things do happen and thats why I am looking at all my options. The COs number is in my cell phone.