water access laws

[dozer42]

dose any one know the laws on accessing water? there is a slough i would like to hunt. it has a culvert connecting one slough to another. is it legal to land your boat out of a road ditch like that?

i have no problem talking to land owners for permission, but i have tried to track this dude down for 2 years now with no luck.

any help is much appriciated

[jlm]

If the right of way is adjacent to navicable water it is legal to enter. However, if you can not float your boat in or you have to portage your boat over any land, it is considered trespassing.

[Mark Christianson]

Not to add to confusion, but lets say a person can legally gain access to a slough that is surrounded by private property.
Where can that party legally set up to duck hunt? Can they pull their boat up into the cattails for cover? Or are the cattails considered part of the land, which in turn would be tresspassing? I have to assume just because someone can legally access some water, that if their intentions are to duck hunt, they need to set up their blind somewhere. If they just nose into some reeds in the water and they are still floating I would guess thats legal.

[can it be luck?]

I think Tom Herman sums it up under the thread, "Spinning wing decoys". The "highwater" mark is the "boundry" when accessing/navigating water routes.

------------------
http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Mark Christianson]

That possibly helps clarify access, but what about blind location? Whats tresspassing in regards to where you set up your blind?

[Mark Christianson]

Believe me, I am not personally interested in using these so-called "public waters".
I am only hunting where I have the landowners full agreement that I can hunt, or its public owned property.

We have a case where there are 4 landowners on our slough, and it happens to be accessible via road ditch if someone wanted to create some headaches for all of us.
There are permanent duck blinds visible from the road, so I would hope nobody would be bullish enough to decide this is their duck slough as much as the landowners. Although, it wouldn't really surprise me if it happened.

[Guest]

Really, your's is legally accessible? I might have to check that out!! LOL!

[Guest]

Floating hard bog is considered public as long as legal access has been gained.
Actually, ANY aquatic vegitation is considered public even if it is on dry land if at one time that land was submerged.

[Mark Christianson]

Oh no!
Now I have to watch for CD to come paddling around the corner 15 minutes after shooting starts!
That is truly interesting. I would have never guessed.

[This message has been edited by biglakeba$$ (edited 09-23-2003).]

[This message has been edited by biglakeba$$ (edited 09-23-2003).]

[Guest]

More like 4:00 a.m. to get those blinds!

[can it be luck?]

I would think that if a person could legally access water areas, blinds could be set up legally , as long as you stay within the "boundrys" (highwater mark). ???

------------------
http://groups.msn.com/canitbeluck

[Guest]

biglakebass,
I know exactly what you are saying. That's why I always make sure the boat is always floating, so there is no dispute. A hard bog that you could stand on COULD be private property in my opinion. I don't know for sure, but play it safe and float the boat!

[jlm]

If an adjacent field is flooded from the river you could legally fish it couldn't you? I beleive then that you could legally hunt it as well as long as you are afloat in some sort of boat. That is my take anyway. I do agree that you can not touch anything beyond the surface of the water however!

[dkhntr]

If you have the lastest issue of WildFowl, there is an artical on this very topic. If you want it and cant find the mag I could scan it and send it to you.

Chris

[dkhntr]

BTW.. The mag is here if you want to order it. I hope the mods dont mind. Click the link below.

http://www.wildfowlmag.com/

Chris

------------------
Lawn sprinklers save your grass...
Fire sprinklers save your A$$

[Bogsucker]

"A stream or lake is open to recreational use over its entire surface
if it is capable of recreational use and if it is lawfully accessible.
Any water that will float a canoe is capable of recreational use, but
other waters may also qualify depending upon the circumstances."

Copied from the MN DNR regulations

The keywords are "entire surface". the "high water mark" is not the legal boundary in the case of the water level being below the high water mark. You must remain in or on the water. If you are on private land surrounding a public water you may be tresspassing. And "entire surface" may not mean the entire surface as water outside of the ordinary high water level may not be "public" waters. If a river floods an adjacent field can the field be legally hunted? I think not.

I have had several discussions with the DNR enforcement division on this subject and the "Law" is actually based on precedents not just the written "rules" of the DNR.