Trespass Signs

[Scott Stein]

whats the laws regarding how far signs have to be spread apart i know they have to be put at every field approach. posted our sloughs for pheasant opener and opening morning i drove the tractor to the field at 8 and the signs were gone, no traceof them and at 9 some SOB's were walking them. man i chewed there sorry @$$es. takes some big balls to do that when its posted there was 8 telephone poles along the sloughs and 6 outta the 8 had signs and 1 of the 2 approaches had one

[Tipup101]

It doesn't matter thoose idiots can't read anyway. Some guys respect a fence line the rest think they can hunt anywhere they want. My Dad has fought that for ever.

[UdeLakeTom]

Technically you do not have to post. Trespassers have to ask permission to enter your land. Posting just will keep the make things easier. I cannot hunt 40 acres next door to my land this year, because I did not ask permission. It is the law. Basically compare it to somebody entering your house without knocking and you letting them in. It is your property.

[BLACKJACK]

When you're putting signs on the telephone poles, use a ladder to get them up 10 feet. I know its pain but hunters can see them better and they can't rip them down.

Keep after the slobs, keep putting the signs up, get their license plate number, call the sheriff next time - a visit by a cop, even a couple days later will have a bigger effect than you complaining at them. After a couple of years, the bad actors will move on and leave you alone.

[Tullibee]

Here is something related to this subject. I deer hunt in NE MN on the Superior National Forest and a few weeks ago I visited my favorite spot to do some scouting and as I made my to my stand site I noticed some NO HUNTING OR TRESPASSING signs. This got me wondering because I have been hunting this area for about 6 years now and have never seen these signs there before. I did some research by looking at the plat book and the only private land back there is 40 acres of potlatch land. The signs on the trees do not match up with where the potlatch land is. I made a copy of the plat book page and will be bringing it with me.

Sorry to go off on a rant but was wondering what others thought.

My question, has anyone else run into people posting public land with signage??? And what did or can you do about this?

To be perfectly honest I don't even care that they hunt around there. I know full well that I am hunting on public land and understand that I will be running into other hunters now and then. There are many folks that hunt the same area that I do year after year and everyone is very friendly but when some new people move in and start putting up illegal signs, this is no way to make friends with me.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Probably have to check with a county register or similar office to verify that it is public land and/or call the DNR about it, doesn't add up to me

[tedl]

Probably have to check with a county register or similar office to verify that it is public land and/or call the DNR about it, doesn't add up to me

I agree. Plat books are usually a few years behind, and it is posable that they may have leased or sold of that chunk.

[Johnny_Namakan]

Tullibee,

We have 80 acres inside Superior national Forest and have had to go through the Tresspassing sign thing many times. Technically every NO Tresspassing Sign needs to have contact information on it. Every one of our signs has our name, phone number, and address on it. If the signs you found do not contain this info either they weren't aware of the sign laws or they are not legal signs and they obviously don't want anyone knowing who put the signs up. Carrying your plat book is a good idea in case you run into the "owners" out there.

There is a chance you are on private property and just aren't aware of it. One year on our land we had a guy sitting in one of our stands that was smack dab in the middle of our acreage. We approached the guy and explained to him his location and he refused to accept he was on our land. Long and short, we let him finish his hunt and told him not to be back. he never came back.

[Tullibee]

Well I forgot to say that there are no names or phone numbers on the signs. And I also checked with a forest service engineer that works with property boundaries everyday and he informed me that there has been no exchange of land in that area and that the only private land back there is a 40 acre chunk of potlatch land.

[lawdog]

Couple things here. There is a reason to post land, yes its still trespassing if they are on it without permission, but its a gross misdemeanor if the land is posted, a much more serious offense and the game wardens and sheriffs will look at it accordingly.

As to posting public land, simply put it can't be done and the signs are nothing more than litter. Also for any land to be legally posted it has to be signed and if I remember right it needs a phone number too...

One more thing, land only has to be posted for one day during a year to be legally posted for the whole year. Post your signs, take a time/date stamped picture and you are still good even if the signs are ripped down.

[Tullibee]

I have been pondering what to do about this for a week or so now. My options as I see them now would be to:

- Go about opening weekend as usual and hope that there are no conflicts. I am doubting that there will be because I am hunting about 70 yards away from the signs anyway.

- Or say wait this isn't right, these people are in the wrong and have a potential of messing up my hunt and my families hunt and tell either the local conservation officer or the LEO for the Superior.

I am not sure what to do.

[kingr]

I'd do both. Call up the CO and tell him your story. Then go about your business as usual. Hopefully the CO will show up and won't have to do anything.

[pinkfloyd4ever]

There ya go, call the local CO and explain the situation and what you have learned. If its all good then hunt it.