Keeping Trespassers out....is it possible?

[Youngbuck]

I feel your pain. We have around 80 acres in SC. Been in the family for years. One of the borders is a railroad, and another is a major hwy. Over the past few years, trespassing has become a huge problem. Most of them, when confronted, have left without issue.

However, one guy preceded to tell us he's been hunting for years, and we can't stop him. After going to court, he ended up being fined around $500. He said he's still going to hunt and fish, because nowhere in the state, can you hunt and fish for $500. This guy is a real piece of work. We have posted signs, fences, gates etc. But most come from walking from off of the RR tracks.

We did find a trail where someone had made coming from the hwy, and subsequently cut down several large trees to block it off and that has fixed most of the problem, so if possible, I'd start by making the trail look less like a trail. YMMV

 

[100percent]

I feel your pain. We have around 80 acres in SC. Been in the family for years. One of the borders is a railroad, and another is a major hwy. Over the past few years, trespassing has become a huge problem. Most of them, when confronted, have left without issue.

However, one guy preceded to tell us he's been hunting for years, and we can't stop him. After going to court, he ended up being fined around $500. He said he's still going to hunt and fish, because nowhere in the state, can you hunt and fish for $500. This guy is a real piece of work. We have posted signs, fences, gates etc. But most come from walking from off of the RR tracks.

We did find a trail where someone had made coming from the hwy, and subsequently cut down several large trees to block it off and that has fixed most of the problem, so if possible, I'd start by making the trail look less like a trail. YMMV

A landowner in Kansas who had trouble with trespassers told me one time that "some people's understanding of the law is directly proportional to the amount of hide you knock off of their damn head". For some, hopefully few, i agree!

 

[hayesplow]

Well, If you don't got any signs up, then he probably didn't know he was on private land. Here in South Dakota, I was told that if there are no signs posted, then they can't charge you with trespassing. So must hunters, even if they know that it's private land, will continue onto your land just because it's not posted. He probably gave you the look of "I should not be here" just because he was walking in front of where you were hunting. Put some signs up and see if that helps at all. I wouldn't spend a lot of money on anything if those signs are all you need.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Buy a human skeleton and place it under one of these (sprung) traps...include a sign that reads TRESPASSERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

FFWD video to 1:52 mins:

 

[hayesplow]

Buy a human skeleton and place it under one of these (sprung) traps...include a sign that reads TRESPASSERS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!

FFWD video to 1:52 mins:

that is This is funny.

 

[elkstabber]

I also feel your pain. Private property that isn't accessible brings out the worst in a hunter. It's even worse if the private property has been improved by doing habitat work, which increases the variety and populations of all wildlife, including deer.

At first I allowed the GW to hunt but he was too near retirement to care so he didn't slow down the trespassers. Then I caught guys driving on my land on Christmas Eve with guns in their truck. One of them shot his mouth off to me. Turns out he was a convicted felon who regained the right to carry a firearm (believe of not this is legal in Virginia). No more nice guy. I prosecuted. The judge let them off free because I hadn't properly posted that area, even though I didn't have to by law.

Despite prosecuting the same rotten guys for almost 16 years I still have trouble with them. I'm still prosecuting.

My greatest regret was that I started off being a nice guy. My advice to any new landowner is to start off being a hardass. And find the best local attorney that will follow through.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I also feel your pain. Private property that isn't accessible brings out the worst in a hunter. It's even worse if the private property has been improved by doing habitat work, which increases the variety and populations of all wildlife, including deer.

At first I allowed the GW to hunt but he was too near retirement to care so he didn't slow down the trespassers. Then I caught guys driving on my land on Christmas Eve with guns in their truck. One of them shot his mouth off to me. Turns out he was a convicted felon who regained the right to carry a firearm (believe of not this is legal in Virginia). No more nice guy. I prosecuted. The judge let them off free because I hadn't properly posted that area, even though I didn't have to by law.

Despite prosecuting the same rotten guys for almost 16 years I still have trouble with them. I'm still prosecuting.

My greatest regret was that I started off being a nice guy. My advice to any new landowner is to start off being a hardass. And find the best local attorney that will follow through.

One bullet a couple feet from their head sends a solid message. You wouldn't believe how loud those are whizzing through the air. Bury a round in a tree next to em and yell, "The next one is aimed at your head.! Git & don't come back!" SSS

 

[idahohikker]

One bullet a couple feet from their head sends a solid message. You wouldn't believe how loud those are whizzing through the air. Bury a round in a tree next to em and yell, "The next one is aimed at your head.! Git & don't come back!" SSS

Great idea. Criminal actions.

The OP PMed me and said a real estate agent told him how their might be a prescriptive easement and he appreciated me bringing it up.

Before taking all these actions first a landowner needs to learn what rights he has.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Great idea. Criminal actions.

The OP PMed me and said a real estate agent told him how their might be a prescriptive easement and he appreciated me bringing it up.

Before taking all these actions first a landowner needs to learn what rights he has.

Criminals don't respond to "legalities"...he's dealing with a felon and if you wanna get that a-hole's attention, you might just need blur the lines a bit. He has no respect for the law but he does have a survival instinct. Unless & until you have personal experience dealing with truly evil people, you won't get it. Scary people usually get their way and do whatever they want because good men refuse to act. This is also a helluva lot cheaper than attorney fees. I have done quite of of ADC work on cattle ranches along the southern border and they have illegals trespassing all the time. It is difficult to stop once "your property" becomes part of "their route" and only sustained enforcement will make your property unattractive to these guys. Shooting from 600+ yards away and yelling works. Condemn it if you wish but turning em back is the sole goal and nobody argues with lead. I'm guessing there are plenty of ranchers who don't fire warning shots and have bodies buried all over their land. Some parts of the west are still wild. Cowboy up.

 

[RockinU]

Cowboy up? I've committed simple trespass to retrieve a dog a couple of times. I never cross a fence with a gun, always take a direct route to the dog, and back out again. No harm intended, and if I have to pay a fine, I will, but if you "bury a round in a tree" next to me, we're going to discuss it in the parking lot of the cafe next time you're in town. I've been cowboy my whole life, and that's the stupidest place I've ever seen that phrase used...

 

[jray5740]

Same problem everyone complains about in wyoming and Montana. Except its usually the hunter wanting the right to corner jump.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

This issue always arises and I often debate this with myself if I ever owned land, how I would handle it. Then it became obvious with all the drone activity we see these days. Property ownership does not extend into the air, as all air space above anyone's property (no matter 1 inch or 100 miles) is strictly and solely owned by the FAA. If someone can step from one piece of land they are allowed to be on (public or private) onto another piece of land they are allowed to be on (public or private), that is 100% legal. Corner jumping is 100% legal no matter what judge in what district thinks otherwise. As soon as the matter makes it to a high enough court, the FAA and its ownership of all air space will continue to trump any so called ownership of property lines extending to the sky.

So, the hunter wanting the right to corner jump is a moot point......its everyone's right to do it legally anytime they please.

 

[SoDaky]

The chance of there being a 'prescriptive easement' is near zero.'Prescriptive easements',cases of 'Practical Locations' and other old but rare land 'doctrine' situations are so rare that most attorneys rarely see one.Even more rare is any recent case establishing one-and the burden and cost of doing so would be entirely on the person or entity trying to establish it,not the landowner.'Use' for years is only a small part of establishing it as well.

Also the statement that land in South Dakota must be posted to prosecute a trespasser is wrong.

 

[dutch_henry]

Tagged.

Someone dumped the carcass of a poached deer on my land last week. Head and prime cuts gone. Infuriating. Some good ideas here.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

You can't keep trespassers out but you can keep em in.

 

[ohoopee]

I had a piece of river property that seemed to have the same issue. I allowed anyone
with kids to access the river. Word got out it was only open to people taking kids to fish or swim.
Soon after I would get calls reporting the non compliance people. Worked out well to have locals watching the property for me.

 

[Broomd]

Welcome to my world. Be courteous, be professional, make sure you know your exact boundaries, take pictures and video and document everything. Then prosecute. Tell enforcement you will prosecute. Then decide if the violations are honest mistakes or intended trespass and decide if they deserve the fines.

Be ready for the excuses of:
Isn't this FS land
Isn't this BLM
Isn't this State land
My GPS app says I am good
I have always used this route
The last owner gave us permission
I got permission 100 years ago
I am not hunting just getting to the FS land

Goes with owning your own land. Be firm, but professional.

Good Luck

Gold star...this sh(t is the honest truth. Attended a neighborhood Christmas party a few weeks ago and several landowner friends with between 10-200 acres/+ mentioned that they had heard some of these same ridiculous excuses from trespassers they encountered this year.
And just about all of the lowlifes that trespassed had killed does. I always question whether they even plan on tagging those animals, especially the out-of-state hunters. Who drives hundreds of miles and spends $300 on a button buck or doe tag?

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I’m not defending the trespassers, but this might be an example of an area where it’s wise to pick your battles. Being from the south, there are plenty of people who would think nothing of dumping a bag of quickcrete down your well pipe or stabbing a hole in your radiator with a screwdriver to an outsider who’s keeping them from the place they grew up hunting.

It’s obviously your land and you’ve got every right to keep people off it, but it seems the reasoning for doing so is keeping them from accessing the public land that you want to hunt, which doesn’t sit great with me.

I’m admittedly a bit biased as I hunt a public swamp. Occasionally the water gets so high that the only way to get into it is skirting the edge of one of the plantations that borders it in a couple spots. There is no fence and it’s not posted, if I was confronted I’d tell them I have no intention of poaching their land, my rifle is unloaded, and I’ll happily leave, but it is what it is.

If it’s literally just a foot trail a few yards inside your property line for a short distance it might be best to just put a couple gaps in the fence with a game camera there and a sign that asks them to keep it closed, and that poaching or littering will not be tolerated in any capacity.

We had two people walk through our backyard the other week while my wife was home nursing our youngest son. It’s getting fenced but if I had someone knock on the door and tell me they couldn’t drive and it was the only access they had to visit their friend, son, etc, I’d be inclined to give them the gate code and tell them to remember to shut it if they seemed reasonable.

If you’re committed to keeping them out, I agree with piling all the rocks, trees, etc, you can there and just making it harder than going the other way. People will go to great lengths to tear down gates and all sorts of stuff.

 

[alexanderg23]

I recently purchased some property that is surrounded by NF....its a dream come true, on paper. The reality is, now that I am the owner and dealing with reality....Im discovering that trespassers have figured out ingenious ways to attempt to "skirt" my property line. The fact is, it's impossible. They have to trespass to get to a few coveted spots. I am in contact with local, state and federal officials to fix the problem. We have signage, cameras and put gates up. Still....they are attempting to do what they have always done.

Is there something that Im missing?

$250/ during season. I’ll stop them and provide evidence for prosecution.

 

[Bighorner]

It is your deeded land to with with as you please, but is the issue that they are crossing it period or is it that they are crossing it to get to public ground that you would rather limit access too? Asking for a friend.

 

[kid44]

Sorry to hear of your problem with trespassers. I think signs, gates, threat of prosecution, blocked trails etc will only keep the honest people out. Trespassers will continue to do just that, trespass. By honest people I mean the ones who see the signs and realize they are on private property and respect that. Good luck, hope you are successful in keeping people off of your property.