Skirting property lines using onx

[guitarpreston]

How close are you comfortable getting to non fenced property lines using onx? At my property here in TX it’s ballpark but not exact

Doing some e scouting and looking at trying to climb up a ridge to run it and the easiest route up to the top of it and keep the wind good gets close to a property line, want to make sure to stay in the good and not trespass. Best case scenario there’s a fence but doubtful….yes I have other plans that’s not plan A…

 

[Pulleye16]

What’s the trespassing law in that state? Can they shoot you? I’d give a good buffer in TX.

Just use common sense.

 

[go_deep]

I've used pin drops from onx, verse county gis on property boundaries, they're extremely close.
I think the strength of your GPS signal at the moment is a factor you need to consider.

 

[Johnny Tyndall]

Yeah, seems situation dependent. In the places it matters the most I imagine it's generally the easiest to see the boundary on the ground. 100 feet is probably ample buffer for the GPS and the more likely source of big error is the map. If I had to nail it based on OnX alone I'd feel confident with 100 yards.

 

[mulveymo]

I've discussed this exact same question with state wardens in NC, CA, and AZ, and federal enforcement with NPS, USFWS, and USFS.

The answer is the same across the board. Trespassing is trespassing, but officers always have discretion. Every officer I talked to said that if I could show them a track line on OnX that showed I didn't cross the boundary on the map, they wouldn't issue a ticket. They might have to give a warning if, for instance, I was unintentionally carrying a firearm in a prohibited area, but as long as I could demonstrate due diligence and that I was making every reasonable effort to be complaint, it would be fine.

In general, don't be a jackass and you'll be fine.

 

[Johnson27]

I've check OnX against my property lines here in IL and they're off by 20-25'. I'm a licensed land surveyor and I know where our lines are. I also know how the county established their system.

People have to realize that all these companies get their data from the county GIS systems. Some are setup correctly and are fairly "accurate" (never exact), and others are not. Garbage in, garbage out.

 

[hibernation]

I wouldn't trust the GPS unit in a phone to less than about 10 to 20 yards reliably, worse in deep draws or thick forest cover. Factor in the imprecision of the actual layer and I'd try to stay a solid 50 yards away from any property line that isn't physically marked. Record your tracks and you've got a very reasonable defense if anything comes into question.

That being said, the definition of trespassing does vary by state. I have no idea about TX, but some states only consider it trespassing if there's a posted line, fence, ditch, slough, timber harvest, or other man-made feature that would imply potential change in ownership. This is state dependent and I sure wouldn't push it myself, particularly when carrying a firearm often changes it into criminal trespass.

 

[Dougfir]

It's a good idea to check Onx against corner pins, etc. when you find them. There's a lot of variation. In Wyoming, I've generally found it to be pretty accurate. Here at home, it's usually off by 40-50 feet. I try to use common sense about how to use that info for my movements. I try not to trespass and I also don't think we want a lack of accuracy to the inch, to keep us from accessing public land. This is a concern now with corner crossing being legal in much of the west (as it should be).

 

[alecvg]

I find here in Montana they aren't terribly close. I recently was using Onx to check property boundaries on a work project, they were probably 50' off from the survey pins.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

I've check OnX against my property lines here in IL and they're off by 20-25'. I'm a licensed land surveyor and I know where our lines are. I also know how the county established their system.

People have to realize that all these companies get their data from the county GIS systems. Some are setup correctly and are fairly "accurate" (never exact), and others are not. Garbage in, garbage out.

This...recently purchased a parcel there was 5 acres more than the county GIS had listed after I had it surveyed...I dont really trust it. In all fairness the last time that parcel was surveyed was early 1900s when the established the NF the parcel shares a a boundary line with.

 

[Maverick1]

@guitarpreston - I’ve farted around with this issue long enough.

Have not had significantly better hunts playing around with the whole public/private land boundary game.

At this point I prefer to just hunt huge tracts of public land with clearly defined boundaries.

A whole lot less screwing around and mental energy that way. K.I.S.S.

 

[bozeman]

Minimum of 100' for me........err on safety.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Obviously 100 yards or so is the safest bet, but from what I've always gotten from the feedback from various GW's I've talked to in a few states is that they generally go by OnX as well so as someone else stated in the encounter if everything else is on the up and up it's probably gonna be a verbal warning if I accidentally get across the technical line. Without a fence or markings that landowner would also have to prove you trespassed as well and the GW doesn't magically know where the property line is either so it's difficult for them to look at OnX saying you're in the clear and writing you up when they can't see the actual property line either.

 

[hibernation]

@guitarpreston - I’ve farted around with this issue long enough.

Have not had significantly better hunts playing around with the whole public/private land boundary game.

At this point I prefer to just hunt huge tracts of public land with clearly defined boundaries.

A whole lot less screwing around and mental energy that way. K.I.S.S.

Yeah, I've had significantly worse hunts trying to play the public/private boundary game. Too many situations where you get on something but can't pursue it, it's just not worth it for me anymore.

 

[ODB]

according to Onx my neighbor owns my entire side yard.

 

[alecvg]

according to Onx my neighbor owns my entire side yard.

According to OnX the Forest Service owns a chunk of my house

 

[dtrkyman]

I have tracked myself with onx on marked property lines where I am clearly on my side, shows my track crossing the line.

Any warden I have talked to said they couldn't use Onx to prove you were not trespassing so they won't be able to prove you were with it either!

I reported to onx a property line they had flipped, showed the two owners exact opposite, still that way 5 years later!

They get their info from the county and or state so it really isn't an onx issue, they are not making up property lines!

 

[ozyclint]

100m buffer can be a huge distance in steep rugged terrain.

 

[elkliver]

Easy answer. Give yourself a buffer and watch for obvious signs of land ownership change. Fence, Ditch, Survey markers, Cultivated Field, etc. Say for example you give a buffer of 100 yards but you run into a fence line that is 150 yards off the ONX line... Don't cross the fence.

Using that baseline, how could/would a landowner be upset with your actions

If you cross the fence and try and justify by telling a landowner or game warden that you trusted your ONX... you are likely to lose

 

[WiscoHoundsman]

I would just prefer to stay away by a decent margin as others have said.

As mentioned earlier how does a GW or other law enforcement know where the line is and don’t they need to prove you trespassed if you were to fight a ticket? You clearly have the right to be on public land in most cases. Note I’m no lawyer and have no plans to get that close. Just doing a mental exercise to understand stand how trespassing is handled in court if you fight a ticket.