CO Tresspass Laws

[Pete Gaimari]

Stop yelling I'm not deaf.

I'm also not arguing. I'm just trying to understand the law.

One last question. If someone had permission to hunt on private land. Are they protected just like the owner of the land? Meaning the officer still can't enter the land without some evidence beyond say so.

 

[rabjr]

NO LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER CAN GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO ENTER ONTO PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR ANY REASON UNLESS THE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IS THE OWNER OR THE OWNERS AGENT OF THE SAID PRIVATE PROPERTY. Pretty much the end.

Were is that coming from anyway, I haven't seen anyone say a game warden could give you permisson to trespass. All they can do is act as a go between and help you plead your case with the land owner. Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't

 

[Thing]

Not it that case. Due to the fact hunting is being conducted on that property. So the Co can enforce the hunting Reg's.

 

[Thing]

Well said.

Thank you

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Ok, thanks.

 

[hoochiepapa]

...and the kicker of this is that if you are busted for wasting game. But the landowner can't be busted for that if he denies you access.

 

[John Wasmuth]

No you would not be issued a citation for wasting game due to the fact that you exhausted all options for recovering the game animal.

 

[John Wasmuth]

No one is yelling capper, its kinda like italics.

 

[John Wasmuth]

Its coming from the entire conversation swampy, a peace officer, game warden, what have you can act as you say as a mediator and try to persuade the land owner to allow tthe hunter to go after the downed animal.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

WHICH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ORIGINAL STATEMENT OF THE NO WASTE LAW MAKING IT ILLEGAL FOR THE OWNER TO REFUSE.

That's not what I said.
you misquoted me, again.
Also It is a DOW officer who teaches hunter safety regs not me.
I teach primitive muzzleloader.

 

[Thing]

Your quote

Morning Buck @ Ball,
That may be the "law of the land" but they teach you in CO hunter's education that if such a thing accures, that if the land owner denies you acess to a dead ungulate on private property after it was leaglly shot on public land or other you can contact the DOW and they will follow you to the land owner and harvest the animal because it is also a crime not to harvest dead animals.
I know this for two reasons one I am a hunter's ed instructor(when they are short handed) and we had a client shoot a bull single lung that expired on a anti hunters land that was surronded by public land and diden't care if the animal was waisted. The Local DOW went to the land owner and explained the non waisting law and the animal was harvested.
As a retired officer you must relize that it's not always in blk and white.
anyway, again thank you for your service, long houes low pay and you have to deal with gun totin folks 24/

 

[longcruise]

SO YOU BROKE THE LAW. Entered private property without permission. Yes you salvaged the animal but that does not excuse your trespassing

Not looking for an excuse! I'd do the same thing again. By the time I had gone through the process, the animal would not have been edible and the whole thing woulda been moot!

I'm sure thats done to often Marmetslayer but it still ain't right..you must go through the motions and do things right no matter how long it takes.

It may not be "right", but in my opinion it was the ethical thing to do and I'd do the same thing again given the same circumstances.

 

[Pete Gaimari]

It's not always easy to find the owner. They don't all live on their property.

 

[longcruise]

Nope, especially in that territory. Sometimes you can find a land owner out working their property/crops or cattle but mostly not. Many of the property owners out there don't even live in the state.

And, the local CWO does not always know who owns what either. This year while antelope hunting (not the same area as previously cited) I enquired about that with a cwo who has worked that area for 20 years. He knew who owned most of the property in the valley but not all of them. For most of those that he knew, he had advance permission to enter their property at will in the course of doing his job. That included to check up on hunters who had permission to hunt on the property as well as the owners family members. Then again some did not allow him to do so and some are absentee owners with only corporate names on the public records.

For those who wish to engage in "what if", the area where the "transgression" took place was in the Axial Basin NW of Craig. Check it out. Tell me how you would have gone about finding the owner and getting permission to retrieve the lope before it spoiled or the yotes got it!

It's easy (especially on the 'net :shocked2: ) to thump our bibles, law books and whatever book of ethics you might choose to follow. After all, we are mostly anonymous and many feel that cloak of anonymity allows them to say whatever pleases them.

I subscribe to the adage; "those who matter don't care and those who care don't matter"

 

[Dave K]

The law and ethics can certainly be two different things. If you trespassed to retrieve your game, I understand,but that doesn't make it legal and if caught, you may be forced to pay the price. I am not scolding you and I am not an enforcer of the law. I do things that I believe are ethical as well. You ever go fishing a gut hook an undersized fish? Same thing to me. You can toss it back, but what a waste to let it die a needless death. Or you can take it and eat it. Ethical in my opinion, yes. Legal, not at all. If I were caught, I have to be prepared to pay for my actions.

What gets many people upset about trespassing, is the way it is done. If you are caught and you can show a blood trail that starts on the property you do have permission hunt. It will be certainly be looked at differently, not always happily though. Then you have those that trespass, with 5 other hunters, all carrying hunting implements. All saying that they are attempting to retrieve wounded game. Yet, there is no trail. If the hunter that wounded the game can show a trail again, I can understand him carrying the implement to finish the job, but what are the others doing carrying implements? Are they really looking for wounded game or are they using this as an opportunity to be on this ground to take game?

Many seem to have a way of twisting things to make it look like they are right. Undersized fish, I will be told to tell my story to the judge. Trespass, be prepared to tell it to the judge. Fish and Game officers and Landowners have heard it all before and they have become hardened to it. Whose fault is it?

 

[Pete Gaimari]

Quote:
"I can understand him carrying the implement to finish the job, but what are the others doing carrying implements? Are they really looking for wounded game or are they using this as an opportunity to be on this ground to take game?"


If they're all out hunting together, and want to help their buddy find the wounded animal. What are they supposed to do with their guns if they're miles from their truck/camp?

 

[Dave K]

quote,
"If they're all out hunting together, and want to help their buddy find the wounded animal. What are they supposed to do with their guns if they're miles from their truck/camp?"

Once they crossed the line, they should no longer be hunters, but they should be searching to recover game. If they are carrying their guns, they are hunting on ground in which they have no permission to hunt on.

I have unfortunately wounded game that traveled off of the ground I had permission to be on. I have asked and received permission to be on the property carry my hunting tools for the purpose of dispatching wounded game. But, those that were with me,I made it clear to the land owner as a measure of good faith, that those helping me, would not carry a hunting tool. It was always received with good results and the permission to go and look.

All the "what if's" in the world does not make it OK to do as you want. That is why there are these laws. Besides, even though everyone should be certain of their target before shooting, what if(another "what if") another person who was legally hunting on that ground, assumed he was hunting totally alone,is confronted with gun carrying hunters, or thinks it is game coming his way. It can sure make it hazardous to the trespassers health.

 

[rabjr]

Not to mention, now you have an armed mob trespassing...

 

[Pete Gaimari]

That doesn't really answer the question. Are they supposed to say.."Sorry we have guns and can't help you. You're on your own bud".

If they want to help. What do they do with the guns?

 

[Dave K]

Here is the "what if's" again. Assuming you have permission, it would be no problem. If you don't have permission to be there, you are already breaking one law, you may as well go for it and rack up all the points you can.Or, leave the guns where you have permission to be and retrieve them on the way out. There is no black and white, when faced with all the "what if's". The judge decides for you what you should have done if you are caught and charges are pressed. I guess I never knew that it was that hard to understand? Another "what if". You are miles from home and your car runs out of gas at my house with a car load of people carrying hunting tools. You go to my door and I am not home. So you enter my garage and look for gas and all the while you are all carrying (in this case) your guns, because you are too far from home to take them back there. What would you do, if you were the owner of the house and saw a bunch of people in your property carrying guns? Just because land doesn't have a roof like a structure over it, doesn't make it open for all to enter. I really think you know the answers and just want to keep this pot stirred. If you really don't know the answers, ask any person involved with law and or law enforcement. They have the sheepskin to allow them to tell you and enforce and you really do need to learn and know the laws.

Oh, by the way. I had hunted Colo. in the Cripple Creek area and also Saguache area several times. I knew I had to know on whose ground I was on and what the laws were. It was expensive enough to hunt there, being a non-resident, I didn't need to pay the court system there as well.