Poacher

[Eric Krewson]

I have had in depth conversations with my felon friend, he once loved to hunt, and made his own bows.

His PO laid down the law in no uncertain terms, no M/Ls.

He is now on oxygen and can't walk 50 feet. He said the other day his PO OKed air rifles but nothing else.

 

[FishDFly]

Having to pay for something does tend to bring out the childish selfishness in people...
I wonder what is more important...The money the landowner make off of your lease or the power it exercises over you?



I will admit that some how I have missed your point. My land, my rules.

We did let folks hunt on our ranch as long as they followed the posted rules on the wall.

As folks could nor would not follow the rules
they were asked to leave.

We pay the taxes and insurance for the ranch, we have a right to do as we wish.

My father forbid my sons from hunting on the ranch, one was arrested for not following the Texas Game laws and one shot a hole in Father's ceiling when he came into the house with a loaded rifle.

There are many stories about folks and poaching on our place.

If you go from Corpus south, there is a sign at a ranch gate and it says, "Warning, property guarded by armed riders", seems simple to me.

 

[coloradoclyde]

I was referring to leases...Otherwise I agree with what you said.

When people pay to buy a license and pay to have a place to hunt for a trophy,....they tend to get possessive towards anyone else doing the same.

 

[Auldgoat]

A poacher on my father's property a few years ago got himself bit by a copperhead. My father had to defend himself in civil court. Thankfully he had re-posted the property the week before. The following winter someone's kid (trespassing) fell through the thin ice on his pond. He had to defend himself again. The point is, If someone hurts themselves on your property, the landowner is liable whether the trespasser is invited or not.
Will

 

[Spikebuck]

If someone hurts themselves on your property, the landowner is liable whether the trespasser is invited or not.
Will

People can always sue, it doesn't mean the defendant is actually liable under the law. You didn't mention the outcome of those suits, but you didn't say your father was actually found to be liable.

In general, unless the landowner has done something to set up a hazard or has not taken a proper and reasonable precaution to prevent a hazard, they are not going to be liable. The pond example is a good one...a country cow pond out in the boonies would have a different level of precaution (low)required on the landowner's part that a swimming pool in town would (high).

 

[coloradoclyde]

People can always sue, it doesn't mean the defendant is actually liable under the law.

Very true!....we live in the most litigious country on earth.
In fact it is so bad that some corporations make their money by suing people and hoping for a win or default judgment...Such as LVNV Funding.

 

[FishDFly]

You are correct.

 

[FishDFly]

I carry a $2 million dollar policy on my place because of stupid folks.

The place is ringed with signs and purple paint.

 

[Rick Boylan]

So you're OK with people entering your property without checking with you first? Are you as accepting of them walking into your home?

Sounds like you've got a problem. Maybe you're one of the types that thinks they are OK going onto someone's property to do what ever you think you want. That's just plain wrong headed. :nono: :shake: :slap: :td:

 

[Vaino]

It's easy to file suit, but to collect in the state of Wisconsin one has to show damage and negligence.

When I first started hunting, most of the land was open to whoever and hardly any land was posted. Then as the sons of the farmers took over, the land became posted and for awhile, permission had to be sought and was given. Then a little later on, no permission was granted. Why? The younger generations are composed of many selfish individuals.

The excuses given by the landowners to not grant permission was that hunters were wrecking fences and equipment....just an excuse to hide their selfishness.

So...I chose to hunt on public land w/o the complications of asking for permission which was never granted.

A few years ago, I was hunting some public land and cut across a small corner of private land {a field} and while doing so, a young farmer put his 2 German Shepherds on me....he was told to get the dogs off or I was going to shoot them. He and the dogs retreated and I went on hunting. Totally unnecessary encounter.

My hunting days are over....but for my "peace of mind" after the "selfish mentality" set in, I only hunted public land that didn't incite behavior of the landowners as described above....Fred

 

[coloradoclyde]

Auldgoat never said if his father lost the cases.....

 

[Rifleman1776]

The point is, If someone hurts themselves on your property, the landowner is liable whether the trespasser is invited or not.

A happy exception to that is found in Arkansas. We have a law saying if someone is on your property, invited or not, for recreational purposes and gets hurt he cannot sue the property owner.

 

[coloradoclyde]

Lots of states have exceptions....but like Fred said, if you can prove malice or intent you will likely win a civil case and they might also be subject to legal prosecution.
Booby traps or man trapping would be an example.
Subject to both state and federal laws.

 

[Katahdin]

same in Maine,,,

 

[FishDFly]

As time progresses on we are having more problems with folks entering our land which they do not own.

One of the biggest problems is renegade hog hunters. What they do is remove the clips from barb wire fences and pull down the wires and jump their mules over the wire, then turn the wire back to where it was, hard to find it.

Last year I found 2 hog dogs in my yard, I put them in my pump house with water and food and locked them in it. They both had collars along with the owners name and tracking devices.

I called the Game Warden and told him to come and pick them up.

Problem solved, I did not hurt the dogs, but the owner is now the problem of the state.

 

[Auldgoat]

Nope, the cases were both dismissed. But, time and money lost to defending against nuisance suits. Glad he had properly posted the property. Still, seems people will try to sue you for their own stupidity. btw, his cabin got repeatedly vandalized quite often thereafter. Finally had to tear it down before someone hurt themselves. That was a heartbreaker. Trashcan dumped into the well. Bottles broken all over the beach area. Wound up selling his 450 acres w/ 14 acre pond to a developer for far less than its worth prior.
So, yes, there is a lot more to protecting your property than just fences and livestock. And, yes, my property is posted, the lines clearly marked, and I WILL prosecute! Selfish? Perhaps. Mine? Damned right!
Will

 

[Vaino]

We're fortunate in Wisconsin....a lot of public land and some corporate forest land where hunting is allowed. When I was hunting, every so often I'd buy the latest, revised plat books of the counties I hunted. Land ownership was plain to see in these plat books and came in handy a couple of times when the owners of adjacent land to the corporate forest lands I was hunting tried to kick me off "his land". That's illegal in Wisconsin.......Fred

 

[FishDFly]

98% of the land in Texas is private, makes it hard on those folks who can not afford to own land who want to hunt.

We worked hard to buy our land and protect it.

What has worked the best is game cameras. They are mounted high in trees where they are hard to find.

Game cameras do not lie on who has been there.

About 30 years ago my Father was sitting in a deer blind on a long right-of- way. A trespasser crawled under the fence and sat down to hunt. My father shot into the tree above him, trespasser jumped up and ran.

Trespasser went to the Justice Of the Peace complaining that my Father tried to kill him. The Justice of The Peace explained to him that had my Father wished to kill him that he would not be in JP's office and that he was free to come to the ranch and collect the bag he left with his hunting license in it.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have always had a place to hunt but have earned it, I like working on hunting land.

Years ago I bought a 4 wheeler and a plow to pull behind it. I joined a 4K acre hunting club and went to work in my spare time. We had dozens of food plots, many of which I would plant myself before the tractors and club guys showed up.

We had a terrible ice storm, the land was a pine plantation with 20 year old pines, I counted 75 pines down across a road in a 100 yards at the worst spot. I cleared miles of roads by myself during the summer after the storm.

Word got out that I was a worker and I had unlimited offers to join other clubs.

I left the 4K acre club because the membership changed to nonworking poacher types.

I ditched the 4 wheeler for a small tractor, was recruited by a small 12 member club and worked there until the land sold.

I was invited to hunt a 350 acre piece of land and spent 5 years with my tractor developing it with roads, food plots and lots of bush hogging. I had this land to myself but invited two like minded friends to hunt the land with me.

My point is; if you don't have a place to hunt, an offer to work, and I mean WORK, will open unlimited possibilities for you.

I did all the above while working swing shift at a power plant and working between 500 and 900 hours of overtime at the plant every year.

The lowlifes who contribute nothing and trespass to hunt your land fall into the criminal category to me and always will.

 

[BrownBear]

...an offer to work, and I mean WORK, will open unlimited possibilities for you.

There it is in a nutshell. I get lots of offers to hunt private land that's closed to most everyone. I always turn them down with this: "I haven't had a chance to work with you. Once we get a little work on your place under my belt, we can talk about it then."

Sure get a lot of "invitations" to help on jobs, as a result. And mostly I don't follow up with hunts. Just too much respect for the landowners and what's theirs, and don't want anyone getting the feeling I'm helping them just so I can hunt.