wow did this get swept under the rug quick... :readit: :nono:
http://www.steamboattoday.com/news/2014/feb/26/trespassing-case-against-department-natural-resour/
sounds fishy to me!!
In Colorado you need to know your trespassing before its illegal? If that's the case There's going to be a lot of lost hunters ;)
Wow, I guess it pays to be politically connected. This would not happen to the average hunter and it shouldn't.
Says "page unavailable" for me.
Hmmmm. I've been bowhunting for more than 50 years, and I must say I have on an occasion, unknowingly entered private land. An explanation and apology usually resulted in an amicable resolution. I have also run into a few folks like the neighbor in question. They gave me hell just for getting close to their land. They're real pieces of work.
I think it's quite likely that folks who do a lot of hunting, particularly if they search for new areas, sometimes inadvertently/unknowingly cross onto private land, despite their best efforts to avoid doing so. I would like to think that we haven't become so rigid and selfish that we couldn't accept a sincere apology from those folks.
We live in glass houses. Best to not throw stones.
QuoteOriginally posted by Orion:
... They gave me hell just for getting close to their land. They're real pieces of work...
As balance toward that thought- I grew up on a 200 acre parcel that bordered another 1000 acres. The trouble we had with trespassers was always, and I mean always, a total drag. They acted quite often as if we "owed" them the access to our land, land my family worked hard to aquire. They were rude, foul mouthed and sometimes threatened to sneak back.
Anyway, it does not take too many trespassers like that to pretty much sour you on all, making it harder to just be cool about finding someone hunting on your property.
In light of my experiences first hand with trespassers on our land, I never leave it to chance out here in the West about where boundries are.
Mistakes happen, but don't judge the landowners- my guess is that like our family, they have had more bad experiences with trespassers than good ones.
Our responsibility as hunters is to be as sure where we are and extra polite if its found we have wandered onto someones piece of heaven.
Joshua
I remember a few years ago where the head of NM Fish and Game was cited for straying off public land onto private land. NM is a checkerboard of public and private land. I guess it's a little easier to figure out with a properly mapped GPS these days, but with no fences or clearly marked boundaries, I can hardly blame people for making mistakes.
Would this issue have even made the papers if the trespasser in question was just an "average" guy? Nope! I can understand dropping the case if there is no proof he was trespassing wilfully.Everybody makes mistakes.
Your right. It would not have made the paper but the "average' guy wouldnt have gotten away with it either. It would have cost him dearly. In colorado it is up to the hunter to know exactly where you are at all times. Its not the land owners responsibility to post boundaries. Yes it can be easy to make a mistake and end up where you shouldnt be but if you do and get caught and the owner wants press charges your toast. Doesnt matter if you crossed the line "wilfully" or not.
When I hunt Colorado I stay way away from anything that could be private land. My buddy said they don't mess around and don't have to have boundaries marked it's your responsibility.
I may have been mis-informed, but my son was a Colorado resident for years and told me there is no requirement for land to be marked "posted" or "private". It is the hunter's responsibility to know the border of property he is allowed to hunt
and CO was well known to enforce the law whenever a landowner filed a complaint.
Seems I remember a certain VP shooting a fellow hunter while out bird hunting and it turns out he didn't even have a hunting license. That sort of fell off the radar screen quickly.
Had a land owner chase me around for 10 years in Colorado because he made a fortune locking up public land for his own use.What goes around comes around.
I have unknowingly trespassed onto private property and was scolded for it. I felt stupid and it kind of wrecks the hunt. But then again the same landowner thinks it's o-k to ride his snowmobile and four wheeler wherever he wants. Also around my house it seems to be taboo to hunt within 60 feet or less to another property.
kill shot see that alot here in michigan. Last year had a suv. on the neighbors property back up to the property line and get out and hunt next to the vehicle meanwhile i bow hunted 75 yds away
I don't like that you can't cross where four properties make a "+" in CO
the law in co clearly states and I mean clearly--- you do NOT have to post private land, it is the hunters responsibility to know where your at, and with modern GPS there is no reason for not knowing where your at.
this is just plain political BS, average joe would have been in court.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bladepeek:
...Seems I remember a certain VP shooting a fellow hunter while out bird hunting and it turns out he didn't even have a hunting license. That sort of fell off the radar screen quickly.
He was patterning his gun- the guys cheek was the best way to do that. No crime, no foul.