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Interesting story

5K views 34 replies 20 participants last post by  Tony300wby 
#1 ·
My son was hunting a piece of property we have hunted for years. A local police officer stops him and tells him that person walking his dog saw hunting and called the police. So the officer tells my son he can't hunt there and is trespassing. My son says that the dog walker must have been trespassing as well. He then tells my son that he thinks he is hunting too close to a house. So my son tells him he's over 200 yards away and infact left the deer walk by because he wasn't sure of the backstop. So the officer says the law requires a distance of 300 yds. The officer then says the owner does not allow hunting but the land is not posted. He asks the officer who the owner was and he didn't know. Then the officer tells my son that last week the game warden caught someone with a untagged deer so they don't want anybody hunting there. Understand the conversation was very cordial and the officer very nice but to me the whole thing stinks. He asks for my son's ID which he gives him and the officer runs a records check, nothing. Gives his ID back and tells him if he is caught there against n he will be arrested. Spoke to the owner and he said he prefers that people don't hunt there because of liabilities but he wouldn't prosecute anybody. We are no longer hunting there.
 
#5 ·
Help me understand.

“My son was hunting a piece of property we have hunted for years.”
This fact does not give you license, (permission), to hunt there

“but the land is not posted”
Private land is private land whether posted or not.
You in fact were trespassing.

What’s your issue?
 
#9 ·
Help me understand.

“but the land is not posted”
Private land is private land whether posted or not.
You in fact were trespassing.
Since the OP/son did not have prior notice (sign/verbal/fencing) against trespass on this property, they were not trespassing per Pa. law.

Since notice has now been given (verbal), if they now returned to the property they will be guilty of trespass per Pa. law.

Good luck, Tony
 
#10 ·
Sorry to hear you lost your spot. That blows. I almost did exactly what happened to you this year. I had a spot that it was always a pain to track down the landowner for annual permission . After about 15 years of stopping multiple times per year he told me not to ask anymore just hunt. I was going to hunt it this year and was talking to a friend and told him I was going to hunt the property and he let me know the property was sold and the guy who bought it wasn't allowing hunting. I need to find the new owner and make sure I can remove 2 stands I have on the property.
 
#23 ·
Sounds like he was hunting someone else's property without permission so he was in the wrong. Am I missing something here? Point is don't trespass and don't assume you can do as you please. Disrespectful in my opinion. Try to be courteous and respect others property.

Amazes me that people just assume they can do as they please.
 
#29 ·
You gotta love the entitlement mindset here, it's not posted so guys just hunt as they please. Your car doesn't have a sign on it that says don't whiz on your tires does it? I just had a redbull and I really gotta go.....lol. It's called respect, and most ground gets posted due to the lack of it. I will agree the cop likely has a vested interest in it, or else he is just clueless, and it does seem strange.



I really like "a pain to track down the landowner for annual permission", that is a classic!!! But it isn't too much trouble to show up and shoot is it? I bet you make time for the important stuff like getting your doe tags and sighting in your rifle though right?
 
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#30 ·
Tony/300 WBY
Can you tell me where I might find the law that says unless I give prior notice (sign/verbal/fencing) against trespass on this property anyone can enter property without permission ? I wasn't aware this is a law in PA and would like to know what my rights as a landowner are in connection with trespassers.
Thanks
Lou.
 
#31 ·
Appreciate all the comments. I spoke to the owner personally today. First, let me say he is probably one of the biggest land owners in PA and one of the wealthiest man in PA. I explained to him what happened and where, and he had to go on his computer to identify the property. It's one of his smaller properties at 36 acres located in the Lehigh Valley. I told him my story and he said is constantly being contacted by the game commission and police regarding issues related to his properties and he just doesn't have the time or interest to pursue these things. He said he is too busy to show up in court over trespassing issues and will not do so. He told me you have no idea what a headache it can be to be a large landowner in PA. I'm sure he is right. I know he has some posted land and asked him why some is posted. He said they are typically posted because of vandalism, cutting trees and stuff like that, not because of hunters. Going forward I asked him about this particular property and he said nothing is going to change. I asked if I could hunt there and he said that's up to me. He would not give me permission due to liabilities. I spoke to him about the law protecting landowners and he knew all about it but he still needed to spend 100's of thousands of dollars in attorneys fees on these issues. We spoke for maybe 30 min. Not sure anything changed but I have a better understanding of his position. Asked him about leasing this land and he said he will speak to his attorney and get back to me. Told me the deeper your pockets the more frivolous lawsuits you have. Nice guy, appreciated his time.
 
#34 ·
Thanks for the link Tony. I've read it a few times and seem to think like all legal mumbo jumbo this is a matter of interpretation. I would be really interested to know if it has been tested in a the courts.
My interpretation is:
The person entering the property definitely knows he does not own the property and if specific permission from the owner has not been granted he cannot assume the property is open and therefore is "not licensed or privileged to enter" as described in the law. This person in my mind would be trespassing.
 
#35 ·
Been tested in the courts plenty of times. Every case I have read requires the land owner give advance notice against trespass, and does not require someone to get permission prior to entering un-posted property. Its not popular, but that is how the law is written.

Good luck, Tony
 
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