First off as a hunter who tries to do the right thing I'm sorry on their behalf. I would use a bullhorn to announce to hunters in the area they are on private property and that law enforcement is on it's way. It doesn't matter if they really are, if they know they are trespassing they will leave. I accidently ended up on private land once and met up with an armed owner who had the attitude. I don't blame him and I was truelly sorry and nonconfrontational, but I had him in my face for quite sometime. His fence that butted up to BLM was down and not signed so I walked across some of his property until I came to a different fence that was signed. At that point I unloaded my weapon and started looking for a way off the property when I ran into him. Hope it doesn't happen again, but it can be tough here in OR. due to patchwork land ownership.

 

Wow! A true patriot.... Unfortunately because of are democracy in place it doesn't weed out some of the idiots rights to take up a sport. Unfortunately for those lucky enough to have large plots of land that they have to manage at times, I being a an ethical hunter find it harder an harder to be able to go out in the woods and wonder when I'm gonna cross a new boundary that didn't exist the year before. You would have to work for the USGA in order to keep up on it all the time as it is. There are of course the very obvious property lines and warnings in place for some situations but, I can not speak for all land owners by any means. I live in CO where if caught on private property they can throw the book at you with no excuses. Out here owners don't have to post so it's not at all in favor of outdoor enthusiasts. If people (landowners) get harder and harder on trespasser's that only means they are less likely to go out in the woods anymore (Remember when Bambi the movie came out in the 60's or 70's (i'm not old enought to remember exactly)? Well, hunting numbers dropped significantly because lil Joey or Susie didn't want Daddy to killed Bambi's mother, This is a true fact (not sure if Joey or Susie specifically) That did af a hugh effect on moneys coming in. Well, If everyone wants to arrest a trespasser and get them out of the woods so they never want to come back, then Yay for them, but remember these are the same people who (hopefully) in part pay for your local DNR agents to monitor and survey land and allows the upkeep and possible purchase of more wild space. Well, if your lil by lil get rid of them, that in theory, as it is takes away the states ability to upkeep and rationalize/justify why they have land not being used then goes up for sale for residential and or commercial space. As it disappears you the current BIG land owner get squeezed out by new development and hence start loosing your rights to hunt or ATV because of noise restrictions and so on. So if you are a true patriot of the the good Ol' USA then I believe it is within are duty's to preserve what we have for future generations to enjoy as well. A balance is needed, YES?

To answer the original post, If I were the meathead that was trespassing being an ethical hunter, would appreciate the land owner notifying me in a polite manner but, I know we're not all the same "So to each his own".

Good Luck, and if at first you don't succeed, just shoot em.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
Joking [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] , call the po po (police) if it's a problem because the way I see it as a worst case scenario, The tresspasser could accuse You! Of threating him with your weapon and turn it upside down on you. If your not sure then politley have an officer escort you so there is no question involved and don't press charges and hopefully the person will understand your not trying to ruin their day completley. I could be wrong tho.

Good luck.

 

I would not call law enforcement right away. At least try to talk to the tresspassers first. The last thing hunters and ATVers need is to have the authorities dislike our sport. Its just one more reason for people to dislike us. If everything you try on your own fails, then I would call the law enforcement.

 

leave him a note in his favorite tree

or like someon said,,,,let the quads and bikes ride there and the hunters will move on

 

Confront him about it, and make sure you are packing just incase.

 

did u guys here about that mong who was confronted for trespasing down in WI ended up killing 6 hunters all from the same party dont ask how he managed to do this from what i heard 2 guys confronted him they both got shot then the others went back there to see what was going on and got picked off one by one the guy got caught and is going to trial for it ... i hope he fries there was a women that got killed and a father and son and a few others... this happend just last season

 

Much as I hate to sound negative, twenty years of experience tells me otherwise. I have never benefited from being overly polite to a trespasser. Never. They're like stray cats - unless you run them out, they just keep coming back for more. And like stray cats, they are of no beneift whatsoever to you.

The Hmong situation underlines the danger - harsh words were exchanged, tempers flared, and the situation got out of hand very quickly. Get law enforcement. They are trained to handle situations like that, it's their job to trade shots with the bad guys, and they know how to do it. One deer stand wasn't worth six lives, and most of them got shot because they couldn't believe it was happening.

I had one confrontation with a couple of slightly inebriated deer poachers some years ago... never again. I had them outgunned by a wide margin, and I still get scared thinking about it. The lesson I learned from that is: I will go way out of my way to avoid direct armed confrontation, but never let them get away with armed trespassing - get law enforcement on them, so they don't come back. But confronting them yourself? Only in the last extreme - Armed confrontation is too hard to predict, most of us are not trained to react that quickly, and it might be their lucky day, like it was for that Hmong. Trust me, you might think it's brave to go play cowboy, until you actually experience it.

 

One of the worst situations I have had lately was a guy I caught on the back side of my place. I rolled up in the pickup and told him he was on private property (well inside clearly marked property) he had a doe down and his gun was several feet away from him. He wouldn't say anything to me and he kept looking at his gun and moving closer and closer to it. I already had my .45 Glock out with a round in the chamber (my normal carry gun) but out of sight in my lap as I was sitting in my truck. He kept moving towards his gun and I told him I know what you're thinking and you had better just leave that rifle right where it is until the law gets here. At that he made a break for the rifle and I then raised the weapon into view and yelled at him to stop. He saw I was armed and decided he couldn't cover the last few yards to his rifle. I told him to sit down and wait for the game warden which he did. He got fined for poaching and trespassing and his buddy who was out in the woods on my neighbors place got fined too. That wasn't the end of their troubles. They had several poached deer and a baggie of meth in their truck. Also came to find out that both of their rifles had been reported stolen in a burglary and a later search of their premises found more drugs and stolen property. One of the guys had out of state warrants of some sort too if I remember right. Both pleaded charges down to next to nothing but did get some time out of the whole mess.

Had he got to his rifle I probably would have shot and killed him. I have no doubt he was intending to do the same to me.

 

Ya know, In that situation I would have allowed him to grip his gun maybe swing around a lil then take em out. Seriously, what state are you living in? I think you would have done us better justice to leave him where he lay instead of costing the court system time and money. I know it's wrong, but it doesn't sound like that guy was helping anyone out but himself. I say kudos to you for bust'n em tho. I do hope those types are rare though.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

Shortbus, You are wrong for saying "I would have allowed him to grip his gun maybe swing around a lil then take em out" It's easy to say you would let it happen. In reality, it would be a decision you would regret for the rest of your life. I know guys that have had their lives threatened, cleared though all the investigations that were conducted and still had trouble with it. They live with it phycologically everyday of their lives. And they were trained with the possibility knowing someday, they might take a life.

If you have continuing problems with trespassers, contact your Fish and game dept and local law enforcement agency. Inform them, and call them. Getting into a confrontation with an armed individual, is not a wise thing to do. Shooting paper targets or game is totally different, then someone who will possibly shot first or shoot back. I don't care how fast you think you are on the trigger or how great of a shot your think you are. My god, look at how well trained our military is and all the shooting they do in a fire fight. Law Enforcement is the same way. You have tunnel vision, adrenaline, fear, panic and the slow perception of what's occuring. In the long run, it's not worth it.