Getting caught hunting on private land

RoscoeT

RoscoeT

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Hello all,

I know that we should all get permission to hunt on private land or leased crown land. But I have never found out what would happen if a wildlife officer were to stop you and it turns out you were mistaken about where the private land began.

What happens if they catch you on private property? I would suspect that if the owner was really upset you may get a trespassing charge correct?

Anyone have any feedback on this?

Roscoe
 
juanvaldez said:
I thought I read somewhere if it is not clearly marked you cannot be charged.
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Not positive but I don't think so.
Do you have your backyard posted in the city? you can be charged there.
Common sense would dictate if you positively don't want people on your property for any reason you should post it "No Trespassing"
 
In Alberta there are tow pieces of legislation that cover hunting on private land.
The Wildlife Act specifies a surrounding appendage of land to the owners residance. hunt without permission within that area, you will be charged with hunting on Occupied land, that carries a minimum fine of $1500.00 and a years hunting suspension.

All lands not described as Occupied, you can be charged under the Petty Tresspass Act. that is usually no more than a $200.00 fine. But

You also probably will ruin all the access opportunities for anyone who has the dis pleasure of asking for permission after you get caught.

Sounds like the act of a selfish person to me.

Ask for permission, always. If your told NO, then move on and honour the landowners property.


Think Big picture, landowners talk, and one bad experience can littterally shut down a whole area to private land access.
 
juanvaldez said:
I thought I read somewhere if it is not clearly marked you cannot be charged.
Click to expand...
I will (usually not very politely) tell someone ONCE to leave. TWICE...Chit is gunna hit the fan. :evil:

On our farm, we usually play the same game year in-year out with the locals who pretend they don't know where the line is....
my response is always the same :mad: "you ******** know that gate/fence you went through about a km ago". Then i call MNR or OPP. :)
 
Two fellas were hunting on property that they had verbal permission to hunt.
A neigbour landowner ( anti hunter ) called the OPP and the two were charged $75 for tresspassing without any OPP contact with the property owner.
They paid the fine since it would cost them over twice that for taking time off work to defend themselves in court...money grab 'er what??
They've since got written permission and everything is okay since.
 
this year we had hunters ripping of the no tresspassing signs and turning them around,opening day they dogged through our property and basically burned it they were set up on another property we own and an mnr gent stopped them they said they had permission so the mnr guy left,later we had a guy in full camoe walk right up to one of the guys posted on the middle of our land no orange during gun season,he crossed 3 fence rows that are clearly posted and scared the chit out of the stander.stander asked his name and mnr was called.the property owner said he would go through with charges and the resspasser also got caught on the game feeder cam,staring right at it.charges were laid for numerous offences and you want to talk about a mnr officer for a hard on to catch the other group which he did,later we found out they had an untagged 12 pointer in there truck,might have helped as the property owner put a huge chain on the gate and called the mnr,lets see what happens i know the first guy has some serious money fines i think mnr was going for max fine,as these guys were doing this to numerous land owners,
 
Trespassing laws are provincially legislated and differ province to province.
Here in Ontario property must be clearly marked to deny entry, the exceptions to that include, fenced/gated properties, lands under cultivation, lawns with residences on them, tree farms, property with livestock buildings on them. These are examples, one would need to refer to the Trespass to Property Act of Ontario.
Another issue that surfaces time to time is that when you receive permission to hunt land, you have NO authority to turf other people off, unless the owner gave you written permission to act as an agent for he or she.
 
the reason we dont allow others is that the land and taxes cost the owner a lot .through the tears we have added new members to hunt with us and pretty much people that are willing to help out on the land we let hunt .everyone of the members has a note and map of clear boundry lines , there are the traditional fences on the property that are consatantly repaired,there is also cattle on the property that we have to be worried about,like i said if they ask permission and want to do some help there welcome to hunt with us,usually the property owner is out there everyday ,through the years we had to deal with pot growers, people leaving tons of garbage,one year we had someone shooting geese in the back field stacking them like cordwood ,there had to be 40-50 of them stacked,we did not catch them though but have our suspicions,its been three years and the geese are coming back ,i think the guy wipped out most of the flock,we also have elk on the property and all members are made aware of this ,man they sound beautifull and eary at the same time during opening of deer
 
ps this year i leave the group to hunt nothern forests just something about sitting on stand and watching people on bikes go by,look of terror on there faces when i tell them its hunting season and you should not be wearing a white helmet or shirt, our property is next to the bruce trail.
 
We are fortunate around here as there is near unlimited access to most land,the thing that bothers me are the dickheads that post thier land and then hunt on everyone elses land and nine times out of ten it some hero that owns a few acres and thinks he owns the ponderosa.
 
beefman said:
I will (usually not very politely) tell someone ONCE to leave. TWICE...Chit is gunna hit the fan. :evil:

On our farm, we usually play the same game year in-year out with the locals who pretend they don't know where the line is....
my response is always the same :mad: "you ******** know that gate/fence you went through about a km ago". Then i call MNR or OPP. :)
Click to expand...
In these parts it isn't the locals who cause the issues. The problem is created by idiots from adjacent urban areas who show no respect for private property signs.

Now just in case this thread was put up by someone who thinks just paying a small fine is the price of hunting wherever you want I'd carefully consider that proposition.

If I see people with guns on my property I am not going to call the police and say "Oh some hunters got lost can you drop over and get rid of them."

What I'm going to say and have said is, "There are armed men on my property. I don't know if they are hunting or not. I think they may have pointed guns at the house and livestock and I'm worried about my safety." I can assure you that the tresspassing fine will be the very least of your concerns.
 
I frequent an American hunting forum, and their tresspassing "laws" are rediculous. Theirs numerous states where the landowner must mark his property every so often (some states it as low as 75 FEET). If its not marked, anyone can hunt on the property with no fear of legal repercussions.

Thats just retarded. It would be practically impossible to mark my familys property (500 acres)
 
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