What do you do if...?

CH_Tiger_14

CH_Tiger_14

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I think this is in the right section.

Lets say you are hunting deer legally in an area that is open to hunting (either no permission required or you have recieved permission from the landowner). However, this area you are in is next to a spot where the landowner has posted it as a no hunting area (even for himself).

Now lets say you wound an animal in the legal area you are in. You track it until you notice it has crossed into the no hunting area. How would you proceed? Would you try to contact the landowner and get permission to go on the property and track further? Maybe it has died there but maybe it is still alive and needs to be put down. OR, would you immediately cross onto the property and continue to track without the land owners permission? Could you get into trouble for this?

What would be the best thing to do?
 
I'm not sure if this is "legal"... But I would put my gun away and try to find the animal WITHOUT my rifle with me... IF anyone gave me a hard time, i.e. the game wardens, you were not hunting, you were trying to recover the animal...

Sometimes contacting a landowner is IMPOSSIBLE in the time frame that allows "edible recovery" of the animal...

Cheers
Jay
 
Well - I'd think twice about "crossing the line" A lot of landowners put up no hunting signs because they are hunting the land themselves, and dont want other folks on their land.
I think I'd make the effort to get to know the situation across the line before the hunt, BTW, that could benefit you if wounded animals come your way.
 
You must contact the landowner.
Before each season we ask the landowner beside us if we may retrieve a deer if needed, just in case. We haven't needed to but it saves us the dilemma since we're are required to retrieve all game.
 
Edited - after further clarifying no# 2 below.

My thoughts and information that I have been given...FWIW.

1 - If you are hunting legally, and shoot an animal it is your responsibility to track that animal until found and recover it. If this means that you have to cross onto "no hunting" marked land, then by all means unload your rifle, encase it if you can ( gunsock ) and get to that animal. Once found leave the area as quick as possible, with the animal. Do not Gut it there.
We cannot predict where or how far an animal will run after being shot, if you run around trying to get permission to "recover" then you encounter many other variables, loss of daylight, spoiled kill, ...stolen kill, etc...

2 - Posting no hunting signs does not prevent the landowner from hunting there, but I was just told that it prevents the landowner from "permiting" others to hunt there. Sorry I was confused in earlier statement.

Ignore this part.
If there are "NO HUNTING" signs on the property. It means that the LAND OWNER cannot HUNT there either. ( just commenting on this statement. A lot of landowners put up no hunting signs because they are hunting the land themselves, and dont want other folks on their land) I have been told this by many hunters. Someone Please correct me if I am wrong.
From what I have been told, NO tresspassing means stay off but allows for hunting to occur by landowner.

Dave
 
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Common curtisy would suggest you should contact the land owner, if you run into a problem there, I would contact the OPP & let them know what's going on & that you intend to retrieve a wounded animal as per hunting regs.

I think lildave has it right but how many times have wounded animals jumped up to continue on! A loaded gun would be handy at that moment
 
In Ontario, you are committing an offence if you trespass on private land. You would need to get permission from the landowner to enter onto private property. If the land is posted "no hunting", the owner may be anti-hunting, and the situation could get very unpleasant.
No one wants to abandon the attempt to recover a wounded animal, but it could be unavoidable, depending on the circumstances.
 
I strongly suggest being familiar with the surroundings first. Prior to hunting knowing the area's around you and informing the landloard that the only time you may be on that land is to retreive a blood trail animal for reasons under the game act. All land owners I know will understand this even the ones that are against hunting, (they don't want to see a animal suffer or go to spoil). The key here is to be prepared and permission given prior to the what ifs. So when seeking permission look outside your perameter and include the what if the animal did this or that?
 
tiriaq said:
In Ontario, you are committing an offence if you trespass on private land. You would need to get permission from the landowner to enter onto private property. If the land is posted "no hunting", the owner may be anti-hunting, and the situation could get very unpleasant.
No one wants to abandon the attempt to recover a wounded animal, but it could be unavoidable, depending on the circumstances.
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in a situation where the owner refuses you entry to recover game that was legaly shot but traversed to the no hunting land contact your local CO and inform them of the situation imediatly they can and will usuly expedite recovery with the owner of said land
 
It's a tough call and depends on the situation. If there's a good blood trail or can see the downed animal then I'd try and contact the landowner. If I couldn't then I'd probably go after it whether there are no trespassing signs or not.

I am a landowner whose property is marked with no trespassing signs (not no hunting) and borders some active hunting areas. If a wounded animal crosses the line and it's recovered I'll know it after the fact but the likelihood of me finding you in the middle of the recovery is quite low. If however you leave the animal it's certain that the remains will be discovered, most likely by my dogs, and I'll curse the person who just left it to there to rot.

If by chance I do encounter you on my property attempting to recover a downed animal POLITELY explain why you are there. Make sure your gun is unloaded and on your shoulder because that goes a long way to making your story believeable. I would understand that someone who is hunting alone would rather not leave his rifle or shotgun leaning against a tree before crossing onto my land. (If you really want to make this encounter go smoothly an offer to share some of the meat would be appreciated. ;) )

However, if the gun is in the hunter's hands then he's hunting as far as I'm concerned. He'll be told to leave immediately and I'll file a complaint with the OPP and MNR. I'll also do the same if he cops an attitude, acts like a jerk or otherwise offends me. At that point his deer is now mine and unless he wants to violate some other laws there's not a thing he can do about it.

In any event, if you are asked to leave do it and don't argue. During the slug season in these parts it's pretty common for the locals to take down licence plates of apparent hunting vehicles. You aren't anonymous out here and if you cause a problem you'll most likely be tracked down.

The recommendation to contact the landowner in advance is a good one although in almost ten years of living in a rural area I've never once had anyone do so.
 
Ask for permission. If you are denied, contact the authorities. The landowner may be charged with illegal possession of wildlife. It's pretty rare (if ever) that anyone has ever been charged with simply trespassing on private rural land. (This is Canada) Hunting on private land is a different matter.
 
SignGuy said:
in a situation where the owner refuses you entry to recover game that was legaly shot but traversed to the no hunting land contact your local CO and inform them of the situation imediatly they can and will usuly expedite recovery with the owner of said land
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Good luck with that. CO's are spread so thin unfortunately that even complaints about far more serious matters don't get investigated in a timely fashion. And while I might have to allow the CO access to the land that doesn't mean I have to give it to the hunter involved or that he will acquire possession of the animal if it is recovered.

bisonhd said:
Ask for permission. If you are denied, contact the authorities. The landowner may be charged with illegal possession of wildlife. It's pretty rare (if ever) that anyone has ever been charged with simply trespassing on private rural land. (This is Canada) Hunting on private land is a different matter.
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Perhaps. But you can be assured that if someone did that to me I could say he was hunting on my property illegally. Possession is ill defined as well because if the only knowledge I have of the animal being there is the say so of a hunter then I'd take that charge to court. Also, if it was my place the CO might well find that if I did find the animal and it was nice enough (and I hadn't had any luck) that it just might have the appropriate tag.;)

In any dispute between a landowner and a hunter, the hunter is holding the short end of the stick.
 
Your responsibility to contact the landowner to get permission trumps your responsibility to recover the game. I believe this is true LEGALLY.

However, in a real world situation, I think it's easier to beg for forgiveness for trespassing rather than letting an animal rot unused.

Edit to add: As found in the Alberta Hunting Regs for 2006:

Although there is a moral obligation to pursue wounded game and a legal requirement to ensure game is retrieved and not wasted or abandoned, these obligations do not override the legal requirement to get permission to enter private land
 
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I believe that the law requires that you do not tresspass. You would have to contact the landowner first. Landowner may say yes, may say no. In the case of a no or unable to contact, you should call the local MNR and get a CO there. The CO can tell the landowner, in the case of a no, that he will be recovering the animal with you, or if the landowner was unavailable, then he/she will escort you onto the property to retreive the animal.

At any rate, a call to the local MNR/CO wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
According to what I was told by an Alberta CO. The Wildlife Act (Alberta Mandate) requies you to (without permission) to retreive any legally taken big game by a hunter on private or crown land. But after reading Canuckle head's post, I'll have to go back and have a yarn with him.

Now that said, it would be down right rude to not take a drive over to ( or phone) the land owner to let him know what the situation is.

If the landownder refuses, then the CO under the Alberta WIldlife Act has the right to enter private land to retrive the animal.:cool:

All a moot point really if you have a good relationship with the land owner and have done some pre-season re-con. But I know....... every year no matter what you do, something always happens that you didn't plan for:rolleyes:
 
If the land is posted NO HUNTING or NO TRESSPASSING you may not enter the land to retrieve wounded or dead game WITHOUT the permission of the land owner, period. Unless the hunting regs in your province clearly state that you have the right to enter posted land to retrieve game.

44Bore
 
I agree with SignGuy... talk to the land owner first and explain the situation, and if that's a no-go, contact the local Conservation Officer and request assistance.
 
I think that you have the right to track a wounded animal If the sign says no hunting then the owner of the property can not legally hunt the property either. Personally if you were on my land and you were tracking a wounded animal and could prove it. I would help you and I would expect you to gave your weapon ready in case you spot the animal and it needs to be finished off. Be polite but be ready to explain yourself and you had better be telling the truth or the s%$#t would start flying.
 
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