SO CAL HOGS!!

[Wild1]

Hey Surf, is there any chance we can make it at 7:00pm instead of 8:00.....?

 

[Surfswest]

Sure. I don't know exactly my work schedule for that day, but I think we can make it at 7pm instead. See you there.

Surfswest

ps. think I'll make a new topic so all know and can make it.

 

[acousticmood]

I'm in - wednesday at 7:00?

 

[Surfswest]

Yup.

 

[ooja]

"Real simple. If the person tells you to leave and really IS the landowner (or a caretaker), then you have been notified that you are trespassing, and are at that moment breaking the law unless you leave the property."

I am not so sure of that one Speck. The law says landowners need to post their land, it does not say they have to give verbal warnings. If you are trespassing and are told you must leave by the landowner, you must by law leave. Where we have an issue is if you should believe the person is the land owner.

Just to verify, landowners who do not post and still insist on trying to arrest people for trespassing will have the charges dropped, and in some cases can be found guilty of entrapment. Lets face it, you have all that money to buy the land, or inherited it or whatever, you have to maintain it...yet still refuse to post trespassing signs so your property boundary may be protected by the law, and now you want to prosecute someone for trespassing...absolutely positively entrapment (after all you know there is a trespassing problem, you are there to arrest them, but not hang signs)? The landowner is going to pay the legal fees of the defendant, and get a paper trail on him, this has been done will continue to be done. That is why it is so much more common to see the signs and fences than not.

Now that said, a hunter going out where he knows it is not his land, and knows it is not public land, is wrong. Just plain wrong. And if the fences are cut down, the signs shot up...you still know you are not supposed to be there, and you should not be.

Here is a case which illustrates my point: Up in the north eastern end of the LPNF, there is a National Forest road that leads in to an area, used to be pretty good for game. A few miles down the road, there is a fence that goes right up to either side of the road and stops and great big NO TRESPASSING signs are posted on either side of the road.

However, that is an intentionally-created, well-designed trick, to make people feel they are not allowed there. The property actually goes up to the edge of the road on both sides. Hunters are allowed to travel down the road, but not leave it until they are past the private property, then they are back in the National forest, and can hunt. Instead most see the signs and turn around. The landowner then gets all that public land to himself.

There is another place in Central Cal where the landowner literally strings a fence across a public access point to BLM land, or at least that is what the USGS has on their maps...however if you want to get in there you only have a few choices...contact the owners and ask for permission (fat chance, they make their living selling hunts). Pay to have a survey done...or go out there and hunt, then when arrested, challenge it in court. One thing for sure if the landowner knows what he is doing, he has thrown the gauntlet, who will step up and challenge him? Nobody? Great, more land for him.

Do people play games? Oh yes. Should you leave if you know you are in the wrong? Definately...but if you are without a doubt in the middle of public land, you have checked your location with GPS, you have contacted local enforcement, you know you are good to go and see someone playing a game....well it is your decision if you want to get played.

This does not happen very often, but it sounds like these guys might have found a loop hole, a land locked legal area holding game and a way in that is not posted. If it were me, I wouldn't go, but they have the initiative to challenge someone who is not posting as per property law. Since they are trying it, I thought I would tell what I know. And I still agree with you Speck, even though a person may be in the right, it is hard to stick it through, all the BS just to teach someone else they have to play by the rules too. I wouldn't go either.

 

[Speckmisser]

Ooja...

No disrespect, but I hope you never find yourself in court trying to push that "entrapment" thing. You'll be in for a rude awakening.

I don't post my front yard. There's no fence and no gate, and it sure isn't under cultivation. By law, anyone can stroll right up to my doorstep. However, if I tell them to leave my property, the law says they have to do so. If they do not, I can have them arrested for trespass. That's not entrapment. It's property rights. The same applies to my chunk of forest land, open fields, or canyons. If I tell you to get off my land, I don't need a sign to have you arrested if you refuse, and you sure as heck won't have grounds to charge me with any wrongdoing if I do. You've been notified of ownership. I've done what I'm required by law to do.

The other bit you're describing, illegally posting public land or misleading signage (not illegal...but a pretty dirty trick... I've seen it too), is a different ball of wax than where this thread started.

However, you might ask any of the many folks who've hunted the "public" land around Curry Mountain how they fared in their trespassing cases. Those cases can go either way, especially in a small town, and it should be a caution to any high-minded outsider who thinks the law is always on his side. It ain't right, but it's how it is.

Best not to push your luck... because luck is danged likely to push right back.

 

[usadaytrader]

Hey guys. Would you mind if I join you? I am in your neck of the woods. I've been hunting D11 with absolutley no success. I haven't had a chance t read through the whole thread, but I am interested in a group meeting with you all. PM me.. I would appreciate it.

usadaytrader@yahoo.com

Thanks