Landowner attempts to "annex" a piece of public ground

[jake71]

I went to scout a public area near home. I went to a small block of timber that protrudes like a pennisula into private land. When I got there, it was heavily marked with purple paint. I was pretty sure it was improperly marked, and I was suspicious that an adjacent landowner was trying to "annex" a piece of the public. I sent an email to the conservation officer for the county, and below is his response. Reading it made me smile, so thought I'd pass it along.

Jake,

I appreciate you educating yourself prior to the deer season. The area you are referring to is in fact part of ***. The adjacent landowner stole the IDNR signs and replaced them with his own. Multiple charges were filed against him including, but not limited to, theft of state property, damage to state property and hunter harassment. He recently pled guilty to the charges and paid significant fines. I suspect the Department will again mark the boundary as soon as possible. Abide by the *** Hunter Fact Sheet and you will be fine. Should you encounter any issues while hunting this area, do not hesitate to contact me. Best of luck!

[Dewey]

Great job dealing with the situation. Too many look the other way and are afraid to get involved. Good to hear the landowner was heavily fined due to his greed and lack of respect for legal hunters rights to use the land.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JoeRE]

I routinely find places where people move boundary signs and/or put up no trespassing signs to ward off competition. Always verify the location of such signs with maps and if they don't make sense with the warden. Almost every year I find that somewhere. This spring I found a 20 acre corner that somebody moved the boundary signs on.

By the way most of the time I don't think its adjacent landowners, rather some public land hunter trying to keep away competition from "their" spot..about impossible to catch that.

[BassBoysLLP]

I routinely find places where people move boundary signs and/or put up no trespassing signs to ward off competition. Always verify the location of such signs with maps and if they don't make sense with the warden. Almost every year I find that somewhere. This spring I found a 20 acre corner that somebody moved the boundary signs on.

[glow=red]By the way most of the time I don't think its adjacent landowners, rather some public land hunter trying to keep away competition from "their" spot..about impossible to catch that.[/glow]

This has been my thought as well.

[Jackson Marsh]

[dan]

[whitetailassasin]

[goldtip5575]

Sounds like the guy is a real idiot. Much like the public land hunting idiots that shoot holes in or take down no trespassing signs then trespass and act like they didn't know the property lines or got lost.Why isn't the book thrown at them????

[Dewey]

Sounds like the guy is a real idiot. Much like the public land hunting idiots that shoot holes in or take down no trespassing signs then trespass and act like they didn't know the property lines or got lost.[glow=red]Why isn't the book thrown at them????[/glow]

It would be if you turned them in.

[goldtip5575]

Sounds like the guy is a real idiot. Much like the public land hunting idiots that shoot holes in or take down no trespassing signs then trespass and act like they didn't know the property lines or got lost.[glow=red]Why isn't the book thrown at them????[/glow]

It would be if you turned them in.

Kind of funny how when the state owns the property the book gets thrown but if its just a private landowner a simple $200 trespassing ticket will be fine if you can catch them and you feel like taking a day off work to pursue it. Where are the harassment charges and annex charges for trespassers can you smell what Im cooking now Dewey ??

[hunter_mike]

Nice work!

[Dewey]

Sounds like the guy is a real idiot. Much like the public land hunting idiots that shoot holes in or take down no trespassing signs then trespass and act like they didn't know the property lines or got lost.[glow=red]Why isn't the book thrown at them????[/glow]

It would be if you turned them in.

Kind of funny how when the state owns the property the book gets thrown but if its just a private landowner a simple $200 trespassing ticket will be fine if you can catch them and you feel like taking a day off work to pursue it. Where are the harassment charges and annex charges for trespassers can you smell what Im cooking now Dewey ??

Got it

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DropTyne]

GoldTip, do you have problems with public hunters pushing your property boundaries or trespassing? If so, what do they do? How often does it happen?

[ Post made via iPad ]

[Crazinamatese]

I often see public land marker signs disappear in my area. Makes me wonder.

[Primetime41]

I scouted a small public property on Saturday and had something similar happen. Seems the owner of the bordering private land has twisted the "Private Land Ahead" signs along the walking trail that borders his property to make it seem as if you are trespassing by continuing on the public trail. He also loaded the trail with bushes, hinge-cut trees across it, and put up some of his own no-trespassing signs. Part of me was irritated, but there is also a part of me that hopes maybe it deters some other people from hunting this public land.