OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

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MichiganMike
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OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby MichiganMike » Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:20 am

Found a really good looking spot on some Federal public land that bordered private in my Spring Scouting last March. There is a pinch point/transition area of hardwoods to a marsh with a scrape right at the transition point. Hung a trail camera in the hardwoods in early August looking down the point to catch something coming up from the Marsh. My intention was for getting a buck on camera- not necessarily to hunt here since my OnX was showing I was only approximately 50 yds from the private. There were no boundary markers on the private.

So I go to retrieve my camera a couple days ago- and there are Orange NO HUNTING tags all over the trees, a box blind over looking the hardwoods, mineral plot, and a treestand set up ON the tree I had the camera. Camera gone. There was a piece of paper in a zip lock bag fastened to the tree. I grab it and read it- it says: I dont know who you are but we have you on our cameras. You are on Private Property. If you steal any of our treestands, cameras, or damage property, you will be prosecuted to the fullest. Our photos of you have been turned in to the DNR and State Police. If you want your camera back, Call me (he listed his number) and we can work it out with the DNR and/or state Police etc.

So I call him and leave him a couple messages. I was cool about it and said I apologize - I wasn't aware I was on your property. I was using OnX and showed I was a good 50 yds off or so. I would like to work this out with out and promise to stay off your property in the future etc. please call me back. Couple days go by and he calls back. He said my name is so and so and I am the property owner about your camera. I said thank you for calling me back., greatly appreciate that and appreciate the note letting me know. I told him again I was using OnX and didnt see any markers and thought I was safe. He said no problem- sorry if the note sounded harsh but we had issues with trespassers and things stolen etc. our property markers/ribbons etc were even stolen! I said I totally get it, with the way the world is right now- and the last thing i want to do is screw up someone's hunting area. Then he said- OnX is not always accurate. We had the property surveyed and I can show you the line and where we had the markers stolen. He said the line is about 100-150 yds from what OnX shows! We can meet Sunday and we can walk the property and I will show you and give you your camera back too. I said that will be awesome! greatly appreciated. He even went as far to say if you shoot a deer and need to retrieve it on my property- no problem. Just text me or something. I said- that is very cool, Im not really planning on hunting this area (other than the thick marsh on his property-lot of open timber on federal im thinking) but I greatly appreciate that. I said in return if someone steals any of your belongings or damage your property, let me know I frequent the area and can check for vehicles etc. also- if you need help finding or dragging a deer- let me know as well.

So long story somewhat short- but the moral and lesson is- OnX is a great tool but not accurate. If your close to private, try to get a hold of landowner if possible. You may never know who you meet and can get information from. In the end you can meet a new friend and work together to keep the hunting community a great place. Because that's who we are and what we do.


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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Fendrick » Sun Sep 20, 2020 3:55 am

The state land I hunt on has the corners marked well. I make sure to find them to know the correct lines. OnX is a good guide for finding available public land, but the property lines are only as good as the public records which are not alway accurate
Tennhunter3
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:01 am

More then not onyx is accurate.
I've seen landowners try to claim property that's public.

I do think onyx can be off but they get their info from the County records. So who knows how much the previous landowners could have moved the lines one way or another. 50 plus years of property lines being moved based on where the the landowner wanted to hunt through several different owners who knows how accurate any of it is.
And county records should hold up in court.

If the guy didnt have any posted signs or fence line no way that would holdup in court. In the dark before daylight it is very easy to be a hundred or more yards off being turned around.

Landowners are hunters too and are biased wanting to keep everyone from their hunting areas. The argument can go both ways.

I know a guy that once fenced around 40 acres of timber company land with A single strand barb wire and put up a few fake signs to keep logging out of his hunting area. Guess what it worked. They logged only too the single strand of barb wire. Course when they cut a few thousand acres who notices a small change. Too this day 12 years later it still has never been logged.
Last edited by Tennhunter3 on Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:21 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby PAbowhunter10 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:10 am

Funny you posted this. I had the same thing happen last year. Scouted a piece of federal land and found a sweet hidden field that you couldn’t see from the road and had lots of deer sign. Looked like they were hitting this spot traveling from bedding (on public) through the hidden clover field (on public) to the adjacent corn fields (on private).
Anyways season arrived and I wanted to hit this spot early, before other guys started walking through it. The walk in is about a half mile through some nasty stuff and right before getting to my tree I crossed a trail camera. The trail camera was right on the edge of private but facing into the public. Thought to myself, that’s odd because it wasn’t even facing the deer trails accessing the clover field on public.
Well the hunt ended up being a bust and left that spot never to return the rest of season.
Then early November comes and one of my friends texts me when I’m up in a tree. Says, hey man, might want to check Facebook, this guy has your pictures posted all over it. And states that he is looking for you, doesn’t think kindly of you (some things I can’t say on this forum), and is seeking legal actions. Instantly my hunt was ruined and I’m thinking what in the world is this all about. So my buddy sends me the picture and it was from that trail camera earlier in October.
So I do some research, get the guys number, and call him. Explained to him that I was never on his property and know it because I was using OnX and that hidden clover field is on federal land. He then explains to me that OnX is wrong and he owns that hidden field. So I apologize and tell him that it won’t happen again, all while making the point that he needs to get my picture off of Facebook and that I didn’t want to get a bad wrap from this honest mistake. I Live in a small town and word travels fast. Not to mention I work for the local electric utility so I know a lot of people in all the local towns and communities.
The guy ended up taking my picture off of Facebook and ended up being a half decent guy. Even told me that he would lend me a hand if I ever needed help dragging out a deer on this piece of public. Long story short... don’t always trust OnX. I actually looked at this piece again on OnX recently and the guy must of called and complained to OnX because the maps are now correct.

70207CB0-1C71-4C8F-B3E5-D9CF875877E8.jpeg


This field was marked as public last year. Bedding was located to the North East, corn field to the South West, and trail camera located in the north west corner of field edge.
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Last edited by PAbowhunter10 on Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:30 am, edited 2 times in total.
MichiganMike
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby MichiganMike » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:28 am

Tennhunter3 wrote:More then not onyx is accurate.
I've seen landowners try to claim property that's public.

I do think onyx can be off but they get their info from the County records. So who knows how much the previous landowners could have moved the lines one way or another. And county records should hold up in court.

If the guy didnt have any posted signs or fence line no way that would holdup in court. In the dark before daylight it is very easy to be a hundred or more yards off being turned around.

Landowners are hunters too and are biased wanting to keep everyone from their hunting areas. The argument can go both ways.

I know a guy that once fenced around 40 acres of timber company land with A single strand barb wire and put up a few fake signs to keep logging out of his hunting area. Guess what it worked. They logged only too the single strand of barb wire. Course when they cut a few thousand acres who notices a small change. Too this day 12 years later it still has never been logged.

Good point! yeah I can imagine landowners abuse it as well. Like I said, I didn't get confrontational with him or get into any legal battle even though I may have grounds for a strong defense. It's a good looking spot, but not set on it or plan on hunting right there. Just wanted to see if anything is coming in or out and through the hardwoods. I have plenty of other spots. Just want to get my camera back and move on. Sounds like a good guy and reasonable. I know other instances where people have experienced much worse.
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brancher147
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby brancher147 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 4:40 am

It’s not Onx that has the lines off it’s your county GIS tax map which is what Onx uses. Your location pin on Onx can be off due to satellites also. I find The property lines are usually off near me but close enough to figure out in most cases
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Dewey » Sun Sep 20, 2020 5:36 am

OnX obviously has issues but the moral of the story is if you even think your close to private be on the safe side and keep your distance especially if the boundaries aren’t clearly marked. I can totally understand landowners getting upset when guys keep hunting right on their property line. Even when I know exactly where the line is I still keep at least a 100 yard buffer if possible. When you hunt right on property lines your just asking for trouble. It’s good to leave some room for error especially if a wounded deer heads towards the private. Not saying anybody was wrong here just stating how I approach things myself. Creates much less headaches in the long run.
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Sun Sep 20, 2020 6:40 am

As someone else stated finding a corner marker goes a long way. I’ve found the whole general area around where I live everything is shifted 25 yds north and 25
Yds west. Which isn’t a huge amount but some places I access right on an edge or something so it’s good to know.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Swedishbowhunter » Sun Sep 20, 2020 7:42 am

I dont think I would be so quick as to take the landowners work on where they line is. i have seen this many times where the landowner will mess with you just to keep you away, not saying this is the case, but it happens a lot. I am glad i saw this post as it reminded me to check one of the county gis where I hung a camera this spring scouting. My onx was acting all goofy so i was a bit reluctant to push too close to where I thought the line was. Anyway, i hung a camera and got out, on my way out, at least 50 yards from the camera i run into a posted sign (which i was on the private side), i was like oh boy. i restarted my phone and onx and it then showed the line really clear, right about where i hung my camera. I decided to get out of there and follow up another day, today I checked the gis and it shows the line right where onx does. Not sure what is best to do in this situation, I really dont want to hunt where i had my camera, but just wanted inventory of deer in the area. I guess if someone gives me grief when fetching my camera I can show them the gis and onx.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby matt1336 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:07 am

In my experiences I’d trust onx before a landowner. Nothing is perfect but I’ve run into a few landowners that boarder public land that love to claim more property than they have a right to.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sun Sep 20, 2020 8:34 am

I’ve seen a bunch of inaccuracies with borders. I know onX is wrong sometimes because a friend of mine owns 11 acres and he says the border is wrong on onX. No public land around him. I took his word because he has nothing to lose
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby Aaron Jones » Sun Sep 20, 2020 9:51 am

Here is a place I hunt in Texas. This guy is a jerk. Like truly. ONX shows his property in the red line but his property is fenced in the blue. He has it posted around the blue. This is the kind of guy that would have it fenced and posted if all of the red was actually his border. I emailed ONX about another property line one time and they never got back to me or anything so I never bothered to email to go check in on this.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:21 am

I've run into bunches of spots that onX says is public that are definitely not, and also some that I'm pretty sure are public but there are posted signs everywhere.

In cases where I want to hunt a spot and it might be an issue, I have multiple maps with me to prove I did my due diligence. OnX, GIS maps, then the wma/state forest/national forest map.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby jkelley1487 » Sun Sep 20, 2020 2:47 pm

Good stuff guys. I wonder how often OnX updates landowners? There’s several properties In Indiana that were sold a year or so ago that still lists the old owners.
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Re: OnX inaccuracies and landowner altercations

Unread postby SEMObowhunter » Sun Sep 20, 2020 10:10 pm

I’ve ran into this a ton with county assessor’s (tax) maps. It’s the old flat picture, round surface, issue. I was a surveyor and we had every type of map available, as well as gps systems that cost $100k. It’s not ONX fault. My goodness you are paying taxes on property that doesn’t show correctly on county maps. Your phone gps, or any other public use gps isn’t that accurate either, and by accurate I mean drive a 60D nail as a control point three inches under the dirt, shoot it with gps, go back in five years and find it again accurate. You can’t mark boundary lines with a handheld, and you can’t trust aerial overlays either as they are shot with plane, camera, and reference points on the ground. I’ve done a ton of this work and there are correction factors for everything to try and be as accurate as possible. So best course is to use best judgement and don’t push the limit if you think you are close and the line isn’t defined. There will normally always be some sort of indication that you have went from public to private. At least where I live. Old fences, timber cut lines, as well as USFS boundary signs. The MDC marks every line as well. I just don’t want ONX to get a rundown as they provide an awesome tool I think that is as accurate as what the public is allowed to have. I don’t even pay for the extra I just like having the topo and aerial on same screen with ability to mark locations.

Just my two cents.


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