tresspasser - it happened to me - UPDATE

So, I'm sitting in my ground blind watching a doe at the feeder 30 yards away. I have a back pond 70 yards behind her that sits along the woods line. I'm watching this doe for 5 minutes then all of the sudden BOOM. I knew it was on my property but stunned at how close it seemed. I left the blind and see a man walking down from the pond, NO hunters orange. I get closer and still cant make out who it is as dusk is approaching. He says hi and calls me by my name. It's my hays guys 40 year old son that lives 1/2 mile away. Mind you, his farm to hunt is the same size as mine and he had to cross on other piece of posted property to get onto my land. I was pissed and he knew it, he also knew he had no permission to be there but was caught red f'ing handed. I'll leave out the explitives but asked him what he shot at. He said a buck was walking down the hill from his left to right and thinks he missed. The buck was walking right to the doe and corn. Blood was everywhere and the deer was tracked onto yet another neighbors property. Once I got home I've had tome to reflect how lucky I am that that buck came walking down the field and the trespasser didn't notice the doe first. He would have shot right at me. I really like my hay guy and that is the only reason I didn't call the game warden today but I can't think of a reason to not call him tomorrow. Its freaking me out. Vent over. Holy crap that was a close one.

Got to wonder how many times he's been there before

Call, Call your hay guy, call the GW. There is a time to make nice but when safety is an issue "nice" has to take a back seat. You do not want a second close one.
And glad you are ok

I wouldn't care who he is, I would have called the GW right in front of him. We have problems with people trespassing on our lease all the time. I have called the sheriff several times. I pay a lot of money for the hunting rights and i will protect those rights. Some people just don't care.

I'm the new guy. Owned for 1 year this month. He was born and raised out there and probably knows my land better than me.

He needs to learn some RESPECT.

You are nicer than I am...

son or not, living in the area longer, whatever... a 40 year old has no excuses.

Next time you might have a bullet in you so I would call old GW

call in asap
call the hay guy.
a lot of these folks think they can run
willy nilly when the owner goes back to
where ever. either that or it's " waaal
we bin huntin' here fer 10-15 year, en
'ol lester jes tol us to come eny time
we tooka notion."
make damn sure they know ol' lester doesn't
own it anymore. you do, and you didn't give
anyone permission to be there.
would sonny have called in for help if he'd
have put one in you?

Send him a bill for hunting hunting your land that is the same as if you had a paid hunter. Send a copy to his Dad. Make the number on the bill worth your while and make sure that he gets the message. Also ask the "hunter" if he thinks his stupidity is worth his Dad loosing his hay lease. Hay is worth a lot nowdays and no one needs to mention the price of cattle at all.

If you don't do something about it he will likely do it again. I say call ASAP.

The 40 year old son will someday return to hunt your land since you didn't report him to his father or the game warden. Your silence gives him (the 40 year old son) the green light to do it again.

Call the GW. No excuses are acceptable.

Agree!

At 40, he is old enough to understand and obey the law. I would have called the GW.

It wasn't the first time he has trespassed on your land and if you let him get away with it, it won't be the last time.

Eddie

Trespassing is trespassing, as others have said don't let him get away with it as it only encourages his kind.

What if the guy bought you a steak dinner and a weekend of golf would that make it more exceptable?

this is why I won't own land until I can live their Full Time.

Consider the other side of someone getting shot. What if you had shot at either the doe or buck and had hit him? When someone trespasses, you are endangered, they are endangered, and any property damage is also a consideration, not to mention your stock and wildlife. I would call the GW and get this settled. I bet the trespasser's father would have no problem calling the GW if he saw someone hunting on one of his hay fields. Lots of danger during hunting season when someone is somewhere they are not supposed to be.

agree with this

Should've called the GW. It's a lot nicer than what you legally could've done - shot him for trespassing.

You have been more patient than most. I would have made it known to him under no circumstances was he allowed to be there now or at any other time. I would call the GW to at least let him know what had happened, that way there the GW has a heads up and can be aware and possibly keep an eye out for him. Just my two cents worth.

Fix it now or it will continue to be a problem later.

I think I would set a precedent now! If he is your hay guy's 40+ yr old son, just think.....He ain't too far off from being your new hay guy! If he knows he can take advantage of you now, just think what he'll be doing later!

Here's the deal. I was the "new guy" when I bought my place 10 years ago too. Similar thing happened. I called the GW, guy was on probation from another deal, guy went to jail. His house is a mile away from my place. He and his family are known "outlaws". They have lived there all their lives and know every inch of the area-this guy was walking my place at 2:30 AM with a headlight and a .30-30.

Fast forward to now: Many of the locals are like family now. I know most of them from the coffee shop, hiring work done, etc. To a man, they have told me that me prosecuting that guy was the best thing I could have done because word got around quickly that 1)I was there at unexpected times, 2)I have cameras out all over the place, and 3) I WILL prosecute. I have had almost zero trouble with trespassers since.

You are the landowner-new or not. It makes no difference. Giving a trespasser a "warning" means everyone finds out in a hurry that you are a pushover and your place is "open for business". This is a pivotal moment for the future of your place IMO.

You can legally shoot people for trespassing? Have to try that some time.

I agree with this

I spoke with the father this morning for 5 minutes and he fully understands that I'm not a pushover. The 40 yo son is actually in his early 50's and this should not be an issue any longer. One of the few law enforcement officers in town is a patient of my wife and he has been alerted to the situation.

And BTW, that's not just trespassing, that's poaching.

You need a dead deer/animal for it to be poaching.

Its either on the ground out there or at his house. Way too much blood out there.

The guy stated that while trespassing with a firearm he shot a deer, and there was an evident blood trail. You might need the body for the conviction, but he was attempting to poach that deer.

I agree with most of the replys.
He didn't have permission to hunt there and it's a safety issue more than anything.
You might be shot or end up shooting him since niether of you know where one another are, and then it's too late.
He wasn't supposed to be there so he's breaking the law. Call the GW!

Find the dead deer and call the GW.

If he had a firearm it is considered poaching and is a Class A misdemeanor. A dead animal does increase the seriousness depending on the animal,circumstances, etc. Having a firearm takes it out of the "ticket" realm though.

Pretty sure the blood trail, admissions, etc. are equivalent to a dead animal.

Without a dead animal, it will be your word against his. He will sing a different tune at that point. I would have saved some blood/hair/tissue for DNA at least if I decided to call the GW.

Would that be the same for a hog hunter looking for his dogs then caught on your land? Just curious.

He should of course do all he can. But most DA's will not hesitate on a "he said,he said" case where one of the "hes" was caught in the act of a crime and there is lots of circumstantial evidence of a further crime. In fact,it's not really a "he said,he said" case because of all the other evidence.

Yes. If he had a firearm it's a Class A. Again, can go up from there depending on circumstances....

To the OP, if you have a cell phone you could have taken pictures of him and the evidence (blood) and that would have been the slam dunk. Now it's pretty much just a he said, he said unless the OP comes up with the proof.

As a minimum I'd call your Hay Guy ..... and I'd let the son and father know that the next incident will involve the GW

Good you spoke with the "hay guy", but I would at least alert the GW, just in-case it happens again. For all you know, this "grown man", has been doing this to his other neighbors and the GW may already have/be making a case.

You can get a new "hay guy", if it comes down to it.

Good luck with it and hope it's a bridge you don't have to cross again.

I once caught a 45 year old man give or take with his 90 year old dad with their hunting buggy loaded with guns and fishing poles on our place. I was 25 our family has owned this piece of land for almost 100 years. I knew the family and they had been put in charge of a neighboring property while the owner was out of town. The old man said he knew the guy who owned it before no crap and said he was allowed to hunt and fish there. I lectured both of them more than younger guy just cause I could be mean to this old man as young guy felt weird but said tell your dad he is about a century outdated on his hunting privileges.

I didn't follow them out at first, went to check a few minuted after. They had skipped there exit and tried to go around to another spot on our property to hunt. Same conversation again. We now keep our shared gate locked.

Wow alexrex 20, shoot someone for trespassing ? Let us know how that works out for ya. Jeez.

There is one in every crowd...and when Therancher gets here, there will be two

CALL G/W NOW !!!!

I think you did the right thing by talking with him and the hay guy. Many people who lease grazing rights or farm a place assume they can hunt it as well. That's the way it is on many places. I wouldn't get the GW involved unless it happened again.

Haha txhntr, thats a good point!