private land crossing question

[paceman]

If I was the landowner and he called me I would simply say walk across and drag your deer back across. Thanks for calling. Good luck hunting! No big deal!

[goblueM]

The second thing I did was to contact a friend who is a certified surveyor. He is young and skilled and equipped with the latest GPS assisted surveying equipment. He said that short of an actual survey with proper equipment based on measurements that start an official USGS monument it is impossible to know the actual boundaries of a property.

This is very true, even GIS (which tends to be more accurate than Google maps) can be off compared to a certified survey. Added to this, there's the whole "not all fences are borders, and not all borders are fenced" thing complicated hunter-landowner relations

[brittman]

HARVEY:

I never named a city. Cass County has about 15% (maybe more) of ND's total population. Sure Fargo has most, but many more are spread out across the county.

Locals are often the issue.

I have hunted the Sandhills, but spent much more time on Sheyenne River bottoms owned by my relatives a hundred miles or so up river. There were locals, both loners and groups that would trespass. Some would even drive pastures of my relatives on noon Friday if we did not hunt there first.

One older guy would drive around in his old El Camino and shoot deer a step out of his car. I often figured he killed a few more than his one tag allowed him too. I wanted to turn him in (no cell phones then), but then learned a little more. When I found out his family lived on deer meat - I figured nothing went to waste. Interestingly the number of tags boomed in to 1000s a few years after he died.

Even though the locals knew they would be allowed on most of his properties after our tags were filled - some still chose to tresspass.

More than once, I asked my uncle (a medium sized rancher & farmer in the area), why he did not call the sheriff or Game&Fish Dept. ... His comment was I have to live with these people 365 days a year.

[laker1]

Concerning the issue of crossing kiddy-corner from public land to public land with private land in the other corners is this. Court rulings have determined that the property lines come to an infinite point. This means that no-matter how "exact" in crossing part of your body will cross a portion of private land.

Before crossing there I would talk to at least one of the land-owners, not just over the phone but arrange a meeting with them or pull up in their yard. Personally if I couldn't get permission I would walk the extra 1/2 mile.

I am a little outdated,but 10 years ago in Montana they determined you could cross from corner to corner on public land. Wyoming at that time said you could not,but the Conservation officers and the state were not enforcing it because they did not think it would hold up.

Come fast forward to today,new rulings,I don't know. Back than I did a quite a bit of research and seen this in writings and findings. Changes?

Some of this I believe the state may not legislate in a certain way.

I guess I will have to research again for updates.

[Wanderer]

Maddawg,

I know you were just asking a question but you can obiviously seen there are varying opinions on this. If you haven't already just started crossing the corner, go talk to the landowners and tell them your intention. Let them know you want to respect their property rights and would appreciate it if they would show you where they believe the corner is. It might be interesting if you could get them both there at the same time.

[aanderud]

If the deer is too heavy to throw can he setup a pully system between two of the trees to transport the deer over the property line? Personally I would build a catapult.

btw I agree this should not be an issue if you know where the boundaries are located

[WIMN]

Someone mentioned the use of Google Maps as a contributor to the issue of access to public lands. This is an area where I would suggest caution.

A friend owned some land that was 1 mile north of a county line. There was a fenceline issue with another landowner. I attempted to use Google Earth and Google Maps to figure out who was right and who was wrong.

Tom,

best bet is to get a plat book or view online GIS plat books for each county. Almost every county I have checked so far has some form of online plat book (don't have to fork over $40 to get a hardcopy that will end up being outdated). Some are easier than others to use, or might be hard to find, but I have always been able to track one down if I look long enough.

[Tom7227]

I didn't know that the plat books had become available this way. Great info. Thanks.

But my point is that in a criminal case the state needs to prove every essential element beyond a reasonable doubt. Given what the surveyor told me I think there is reasonable doubt about the location of parcel lines and that's why I think a conviction is unlikely. There may be case law that I don't know about so I would not advise that folks push the limits. Get permission or stay off.

[Bear55]

Just a warning, all the GIS sites I have seen have an accuracy disclaimer. They are just there to look, nothing concrete.