DO NOT ASK sign

[John_M52]

Hunting season coming up. Property is well posed plus additional signage at all entrances. Still get lots of people driving up and knocking on doors, looking in windows to see who is home. Getting pretty tired of stopping a guy in a pickup after he drives a mile up my driveway to ask to hunt or to offer to shoot coyotes. Usually something like "Hey I wanted to ask if I can hunt here." I say did you see the no trespass and no hunting signs? Yeah, but I wanted to talk to the owner. We've been hunting this land for generations (usually lies). Prosecuted a few poachers but they still keep coming. Always the same story - I know the owner and he said I can hunt/fish here. What's his name, what does he drive? I don't remember... Only been here a few years but the old manager was here for 30+ and never allowed any hunting other than him and his buddies. Thinking about adding DO NOT ASK signs but I assume I'll get, Yeah I saw the sign but I figured I'd ask anyway. Actually stopped the Porta John driver who was wandering around and he said I'm gonna get to know the owner here so I can hunt this land. Cattle farm in Virginia for reference. Yes, we have cameras. Thoughts?

 

[LittleAugieMo]

At least some have the common courtesy to ask. The ones that "walk on" because they "have for years" are generaly the ass-hats&entitle crowd also they will state "I ask so-n-so awhile back an they said it was ok" = lie or 15-20 yrs ago. Good luck

 

[WR Moore]

I'd add the tag. Maybe a pole gate on the main drive, consider gates/chains on the other entrances-also with signs. And concealed game cameras. Won't stop the walk ins, meeting them with appropriate accessories might.

30 odd years ago ran into that mindset too. Summary: "My ancestors owned that land, they hunted it, I'm a gonna hunt it." Uh, dude the family sold that land in 18/19XX. "Don't matter, my great grandaddy etc. hunted that land, I'm a gonna hunt it."

About where in Virginia are you?

 

[Smoke]

I worked as a security guard for 15 years and believe it or not there is a connection to this discussion. Dealing with trespassers is the main thing I did. Everybody I ran into had a reason why it was okay for them to be there. In my experience they tended to try to extend the discussion long enough for me to break down and not make them leave.

I know cops have the saying ask them once, tell them once, then make them.
I wasn't allowed to "make" them. So, I would explain that the property was posted no trespassing and asked them to leave once. When they ignored me I would explain again that's property is posted no trespassing and tell them if they didn't leave I was going to call the police. And there was no third time if they didn't start heading for the gate I will pull out my phone put it on speaker and dial CSPD. I can only think of twice that didn't work. I'm not sure what you can take from that.

The bottom line is the only thing that's going to keep them out is a fence

A real fence, not three strands of barbed wire and even that won't be 100% effective.

ETA Watch Hawk optional

This is my opinion and it's probably wrong but at least if somebody's walking up to your door and asking politely, that shows good intentions. It's the ones that you just catch out there hunting anyway regardless of the signs that you have to worry about

 

[Erich]

Great post, Smoke; thanks.

 

[GypsmJim]

Dad had almost no vacation time. Thus, no time to do scouting, and I didn't have a car. So, the first Saturday of deer season we would drive in darkness to a spot where he used to hunt before the war. Sometimes we got to hunt. Other times we drove around looking for a spot with no posted signs. As the years went buy it was getting harder and harder.

Only once did we hunt on state land - wall-to-wall hunters and most of them idiots.

Dad always said once you can buy a place all your neighbors will let you hunt.

At the ripe old age of 40 (after having hunted for 24 years) I finally found a 10 acre parcel I could afford. I got a tax map and personally contacted every single neighbor. None of the lands were posted. EVERY single one said no.

A few years later we bought the 40 acre adjacent lot at auction. Now, with 50 acres, our whole family is secure forever.

I posted everything. Never had anyone ask permission. There is an old logging trail that is used by the snowmobilers and 4 wheelers, and of course they believe they don't NEED permission.

 

[ameridaddy]

Can your sheriff be of any help? After all, it's not like they can't see the signs, unless they came in through the woods or a pasture. In posted urban areas, trespassers ignoring the signs can be arrested.
Maybe some more serious signs along the driveway -

IT'S POSTED. NO TRESPASSING. NO HUNTING.
DON'T EVEN ASK. IT'S A WASTE OF TIME.
GO BACK
VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED​

 

[Protocall_Design]

I would say - Survivors will be prosecuted...

 

[John_M52]

To all of the above who responded, thank you. They are all the nicest guys in the world and ask politely until you push back. But a guy peering through my window is likely to get shot. Usual excuse "I heard this place was abandoned." Have prosecuted several with outstanding felony warrants. Go figure. Some I just run off with a polite maybe next year. Some say I don't have time for this BS. I say well you're on my land. Others carry off boats and equipment or anything else they can steal. Guys usually tell me "I know the owner here." I don't bother saying you're looking at him. Sheriff doesn't get involved. Conservation officer is 45 min away when he's on duty and will prosecute IF you swear out a warrant. If you won't he won't show up next time. Northern VA.

 

[John_M52]

I worked as a security guard for 15 years and believe it or not there is a connection to this discussion. Dealing with trespassers is the main thing I did. Everybody I ran into had a reason why it was okay for them to be there. In my experience they tended to try to extend the discussion long enough for me to break down and not make them leave.

I know cops have the saying ask them once, tell them once, then make them.
I wasn't allowed to "make" them. So, I would explain that the property was posted no trespassing and asked them to leave once. When they ignored me I would explain again that's property is posted no trespassing and tell them if they didn't leave I was going to call the police. And there was no third time if they didn't start heading for the gate I will pull out my phone put it on speaker and dial CSPD. I can only think of twice that didn't work. I'm not sure what you can take from that.

The bottom line is the only thing that's going to keep them out is a fence
View attachment 786695
A real fence, not three strands of barbed wire and even that won't be 100% effective.

This is my opinion and it's probably wrong but at least if somebody's walking up to your door and asking politely, that shows good intentions. It's the ones that you just catch out there hunting anyway regardless of the signs that you have to worry about

I'm a LEO but not in this state so....means nothing. I always take out my phone and take pics. They say I saw the signs but I've been doing this for .....years.... I usually get "hey what the heck are you doing?" I say the CO is on his way and you're going to be prosecuted. Kinda tired of doing felony stops alone at my age. Thinking about windshields and valve stems at this point.

 

[WR Moore]

There is an old logging trail that is used by the snowmobilers and 4 wheelers, and of course they believe they don't NEED permission.

Gates and game cameras. Or maybe a couple of dump truck loads of gabion (or larger) and game cameras.

 

[olfart]

About 25 years ago while I was still working as a deputy, I came home from shopping on my day off to find a Jeep parked partially blocking my gate. There was a boy about 12 years of age standing in front of the Jeep with a rifle in his hands. I got out and asked what he was doing. He said his dad saw a deer cross the road onto my property and went in to see if he could find it.

"And he left you standing here to shoot it when he chases it back out."

"Uh, well, uh, sorta."

"Your dad is trespassing on my property. I'm calling the sheriff."

"Oh, it's OK. My dad's a cop in Texarkana."

"Well, I'm a cop here, and your dad is still trespassing."

I pulled out my badge and ID and asked for his dad's name, address and phone number. This rattled the kid and left him speechless, so I wrote down the license number on the Jeep. Then I opened the gate and drove to the house (700' away through the trees), hoping to find the man. No such luck. I did find boot prints around the house and the chicken house. So I called the office and ran the license, asked dispatch to hold it for me. I went back to the gate and found the Jeep and kid gone. Dad probably watched that exchange from the woods and wanted no part of me.

When I got to work the next day, I told the chief deputy about the incident, and he suggested I write a letter to the Texarkana Chief of Police to inform him he has a problem officer. So I did exactly that.

A couple of days later I got a phone call from a woman who said she was the mother of the boy that I terrorized. She reamed me for scaring her baby half out of his wits, then went on to explain that her husband was on medical leave recovering from a duty-related accident and just took their son out for a drive. She said he thought he recognized my property as having belonged to his grandparents, and he wanted to see if the old house was still there. I could hear a man's voice in the background coaching her on what to say, which chapped me all over again. He didn't have the nerve to call me himself and apologize, so he had his wife call and chew me out.

I should have gone ahead and filed a criminal trespass complaint, but I chose to let it slide.

 

[65-2x2]

I would say - Survivors will be prosecuted...

I once saw a sign that said, "Tresspassers will be violated."

 

[Kinman]

If you believe in the power of signage one that stopped me in my tracks once simply said "NO ENTRANCE ALLOWED, NOONE HAS PERMISSION TO ENTER." My nephew and I went out on some new property and asked for permission, most people were kind.

 

[Jimbo41]

Some guys were trespassing on the property adjacent to me. Really not my issue, except that they'd end up shooting across the field and into my house. I made it a habit to launch a few parachute flares over the field at sunset. It'd really light it up and the deer would scatter. The field was fenced a few years back and the hunters have stayed away.

 

[65-2x2]

I found that when I put up a gate, with a lock, all of those issues just went away. Around here people are reticent about climbing gates that are covered in no trespassing signs. I do a lot of shooting on my place out in the country and word gets around. The word is probably something like, "That crazy old man will shoot you!" I do nothing to make them think any differently.

When I first moved back onto the property, 30 years ago, I did have a problem. Someone had run a trap line down my creek for racoons. I gathered up all of the leg traps and burnt them (killing the springs) by the creek and left a hangmans noose over the pile of ruined traps. I haven't had a problem since.

In my area, the most common trespassers used to be kids. Folks that didn't understand the sanctity of "private property." I know this because in the 50s and 60s I was one of the little bastards that would sneak onto your land to fish in your private pond. That is no problem any more because kids don't go outside as far as I can tell. The other issue is that most hunters are either hunting on the massive amount of public lands in the area or in private hunting clubs and that keeps the riff-raff down. Trespassing with a firearm is also a felony in this state, so you have to ask yourself, "Is that poached doe really worth the risks?"