Should I Go Back?

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Bella

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This morning I decided to go on quick bird hunt with my dog. I wanted to try this open area located next to some ranches. It is an open area with no fences or signs. The area is covered in desert scrub, no farming or other activity is obvious.

The shooting distance law here is five hundred feet minimum distance from dwellings with shotguns. One house is located near this piece of landed. I parked a good three hundred feet from it and used my GPS to walk off another five hundred feet to give myself a good legal cushion.

We did find some quail and were having a great time. Not only that, in one area I found empty shotshell hulls and broken clay targets strewn all over the ground. I figured that shooting here was kosher.

As I was walking around I noticed a gentleman standing by my vehicle looking at me. I decided to go see who it was. One thought that crossed my mind was that the landowner and he was going to kick me out. As I got closer I saw it was a deputy and I then spotted his truck.

At that point I unloaded my shotgun. I then proceeded towards him with gun held out at eye level, muzzle straight up and the open action facing the sheriff. He waved me over and asked me what I was shooting. I told him birdshot.

He said one of the home owners had called a complaint in because of my shooting. I explained to the deputy that I was aware of the legal shooting distance and pointed out the GPS around my neck I used to make sure I was a safe distance from any dwelling. I also him that even if I am at a safe distance, I won't shoot towards anyone's house.

He asked me for my gun and ID. He went and ran both and came. He handed my gun and license back. To his credit, he was pleasant and professional about the whole thing.

I did ask him if he knew who or what had jurisdiction over the property we were on. He said he didn't know, but decades ago it was a saw mill. It must of been a long time ago because there wasn't any evidence of one.

He told me to be careful and then he left. He didn't tell me to leave or cease shooting there. I did leave at that time. I left because the weather was turning and I was already near my car.

Sorry about the long rant, but it is the background for my question.

Should I go back to property to hunt in the future? Apparently I didn't violate any laws, but I don't want to bother who ever called me in or another deputy if they respond.

What would you do?
 
Honestly if you don't know who owns it you have no business on it. Some states it would be simple trespass if the owner wanted to present charges, MO doesn't require posting for second degree trespass. But I am pretty conservatve when it comes to other folks property.
 
The law here is that if there is no signage you can only be charged for tresspassing if you refuse to leave when directed to do so. If there are signs, you can be charged immediately.
 
If the hunting was good, I'd go back. The response from the deputy clearly shows that you were well within the law and the issue is not with you, but with those that called in a false complaint. Could be the person calling in the complaint is just harassing you because you are hunting in his spot........
 
I did ask him if he knew who or what had jurisdiction over the property we were on.
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Good hunting etiquette would require permission to hunt on private property, regardless of the particulars of the law.
 
The law here is that if there is no signage you can only be charged for tresspassing if you refuse to leave when directed to do so. If there are signs, you can be charged immediately.
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That still does not give you any rights to hunt that property. If it is private land and you don't have permission to be on it, then stay off.
 
It's pretty simple: find out who owns it and ask ...... before whoever does not want you there finds out and asks them to say NO.
 
If the complaintant was the land owner I would assume the deputy would have ordered me to leave. He didn't. His concern seemed to be safety related. I was never within birdshot range of any building.
 
A few minutes doing some research would likely help. The county office(or whatever) should have a list of who owns what. Likely online too. Be an easy and free bit of CYA.
The cop would have given you a trespass ticket too of there was an issue.
 
If the complaintant was the land owner I would assume the deputy would have ordered me to leave. He didn't. His concern seemed to be safety related. I was never within birdshot range of any building.
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That's why I'd go back. Again, the complainant obviously wanted you gone for their own personal reasons, none of which entitled them to have you leave. I have had neighbors call me in for trespassing several times when I had written permission from the land owner to be there. The reason they called me in was not because of concern for the landowner, but concern that I might get the game there instead of them.
 
That's why I'd go back
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Why are you advising him to do something illegal? Even though the deputy did not cite him for trespassing, the fact of the matter is that he was. The rules are simple - get permission to be there or stay off.
 
I looked up our trespassing laws and even called our state attorney generals office. If a property is not signed and no one has told you to leave, you are not in violation of any law.
 
I looked up our trespassing laws and even called our state attorney generals office. If a property is not signed and no one has told you to leave, you are not in violation of any law.
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That still doesn't give you permission to be there.

Find out who owns it, and get permission

It's not a difficult thing to do, and then when the neighbors complain, you can tell them you have permission to hunt
 
Lots of things are not against the law but we as responsible hunters should go the extra mile to ensure our hunting privileges are not made more restrictive.
 
It is a difficult thing to do in my state. I can remember local properties that the county could not even find the owners of. Some were even in small towns with buildings on the property that were condemmed and the owners were not even aware of owning them. I hunt public land and am sure I have been on private property at times, but once you are in the hills sometimes it is hard to tell with all the mine property in and around it. Last week I ran into some guys that were in a state park and did not know it. They said their GPS took them to the State Gamelands. I had a map and showed them where we were. Did not matter really, as you can hunt both, but the regulations are a little different.
I would not worry about it and go back. As someone else suggested, the complaint probably came from someone local that wanted the place to themselves. That is a common practice with "City Folk" that moved in around here. I have had run ins with people that post access points to state land that borders their property. If it is not their property, it is none of their damn business. If you have a confrontation, offer to call the police. That usually shuts them up.
 
I only speak for myself but there is a difference between starting out hunting land you have permission to and then honestly getting turned around and wandering into a poorly or not at all marked property , and parking\starting in an area where you don't know if it's OK or not and have no who might own it. If I decided to hunt it I would go visit the neighbor who called you in and visit with him, let him know my vehicle and me, put him at ease when he looks out and sees your truck that it just Bella no worries, heck might make a new friend, doesn't matter that he doesn't actually own it he feels he is caretaking for it, use that don't fight it.:)
 
Since Bella has not named his state, it may well be that for open land, only signage or an order from an owner brings the issue of trespass into play. Not all state laws are the same on that issue.

Since it was of no issue to the deputy, I see no reason not to return. I would, however, make some effort to find any nearby resident, just to reassure them.
 
Coming from an area of lots of public land that's not posted I would say go back and maybe talk to the neighboring property owners. If you want to do some legwork first go to the library and find a plat map showing the property. It should list ownership.

Beyond that neighbors can be a real pain in the neck. When I was maybe 16 and deer hunting my neighbor also a relative called the DNR and told them someone was poaching deer on the neighboring property. Wasn't that a nice surprise when I found them going through my deer blind. The good thing that came about it was they collected all of the carcasses that were shot (for analyzing cause of death) and removed them from the property. When you have 4 hunters using gun/bows allowing the harvest of 16 deer and you only have 10 tagged carcasses and tags to fill it was clear there wasn't over harvest.

A week later I was pulled over and the cop was going to give me a ticket for shining deer. I was on my way home from work at 10pm and a deer was walking down my driveway. Cop asked for my license and asked where I was going. I pointed to the house and then the mailbox. It didn't stop him from searching my truck and then I was free to go.

Never had a problem like that before or sense.
 
It may well be open public land not posted as such. My issue is nobody seems to know, if it is public it will show in the records. Either way a friendly non hunting dressed visit with the neighbor is never a bad idea, heck bring coffee and doughnuts. I teach ways to secure hunting privileges on private land during hunter ed classes. Everybody loves a good doughnut or cinnamon roll, and the worst case is they tell you to pound sand and you get to eat the doughnuts.
 
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