Should I Go Back?

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The state is Nevada. I was talking to my girlfriend's daughter, she works at Cabelas. Two of her coworkers went bird hunting north of Reno. A deputy called them over and another hunter also appeared.

This other hunter had called the deputy to complain that the two guys were hunting "his" birds. The thing was it was BLM land, in other words, public land. The sheriff told the complainant he had no legal right to claim anything there. He also told him that he should find somewhere else to hunt.

I have a theory on who actually called in my situation.

There is a dirt road that cuts right through the middle of that land. As I was hunting I saw an SUV entering that road. I saw drive a hundred feet down the road and stop. He then let two large dogs out of his car. He spotted me and put the dogs back in his car and then he did u-turn and headed back to the highway.

I wonder if he used that land to run his dogs. He spotted me hunting and I ruined his plans. He called the sheriff to have me run off.
 
Bella said:
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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I motored up on a guy checking one of my "trot lines" once, asked him; man, why are you running my line?
Him: sorry, didn't know it was yours.
Me: but you knew it wasn't yours, yet you poached it anyway!
3 bullet holes in the bottom of his boat later it was settled...........I'm kidding, it only took 2:D

You get the point?
 
Bella You shpould be able to find out who owns trhe property from the count seat. Here one can do most places online and you might be able to it online also. It is all public tax records so they have to tell you. Then you can contact the owner not the nosey neighbor.

It may well have been that neighbor that left the mess that you found.

I had a neighbor that was such a nit wit that he would trespass down a ditchbank to where I was shooting and then walk infront of me when I was shooting and then call the sheriff reporting that I had been shooting at him.
 
I was always taught never to wander on another persons property without permission. Folks dont take too kindly to people hunting or whatever on somebody's land with no permission at all around here. Then again most people know who owns what and who should be around anyways. We all look out for eachother. Gun shots have been known to ring out at trespassers whether there is signage or not!
 
Growing up in PA and now living in VA, I run across plenty of property that isn't posted. I would never think of going on that property at all, let alone hunting on it. I know someone owns it and that I need to get permission to be on the property.

I would be doing a lot of research to figure out if it is public hunting land, that should be easy to find out, call the local game warden (or what ever they call them in your state). If it isn't public land then a little research will tell you who the owner is and you can contact them.

That is the problem these days. Too many people just think, oh well it isn't posted I can go hunt it. That is crap. If it isn't public hunting land or you don't have permission stay off the property...period
 
Have experienced this type of scenario before. My advice. If intending to hunt in (any) local. You best know who owns the land or doesn't.

Consider making a trip to that County"s Court House and asked the clerk if a County Plate Book is available for purchase. Or get a bonafide copy made of their county map which includes the ownership of {the area itself where you have intentions to hunt}. For a few $$ investment it's well worth your effort having something along in your truck that can save you tons of grief. (No mistakes or I think so's on your part.)

You can also use the same info for hunting lease's or outright purchasing said land. Just by contacting the land owners at your leisure.
You'd be surprise how much land is for-sale or its owner will allow you entrance for hunting once asked.

FWIW: I get a couple letters every year from those who are wanting to hunt my property. I save those letters. If I come up short on my usual year to year hunters. I call one of them letter fellows and offer a invitation to come hunt. That how I handle my hunting requests.
 
Quick geography lesson. There are fifty states.

Quick political science lesson. There are fifty sets of state laws.

Quick recap. I didn't violate any Nevada law.

However, I will try to determine who owns the property out of courtesy.
 
Originally posted by Doyle:

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.
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I am not advising him to do anything illegal or unethical. According to the OP and the deputy he talked to, he was completely within the law to be there. According to the law in his state he was not trespassing and what he did was standard procedure for non-posted property. If the property is open to hunting if not posted, what laws are he breaking? If the law states the land must be posted and the land owner knows this, why should they be offended if someone hunts there? While it may be courteous to ask, the reason some folks don't post their land in situations like this is because they don't want to deal with folks knocking on their door every day during hunting season asking for permission. Corporations may not post property open to hunting because they don't want their secretary to have to deal with it. Again, it was not the landowner calling law enforcement because someone was trespassing on their property, but a neighbor calling for reasons unknown. Could be someone previously had done something irresponsible and unsafe. Could be it's a spot for kids drinking and partying. Sounds like some of the previous folks there left trash behind. Could be the sound of gunshots got their dog excited or interrupted the game they were watching...or the neighbor could be upset because he feeds the quail and feels they are his pets. Whatever reason the neighbor had, they were not justified. The fact the deputy left the OP to continue hunting and shooting proves this.

Wisconsin laws now state that you must know who owns the land you are hunting on and have written proof of permission to hunt there. When I grew up tho, the law stated if it was private property, it had to be posted properly, otherwise it was open to anyone that wanted to hunt there. Very simple and exactly as it sounds like it is in the OPs case. Folks that didn't post their property did not expect folks to ask, otherwise they would have posted it. While it was courteous to ask anyway, they did not expect it. As a matter of fact the state at one time made it illegal for no trespassing signs to be blaze orange because so many folks shot at no trespassing signs the state was afraid folks would shoot hunters in blaze orange by mistake.:eek:

Many times, neighbors of lands open to the public would post that property to keep others out, even tho they had no authority to do so. This was especially true of small parcels where the owner was a business/corporation or lived far away and rarely if ever came to visit. Sometimes folks would post small parcels of public land hoping to keep them for themselves. This led to the change of the law almost as much as the change in mindset over property owner rights.


Again, the OP has done nothing wrong or unethical in the state he lives in. The owner of that parcel either knows what is required to keep folks out and has it open for hunting/access or just doesn't care.
 
Bella don't get too defensive I think we are all aware that there are 50 states and 50 different sets of laws and that by Nevada law you did nothing illegal. Some of the discussion is more beneficial to hunters in other states than it will be in nevada. Mostly just good basic advice of taking a little time to find out ownership just to be sure, and maybe take the opportunity to be a good ambassador for all hunters with the adjacent landowner. Often time we can get hung up on what is legal vs. what we would appreciate as a courtesy if the roles were reversed.
 
I spent most of my life in California. There you have to have written permission to hunt on private property.

I looked up our sheriff's website. It has an FAQ section. Most of the questions deal about when you should and shouldn't call them regarding activities.

One is about shooting near your residence. Their reply has to do with legal shooting distances. If the shooting is at or beyond the minimum distance it.says not too call the sheriff. Nowhere is the issue of private or pulic property mentioned.

Buck, great reply, but you made a mistake. You used logic.;)
 
Nevada Law


NRS 503.015  Interference with person lawfully hunting or trapping.

1.  It is unlawful for a person, or a group of people acting together, to intentionally interfere with another person who is lawfully hunting or trapping. For the purpose of this subsection, hunting or trapping is “lawful” only if permitted by the owner or person in possession of the land, other than the government, in addition to any requirement of license or permit from a public authority
 
Often time we can get hung up on what is legal vs. what we would appreciate as a courtesy if the roles were reversed.
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Anybody who has been here very long knows I hate any type of violators and I hate hunters that are rude and inconsiderate. The OP(Bella) was neither. He made sure he was a safe distance away, even padded the legal margin for extra safety. I see that as being courteous. I do not see calling the cops on him for no legitimate reason as being courteous. This is where it comes down to getting hung up on what is legal. The folks calling in the complaint without justification could probably be cited, or if nothing else the deputy should have gone over and told them there were no violations. The reason the neighbors called the cops had nuttin' to do with what was legal or consideration of the landowner. It had to do with something personal. Either they don't like hunting, didn't want the OP hunting on their spot, or they just don't like their peace and quiet disturbed. Either way, they were the ones being inconsiderate and not courteous. Nothing the OP could or would have done will change their dislike for him being there.

My brother buys and sells a lot of dirt.(his word for rec/hunting and farm land). Many times these are parcels that have been in litigation for a period of time either for non-payment of mortgage, taxes or estate. Some are bought from old folks that haven't hunted or even walked out to the back 80 in 20 years. Being deserted or not observed for a period of time, neighbors begin to feel like it is theirs. They also feel like something of theirs has been taken away when they can't have sole usage anymore. My brother will many times have half a dozen properties during any one hunting season and we will hunt them all. I can't tell you the amount of times neighbors have tried to kick us off or called the cops on us for trespassing. Not because of their concern for the landowner, but because we are hunting property they want to hunt....even tho legally they can't. I've had folks come to my stand and claim they are the landowner till you laugh in their face and then they back down and say, "well, so and so always gave me permission!". Sorry bud, but you are trespassing now.

A few years back my brother bought an old rock quarry that has been deserted for over a decade. The company went bankrupt and because of creditors, taxes and then possibility of ground water contamination because of the mining practices, it sat idle until the bank took it over. Being deserted, like any quarry, it soon became the local spot for shooting and sighting in guns. The 160 acres surrounding it was also good deer and turkey hunting and was a secret of the locals for many years.(sounds a lot like the old saw mill in the OP) The fall after my brother bought it we were walking the perimeter scouting it for the upcoming deer season and discovered several nice treestands, tripod stands and pop-up blinds well inside the property line. One large wooden box stand had actually been just built the week before dead center in the middle if the 160 acres. We basically took all the stands down, put what we could inside the box stand and padlocked it shut. We then took the remaining tri-pods home after we posted the whole perimeter. The next week my brother received several phone calls, not from random hunters, but from the neighbors of the property about getting their stands back, along with the sob story from some that they had no other place to hunt(even tho their family had thousands of acres on the other side of the fence). Funny even tho they had no place to hunt, they didn't want to lease the hunting rights. The OP is not the one here being rude and discourteous. It's the neighbor in the house next door that called the cops on him for no reason. The Golden rule goes both directions.
 
http://leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-207.html#NRS207sec200

Go to NRS 207.200 at the above link. It details Nevada trespass laws.

As you can see, fencing or posting is required to make trespassing a criminal offense. Also a warning by the owner to leave, if not obeyed, is criminal. There was no signs, no fencing, and owner confrontation there. Therefore I did not break any trespassing laws.

The deputy ascertained I wasn't violating any safety laws, so I was cleared there too.
 
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Hunting and trespassing are two different things.

And, never assume that a law enforcement officer knows all the laws. It is impossible, even the lawyers and judges have to look them up if it gets to that point.
 
Too many of the above posts have nothing whatsoever to do with the situation as described by Bella.

As near as I can tell, anyway, nothing's changed me from my opinion in my earlier post.

Pardon the drift, but in my experience around Texas, rural deputies of any experience are pretty much knowledgeable about trespass: It is a common complaint with which they must deal on a regular basis.
 
He says he is in Nevada and this is straight from Nevada Law


For the purpose of this subsection, hunting or trapping is “lawful” only if permitted by the owner or person in possession of the land, other than the government, in addition to any requirement of license or permit from a public authority
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I would be quite surprised if you can lawfully hunt on somebody's personal property in any state without asking.

Just because you are not breaking any trespassing laws doesn't give you any right to hunt.

You know, it could be that in Nevada if the land is not posted it can be assumed that hunting is permitted.
Simple thing would be to call and ask.
 
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Granted that it's been a while since I meddled around in NW Nevada, but around Winnemucca and the Black Rock Desert area, guys are out varmint hunting and shooting quite regularly on BLM land. Nobody ever seemed to worry about it.
 
BLM land is considered "public" land - although some sections may have restrictions. I used to hunt BLM land in Utah.
 
OK



NRS 503.015  Interference with person lawfully hunting or trapping.

1.  It is unlawful for a person, or a group of people acting together, to intentionally interfere with another person who is lawfully hunting or trapping. For the purpose of this subsection, hunting or trapping is “lawful” only if permitted by the owner or person in possession of the land, other than the government, in addition to any requirement of license or permit from a public authority.

2.  The provisions of subsection 1 do not apply to any incidental interference arising from lawful activity by users of the public land, including without limitation ranchers, miners or persons seeking lawful recreation.

(Added to NRS by 1983, 649; A 1991, 969)
 
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