SamOlson,
I have run into more than enough people who act like they own the land and bluster enough to keep people off. We even had an illegal outfitter in CO post signs one year and we were pretty sure he was on public land. Later, we saw his phony signs in the bed of his pickup. He was simply putting them up to scare people off.
Just about every time I have access to private land someone comes wandering across it and claims to have permission or that it is public land.
So great to know where you are and be able to show it to someone.
So far this year I was able to hunt BLM land that I just wasn't sure about before. Great stuff!
In Idaho it's illegal to post public land unless you have an exclusive use lease on it. I don't know what the penalty is for doing it, though. The X maps are great for sorting out what is or isn't private.
Idaho has a unique trespass law. We have huge chunks of private rangeland that can't be differentiated from public land. In many places, the public and private land are checkerboarded in small plots. It's a nightmare to keep straight. So...the law is that if the land isn't cultivated or irrigated, it MUST be posted or it's open for hunting without permission. The regulations specify what's legal posting. Fences don't count since BLM & Nat Forest land is often fenced for grazing.
