Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Idaho Legislation considers new tresspass bill

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article200198764.html

The bill contains a "three strikes and it's a felony clause" (big whoop, Idaho hunting regulations already have this provision).

The real difference is that the bill eliminates the long standing "open to hunting unless cultivated or posted" provision (an orange fence post every 200 yards around the perimeter).

The current rules have worked for many decades, and with Idaho checker board property lines, it would simply require hunting with a map and GPS in your hands to stay out of trouble.

What I'm seeing looks favorable... This current system of an implied 'yes, come on our place anytime you want' just because a property isn't heavily posted with 200 yd orange markers and signs is ridiculous.

We're sick and tired of people on our property because they think they are above the law. We bought our place, pay our taxes, and most of these creeps are from out of state and dgas about anything but themselves.

Vermont law is like that, too, i.e., unless posted or cultivated, it's open to hunting. They have a provision in the law, though, that says if you choose not to post your land, your hunting/fishing licenses and tags are free every year. This motivates people to leave their land open to hunting.

Here's what hunters are up against. This is an area not too far from me. Yellow is BLM, blue is state, and white is private. Almost none of this is fenced. It's almost impossible to know which land you're on. For perspective, the small squares are section lines.

We don't have that problem Tn

See that feeents rat therr...stay the fk on the other side of it


There ain't much public land available.

You better either own land and live on it, be a ptsd mooching remf, and/or kiss a lot of ass and beg to hunt on someone's private land.

Thats no problem at all.A Huntx chip in your GPS tells where the borders are and also the land owners names.

That's kind of the way it is in Florida.

Dutch - I'm having trouble finding the bill. I see no mention in the article of the bill number. You got it?

Nevermind. Got it - HO536.

Montana hunters are expected to know property lines, even ones that aren't marked. And some who rent BLM land have been known to post it anyway, along with locking gates that are supposed to be public access...

I'd be interested to know where this is getting traction in the state? I'm a fan of where the rules stand currently.

It's always interesting to see the differences in attitudes between westerners and easterners/southerners.

Here in Mississippi all private land is considered posted unless you have written permission from the landowner to be on it, no posted sign required and no boundary marking required. It's the responsibility of the person to know where they are at all times. In practicality it's never going to become an issue unless the landowner decides to prosecute but it relieves the landowner of the burden of having to put up posted signs to legally keep people off his property.

I like it that way, it should be the responsibility of an individual to know where he is, a landowner shouldn't have to be proactive to keep trespassers off his property. That's like a burglar claiming he's got a right to break into your house because you don't have a sign stating otherwise and bars on your window.

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The situation is much different than Tn vs Idaho. There isn’t much to hunt in Tn so there isn’t going to be that much of a conflict.

The marker requirement only applies to lands not otherwise obviously private. For instance, cultivated fields need no marker.

This is a bad bill, badly written. Given that so much private land borders on public land, often with small plots interspersed, the current system of marking is very reasonable. You want to own land that shares boundaries with public land (an obvious benefit)? The cost is some steel fence posts and cans of spray paint. Given that people don;t walk around with survey equipment while hiking/hunting, there is no better way.

https://legislature.idaho.gov/wp-content/uploads/sessioninfo/2018/legislation/H0536.pdf

Idaho has about 50k square miles of public land. For the most part, nat. forest isn't broken up too much but BLM land is a hodgepodge of public and private. Fences on rangeland here mean nothing. Much private land isn't fenced and there are many fences on public land to separate grazing allotments.

Did you take look at the map RockChuck posted? That is typical Idaho (and other western states). Lots of landholdings bordering or surrounded by public land. Yes, we are different from the east.

Here in MT it is the hunters responsibility to know at all times where he is hunting and that system works quite well. Are you saying that you should be able to hunt and shoot wherever you like because its to hard to know whose land you are standing on?

First - it isn't just about hunting. Second - it's not unusual for landowners to also be mistaken about the property lines - and you expect others to be perfect (subject to felony charges) without some indication of boundaries on the ground? I think if we are going that way, then landowners (or outfitters) who post or fence public land by mistake or otherwise should be subject to the same penalties.

I get all that. Youre blessed with a lot of public land there. I suppose now it helps me to understand better the influx of new people moving into our area and adjoining our family private boundaries. People who obviously are under the assumption that it's thier God given right to roam where they please.

We may not have much here besides whitetail and small game. It really irritating to run up on some free loader hunting mushrooms or ginseng on our place without permission.

I'll bet you are! And I expect most other non-res hunters to feel the same way....
Grew up in the Midwest with "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign"...but expect we'll have to do the same here in Idaho.

Many of us are sick of trespassers and particularly out-of-state road hunters shooting onto our properties.

Regardless of complexity, Every hunter should KNOW whose property he is on. The same for fishermen or recreation folks floating out public waterways. That responsibility should not rest upon a landowner. It's a piece of cake out here in the west. If one wants to see complex, visit the eastern half of our country. We have some extensive holdings in the west and no owner should be forced to post hundreds of miles of property lines.

With a visit to any of several agencies one can acquire maps delineating deeded and public holdings. High tech folks can also log the same into their GPS units, acquire the same data online, or visit the country seat to make those same determinations.

Ignorance is absolutely no excuse for trespassing, and if one is simply too lazy to put in that effort. He/she should not be out there.