YES OR NO!!!

hey guys and gals:

i have a question for everyone out there. i am doing a little bit of research on some land in my hometown. some friends and i are possibly going to purchase the land to build a hunting camp. now the land is out of the forest and is acutally out in the sage brush away from disturbing the majority of the animals. a problem arouse the other day and i want your opinion. there is this guy here in wyoming that was hunting near some private land and was trying to gain access to the higher ridges of this unit. in order to reach the higher ground he had to corner jump this landowners corner posts. now my believe has always been, as long as you have gps in hand, topo map in hand, and a good sense of map reading and direction alot of these issues can be side stepped. needless to say the guy was caught and prosicutied to the full extent of the law. my question for you, do you agree with this or not. the man will spend 90 days in jail and pay a pretty big fine. he has just been found guilty this past week as he supposedly was trespassing this past hunting season. i say trespassing because he was found guilty. the man repeatedly claims that he was on public ground every step of the way, is corner post jumping trespassing in your eyes or not. the reason this is important to me and my friends is because the land we want to buy borders this landowners land and if we are going to have to put up with him harassing us i don't think i am interested in making this huge investment.
7,930
Default Avatar
I don't mean to make ya mad or anything, but tresspassing is trespassing. I don't think that anyone has the right to go on any privately owned land, even if it was to access public lad. It does however sound like, from your story, that the landowner is a jerk. Most people would let you go through a corner of their property if you'd ASK. The first thing is to develop a relationship of trust, even if it is based off from a five minute conversation. When you feel like they trust you, and more importantly, when they feel they can trust you, ask for permission to "corner jump". I haven't had any problems, especially if they know you wont hunt on their land. If you do purchase the land, make sure to build a good relationship with the Charge-pressing neighbor of yours.
14
MuleyMadness
Well said Shedhunter,

I agree, don't trepass no matter what, will just cause more problems in the long run and not build any trust or friendship. Having my family own some land, I see and know how they feel when people trespass. (not good). Go talk to the guy and try and become friends. I'm sure by meeting him you will learn much which will help you make your decision. Maybe he would respond to your friendliness or he may just be a real pain. Some are and will never change. Good luck to you, sounds fun to own and have the land under the right circumstances obviously.
14
Default Avatar
Hey,

well my family all own some land and we also own a cabin which is on private land. we see tresspassers all the time and boot em off when we do see em. but i think sometimes land owners can blow up and get all defensive for nothing. i dont blame the guy for corner jumpin even though i wouldnt do it myself but all in all he learned his lesson eh? lol hey as for buyin the land well thats a close call and if i was uncertain i wouldnt know if i'd go for it. the guy sounds like a complete jerk to me and we have a few of them around our cabin that think they own the whole mtn side (which they dont) but u can get around them an ignore them. i'd take a trip up to meet this guy and see how much u like him anyhow theres my thoughts on it
14
WYMULEYMAN
thanks for the opinions guys, they are all well said and well stated. the truth is, my hometown is a very small town and i actually know this guy real well as i wwnt to school with his three sons, and we all drank some beers during highschool together. the guy is a supreme d*&^head! i do agree with you guys when you say trespassing is trespassing, no matter how you look at it. the thing i don't totally agree with is this guy is being charged to the fullest extent of the law, i mean give the guy a break. i built fence for the blm for four years, and i know for a fact that most fences are not built very acurately, meaning alot of times they actually take off some public land, and more times than not they go in the direction to favor the rancher or landowner. sooooo, corner jumping to me is a close call, i personally would never trespass, but corner jumping is a close call. of course you always have the matter of honesty to deal with. if you caught a guy on your land and he claims to have come over your corner post, can you actually believe that he did just that. i don't know, just something to keep in mind. my friends and i talked this whole thing over this weekend. the good thing about it is, is that one of the guys dad owns about 3000 acres that also borders the land we are looking to purchase, so we have that in our favor as well.
14
AGCHAWK
WYMULEYMAN, I've seen this sort of stuff happen before and I agree with the majority of the posts...trespassing is trespassing. You know the old saying "Give them an inch and they will take a mile". If you start making concessions, i.e. cornerjumping, then it may lead to "just cutting through the middle to get to point A" and etc. Tuff but what else can the landowner do?
14
Default Avatar
Trespassing is trespassing. My question is if this guy was a supreme d-head years ago what would make you think he has changed any and wouldn't go out of his way to be a pain in the backside? I also live in a real small town and the jerks seem to get off on their "status" as the town a-hole. They like to play their game until someone decides to not put up with his crap but, is it worth the damper it may put on your hunt? Just flippin the script and give you another problem to mull over. Hope it all works out for the best.

-Dan
14
Default Avatar
yes-
if you set foot on private land even if it is only one foot to gain access to public land it is called trespass

some land owners will set in wait for someone to do the TRESPASS
then seek the law dog on you!
14
WYMULEYMAN
hey boyz,

we all talked it over tonight and seems we are all against buying this land. i for one don't care to deal with the confusion of going in with a bunch of friends. if and when i buy some land it will be on my own. also, the fact that dealing with this guy just gives me a headache thinking about him, so why do it. besides, if he is willing to go the distance with some guy jumping a corner post, then i can only imagine what will be next. i know what his problem is, he is all butt hurt because he didn't have much luck with his clients drawing tags this past year so he had to sit on his fence line that borders public land 100% and bust anyone that thought about crossing his fence. oooooohhhhhhh well such is life.
14
Default Avatar
It's true, you know that if you tresspass and it's posted then you are deserving of what you get, but at the same time tell the guy to get out of there before calling the cops. :2
14
Default Avatar
Got to agree with the above statements. I got nailed on a tresspass a couple of years ago because I mistook a fence line. Honest mistake, but I was still breaking the law and paid the fine and chalked it up to an expensive learning experience. If the guy got 90 days, I expect he has a history of some sort that the judge was aware of. Standard fine for tresspass in Wyoming is $275. At least is was a couple of years ago. It would be nice if some of the land owners were a bit more cooperative, but it's their land, they pay the taxes and maintenance, and I 100% support their right to restrict access if that is what they wish to do. Just wish I was one of them with some acreage! lol.
14