Does anyone else just have hunters coming through their property during the season?

Jea

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We just had a guy this morning that was walking through the property and the dogs went wild.
We post no trespass signs but every year we still have these guys just walking through and ignoring them.

Usually the leave quickly if we yell or if the dogs are going too crazy.

We've let our neighbor hunt on our property when he's come over and asked, but its these random guys just walking through that's really annoying. I don't want my dogs to get shot by one of them.
 

messybun

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#1 if you have no trespass signs it is illegal for them to be there.
#2 keep orange collars on the dogs, or at least something brightly colored and obviously not natural.
#3 I’ve heard of people spray painting their livestock with spray paint to discourage an accidental shot. Worst case, someone does and are super liable.
Are they hopping a fence or unfenced area? You might be able to call your local sheriff to get some of the local laws or advice.
 

Mini Horses

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Talk to them, face to face. If that fails, call police.

Years back an adjacent area had hunters lined waiting for dogs to flush the deer. They used to line on my property...I asked them not to...mainly because they left trash !!! Now, rarely see a hunter on my road. Took a couple nice, then very direct statements but, they stopped hunting there. They found offending trashers when I dumped all the bags, boxes and cans into their trucks...as they watched.
 

Jea

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Talk to them, face to face. If that fails, call police.

Years back an adjacent area had hunters lined waiting for dogs to flush the deer. They used to line on my property...I asked them not to...mainly because they left trash !!! Now, rarely see a hunter on my road. Took a couple nice, then very direct statements but, they stopped hunting there. They found offending trashers when I dumped all the bags, boxes and cans into their trucks...as they watched.

Last year when we were walking through the woods we found trash around and was surprised, but I bet it was the same. We're set back and a lot of our property isn't visible from the house, so we don't usually see them until the dogs react and we catch a glimpse that someone is walking through the woods. If we do get the chance to talk to them, we will, but they usually take off fast when the dogs start barking.

I don't leash my dogs when we're with the farm animals and they stay right around the fences, but I don't want them to take off chasing someone. I have one dog that lives to chase things, usually foxes.
 

Jea

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Are they hopping a fence or unfenced area? You might be able to call your local sheriff to get some of the local laws or advice.
They aren't hopping a fence. they are going through wooded areas, usually from the street where we have signs posted but they rip them down or ignore them. The only fencing we have are the areas where there are farm animals, but those areas are surrounded by woods.

Its clear that they know they're not supposed to do it because they take off really fast when detected.
I've read that it's a challenge to enforce this because they take off so fast, or they'll say they're chasing a wounded deer that ran on your property. I will find something bright colored for the dogs though to reduce the risk.
 

farmerjan

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Call the game warden. Tell them that there are people hunting, that you have no Trespassing signs up. Tell them that you also don't know if they are legal.... that'll help.
Along with the posted no tress signs... put up a few that say that the boundaries of the property are sighted in for a ...(pick a caliber of long range gun) ....... and leave it open ended. It might get someone to think twice....
In Va they have no right to follow a deer onto posted property without permission from the landowner to do so in an emergency..... every state is different.
We've had them cut fences here, so fencing doesn't always do it... but it helps.
 
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