TheLandJournal.com

Not many things are more annoying than waking up to gunshots on your land when you know there is nobody you gave access to hunt. What is the first thing you should do? Don’t give in to any urges you may have to grab your shotgun and head out to confront the perpetrator! After all, he is armed as well, and when one armed person goes after another armed person there is a good chance things will turn out badly. Should you just find their vehicle so you can slash their tires and break their windows? Not unless you want to end up in jail yourself.

So you just suck it up, and you call in to report it. Many states have programs whereby information that you submit can lead to an arrest, and it may even get you a reward besides the obvious benefit of getting these people off your land. This link has a list of numbers that you can call, depending on where you live:

Report Poachers

Or instead, you can try to save yourself the trouble of dealing with poachers in the first place by making it very clear to hunters that the land they are looking at is not open to them. After all, their coming onto your land may have been an accident: if your land borders more forest, and there is no clear demarcation of the property line, they may think that your land is a continuation of land where they are hunting with permission. So it is very important that you post signs on fence posts all around your property that clearly say “No Hunting and No Trespassing.” If your land borders woods, make it very clear where your land starts and your neighbor’s land ends! Your signs should be no more than 100 yards apart – fifty yards is even better – and make sure that anyone standing anywhere between your signs has a clear view of at least one of them.

To cover cases where a hunter may have wounded an animal that he needs to track onto your land, you can post your phone number so the hunter can call you (assuming that he has a cell phone) and make you aware of the situation.

Besides clear boundary signs that are checked frequently and well maintained, what else can you do? Anywhere that a hunter may likely enter or wish to park, you can gate and lock your property. Too many times, though, I’ve seen chains and locks cut, so unfortunately this is not a foolproof solution.

And remember to be vigilant about possible poachers whenever you are walking your land, even if it isn’t hunting season. Poachers are more active during hunting season, but in some areas they are active year-round.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a hunter yourself, or whether you are adamantly anti-hunting. If someone is poaching on your property, you want him to be immediately gone! Making it appear in as many different ways as possible that your land is off-limits to trespassers should discourage most people who are simply looking for an easy place to hunt, and should help to ensure that you and your family and friends can enjoy your land in peace!