Unable to retrieve animal due to private land and punching tag

johnp · Aug 22, 2018

When I hunted Iowa two years ago I only had 40 acres to hunt on . I thought that trespass to retrieve law was a great idea until I noticed that the line fences seemed to be the favorite spots for the neighbors to hang their tree stands.

antelopedundee · Aug 23, 2018

Probly not a bad idea to ask around in town about any landowners who border on your hunting place. They know who the assholes are.

Carlin59 · Aug 24, 2018

antelopedundee said:
Well it might be prudent if you always hunt the same land in the same area like some do.

Of course, if a guy hunts the same area consistently it wouldn't hurt to try to contact the landowner to cover this situation ahead of time. I was just providing an explanation of why its not feasible for many guys hunting the west, where it is relatively easier to contact neighboring landowners in the east and a guy is more likely to consistently hunt the same one or two areas. Another growing challenge is land owned by generic out-of-state investment and holding companies. The ones I've run into don't have cattle on them so no local ranch manager, and when you look them up they are just a shell holding corporations with a PO box and no name or phone number attached to them. Not complaining, just another challenge to plan ahead for, and to point out that the days of driving up and knocking on the local rancher/land owners door and getting permission to retrieve a critter that crossed a fence are decreasing every year (although not completely gone, yet).

uncle sage · Sep 22, 2018

Carlin59 said:
Of course, if a guy hunts the same area consistently it wouldn't hurt to try to contact the landowner to cover this situation ahead of time. .

I swear guys, you shoot a buck with a 25-06, they don't run off, they're flat porked up or already down. Can't say why that cartridge is the killer it is but i've seen lots of game run off hit with much heavier and faster bullets and hardly any when poked decent with that particular quarter bore. If one did get over a fence, i'd probably go get it. Reminds me of a old joke some of you may be young enough to have not heard when it was making the rounds back when i thought i could fall out of a airplane and not get much hurt.

Hunter kills a pheasant but it first sailed out into a farmers posted field before it dies. The Hunter crawls between the fence wires and heads out to get his bird. Here comes the farmer on his 3 wheeler a hollerin and a screaming. They both get to the bird at the same time and both claim the dead bird. To settle the argument the farmer suggests a kicking in the nuts contest to see who gets the bird. He says "i'll kick you in the nards and then you kick me, whoever gives out first, the other guy gets to keep the bird". The hunter thinks on it a few seconds and agrees to the deal. The farmer steps back a step or three to get a running start and then nails the hunter guy for all he's worth, right up hard between the legs. Well that dropped the hunter to his knees in agony for a good long while but after a time, he fights to right himself, tries to regain his composure, and finally he says, "OK farmer,... now, it's my turn". The Farmer steps back, smiles, and says, "naw, you keep the bird".

G

Lonesome_God_outdoors · Sep 22, 2018

I always call the neighboring landowners and square up on this issue before the season. They always are glad to have me call before hand and we work out what to do in the event an animal goes on their property. After a few years it's resulted in gaining access to private property to hunt as well.

BuzzH · Sep 22, 2018

I hunt near property boundaries quite often and the way I have always intended to deal with it is to shoot them either high shoulder/spine or somewhere else that will drop them on the spot.

I killed a bull elk in Montana a few years back that was pretty close to a property boundary, maybe 200 yards from the line. It was perfectly broadside and about 250 yards away. I had a perfect rest, plenty of time, so I drilled him through the lungs...he made it about halfway to the fence and was done.

This is where keeping a cool head, accurate rifles, and correct shot placement will solve this issue 99.9% of the time.

Another option, that's always available, is to just not take the shot if its too close to the line.

7 mag · Dec 4, 2019

Rzrbck918 said:
Here, you can get the game warden to retrieve the game if the landowner won’t allow the hunter to retrieve it. Is that not the case everywhere?

No here in Montana if you shoot an animal and I decide NOT to let you retrieve it there is nothing you the game warden or the law can do no is no my land, my money paying the taxes, my decision
Not even the wardens or police can enter to retrieve it the animal ends up rotting

7 mag · Dec 4, 2019

JohnCushman said:
If the land owner doesn't allow you to retrieve the animal and lets it lay without doing anything with it and lets it rot...is that considered wanton waste and the landowner can be charged?

No

7 mag · Dec 4, 2019

8andcounting said:
I hunt montana for several weeks every fall for deer and elk and if this happened to me where I had a wounded animal cross the fence to where I don't have permission, the very first thing I would do is call Fwp tip hotline and get info to a warden . Second thing I'd do is the same is the first and so on and so on .

And theyvwould yell you if the land owner denies you permission then There is NOTHING you or they can do about it been through this on our ranch a few times

7 mag · Dec 4, 2019

As far as the landowner not being able to take the game if they choose not to allow access
All I'm gonna, say is they can't sit there all night and watch to make, sure no one takes it

BrentD · Dec 4, 2019

7 mag said:
No here in Montana if you shoot an animal and I decide NOT to let you retrieve it there is nothing you the game warden or the law can do no is no my land, my money paying the taxes, my decision
Not even the wardens or police can enter to retrieve it the animal ends up rotting

Well there is at least one thing that is better in Iowa.

NR_Hunter · Dec 4, 2019

BrentD said:
Well there is at least one thing that is better in Iowa.

Quit selling Iowa short. Don’t forget about the great bullhead fishing you guys have

BrentD · Dec 4, 2019

NR_Hunter said:
Quit selling Iowa short. Don’t forget about the great bullhead fishing you guys have

You are absolutely right! And though I did not grow up in Iowa, my first fish ever was a bullhead from a dock in Clear Lake, Iowa. No kidding.

I've lived here for 27 yrs, 11 months and 3.3 days now, and I haven't fished in Iowa that entire time. But my first fish -he was a dandy too!

NR_Hunter · Dec 4, 2019

BrentD said:
You are absolutely right! And though I did not grow up in Iowa, my first fish ever was a bullhead from a dock in Clear Lake, Iowa. No kidding.

I've lived here for 27 yrs, 11 months and 3.3 days now, and I haven't fished in Iowa that entire time. But my first fish -he was a dandy too!

Yah I dunno why you’d fish Iowa when you can go to MN for even better bullhead fishing like most Iowa folks do.

Fsmith · Dec 4, 2019

7 mag said:
As far as the landowner not being able to take the game if they choose not to allow access
All I'm gonna, say is they can't sit there all night and watch to make, sure no one takes it

That to me should carry the same penalty as poaching. The law is the law as you’ve already made quite clear. The landowner did not lawfully harvest that animal.

OverlordBear · Dec 4, 2019

I don’t agree with the Supreme Court, corporations aren’t people so I don’t feel there is a moral obligation to respect their rights. If it is an resident individual land owner, I think you do everything to moral and legal compliance level. Otherwise it depends on the situation. When in doubt call game and fish.

rjthehunter · Dec 4, 2019

MN allows us to enter private land to retrieve an animal. I appreciate this from several aspects. We have quite a bit of land but sometimes I'm hunting fairly close to the property line. Well all it takes is a deer shot to run across the line and pile up over there. It's nice to be able to go retrieve the animal without the potential to get in trouble. If I do have to cross property lines I always let the landowner know and they are always okay with it since they'd rather be find my deer than shoot another. We've been fortunate with good neighbors who understand and it goes both ways. I've gotten phone calls about them coming across to track a deer. It's nice to know they're going to be there so the phone call is great.

That being said if MN didn't allow it... I would probably do the ethical thing. If I had a dead deer across the property line and I knew the owner of the property was going to tell me I couldn't retrieve it, I would go get it anyway. Following the law isn't always the ethical thing to do. In this case it would be unethical to leave the deer there knowing it's dead. Would a $200 trespassing ticket be worth it? Well that's for you to decide!

Mallardsx2 · Dec 4, 2019

Common sense would prevail. Thats all I am going to say.

AvidIndoorsman · Dec 4, 2019

7 mag said:
No here in Montana if you shoot an animal and I decide NOT to let you retrieve it there is nothing you the game warden or the law can do no is no my land, my money paying the taxes, my decision
Not even the wardens or police can enter to retrieve it the animal ends up rotting

A warden may not want to enter and retrieve it, but I believe they have the authority to do so, otherwise what's stopping a landowner from just opening up on a herd of elk in his field and letting them lay.

Fsmith · Dec 4, 2019

wllm1313 said:
A warden may not want to enter and retrieve it, but I believe they have the authority to do so, otherwise what's stopping a landowner from just opening up on a herd of elk in his field and letting them lay.

Warden does not have that authority in Montana. Also as stated already if the landowner refuses to let the hunter retrieve the harvest, the animal must lay and rot. No part can be removed from the site, head included. As far as the elk argument that’s a totally different can of worms. First off it would be poaching.

Unable to retrieve animal due to private land and punching tag

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