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Heres a thought for everyone who hates signs in a rural area.
I own 13 acres in a rural area.
I don't have any signs up.
Last saturday, I went up to my property with my 2 year old daughter.
went walking towards the middle of the land, we have a trail we chainsawed there, and guess what I see ?
I Deer hunter's bright orange chair, rifle rack, and other stuff. No deer hunter in sight though.
really ? I would hate to see what happens to a deer hunter if I heard a bullet fly on my land with my daughter there.
I guess, now the signs have to come up ... otherwise I'll have 10 deer hunters ravaging through MY property that I paid $38,000 for, and pay $600 a year in taxes for walking around everywhere .
I hope you took all that hunting gear home with you.
Montana has much public state and federal land and some is interspersed with private land. If you are a Montana landowner, it is wise to carry liability insurance as part of your "farm policy" to a level much in excess of your personal worth. A fisherman that was fishing a stream on private land that allowed public for free fisherman access stepped in gopher hole & broke leg and successfully sued landowner for sizable settlement. They happened in Beaverhead County & helped increase the number of no trespass signs on private land. People used to mistakenly believe that recreation for free on private land was non litigious. Any injury/incident happening is a potential lawsuit. Horse related injury does have some sort of safeguarding; but, I would not count on protection from a liability suit. Liability insurance for incidents on your propety or caused by you & yours including animals is rather inexpensive.
No trespass signs are not necessary. It is up to potential trespassers to know if they are on private or public land. Hunting violations are most commonly issued tresspass related infractions. For clarification landowners can paint orange paint on few fence posts and that is sign for no hunting....however, they do not have to. As far as "no hunting" signs on your own property with you potentially receiving ticket from law enforcement----MT has no such statute. Sounds like BS story from sign salesman. No hunting without permission would get me even more 5 am ranch doorpounders.
Montana has much public state and federal land and some is interspersed with private land. If you are a Montana landowner, it is wise to carry liability insurance as part of your "farm policy" to a level much in excess of your personal worth. A fisherman that was fishing a stream on private land that allowed public for free fisherman access stepped in gopher hole & broke leg and successfully sued landowner for sizable settlement. They happened in Beaverhead County & helped increase the number of no trespass signs on private land. People used to mistakenly believe that recreation for free on private land was non litigious. Any injury/incident happening is a potential lawsuit. Horse related injury does have some sort of safeguarding; but, I would not count on protection from a liability suit. Liability insurance for incidents on your propety or caused by you & yours including animals is rather inexpensive.
No trespass signs are not necessary. It is up to potential trespassers to know if they are on private or public land. Hunting violations are most commonly issued tresspass related infractions. For clarification landowners can paint orange paint on few fence posts and that is sign for no hunting....however, they do not have to. As far as "no hunting" signs on your own property with you potentially receiving ticket from law enforcement----MT has no such statute. Sounds like BS story from sign salesman. No hunting without permission would get me even more 5 am ranch doorpounders.
I'm not buying it either .. I mean, maybe , but I probaly have just as much chance getting a J-walking ticket crossing a dirt road too. ..
I bought the no hunting signs, I don't want people bothering me asking for permission, when the answer is "NO!"
Okay, since this thread has been renewed, how but some advice for my trespassing problem? I live on rural acreage next to a tourist-filled, two lane highway. I'm less than 10 miles from a town in either direction, but people seem to need to stop in my driveway to go bathroom. It is a long, wooded driveway; halfway it curves tightly and loops up so the house it sitting above the lower driveway. I don't know how many people stop in it, but it's a lot. They block my driveway so I can't get out. And they never seem to see anything wrong with it. It's paved the first 50 feet, then there is a rail crossing, then 20 feet, then my gate and the rest of the gravel drive. I even had a lady back her car past my gate just sitting there. I don't know what the hell she was doing (she did leave some garbage), but it took me going up to her car for her to turn it on and pull up, but even then she was just going to sit in the paved part (it wasn't until I got out of my car to check my mail did she actually leave). But the final straw: poop. Poop by the creek. More then one set. Why does anyone think this is okay?!
So ideas? I have No Trespassing, Private Property, and a couple Dogs on Property signs (along with the rail road's sign to not cross because it is a private crossing). We don't close our gate because we are in and out so often. I think I'm going to have to start, but I'm not sure that would help because I think they would walk around or walk down the rail line to where they can cross into our meadow. I'm going to start hacking down blackberry plants and try to make the place more groomed and open, maybe put some cheap lawn ornaments on the grass by the gates so people have more visual that this is actually a house.
My mom suggested a "Do not block driveway" sign. I'm desperate enough to hand make signs expressing that this really is a home and would they like people using the bathroom in their yard, in front of their kids... but I'm guessing that won't help either.
Boy do I have some ideas that I would use but you and your family probably won't.
So I will start with:
1. Do you have the finances to buy wild game cameras? If so, I would buy enough to arrange them in such a way to catch the losers "taking care of business on your property AND get their license numbers on camera.
I would then take that to the police. Which, if you haven't notified your county deputies yet, I think this issue has grown way beyond a shrug of their shoulders.
2. You are going to have to start locking the gate and make it rough for people to get on your property. Even if that means putting up woven wire fence with a strand of electric across the top on either side of the gate, for a enough feet to make the trespass to much effort.. You could buy a solar powered battery charger and place it where it would not be seen, as long as it could see the sky.
3. By now, I would have lost my patience and I would shoot a few tires out, provided the vehicle was clearly sitting on your property.
However, in this day and age that could end up with you getting shot.
4. If you really do have the big dogs and they are trained, cut 'em loose and let them scare the h**l out of a few people.
5. I also have air pistols and wouldn't hesitate to pepper somebody's hind end if I caught them on my property with their pants literally down.
I am so sorry you are having to deal with this on such a steady basis. People get more rude, more stupid, and more ignorant with each passing day
Normashirley: I would love to do any of those, but I don't think any of are actually doable. I don't want to compound my problems with someone who decides I'm in the wrong and sues me. I have been letting my dog bark more when he is outside (but I don't want him learning to go down to the gate without me).
It would be a beautiful thing to get a recording of a shot gun to blast over them. I've thought about arming my boys with sling shots, but that only works if we see them and, well, back to the suing thing. I'm afraid someone would take a game camera. And we don't have a lot of money to sink into the issue. Which, really, WE SHOULDN'T HAVE.
There are a lot of forest roads along the highway, but you would think that a mailbox (just one!), a gate, and all those signs would clue people in.
To be fair, they only pee directly in my driveway (and not all of them), they meander over to the side, next to the creek, to poop. And it's a federal highway. What I don't get is most of these people are traveling this way to fish in the river, wade in the ocean, or swim in the lakes. Where do they think that poop is going to go?! (Okay, not the lakes, but you can see where our creek empties into the river.) Anyhow, now I have to go back down with a shovel and dig a hole and properly dispose of someone else's waste. Yuck, yuck, yuck.
" As far as "no hunting" signs on your own property with you potentially receiving ticket from law enforcement----MT has no such statute. Sounds like BS story from sign salesman. No hunting without permission would get me even more 5 am ranch doorpounders."
My uncle was a Montana rancher for many years. He was advised by a game warden that he could not hunt on his own land if it was simply posted "No Hunting" instead of "No Hunting Without Permission".
When I lived in Wyoming, I asked a game warden about that, and the answer was the same.
So, is it true? Damifino. I have never owned enough land to make it an issue. I see no reason for the game wardens to lie about it, though!
We see so many "No Trespassing" signs that it is possible that they may lose their meaning to some. Colorado has a great deal of public land that they lease to ranchers...for pennies/acre. It is pretty common for those ranchers to start thinking that they own this leased land. So they illegally put up "No Trespassing" signs and sometimes go so far as to kick out the public...who are rarely in a position to argue about legal land ownership and usage.
This is what I did for my five acre domicile: Game fence with another strand of barbed wire on top. A "No Trespassing: Private land" sign every 100 feet or so. Two strands of 5/8" thick cable to discourage expedient fence cutting. Couple used rifle targets left up. Couple signs that say "You are now within range". ADT security signs and system. Large number of motion activated lights. Security cameras. Very vigilant watch dogs. Bought high powered electric fence material but have not installed yet. Plus I'm out in the middle of nowhere. But I have a pot dealer across the street and I'm sure a few of his buddies discuss the plethora of materials I have outside...like backhoe and forklift.
So? I am incredulous when people balk at spending a few bucks for a few signs. I have spent thousands of dollars for security and still worry a dozen times/day. This happens when you get robbed about every year.... I own a few homes and rentals.
Just a few thoughts....
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