Trespassing or not

[CastAndBlast]

Read the law!



If is it not posted per the law it is not trespassing per the law.



How do the police or anyone anywhere know what the owner wants? Maybe they do not care?? How is anyone to know?



I personally would not go on someone property without permission.

Read my post!

I did not say "per the law"...I did not say "how is it NOT illegal"...I have read what everyone posted on the law.

In my eyes, going on privately owned land without permission is trespassing. Easy as that...so, again, I ask the OP, explain to me how that is NOT trespassing?

[RajunCajun1982]

Read my post!

I did not say "per the law"...I did not say "how is it NOT illegal"...I have read what everyone posted on the law.

In my eyes, going on privately owned land without permission is trespassing. Easy as that...so, again, I ask the OP, explain to me how that is NOT trespassing?

I agree. If you knowingly go onto property you do not have permission to go on. You are trespassing. It's pretty black and white. If someone was to come into your front yard and start shooting squirrels would that be considered tresspassing even though you don't have purple paint or signs posted? Common knowledge here folks. If you haven't gotten the "ok" stay off or reap the consequences. It almost looks by some responses we have some PC Obama/Hillory voters that bow hunt too. Lol

[topshot]

I won't even cross un-posted private land to access public land, simply because i know it is not part of the public land.

If you cross a boundary, be it a fence, gate, or any other obstacle intended to keep someone out, then you are guilty of trespassing. doesn't matter if it is properly posted or not.

[hpdrifter]

So, according to the code from JustinJ's post(#39) it doesn't SEEM ILLEGAL, since it neither posted, fenced, nor painted,but it doesn't seem to ethical.

My rear end would be puckered if got caught hunting on it with a firearm without permission, but doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of illegality to it.

[JustinJ]

So, according to the code from JustinJ's post(#39) it doesn't SEEM ILLEGAL, since it neither posted, fenced, nor painted,but it doesn't seem to ethical.

My rear end would be puckered if got caught hunting on it with a firearm without permission, but doesn't seem like there is a whole lot of illegality to it.

Not "technically" illegal until posted. But if he shot a deer there, whether or not it was posted" he is guilty of a state felony.

[hpdrifter]

Not "technically" illegal until posted. But if he shot a deer there, whether or not it was posted" he is guilty of a state felony.

why?

according to the code, it has to be posted, fenced, or paint marked to require the consent.

Because they stipulated that such land requires permission, seems like it excludes land that is not posted, fenced, or paint marked.

Of course, I'm not going to challenge that premise.

[JustinJ]

why?

according to the code, it has to be posted, fenced, or paint marked to require the consent.

Because they stipulated that such land requires permission, seems like it excludes land that is not posted, fenced, or paint marked.

Of course, I'm not going to challenge that premise.

It says its a TPWD code which is seperate form the Penal code that was stated above. I looked a little for the TPWD code that states this but didn't find it.

[JustinJ]

Well I just found this.

So looks like it doesn't need to be posted to be illegal because Harris county is above the threshold.

"Sec. 62.012. WRITTEN CONSENT TO HUNT OR TARGET SHOOT REQUIRED. (a) This section applies only to a county having a population of 3.3 million or more. This section does not apply to a person hunting or target shooting on a public or private shooting range.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d) of this section, no person possessing a firearm may hunt a wild animal or wild bird, or engage in target shooting on land owned by another unless the person has in his immediate possession the written consent of the owner of the land to hunt or engage in target shooting on the land.
(c) To be valid, the written consent required by Subsection (b) of this section must:
(1) contain the name of the person permitted to hunt or engage in target shooting on the land;
(2) identify the land on which hunting or target shooting is permitted;
(3) be signed by the owner of the land or by an agent, lessee, or legal representative of the owner; and
(4) show the address and phone number of the person signing the consent.
(d) The owner of the land on which hunting or target shooting occurs, the landowner's lessee, agent, or legal representative, and a person hunting or target shooting with the landowner or the landowner's lessee, agent, or legal representative are not required to have in their possession the written consent required by Subsection (b) of this section."

[JustinJ]

and this


"Sec. 61.022. TAKING WILDLIFE RESOURCES WITHOUT CONSENT OF LANDOWNER PROHIBITED. (a) No person may hunt or catch by any means or method or possess a wildlife resource at any time and at any place covered by this chapter unless the owner of the land, submerged land, or water, or the owner's agent, consents.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a person who violates Subsection (a) the first time commits an offense that is a Class A Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(c) A person who violates Subsection (a) the first time by killing a desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, mule deer, or white-tailed deer commits an offense that is a Parks and Wildlife Code state jail felony and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(d) A second violation of Subsection (a) shall be classified as one category higher than the first violation or a Parks and Wildlife Code felony, whichever is lesser, and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits.
(e) A third or subsequent violation of Subsection (a) shall be classified as a Parks and Wildlife Code felony and is punishable in addition by the revocation or suspension under Section 12.5015 of hunting and fishing licenses and permits."


"consent" does not mean failure to post land

[manwitaplan]

The land owner has a duty to keep the property posted properly.



If they never go there or take care of the property
Someone could move on the property and after a certain amount of time file a adverse possession deed.

And people that do this need to be thrown in jail....

I have a friend who just did thsi exact same thing in a court setting. His story is a tad different. They owned 3000 acres in east texas since the 60's. They had a strip of land 75 yards wide by a mile long in the middle of their property that they maintained but kept it wooded.

Two years ago he started the research to purchase the land and found that the owner was deceased and had no family. Followed the court system and ended up getting the rights.

It can be done legally and with good intentions.

[fisher__man]

Nothing has to be posted for hunt with out land owner concent charges to be files. If u do not have prior permission to hunt then you are hunting without land owner concent which is a class A misdemeanor for pigs and a felony for deer, no matter if the property is posted or not. It is the hunters responsibility to know who's property they are on.
Trespassing must be posted or have an obvious barrer to be filed.

[TexasHunter83]

Let me tell you what will happen whether the land is posted or not; this is from personal experience being questioned on property that wasn't posted but I HAD permission to hunt. 1. You've already posted on here that you don't own the property. 2. You've already demonstrated that you don't have permission to hunt the property, but you hunt it anyway. 3. Whether there are signs or not, if the Game Warden stops you and asks if you have permission to hunt the property, you're going to say "no" or "yes." Either way, the GW is going to pursue a line of questioning to make sure you have permission. You'll either fool the GW and get away with trespassing, or you won't fool him. If you don't fool him, the GW WILL try to get in touch with the actual owner of the property. When the GW gets in touch with the actual owner of the property, he'll ask them if anyone has been given permission to hunt the property. If the owner says 'no,' then you'll be charged with a class A misdemeanor for trespassing with a firearm, and possibly other TPWD charges regarding poaching.

In my personal situation, I was hunting property I have permission to hunt (and had been hunting for about 7 years). Someone who doesn't know me and lives down the road, saw my truck and called the GW on me. GW shows up, is very professional and respectful. He asked me if I had permission to hunt the property and I said I did. I'll expand on the "permission" thing for a second. -- So, my father-in-law has been farming this land for over a decade and we've been killing pigs on it for about 7 years. They started tearing up the corn and maize, so he asked the landowner if it was alright for us to hunt the place and they gave permission. NOW, the issue arose because there are about 7 family owners of this property; however, there is one person who owns the majority of the property and is the actual executor of the estate. This is the lady that my father-in-law deals with. Now back to the story-- The neighbor had been wanting to pig hunt on this property for years but couldn't. He knows ONE of the owners but not the one that makes all the decisions. So the neighbor gives the "owner's" number to the GW, and also calls her himself to tell her someone's poaching the property. Now, while the GW is questioning me (very politely) I explain that my father-in-law has permission to not only hunt the place, but permission from the owner to let WHOEVER kill pigs on the land. Now, the GW got all my information, took the serial numbers off my guns and all that jazz. He even acknowledged that this all seemed like a misunderstanding but that he had to go through the motions. He ended up not being able to get ahold of the owner that the neighbor told him about, but of course the neighbor had gotten ahold of her earlier and scared the daylights out of her about all of this poaching and illegal hunting going on. To make a longer story short, the GW told me that if he got ahold of the owner and she said that no one had permission to hunt the place, he'd call me and I'd have to come turn myself in on a Class A Misdemeanor charge of trespassing with a firearm and I'd lose my CHL. I spend the entire day in a panic trying to get my in-laws to get a hold of the land-owner (who lives in Massachusetts.) to verify that we had permission. Finally, after about 4-5 hours, I was able to get the RIGHT landowner's phone number and give it the GW, who called and verified that I had permission. Afterwards we had the landowner right up a lease agreement that I keep in my truck.

The point of all this, is that the land I hunt wasn't/isn't posted as being private, no purple posts, no trespassing signs, no fence, etc... I knew the land was owned by someone else BUT I had permission to hunt the place. The fact is that if the GW contacts the landowners and verifies you don't have permission to hunt the place, you'll be charged. Whether it sticks with all the penal and rectal codes everyone's posting, is another issue.

[Jtaps]

Lol rectal coded