Review of rules for hunting on private land
Phil Cooper/Special to the Press | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 8 months AGO
Deer rifle seasons opened in mid-October in much of the Panhandle Region. A few calls have already come in from landowners upset about hunting activity taking place on their private property where they have not given permission. In the interest of maintaining good relationships between hunters and landowners, this is a good time to review Idaho's trespass laws.
Hunting laws in many states require that hunters have verbal permission from the landowner before hunting on any private land. Some states require written permission to hunt private property. Neither is the case in Idaho.
A law requiring permission to hunt any private land would be a real challenge in Idaho, where about 67 percent of the land base is public. With so much public land, and much private land interspersed among tracts of public ground, it isn't always apparent if land is public or private.
The Idaho trespass law states that "no person may enter private land to hunt, fish, or trap without permission if the land is either cultivated, or posted..."
So, land that is cultivated cannot be hunted without permission, and the landowner does not need to post cultivated land to keep hunters out. Hay fields and irrigated pasture are cultivated lands.
Proper posting consists of legible 'NO TRESPASSING ' signs; trees or posts painted with 100 square inches of high visibility orange paint; or, metal fence posts painted orange for the top 18 inches. One of these markers must be posted every 660 feet (or more often) around the property and at 'reasonable access points'.
Conspicuous signs posted where a public road enters and leaves private property, through which or along which road the public has a right-of-way, also constitutes proper posting.
According to a survey of rural Idaho landowners, 88 percent will allow hunting on their property if hunters ask permission first. Even when property is posted, landowners can and often will, allow access. Landowners are more likely to grant access to their land to people who ask well in advance. Some landowners set a "quota" on their property, and those who ask first have the best chance to be granted access.
Idaho Fish and Game offices have free "Hunter Courtesy Cards" to distribute to hunters and anglers.
These contain spaces for the hunter's or angler's name, address etc.. These are to be given to and kept by landowners who grant access to their land. Landowners in turn sign a card the hunter keeps which verifies permission has been given to access the property.
The cards do not increase the landowner's liability in the case of an injury. In fact, there is a law in Idaho Title 36 (Fish and Game), Chapter 16 that limits a landowner's liability toward a person who enters their property for recreational use. The law was specifically created to encourage landowners to allow the public to enter their property for recreation by removing concerns about liability.
A common misconception is that a landowner cannot grant permission to hunt posted ground. There also exists a widespread belief that a landowner may not hunt on their own property if it is posted.
"No Hunting" signs simply prohibit hunting without permission. They do not limit the landowner's right to hunt their own property or to allow others to hunt.
Sportsmen can maintain positive landowner/sportsman relations by respecting postings and first asking permission to hunt, fish or trap on private land.
Phil Cooper is a wildlife conservation educator in Coeur d'Alene for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
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