by Dave Kemp

Created on: November 17, 2008

Hunting privileges are something to be cherished and carefully protected. Privileges may be as simple as obtaining permission to hunt for one day on someone's land, or it may be a longstanding agreement paid for monetarily or through a labor exchange for the right to hunt.

As someone who does not own land, I have been raised to respect those who do and abide by not only the state laws regarding private land, but also to try to be aware of what is the right thing to do in various situations.

Abuses may be as simple as trespassing, or more complicated, like abusing the permissions that have been received. An example of this would be if a person received permission to hunt on someone's land, but nothing more. The next thing the owner sees is permanent stands erected all over the place, new trails cut through the land without permission, etc.

I have a friend that recently gave a coworker permission to come over for one weekend to hunt with his nephew. The next thing my friend knows, the guy is constantly harrassing him to allow him to come over and use machinery to plant food plots, set up new stands, and basically take over the land for his own hunting playground. On the surface, this sounds nice since the coworker is willing to pay for everything. The problem lies in what he is going to expect to be able to do once he has made this investment. If the coworker spends a lot of money developing this land, what rights will he think he now has? Truthfully, he has no more rights than he originally did, but he may think he does and act like it. This would just become a headache for my friend.

I have also heard of large hunting parties literally blocking off public trails that provide a right-of-way through or past their land. This is an abuse of a different kind. No landowner has the right to keep other people from accessing a public right-of-way. When you are out in the field and everyone has rifles, this can be a tricky situation to deal with. The best answer here would be a call to the DNR Enforcement division for clarification and let them handle the problem.

The above examples are extremes, but my own viewpoint is that a hunter must treat both public and private lands with respect. If the law says do not drive a motorized vehicle on it, don't do it. If the law says a hunter may not hunt on property that is agricultural - even if it is not posted - don't do it.

If you talk with a landowner about hunting on his/her land, inform them specifically of what your plans are and when. Then, if your plans change, let them know or ask for additional permissions if necessary to ensure that the landowner does not feel slighted in any way.

My rules are simple:

1. Follow the laws of the land.

2. Respect the owner and their land.

3. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

4. Never abuse the relationship, cultivate it.

5. Clean up after yourself, whether on private land or public.

Learn more about this author, Dave Kemp.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.