I was wondering what the general consensus is amongst the Aldeer gang when it comes to crossing property lines to track a wounded deer. I know the law clearly states that it is illegal to cross a property line to trail a deer without the landowners permission. However, unless the property you hunt is a large tract and you hunt far away from the boundaries, you are bound to have to cross property lines occasionally, maybe even frequently, to track a wounded animal. Do you always confer with the landowner? What if you shoot a nice buck that crosses the line and you have no idea who owns the adjoining property and don't know how to locate them? The law and everyone else is in agreement that you should do everything you can to retrieve a wounded animal. What do you do in a situation like that? This is the most difficult situation I know of if you want to be a law-abiding hunter and not break the rules but still need to retrieve your quarry as soon as possible. How do others here handle this situation?

You should make it a point to find out who the adjoining landowners are and how to contact them before the situation arises. Good way to get killed walking around somebody else's property with a flashlight at night

This I would say is the best answer...that being said, if for some reason I shot a deer and didn't know how to contact the landowner to get permission, I would put my visible weapon down, grab a few friends, and go looking for the animal and ask for forgiveness if the other landowner happens to be an ass

That's great when possible but it's easier said than done. I've hunted public land all over Alabama and some of it is bordered by many different landowners. I don't have the time to research every adjoining landowner of every place I might possibly hunt and find contact info for all of these people (it could literally be hundreds) just because a deer I shoot might cross over onto their property.

I will agree with this too. I'm not saying I've never done it, and it is definately safer with a group of people, but you would be better served to take steps in advance to avoid the situation. Most landowners will tell you not to even bother to call if it happens.

Public land is definately a more difficult situation, and those landowners who border public land are often more leary of allowing people onto their property

On the contiguous lands that people hunt on, I just tell them to leave their guns at the line or in their truck and get their deer and that it will be reciprocal.

Know where the ajoining land owner/club/ hunters stand BEFORE this arises. If don't mind if ajoining landowners/hunters come on my place to track a deer, even with their gun or bow. They damn better not mind if I do the same.

Ringo,


That's not completely accurate.

First, let's look at what the law says and then see how hunting comes into play. There are two issues involved here; criminal trespassing and hunting without permission.


Criminal trespassing:

Code of Alabama 1975




Hunting Without Permission:









From the above statutes we see that trespassing is defined as a violation and hunting without permission is defined as a misdemeanor. Trespassing may not be involved in tracking a wounded deer if the land is not posted. Hunting without permission can come into play, and that can involve significantly more serious penalties as seen in the statutes.



We now come the the defintion of hunting. The language in the law might allow for a hunter to track wounded game legally onto unposted lands. The language in the definition used by the DCNR probably does not. The DCNR defintion does not enjoy the status of being a rule that has gone thru the rule-making process required by law, but it is the official interpretation of the agency:



... and then there are these rules:





Here are my conclusions:

- If you have written permission from the landowner or leaseholder to enter adjoining property to track wounded deer, then there should not be a legal problem under normal circumstances.

- If the adjoining land is posted against trespass in a conspicuous manner and you have not obtained permission to enter, then there is no permission granted. End of discussion.

- If the land is not posted, then you have "license and privilege" to enter without becoming a criminal trespasser. It then becomes an issue of your hunting without permission in violation of the law or tracking wounded game without permission in violation of the DCNR rules.


Another good example of why the law requires the commissioner to:

"... publish in pamphlet form for general distribution all laws together with such rules and regulations relating to game, birds, fish, fur bearers, seafoods and other matters over which such Commissioner of Conservation and Natural Resources has authority or supervision."

Why can't the commissioner comply with the law?

Better get permission, it would be bad to have a hunting accident.

*V*

I've crossed the property line a couple of times looking for a deer. Some may bash me for admitting this but I didn't get permission either time. The first time I did it I knew the land owner and was actually hunting with his nephew. It was his nephew's deer we were looking for. The man didn't allow anyone to hunt us property other than the guy I was with (we were hunting adjacent land this day though). So, we knew no one would be on th land. The second time I did it, again, I was helping a friend look for a deer. I followed the creek which was recognized as the property lines by both property owners. I basically just criss crossed back and forth across the creek, getting no more than 20 yards on the other property. I left my rifle on the property we had permission to hunt and stuck a pistol in my pocket to finish off the deer if needed. It may not have been the right thing to do in some's eyes but those were the choices we made those days.

what i do is ,,, give the deer a little time . leave the gun on my place and go get my deer . wearing red of course .

Red? Why red? Why not orange?

lol ,,, what i meant sorry

Truth be known, that's probably how we all do it. That's what I do. And of course, technically we're breaking the law. That's why I think the law should be that you have a right to track a wounded animal across property lines.

I don't think a leasing hunters rights should supercede an adjacent landowners privacy rights.

get permission.

i agree , but at times i just take the chance . around the house its not a problem . i don't know about today but things may have changed but i never had a problem with being caught on other land . if i saw some one i went to them and told them why i was there of course i had no gun . i never really had a problem with land owners. its mostly how u talk to people .