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Since the landowner aka old fart did not have a gate up or a sign or boundary markers, he is at fault for not marking his place and no trespass occurred.

Many people in the country claim a place is "theirs" but in reality they have it "leased" or are just using it because the owner does not know OR the owner is too weak-willed to kick them off it. Find out the property number and check with the county tax office. You might be surprised.

There are quite a few nutsacks in the country and generally they are mean old people with borderline personality disorders who ruin it for everyone else. The meanest things come out of their mouths and for the most part they are pure cowards and will back down if you get in their face.

You cannot reason with these people and you should not even try. I have seen them make threats to people right and left including Sheriff's deputies. You just have to outcuss them.

Having said this, IF someone is on your place at night in the country, then they are usually up to no good, assuming you have gates up and your place is fenced. They have have run through the fence and are trying to get back to the road, they are spotlighting without your permission, they are drunk and lost, or they are commited to theft.

If a neighbor has to go on your place at night, they phone or come by and let you know.

I have run people off my place and my neighbors many times. Most were hunting without permission. When I have to confront someone, I take my phone, my rifle, my handgun, and my dog. The phone and handgun are on me, concealed, and the rifle is in the truck.

I ask them them their name, who gave them permission, and then ask them to leave as I am concerned about liability. Everyone at this point has left. My next step if they did not comply would be to call the Sheriff. I do tow unattended vehicles and since I have a big tractor, its a lot of fun.

I am not going to get into a gunfight over it. The only exception would be if they drew down on me or they were in my house at night.

Most Sheriff's deputies in the country will not respond unless it comes to shots fired or theft. And even then they may finish their meal before they come out.

As a potential juror, it would be hard for me to buy any argument that someone does not know the difference between a public road and a private road of an adjacent landowner. And at 2 am, I would assume alcohol played a role.

Also, people need to be careful in rural areas because of the proliferation of meth labs & dealers. Those are some dangerous scumbags.

I would say that from the viewpoint of being a land owner, that we have effectively placed all around our property "No Trespass" signs, and that the locals around know that if they'd like to fish, or plink a few squirrels or rabbits, they are more than welcome to do so if they just swing by and let us know they are back there...

Common courtesy and respect go a long way...

I would also say the in this situation that effective oral notice has been given...

I'd let this go with the threat of force and not draw that person into another confrontation...He has issues,and I am sure adding one more report (known factor) to the local law won't do much for the situation...

If I was a nieghbor, I would let it cool down a bit for a few days and try to catch this guy during the day, and be real humble about the infraction you made on his property, and mention to him that you really understand his position on this, but felt really uncomfortable with the threat levied against your friends...I bet you might find a cooler customer after having that little discussion...

Most people like in this situation trespass without really knowing sometimes...No gate, no foul, initially...Thats why after someone is told to leave and that they are trespasing, and they don't leave, or come back afterwards without permission...Then its a different ballgame...But I don't see that happening a lot...

I've caught many people armed, and not, on our property...Fishing or just fooling around...Literally...And if everyones attitude is in check, everyone goes away happy...Never had someone say, or give me the impression they'd be back for any nefarious reason...

Like I said, I'd have a nice daytime talk with this guy and try to align up and keep an eye out for both your properties...I bet you might get a good response out of that then...

(2) "Notice" means:

(A) oral or written communication by the owner or someone
with apparent authority to act for the owner;

(B) fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude
intruders or to contain livestock;

(C) a sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance
to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of
intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden;

(D) the placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees
or posts on the property, provided that the marks are:

(i) vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length
and not less than one inch in width;

(ii) placed so that the bottom of the mark is not less than
three feet from the ground or more than five feet from the ground; and

(iii) placed at locations that are readily visible to any
person approaching the property and no more than:

(a) 100 feet apart on forest land; or

(b) 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land; or

(E) the visible presence on the property of a crop grown for
human consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being
harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time of entry.


I would think that those purple marks might be a little tough to see at night, but if the people who were trespassing didn't happen to notice them, it wouldn't mean that they were not doing so.

Renegade wrote:As a potential juror, it would be hard for me to buy any argument that someone does not know the difference between a public road and a private road of an adjacent landowner. And at 2 am, I would assume alcohol played a role.

Those facts, if articulated at jury selection, would probably prevent you on serving on said jury.

800 acres is a bit large to keep a total eye on all the time...

But we have had a couple of instances where some yutes in the area decided that since some of the interior of our property is remote and secluded, they wanted to do a little "farming"...

Not anymore...

It was dug up, and rendered unusuable and unhealthy...And thanks to my cousin, delivered back to the "pseudo-farmers"...

Haven't had a problem since...I guess they got through that stoopid phase ok...

If nothing else, when this guy displayed s pistol on YOUR property he committed a criminal offense. Whether it is worth persuing would depend on your evaluation of how much of a threat this gentleman may be. Sort of sounds like he may not be playing with a full deck.

Dave B.

stevie_d_64 wrote: But we have had a couple of instances where some yutes in the area

now, these yutes in question...
yutes?
yeah, yutes.

gregthehand wrote:The next morning the neighbor came over to my friends house and pulled a pistol out of his pocket and showed it to them.

the moment he skinned his smoke wagon, yer buddy shoulda pulled out his pistol grip shotty and stuck it under his nose, and tole him, "next time you threaten me, there's gonn be consequences and reprecussions."
maybe not the most diplomatic way to handle it, but woulda made for a good LawDawg Files story!