Free: Contests & Raffles.
Quote from: jtw on September 14, 2012, 06:21:46 PMQuote from: Curly on September 14, 2012, 01:01:01 PMIf you can't tell where the property lines are (no fences or no signs) then you can't get cited for trespassing unless they tell you that you are trespassing and you continue to stay there or come back after you've been told. In other words if you are on the State timber land and wander onto adjacent private timber land while you're hunting, you can't be prosecuted for trespassing if you can't tell one property from the other. You can't be prosecuted or they're not likely to?Either way you should know where the lines are and if you're not give them a wide berth. IIRC, Wa. state property owners, or their appointed representatives, are not required to post their land as private, or in any other way, including by fences, in order to prosecute for trespass. It's up to the individual that's out for a walk, hunting, etc., to know or find out who it belongs to. Then, of course, ask for permission. A level-headed property owner may be less likely to press charges, but it's legal for them to do so. Sometimes the "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" rule applies, but it may still cost you in the end.
Quote from: Curly on September 14, 2012, 01:01:01 PMIf you can't tell where the property lines are (no fences or no signs) then you can't get cited for trespassing unless they tell you that you are trespassing and you continue to stay there or come back after you've been told. In other words if you are on the State timber land and wander onto adjacent private timber land while you're hunting, you can't be prosecuted for trespassing if you can't tell one property from the other. You can't be prosecuted or they're not likely to?Either way you should know where the lines are and if you're not give them a wide berth.
If you can't tell where the property lines are (no fences or no signs) then you can't get cited for trespassing unless they tell you that you are trespassing and you continue to stay there or come back after you've been told. In other words if you are on the State timber land and wander onto adjacent private timber land while you're hunting, you can't be prosecuted for trespassing if you can't tell one property from the other.
You are correct in one way of thinking Bowhunter, the animal is NOT the landowners, however they do not have to let the warden, sheriff or anyone else for that manner on their property to retrieve it. They can deny access to all if they want to be stinkers about it, Bobcat is right. There was a big stink about a huge bull last year or year before that went onto private land. They let it ROT. They tried to get the courts involved. NO DEAL They tried to nail him on wastage of big game. It didn't fly
Quote from: tigguy on September 14, 2012, 10:43:38 PMQuote from: jtw on September 14, 2012, 06:21:46 PMQuote from: Curly on September 14, 2012, 01:01:01 PMIf you can't tell where the property lines are (no fences or no signs) then you can't get cited for trespassing unless they tell you that you are trespassing and you continue to stay there or come back after you've been told. In other words if you are on the State timber land and wander onto adjacent private timber land while you're hunting, you can't be prosecuted for trespassing if you can't tell one property from the other. You can't be prosecuted or they're not likely to?Either way you should know where the lines are and if you're not give them a wide berth. IIRC, Wa. state property owners, or their appointed representatives, are not required to post their land as private, or in any other way, including by fences, in order to prosecute for trespass. It's up to the individual that's out for a walk, hunting, etc., to know or find out who it belongs to. Then, of course, ask for permission. A level-headed property owner may be less likely to press charges, but it's legal for them to do so. Sometimes the "it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission" rule applies, but it may still cost you in the end.QuoteRCW 9A.52.080Criminal trespass in the second degree. (1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.The law says "knowingly". If you don't know you're trespassing, then you are not trespassing in the eyes of the law.
RCW 9A.52.080Criminal trespass in the second degree. (1) A person is guilty of criminal trespass in the second degree if he or she knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or upon premises of another under circumstances not constituting criminal trespass in the first degree.
The law recently changed with respect to retrieval. SB 6135 became effective in June. Here is the pertinent section:(2) In any prosecution under this section, it is a defense that: ... (d) The actor, after making all reasonable attempts to contact the owner of the premises, retrieved the hunted wildlife for the sole purpose of avoiding a violation of the prohibition on the waste of fish and wildlife as provided in RCW 77.15.170. The defense in this subsection only applies to the retrieval of hunted wildlife and not to the actual act of hunting itself.
