Folks,
I'd be grateful if you could answer a few questions with regard to owning land in the US.
1. If you own a parcel of land, say a small ranch or farm, can you restrict access ? E.g. does the public or any other person have automatic right of access?
2. Provided you abide by the general hunting laws, seasons, etc, do you have the automatic hunting rights or must you apply/buy licences or tags from the state first ?
Marc
I will begin by saying that I am a farmer, and one of my properties is tax assessed as a farm, so I can answer this from the perspective of NJ (where our farm is located).
I own land in PA and NJ; in both states, if the land is posted, or if I tell someone to leave, then they must abide. The only access that they legally have to be on the property is if they are fishing on a body of water that does not sit entirely within the confines of my property boundaries. Technically, NJ owns all of the water in the state, but the person would need to trespass in order to gain access to it. PA is similar, to my knowledge. A person can fish the trout stream running through our land in PA, but they must be in the water to really get away with it. Some landowners get away with running a physical barrier, such as a rope, across the property boundary over a stream or river to prevent anglers from fishing water within the confines of their property. I have never seen this challenged, but I have heard that it's not technically legal to use that strategy. It is generally up to the landowner to make others aware of the no-trespassing rules. If the trespasser fails to respond to the directive and/or leave immediately, then LE or DNR is called in.
As for hunting, if you are a farmer and your property is tax assessed as a farm, then you can protect your crops and livestock from destruction with a legal firearm, regardless of season (in both PA and NJ, if I understand the laws correctly); this is generally limited to controlling predators and woodchucks. However, to hunt for sport, you must abide by the hunting regulations (there is a permit that farmers apply for in NJ which is free, and this includes deer, turkey, and black bear). According to NJ law, "A farmer and members of the immediate family who also reside on the farm may hunt, trap and fish on the farm without being licensed or possessing a valid rifle permit. All hunting, fishing and trapping must be conducted in the manner provided by law during the prescribed seasons."
I have family in KS who are commercial farmers, and I am given to understand that they can take deer during any time of the year (with the appropriate permit) if they are found to be damaging crops, however they generally seem reluctant to do so. As we are livestock farmers, we're concerned only with toothy-critters, of which there are plenty.
There are game preserves in various states where you can hunt out of season and without a license, but I believe that those are special cases relative to the typical land owner or farmer.
