MARTINO: Trespassers give reputable sportsmen bad name

By JOHN MARTINO
Tribune columnist

November 03, 2007 09:57 pm

— Dean Shadley knows how quickly the situation can get ugly when a hunter crosses that not-always-clear line and becomes a trespasser. Shadley has been an Indiana Conservation officer for nearly 34 years and is currently in charge of public relations for the IDNR’s Law Enforcement Division. Many times, it’s Shadley and his fellow officers who are called on to step between an irate landowner and trespasser armed with a firearm.
In most cases, it’s a hunter who has made an honest mistake, unintentionally crossing an unmarked property line. In other instances it’s a deliberate act where a person knowingly trespasses to bag a trophy buck.
Fortunately, in most cases, things end without confrontation. For everyone involved, the situation isn’t worth someone getting hurt over. Despite their best efforts to fight it, Indiana’s conservation officers say trespassing remains the No. 1 landowner complaint against hunters.
“This is one of the biggest detriments and creates the worst perception of hunters,” Shadley explained.
Trespassing was also the catalyst for the most shocking crime ever committed in the deer woods and to this day, still sends shock waves throughout our nation’s hunting community.
It was the winter of 2004, during Wisconsin’s firearms deer season, when Chai Soun Vang wandered onto private property where he was confronted by the owners who were also hunting. When an angry encounter ensued, Vang opened fire killing six people and wounding two.
Vang claimed he was shot at first and subjected to racial slurs. Two of the survivors claim no one yelled defamatory remarks and they simply demanded that Vang leave their property. Physical evidence later showed Vang pursued his victims shooting four of them in the back as they attempted to flee.
Thankfully, nothing like this has ever happened in the Hoosier state, but it does demonstrate how quickly these types of confrontations can turn deadly. While the Wisconsin slayings represent an extreme outcome in trespassing conflicts, it has brought the issue into a much sharper focus for hunters, landowners and conservation officers.
Some officials point to two primary concerns: First, sprawling urban populations and shifting rural land ownership making hunting access more difficult. In many cases, large expanses of land are divided then sold as small tracts to multiple owners. In Indiana, only two-percent of our land is public. That means 98-percent of Indiana is in private ownership.
The second problem is there are a very small number of people (not to be confused with true hunters) who refuse to obey trespassing rules. These people are poachers and give all reputable sportsmen and women a bad name in the public’s eyes.
“It only takes a few bad apples to screw it up for everyone,” Shadley explained. “I know of many cases where farmers have eliminated all hunting on their property because of one instance of trespassing.”
The good news is the number of trespassing complaints does not appear to be rising.
Without a doubt, the peak time for confrontations between hunters and landowners takes place during the firearms deer hunting season when orange clad hunters are numerous and highly visible.
“Sometimes our conservation officers feel more like referees than game wardens,” Shadley said. “It really becomes a burden on our officers.”
Shadley explained it is hard for his officers to respond to every call, yet they do treat trespassing as a priority. “We try to keep landowners happy in order to keep private lands open for hunting,” he added. “Unfortunately there will always be a few slob hunters who ruin it for all the other sportsmen who follow the law.”
If you are a landowner and would encounter an individual on your property without consent, law enforcement officials offer this advice.
Avoid confrontation. Stay calm and don’t confront the trespasser unless absolutely necessary. If you have to deal with them face-to-face, don’t say or do anything to escalate the situation. Instead, keep your distance and get as much information as possible. Which direction they are walking and a physical description will help law enforcement more than anything else.
Write down license plate numbers if possible. Call law enforcement immediately and provide them with as many details as possible. Don’t delay. If you wait hours or days after the incident, chances are slim the person will be caught.
This brings another important question to light. What happens if you shoot a deer and it crosses onto another person’s property you do not have permission to access? The first thing to do is find out who owns the land and respectfully explain what happened and ask permission to retrieve your game. If the landowner is less than amicable or does not allow you to access their property for other reasons, your hunt is over. In case you are wondering about Indiana’s “wanton waste” provision in regards to retrieving wild game, according to Indiana law, trespassing trumps wanton waste.
With the majority of our bread-and-butter hunting seasons just around the corner, remember to respect all wildlife, respect our environment, respect landowners, but most of all, respect yourself by only accessing property you have explicit permission to be on.
Hunting is supposed to be a spiritual, uplifting experience which can only take place when we have legal permission to access private property. After all, how enjoyable can any outdoor experience be when you’re constantly looking over your shoulder?
Deer hunting results
There is little doubt the rut is heating up with the notable increase in number of good bucks taken over the past week. I would also like to offer congratulations to Brian Foust on collecting his first deer. Brian, who deals with cerebral palsy, took part in a special youth hunt in Illinois last weekend and ended up collecting a spike buck.
Here is this week’s list of area sportsmen and women who have seen success and taken deer to one of our area’s state-approved check-in stations. This information is only made possible through the help of Burlington Locker, Bryant’s Outdoor Store, Full Draw Archery, Jack’s Tackle Center and Simpson’s Deer Processing.
Remember this list includes field-dressed weights along with county of harvest.
Carroll County: Nathan Davis, 196-pound, 12-point buck; Todd Combs, 170-pound, 10-point buck; Bob Peterson, 110-pound, 10-point buck; Clint Fague, 215-pound, eight-point buck; Ken Ritchie, 90-pound doe; Elmer Young, 115-pound, four-point buck; Steve Merrick, 180-pound, six-point buck; Mark Sherrill, 145-pound, seven-point buck.
Cass County: Chris Burton, 180-pound, eight-point buck; Josh Bell, 130-pound, 10-point buck; Zach Martin, 110-pound doe; Chris Miller, 170-pound, nine-point buck; Dean Sherman, 90-pound doe; Jeff Packard, 55-pound button-buck.
Clinton County: Stacey Rogers, 120-pound doe; Dennis Freidline, 195-pound, eight-point buck.
Fulton County: Chuck Nunnally, 75-pound button-buck; Jim Ulrick, 110-pound, nine-point buck; Ralph Harvey, 145-pound, six-point buck.
Howard County: Jordan Heinzman, 105-pound doe; Ryan Herrell, 175-pound, 10-point buck; Doug Pence, 100-pound doe; Mike Vonderahe, 120-pound doe; Chris Tjapkes, 150-pound, eight-point buck; Jeff Nester, 150-pound, nine-point buck; Calvin Hunt, 178-pound, eight-point buck; Matt Kinney, 120-pound doe; Kent Hansen, 60-pound, button-buck; Doug Miller, 70-pound doe; Todd Kirkman, 180-pound, 12-point buck; Mike Deis, 130-pound, seven-point buck; Lawrence Hudson, 190-pound, seven-point buck; Devon Miller, 165-pound, eight-point buck; Gareth Gingerich, 120-pound doe; Jason Weaver, 75-pound, button-buck; Eli Fleming, 185-pound, eight-point buck; Jeff Breedlove, 140-pound, eight-point buck.
Miami County: Chris Dimitt, 170-pound, four-point buck; Richard Rhine, 120-pound doe; Roger Biddle, 148-pound, three-point buck; Clint Lawson, 220-pound, 10-point buck; Max Elmore, 130-pound, seven-point buck; Devin Reed, 65-pound, button-buck; Frank Cade, 120-pound doe; Dave Worland, 185-pound, 10-point buck; Charles Erickson, 145-pound, eight-point buck; Brad Bates, 105-pound doe.
Orange County: Larry Hanson, 155-pound, eight-point buck.
Ripley County: Matt Rogers, 118-pound doe.
Tippecanoe County: Jason Pigg, 115-pound, five-point buck.
Tipton County: Rob Walker, 90-pound doe; Tom Williams, 132-pound doe.
Wabash County: Zach Lawson, 215-pound, nine-point buck.
White County: Kurt Welk, 200-pound, 11-point buck.
Tribune catches of the week
Bryant’s Outdoor Store: Kistler Jackson reeled in five crappies with the largest stretching 13 inches. He also caught a largemouth bass tipping the scales at 3 pounds. The young angler hooked his catch from an area pond on live bait.
Jack’s Tackle Center: Sometimes big fish show up in unlikely places, like the huge flathead catfish taken from Pipe Creek, which took two people to land. Plason Warner was using a live shiner while fishing the small creek when the big flathead took his bait. With the help of David Gibbs, both men succeeded in landing the huge flathead which tipped the scales at 52 pounds.
Malone’s Nyona Lake Bait and Tackle: Rex Gregory caught and released a largemouth bass that dropped the scales at 5 pounds, 3 ounces. Gregory hooked the fish from Nyona Lake on an artificial jig.
John Martino is the Tribune’s
outdoors columnist. He may be reached through the sports
department.

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