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Tracking a Deer on to other property

Don K

Don K

Member
Here in Illinois you can not enter private property to track a deer unless they give you permisson. If they dont you are S.O.L. and the landowner, or coyotes, or crows get it.

I hear in Iowa that you can track unarmed onto other property to track or recover you deer. I look up the definition of "Tresspassing" on the Iowa DNR site and this is part of what it says:

"Trespass" means entering property without the express permisson of the owner, lessee,or person in lawful possession, with the intent to use, remove therefrom, alter, damage, harrass, or place anything animate or inanimate, or to hunt, fish, or trap on the property.

This paragraph does not prohibit the unarmed pursuit of game or furbearing animals lawfully injured or killed witch come to rest on or escape to the property of another.


So from what im reading it looks like its legal to go after your deer. Theres some others here in IL that read your regs and say you have to get permisson.

So can someone tell me what you can or cannot do when tracking your deer if it crosses property lines??

Thanks, we are having a little debate over here on this subject.

Don
 
It is legal to track wounded game onto private property, unarmed, without permission from the landowner. Having proof of a hit (bloodtrail) and having a copy of the regs along wouldn't hurt either as there are plenty of people (landowners and deputies) that don't know the regs.
 
in a situation like this it's probably a good idea to give the local conservation officer a call and tell him what you're going to do also. that way you have a safety net if the landowner throws a tizzy.
 
Well that is what i thought also until this year when we where sitting around waiting to hit the slough a dnr officer showed up and we asked him question about that.
He said the landowner has every right not to let you on his land. It doesn't matter if you have a dead or wounded animal. If the landowner says no there is knowone that can over right his decision. So he told us that if you know the landowner that the animal is on will say no.
the best thing you can do is get in and out and hope you don't get caught. we tried to argue with that and say exactly what is writen above and he flat out said that they don't have to let you on there land. He said he has had situations with this and usually he will offer to go along with the person to try to retreive the animal and usually they will be alright with that. But he said if they would still say no all you can do is try to convince him to let you on.
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Double Lung,
What kind of DNR officer would tell you to go ahead and trespass without permission, and hope you didn't get caught by the landowner.
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If I were you I'd get a second opinion from someone who knew what they were talking about, doesn't sound like this guy does.

CRITR
 
Ask the landowner first. As a landowner that has had problems with this in the past, it is always best to ask, even if the law says you can go. Showing respect to the landowner may yeild benefits to yo udown the road.
 
I've been in a bebate like this before and it was also just prior to the sulg season. In the bar!
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By the time we were done debating we had put together a well organized one man deer drive on some land that was'nt ours to hunt.
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I side with the landowner. When you guys get done with your debate tell me how the deer drive went. Just kidding, it just reminded me of some slob hunting I used to do. Keep good relationships with the land owners it's their land that we get so much enjoyment from each year.
Something to remember this Thanksgiving!
Hunt on All4s
 
I also asked a DNR official on this and he said it is a legal grey area. He said that if you call him, he will try to meet with you and the landowner to explain the laws to the land owner and ask him for you. However, if the landowner throws a fit he will not persist and will tell you to give up the chase.

He also said that in his opinion, this law is designed so that if you can see your downed game from your side of the fence you can legally walk straight up to it and retrieve it. (do not field dress it until you drag it back to your side of the fence) He said it is not intended to allow hunters to comb anyones private property looking for wing broke pheasants or deer blood trails. He said he is basing his opinion on the outcomes of actual court cases.

Hope this helps

IaCraig
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Can someone tell me how to find my local conservationists officer? I would like to have his number, any help would be appreciated. I live in Sioux City, but will be hunting Monona County.
 
Copied right out the the deer and turkey regulations. It doesn't look like a gray area to me. It is also the way the DNR teaches it at its hunter Ed instructor classes (at least the one I was at). Whether or not it is the right thing to do is another matter.

The CO for Monona county is Gary Sisco, the CO for Woodbury is Stacey Sisco, his wife. Don't have the numbers off hand.
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Ia Craig and Double Lung are right, not much supercedes landowner rights. I suspect this would be much less of an issue if fewer people abused this law as "the one man deer drive".
 
Small munster, I am no lawyer but that law sounds like it agrees with what the warden told me. If the deer has come to rest on the property of another, that must mean you can see it from your side of the fence. If you can not see it from your side of the fence, for all you know the deer ran straight through.

Also, the warden I talked to said that in the fine details of the Iowa law code, there are contradictions. He says that his experience is that when contested in court, the land owner wins.


Most of Iowa landowners wouldn't care anyway, so I would ask 1st.

IaCraig
 
Quote: You may legally pursue - UNARMED injured or killed deer or turkeys that come to rest on the property of another.

That is good enough for me. I will take that to court with me and I doubt if I will get convicted of anything. Besides that, I would not be there WITH THE INTENT to hunt, fish, or trap; or to commit a public offense..

The way I see it, I have committed no crime and it is the ethical thing to do. If my injured animal crosses the fence, I am going after it. Sure, I will probably tell the landowner what I am doing and show them the blood trail if they want to see it but permission or not, I think I can go and it is the ethical thing to do. Maybe Blind Sow can set the record straight.

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150,
The key phrase in the trespass law wording is, ..."come to rest"...Unless you know your deer is down you should get permission from the landowner.
 
Ya, I think it is just a little misleading wording if it is against the law. Another key word is "intent". I really hope Doug will help on this one since I have heard that it is OK and I get the jist from most of you that it isn't.
 
If anyone here has the october issue of North American Whitetail, there is a article in there you should read. A guy from Des Moines shot a huge non-typical and it went onto another property. The land owner and a deputy sheriff told him he could not retrieve the deer. To make a long story short he did get the deer back...... after having to buy it back. Someone found it shotgun season and claimed it. They entered it at the whitetail classic under a false name. After the DNR officer found this out they tracked down who had the deer and made arrangements for the hunter to get the deer back. Come to find out the deer had been sold to a antler collector in Missouri for a snow mobile, gun and 1,000 dollars. I have no clue what the original hunter had to pay to get it back.
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I think I asked BlindSow some difficult questions in another post on this very topic. He was not able to respond. All I can say is that I'll be out Saturday with Video tape. If your in NE Iowa and your on my or my familes land "tracking a deer" - 1 - you better not have your gun and 2 -you better have proof you injured a deer and it went on our land. My video will be all the proof I need.

If you contact me first, you can go get it and take your gun (just need to see a blood trail going onto our land)
 
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