Trespassers

[DanO]

Leaving a note is a good way to let them know you have the stuff.......and if it was a legitimate mistake they will contact you, if they knowingly were on your place, they most likely walk away.

That's the way I'd handle it.

[DanO]

I hunt county forest and this one spot I ran into a fence and no trespassing signs about 100 m before getting to the edge of the property based on 2 different GPS units. Now either they are wrong or the Ontario parcel fabric layer I downloaded is wrong.

Who's property is next to yours?!? I'd just go talk to your neighbors.

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I've seen land posted that didn't even belong tothe landowner. Great way to ensure you're hunting spot. Opening day of trout one year I encountered signs at dawn. I didn't enter but I did ask the landowner and he hadn't posted it but the guys fishing had taken it upon themselves to reserve their spot.

[Bushmoose]

No trespasser in his/her right mind would invest that kind of money in equipment. There’s obviously a mistake there.

Thats kind of what I'm thinking also? The original story was finding gear, etc.... Then it comes out there are fresh posts. Story gets kinda muddy after that?
Shouldn't belong before the owner of the gear comes back to it, so I hope there is a follow-up version of what happens and who's fault, etc....

[trimmer21]

I've seen land posted that didn't even belong tothe landowner. Great way to ensure you're hunting spot. Opening day of trout one year I encountered signs at dawn. I didn't enter but I did ask the landowner and he hadn't posted it but the guys fishing had taken it upon themselves to reserve their spot.

There's some pretty serious fines for that nonsense (posting land that doesn't belong to you) up to $35K and/or criminal mischief charges. It cost my co-worker a ton of money to defend both charges in Court. He lost both cases costing him $5K in fines PLUS his lawyer fees,all in,almost $9K. If there's doubt,at all,don't do anything until your ducks are all in a row.

[hockeymjt]

I had set up a stand on the back of a property, turned out I was about 25 feet over the border.
I went to the stand one morning to find a note that stated that I was trespassing, and that I should call .
I did call, explained who I was and why I was there,
The landowner completely understood, thanked me for calling, and allowed me to stay put and told me that he would appreciate it very much if I did not go further than a particular landmark.
when it is in fact an honest mistake, an individual will call with an explanation.
I have been hunting on this property for almost 5 years now, and I am sure he appreciates me being there as well, have helped him many times with fence, fire wood, barn repairs, Win WIn

[Greenhorn]

My brother up loaded on his gps a program. Private property is green and crown white. Found my 4 corner post no problem.It wouldn’t upload to my gps,though.

[Rob Stewart]

Fwiw I believe in Ontario it's not a chargeable offence if it's not marked and not a cultivated field and so on. In other words if it's an honest mistake in the middle of the bush, no charges will be laid. Now once the honest trespasser knows they are in the wrong they have to leave immediately.

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[Rob Stewart]

The law states "(2) It is a defence to a charge under subsection (1) in respect of premises that is land that the person charged reasonably believed that he or she had title to or an interest in the land that entitled him or her to do the act complained of. R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21, s. 2 (2)."

In other words, if this is an honest mistake whereby your neighbor strayed across your property line, even by a fair margin, they have a legal defense that amounts to "oops, sorry, thought it was still my land".

And basically, the wording of the act is that you're trespassing if entry is prohibited and that is done as follows:

Entry on premises may be prohibited by notice to that effect and entry is prohibited without any notice on premises,

(a) that is a garden, field or other land that is under cultivation, including a lawn, orchard, vineyard and premises on which trees have been planted and have not attained an average height of more than two metres and woodlots on land used primarily for agricultural purposes; or

(b) that is enclosed in a manner that indicates the occupier’s intention to keep persons off the premises or to keep animals on the premises. R.S.O. 1990, c. T.21, s. 3 (1).

So basically what it boils down to is if someone has come onto your property from neighboring crown land or private property and there were NO signs and no fence and they thought they were still on property they had a right to be on, then they aren't trespassing as long as they leave the moment they are advised of their mistake.

[rick_iles]

They are still trespassing.....they just have a defence, and no charges would likely be laid....

[Gilroy]

My brother up loaded on his gps a program. Private property is green and crown white. Found my 4 corner post no problem.It wouldn’t upload to my gps,though.

Please do not rely on this completely as the MNR has not done a good job of updating their Crown lands.Much of the maps even in paper form are put out by private companies and are not accurate.I would verify everything with the Township offices. Its not a particular problem in large Crown area,s but in south and eastern Ontario mixed in with private it gets pretty muddy.Its been a very long time since the Crown ran any surveys on these lands in some cases over 100 years.