Public property vs private property.. On water

[topher]

Where would the line for public vs private be?
Would it be the shoreline? 7 ft from the water line? Hunting from an river In boat with an electric motor.. If.I was to pull into bull rushes and not touch dry land am I trespassing? We were having discussions about this today at work.
As fat as I understand you have 7/feet from dry land. Guy at work is telling me.as soon as weeds are present you are on private property..

[kickingfrog]

Generally it's the high water line that's referred to. Exactly where that line is... well that kinda varies.

[gooseman]

It depends if they have deeded water rights. Along the st.clair river there are a handful of properties that have deeded water rights which gives them ownership out quite a ways from shore. This is from yrs ago. Most places it is not this way. I look at it like this, as long as the boat is floating and not beached your golden since no one owns the water. It's a touchy subject with some that feel they own it all

[topher]

Ya... I got in last week by a farmer who said being pulled I'm the bull rushes was trespassing.. Was the canoe floating... Sorta.. Was I on land. No.was standing on a floating chunk of bull rush weed...

[gooseman]

Standing outside the canoe I can see his point, best to stay in the boat. You also have to take into consideration of what you will do if you drop a bird onto the shore then what? Sometimes this can get tricky, do you have permission if a shot bird flares and lands behind you in the field? Unless you have permission you are trespassing, and if you can't retrieve your bird you are breaking another law.

[TyHill]

Might be a little new to the group and hunting but I specifically asked this in my hunters safety, and the person who owns the land has to grant you access for you to retrieve your game, or a conservation officer has to be called and they can retrieve. Is what I wrote, no rule or number written. That's someone else's game

[trimmer21]

We get into this discussion every year. As a rule,property lines start 20 ft. from the high water mark. The shore is Crown land when on navigable waterways UNLESS part of the river/lake bed is flooded farmland and the owner is paying taxes on the flooded section which may be why the farmer said you were trespassing. In only that instance may a farmer/owner post the weed beds and bull rushes. On some waterways,municipalities may have by-laws restricting hunting within certain distances from shore where they own the land or where dwellings and outbuildings are within a 300M limit. The onus is on us to know where and when to hunt.

[topher]

On the particular spot i was there is a municipal made dyke.. Or levy to separate the water from the reclaimed land on the other side of the Dyke.. (Think Holland) the farmer does not own the dyke.. As that is town property to maintain.. I know where j was k was good.. Right up to the other side.. But just wasn't sure for other situations..

[jobbershunting]

General rule of thumb is, if you can float a vessel (kayak to pontoon boat) than it is navigable water and it is therefor crown land. There are as with every rule some exceptions although mostly in SW Ontario. However, once you step foot on land to retrieve your bird, you may be trespassing. Know where you are and know the local by-laws and you should be good to go.

[CocoZoo]

Trimmer21 is correct. You can also look at municipal land maps, they can help sometimes. There were some places I was told were government land, but the land maps showed that although the house and land lot were separate, the flats and ponds were definitely private.