Hunter harassment walking road right of ways...

A

Answerguy8

New member
Has anyone been harassed by property owners while walking & hunting road right of ways? My sons and I were recently in Beadle County, while we were driving slowly to our next spot when we saw a rooster in the ditch and stopped to see if we could get him. I stayed in the car and saw a truck stop a ways behind and then rapidly pulled up next to me to tell me I couldn't hunt here, that this was his land. Of course we weren't in any type of safety zone. I knew we were in the right but I wasn't looking for a fight so we moved on.
 
These days I have plenty of places to hunt so I don't stop for road ditch birds, but I can see how landowners might react as this fella did. He is just assuming you will be on the wrong side of the fence shortly....and he will likely let you know he pays taxes to the middle of the road. Folks before you have created his attitude.
 
I've never had this problem.

I have had farmers come out and talk my ear off. Many times, I've had guys stop and ask if I need a ride. I've been told walking is not how you road hunt. I never had a bad experience.

I'm not sure how I would react if I was abused like that for doing nothing wrong.
 
If I saw rooster land in the ditch while I was driving, I'd keep driving.

I don't specifically drive around looking for roosters on the roads and in ditches. That's not how I hunt.

I will say that on rare occasion, I have to walk on a rural gravel road to get from one spot to my truck (or vice versa) and in those cases I will hunt the ditch.
 
I hunt a lot of ditches and never have had a problem. Not sure how I would react but I may take the opportunity to ask permission to hunt his CRP! This would either set him off or make him reconsider his poor attitude.
 
I've had a couple folks stop and tell me I couldn't be doing that. One time, I was hunting asparagus with my daughter. I have a camera strapped on my head, but if I didn't, I'm a firm believer in getting things documented. Hunting road rights-of-way was challenged back in 2005 in the SD Supreme Court. https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/sd-supreme-court/1103642.html

Like you, I'd probably say heck with it and move on, but according to the letter and spirit of the law, you were harassed and that is not only a legal issue, it is an icky feeling.
 
The big "release" and/or "preserve" guys in SD have gomers driving the perimeter of their properties. That and mow the ditch to look like a golf green. I remember (long time ago) driving backroads from the Ipswitch area to ND ... there was a place NE of Aberdeen that had rows of corn (say 8 - 10 wide) each row probably had 20 roosters or more planted for the afternoon walkers. We stopped just to watch and it took about 2 minutes and Gomer Pyle was telling us to move on. Pretty sure public land was across the road.

I do not hunt ditches, but I understand that many in SD do. Legal ... just be aware of the total surroundings. Every state has its own nuances and traditions.
 
As a landowner in Central South Dakota, I couldn't agree more remy3424 about "those folks before creating his attitude." Years ago i didn't really care
 
Again sent too early
Didn't really care how you hunted and frequently gave permission. But year after year decade after decade, the 10% of slob hunters ruined it. Shooting from vehicles, trespassing, shooting near cattle, leaving litter, cleaning birds/deer/geese in field approaches, poaching. It wears on you. Most hunters do it right, but plenty of bad experiences have jaded most landowners i know around here
 
Had someone who "worked" the land harass me and a buddy this weekend. I was in one Ditch, friend in the other. Guy was passive aggressive with my buddy. Drove to end of road and watched us. As we walked back he came back and start harassing. Told him we were legal. He kept going. Told him to fuck off. He watched a top the hill as we walked back to vehicle. He then proceeded to follow us past the land "that he and his dad worked". We turned on a highway and he proceeded to follow.
 
My friend who has pretty limited mobility just got harassed for walking a ditch. His dog wasn't on the other side of the fence nor was he as busting brush is no longer his thing at mid 70's. He said the guy was so unglued that he just turned around and went back to his car. He then talked to the guys neighbor who offered for him to block for some guys on her land. What a difference in people. She said she has had a ton of issues with the guy that yelled at him. I get there are idiots out there that do stuff that piss off land owners, but no need to be belligerent.
 
515wingshooter said:
Had someone who "worked" the land harass me and a buddy this weekend. I was in one Ditch, friend in the other. Guy was passive aggressive with my buddy. Drove to end of road and watched us. As we walked back he came back and start harassing. Told him we were legal. He kept going. Told him to fuck off. He watched a top the hill as we walked back to vehicle. He then proceeded to follow us past the land "that he and his dad worked". We turned on a highway and he proceeded to follow.
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I'd be so tempted to stop on the road by the land "he & his dad worked" & pray profusely for a rooster to run across the road into the ditch that I could try to hunt. Then pray some more for an opportunity to make an unarmed retrieve on the land "he & his dad worked".
 
A5 Sweet 16 said:
I'd be so tempted to stop on the road by the land "he & his dad worked" & pray profusely for a rooster to run across the road into the ditch that I could try to hunt. Then pray some more for an opportunity to make an unarmed retrieve on the land "he & his dad worked".
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We were hoping for that too. My buddy has made a point to return in hopes for that outcome.
 
Weather made us move out of the area of ND we were in and we tried SD -- I wasnt that impressed - but in ND did have a couple people come up on us pretty quickly for parking in front of their land and getting out of our truck (I had seen pheasants and parked a long ways (1/4 to half mile) away to get vest on and dog collars on since it was first hunt of the day)

Anyways one guy never approached - just kept watching from a distance as we parked in front of his stuff and the PLOT was about 300 yards away -- since he was so close I just held my dog by the collar till we got into the PLOT then he went back to his house.

After the hunt (We got 3 birds out of it) we went back to his house to visit and tell him thanks for not talking loud at us or interrupting the hunt and reassuring him we never planned to hunt his and saw birds in the public and were just trying to be plenty quiet. He was nice and visited with us for a while -- said he had people who leased and were hunting that day. Ironically without us even asking he had mentioned that he had figured out planting food plots, and putting in habitat paid just as good as the crp contracts or cash renting farming so he had been doing that instead -- he was a fellow probably late 60s or early 70s. I think we were talking about how much crp came out of KS and that had no desire to hunt out of state until more recently. His habitat honestly was probably why all the birds were in the general area.

There's lots of good people but so many bad ones and ones with shxt for etiquette just make everyone super defensive or lead them to not believe there is still plenty of good left. I've been there but it is frustrating.
 
My buddy told me this story a few times over the years before he passed away(RIP KENDALL). They would go and stay at an old school that had been converted to a b&b in Ree Heights, SD. They hunted almost exclusively ditches by walking them back in the early 2000s when birds were thick, most times they didn't have a dog. One day a truck was following them, just hanging in the distance at 300 yards watching them. It even followed them around if they moved a few miles. Luckily the owner of the b & b was driving them around that day, dropping them off and picking them up when they got to the end of the ditch. Eventually the owner dropped them off in a ditch and drove over to talk to the guy, and the truck drove off. Two years ago in SD we were on a walk in and there was a big volley as we flushed a large flock of pheasants. A few minutes later a truck was up on the road hawk eyeing us! Never did talk to the guy. Maybe he was just bored, or maybe he was watching to make sure we didn't hunt the unharvestred corn. Either way, I never put it out of my mind that even way out in the boonies, people are watching when you least expect it.
 
515wingshooter, Sounds like the guy who" worked the land" was a local and trying to bluff you of "his ditch". He never came out and said he owned, leased, farmed, or rented the land did he?
 
WDH said:
515wingshooter, Sounds like the guy who" worked the land" was a local and trying to bluff you of "his ditch". He never came out and said he owned, leased, farmed, or rented the land did he?
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I've hit that Ditch several times last year. Never once saw him or was ran off. There was tire tracks and human prints last year. You definitely could be right. His dad "worked it" then it was "him and his dad worked hard". The word owned never was mentioned
 
I would apologize and state that I must have misunderstood the law, and ask him to correct me…then offer to call the CO to provide the correct interpretation…tell him you assume he knows the local CO or sheriff and you’d be happy to visit with that party….I wouldn’t be a dick, I’d be an asskisser and beg for a LEO come out and tell us all what is or isn’t allowed.
 
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