You just stated a big problem with dog hunters around here. You state that the chase could have started 10 miles away. What happens is they MIGHT get permission to dump their dogs out on an 80 acre patch knowing full well that those hounds will travel way beyond that across farms where they know they won't get permission to hunt. We had guys from out of state doing exactly that. Lots of cattle around here and it's perfectly legal to shoot dogs disturbing your cattle. It has happened.

For you guys saying the guy in the picture has the right to retrieve his dogs he's breaking the law. Look at the rifle slung over his shoulder.

In light of all these comments, here's my 2 cents. It looks like the guy might have just been trying to get his dog back. That said, since he does have a gun, he is breaking the law there. The sticky point is he denied you access to his land but has no qualms traipsing across yours, even if it is just to get his dog.

I'd just call him up and say, "Hey, I saw you on my trail cam, what's up, dog get away from you?" or something like that, to which he'll likely say yes even if that wasn't the case. Then just say, "Ok, but in the future if that ever happens again just give me a call before you come to get 'em."

That's not very confrontational, but I think will get the point across, and if he ends up on your cameras again you can take it to the next level.

Just what I'd do.

Yote I will preface by saying that I did not look this law up but rather asked an attorney friend and I am regurgitating what he said. I did ask about the law stating retrieval of hunting dogs. His statement was that it can be very difficult for the trespasser to prove that is what they were doing at the time especially since it says "without a firearm". It just becomes someone getting a dog and in that case the 609.6 supreceeds 97B.

I had this exact thing happen to me two years ago with some guys running bobcats. When I approached them they first said that they were not on the property. Tracks in the snow proved otherwise. When the third guy walked out onto the road with his dog then he was just out there trying to get his dog. Low and behold 3 weeks later I again caught them in the same place. This time I called the sheriff. They were ticketed but that was their argument. Court found them guilty and stated that the uncontrolled dog is not a legal excuse to trespass without consent of the landowner. Mind you this is Wisconsin so maybe not an apples to apples but our trespass laws are similar

Pretty much sums it up.

Him carrying a gun nullifies everything you just typed. Everything.
Dude, well meaning or not, broke the law and he does not care. He did not absentmindedly forget that he was carrying a rifle.

Carl, please show me where it's says he cannot carry a rifle...
I'll wait.

The link that Angela posted is 2023 and if that hasn't been changed lays it out in black and white you cannot have a firearm on you if your retrieving your dog on private ground without the owners permission.

The law in Virginia states they can enter your property on foot without a firearm or vehicle to retrieve their dog. The hunt clubs here read it to say that the state gives them permission to hunt your property. If you are a trapper and want to trap in Oct and Nov, you will catch their dogs. Normally at night because they let them run all night. Dog hunters have no respect for you or your property.

This is in Mn.
You armchair lawyers need to brush up on your reading skills!.

Can you see it now bucks?

Is the link Angela posted not right ? How about you educate us on the law in Minnesota.

It sure seems like the lack of respect for private property by houndsmen is a common thread in the different states.

Dang Angela, ya got me on that one for sure!. I guess I'll be the dumazz on this one.

Let them be , happens around here all the time permission or not unless it’s worth losing permission to you . They came through on me today never been asked as long as I’ve lived here all my life but I always ask them how they’re doing hunting song dogs.

If the other land owners don't give you permission because of this guy you don't have respectful neighbors. I guess I would just have to travel a little further to trap. My guess he is running all over theirs also. Have you lost any equipment or catches on neighboring property?

I hunt hounds some, or did until my dog died. I think it's kinda a dumb law as I'm a mile back in somewhere and my dog crosses onto a 5 acre property in the middle of 20,000 acres of public land, what am I supposed to do with my gun? Leave it leaning against a random tree and hope I can find it again?

I realize that there are slob houndsmen just like there are slob trappers. But MY reality is I have 20,000 acres of national forest land I can run dogs on, but every couple miles there will be a house on 1-5 acres of private land in the middle of all that public land. Should dog hunters not be able to hunt 20,000 acres of public land because their dog might accidentally run across your 2 acres? My point is that there are 2 sides to every story, and some houndsmen are pricks, but so are some trappers, as evidenced by this very thread.

Be nice if we all focused all that animosity on liberals and tree huggers instead of each other.

Apology accepted B&B.
Don't mess. I got people. (Insert winky guy emoji here.)

All the $$$ spent on multiple dogs, collars, trucks, GPS, ect.....The hound hunter also has apps on their devices that show EXACTLY where private property lines are.
No excuse for trespassing. It's not the private landowners fault or problem that tracts of formally large unmanaged lands are now subdivided down into smaller and smaller private parcels.
Reality is hound hunting requires large tracts of land to contain the hunt on permissioned or public land. The times have changed and this sport of hound hunting does not fit most landscapes anymore.
In 30 plus years of owning my hunting fishing land I have had the locked gate breached 4 times, three times. 3 times farm gate was ripped open and unclosable.
Always the same....We cannot control where the dogs run.....It was the houndsman that chose to open the dog box. Now with yearly predator tournaments with cash payouts, for a few weeks trespassing ramps right up.

Why would you need to go onto a five acre plot of land to retrieve your dog? He ain't stopping at the 5 acres, he's gonna keep going. Do what they do here in Virginia, hurry up and get on the other side of that property and kill everything that's comes off it.

Chains and tractor weights.

Houndsmen are typically their own worst enemy...period.

I hunt behind hounds nearly every week fron December through April, and absolutely love it. That being said, not all groups are concerned about following the laws and will routinely try to skirt the trespass law. Michigans law is similar to others in the fact that you can retrieve your hunting dog without your firearm, however, it also states that if the landowner expressly forbids you on their property, you cannot retrieve your dog...period. It helps a little with the knuckleheads that continually drop their hounds on 80 acres of state land when they know its surrounded by thousands of acres of private land...and they know their dogs will be off that state 80 in about two minutes tops.
A lot of houndsmen also insist upon filming their dogs as they stretch out a coyote at the end of a hunt and immediately post it on social media. Make no mistake , with behavior like that, the days of hunting with hounds is numbered. Sad really, it is an enjoyable sport and one of the most effective ways of controlling predator populations.