Corey Mulhair for SPLIT REED
Who: Hunters in North Dakota; Residents and Non-residents.
What: Posted Lands/Trespass Laws – New Digitally Posted Lands
Where: State of North Dakota
When: Deadlines June 1 & July 15 – In Effect: August 1
For years, some landowner groups (Agricultural producers) have been aiming to change North Dakota trespass laws for private lands from ‘open unless posted closed’ to ‘closed unless permitted’. Sportsman groups have lobbied against this, as it could affect hunter tourism to the state and hunting heritage/cultural practices held dear by many North Dakotans. This year a change has been implemented.
Fall snow geese on a slough owned by a farmer of mine when I worked for the farming cooperative, he called this slough “Mulhair Slough” as I would spend a few days every spring tucked into cattails photographing decoying ducks. It has since dried up and been seeded to wheat.
The North Dakota state legislature has just passed a bill allowing landowners to *digitally* post lands. That means landowners do not need to have posted signs on their fields or land in order to have that land considered ‘posted’ for ‘no trespassing or hunting’. As someone who lived in NW NoDak for about half a decade, I am a little torn between my feelings on this recent decision. Input came from both landowners and sportsmen alike, as North Dakota is the only remaining state that considers private lands open unless posted. Because I happen to be a person who has worked with landowners and farmers in North Dakota, I can see from their perspective why some would want the change. Not every hunter is a great representation of our hunting community, and that can cause issues for landowner/hunter relations. I would guess that 90% of people who post their land genuinely just want to know who it is that will be on their ground. The change and the system will become active on June 1st, 2021 and the deadline for landowner participation for the year will be July 15th, 2021.
On the one hand, I don’t think it will immediately change very much for hunters- unless you were the type of person who felt they were owed something when traveling to freelance around North Dakota. If you thought because the land wasn’t posted that you were in the clear to do all the hunting you wanted, you are incorrect. Any landowner can come out and ask someone to leave their property, calmly or otherwise. The easiest way to ensure you’re going to set up in a field or on a slough and have an unbothered hunt is to simply ask the landowner ahead of time for permission! Most landowners in North Dakota appreciate the hunting heritage boasted by the Peace Garden State and are reasonable, though you will get an occasional ‘No’ for the usual reasons (bad taste in mouth from previous hunters, my cousin’s kids are coming to hunt, or no I don’t want anyone on my land..)
My friend Andrew after a morning duck/goose hunt in wheat, Oct 2020 on unposted land. I know the farmer and he was one of those guys who was happy to have people enjoy a good hunt on his ground.
So, for the most part, things are essentially the same as they have always been. Especially if you are already used to reaching out to landowners ahead of the hunt instead of just pulling into a field that isn’t posted. However, if you like to pull into a physically non-posted field and hunt without contacting the farmer or landowner, you will now need to look online to verify that that piece of ground is not digitally posted. Better yet, look up the landowner and give them a quick call or ask to stop by their farm to introduce yourself and ask to have permission to hunt ducks and geese on their ground. This goes a long way, just put yourself in their shoes.
On the other hand, could this lead to the end of ‘open unless posted’? Some groups have asked for the default to be changed to ‘closed unless posted open’. Let’s be realistic, no one is going to actively post their land as ‘open’ without incentive. My guess is if things we’re ‘closed by default’ (as every other state is) then landowners would be getting a lot more phone calls and knocks on their doors- which some landowners like and appreciate, and others don’t. In fact, that’s why a lot of landowners do not post their land- they aren’t interested in 8 PM knocks on their doors or phone calls around then. The same goes for the guys who post their land but don’t write their phone numbers on the signs (some will argue that’s not ‘properly posted’ but if that’s enough for you to just hunt it anyways, you are the type to blame for the push in legislation like this). Some guys want to know who will be on their ground, others simply don’t give a shit- so long as you aren’t rutting up a field, or leaving gates open or trash about.
Snow geese in Spring moving through a wheat field.
Technical talk. How will you be able to look up the digitally posted lands? Hunters can use the information found here to determine if lands not physically posted are digitally posted. Options requiring cell service and options that do not require cell service both exist for looking up posted/not posted lands. The Avenza Geospatial map is one option that does not require service if maps are downloaded ahead of time. ArcGIS Explorer will require service but is a good tool for those who want to look up land postings as they scout around.
Digitally posted lands will list the landowner’s name, however, their contact information such as email and phone are only optional and not required. This is something I have an issue with. Physically posted lands are supposed to have landowner names and phone numbers, but the digitally posted lands do not require the phone number, which will make access to those lands harder to gain hunting access/permission on. It can be a hassle to get ahold of people whose land is posted, let alone if they omit their phone number. I fear that the next generation of hunters will find it tougher to locate the actual landowner and get permission if lands aren’t required to be posted with name AND phone number, like the digitally posted ground- which let’s be honest, we will be seeing more of as time goes on. Making it harder to hunt is not going to make hunter recruitment any easier than it is now, and right now it is not so easy.
Folks come from all over to hunt North Dakota in the fall. Here is my buddy Andrew and my dog Deacon after retrieving a sharptail grouse. We flushed a few sharpies out of one of my growers standing sunflower fields as we walked down the prairie road, and Andrew was beyond excited for a little mid-day action.
Dates for Digitally Posting:
6/1/2021 – Expected electronic posting system open date.
7/15/2021 – Deadline for landowners to digitally post land.
8/1/2021 – Electronic posting laws go into effect.
As you see, the first year of this new practice being in effect will begin just before early goose season. For those of us hunting those big early honkers in mid-August to mid-September, we will see how it works. I don’t anticipate an overwhelmingly large adoption for the first year, but I imagine after a couple of years, it will be the standard. The biggest thing to take away from the change might just be this: If you can get ahold of the landowner, do so and do so respectively. Whether it is posted or not. Build a relationship and trust with the landowners on whose land you hunt and as you go back year after year the hunts will mean more and more as you reconnect and spend time with those people. Hell, they’ll even start calling you and say “I have a pile of geese on this wheat field, get out there and get ‘em!”
NoDak Early Goose 2020 with buddies Duncan and Devin, testing out some new Browning 12ga’s.
