Hunting on private land, state by state

It is illegal to hunt, trap, capture, injure, kill or destroy any wild game on another person's land without having in possession the written permission of the landowner or person in control of that land.

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Most of Alaska's land is in public ownership. However, you must have permission from the landowner to hunt private land. Written permission is not specified.

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You must have written or verbal permission from private property owners for use of their legally posted private lands for any purpose including crossing these lands.

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You must have the owner's or lessee's permission to hunt, trap, run dogs or retrieve game on another's private land, and written permission (name, landowner signature and phone, and dates) is required on posted or fenced land. Land may be posted with signs or vertical purple paint marks at least 8 inches long, 3 to 5 feet off the ground.

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Fish and Game Code 2016 requires written permission where the land belongs to, or is occupied by, another person and is either under cultivation or enclosed by a fence, or where trespass or hunting signs are posted at intervals of not less than three per mile and at all entry points.

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Permission is required: going onto private lands without getting permission first while hunting is illegal, and you must have permission from the landowner to enter private land to retrieve a harvested animal. Posting is not required.

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Deer and turkey hunters on private land must carry written permission for the current season on the official DEEP consent form, signed by the landowner. Small game hunters need landowner permission every day of the week, but verbal permission is enough. Landowners and their lineal descendants hunting their own land are exempt from carrying written permission.

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You must get permission from the owner or lessee before entering another person's land or waters to hunt, trap or fish, whether or not the land is posted. The law requires prior permission but does not say it must be written.

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A hunting license does not authorize trespass; get the landowner's permission before entering private land. Land may be posted with "No Trespassing" signs or international-orange paint marks under Fla. Stat. 810.011, and trespassing while carrying a firearm is a felony.

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O.C.G.A. section 27-3-1(a) makes it unlawful to hunt upon the lands of another, or enter the lands of another in pursuit of wildlife, with or without a license, without first obtaining permission from the landowner or lessee. Where the land is posted and the owner has told law enforcement that written permission is necessary, that permission must be in writing and carried on the hunter's person.

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Game mammals may be hunted with a valid hunting license and the landowner's permission on private land throughout the year.

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Idaho's trespass law requires written permission or other lawful form of permission from landowners to access private property.

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It is unlawful to take any wildlife on another person’s land without first getting the owner’s permission, whether or not the land is posted. Landowners may mark trees or posts with purple paint as a “no trespassing” notice.

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It is illegal to hunt, trap, chase, or retrieve game on private land without the consent of the landowner or tenant. Indiana landowners may mark property boundaries with purple paint to indicate no trespassing.

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Trespass is defined as entering property without the express permission of the owner, lessee or person in lawful possession. The paint marking statute was not verified. The exact DNR fishing regulations page was not verified either, so the main agency site is listed for fishing.

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It is illegal to hunt, shoot, or trap on private land without the owner's permission. Land posted with hunting and/or trapping by Written Permission Only signs, or land having trees or fence posts painted purple, requires documented written permission.

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You may not enter another person's land to hunt, trap or fish without the verbal or written permission of the landowner, tenant or person in charge; verbal permission is enough. Purple paint marks on trees or posts (vertical, at least 8 inches by 1 inch, 3-5 feet high) are legal no-trespassing notice.

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Louisiana law prohibits entering another's land without express, legal or implied authorization, so get the landowner's permission before hunting. Land may be posted with purple paint: vertical lines at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, 3 to 5 feet off the ground, no more than 100 feet apart on forest land (1,000 feet on other land).

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Always get permission, even if the land isn't posted. Landowners may prohibit access either verbally or in writing. Posted land carries signs at distances no more than 100 feet apart at locations that are readily visible, and at all vehicular access entries from a public road.

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Under the purple paint statute, one vertical OSHA Safety Purple stripe at least one inch in width and at least 8 inches in length, placed between three and five feet off the ground, means Access by Permission Only. Roughly 94 percent of Maine is privately owned, and everyone MUST respect landowners and their rights.

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Written permission from the property owner is required to hunt or trap on private property in all counties. Maryland land may be posted with vertical bright blue oil-based paint marks at least 2 by 8 inches, 3 to 6 feet above the ground.

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Hunting, fishing, and trapping are permitted on private land that is not posted against trespass. Permission is required only on posted land.

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Written or verbal permission is required from the landowner or leaseholder before you hunt on any farmlands, connected woodlots, private land or property that is fenced or enclosed. Verbal permission is sufficient.

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Minn. Stat. section 97B.001: permission is required on agricultural land even if it is not posted. Agricultural land is land that is plowed or tilled, has standing crops or crop residues, is within a maintained fence for enclosing domestic livestock, or is planted grassland, hay or short-rotation woody crops. Non-agricultural land must be posted annually with no trespassing signs.

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A person may enter unposted land to retrieve a lawfully shot animal and must then leave immediately, and a person without a firearm may enter to retrieve a hunting dog and must then leave immediately. Firearms may not be discharged within 500 feet of an occupied building or livestock without written permission, except during established seasons on public land.

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Landowner permission is required to hunt, fish, or trap on the lands of another. The paint marking statute was not verified. The exact MDWFP fishing regulations page was not verified, so the main agency site is listed for fishing, and the exact license purchase portal was not verified, so the agency license page is listed.

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Get the landowner’s permission before hunting private land; retrieving wounded game does not authorize trespass. Under RSMo 569.145, purple paint marks on trees (vertical lines at least 8 inches long, 3–5 feet high, no more than 100 feet apart) or posts post land against trespassers.

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MCA 87-6-415: a person may not hunt or attempt to hunt furbearers, game animals, migratory game birds, nongame wildlife, predatory animals, upland game birds, or wolves on private property without first obtaining permission of the landowner or lessee. Posting is not required. Hunt includes retrieving wildlife and accessing public land through private property.

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It is unlawful to take any wildlife on private land without the owner's permission (Neb. Rev. Stat. 37-722); the law does not say the permission must be written. Without the owner or tenant's permission, you may not hunt with a rifle within 200 yards, or with a bow, handgun or shotgun within 100 yards, of an inhabited dwelling or livestock feedlot.

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It is unlawful for any person to hunt, trap or fish on private property without permission obtained by the owner or occupant. Posting is not required.

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All state, federal, municipal, county, and private lands are considered open to hunting unless posted otherwise. It is unlawful to enter posted land without permission of the owner or fail to leave when requested, or to deface posted signs. The agency recommends personally contacting the landowner for permission before hunting any private land, particularly smaller parcels.

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Hunters and trappers must have permission, oral or written, from the landowner or lessee before entering posted lands or agricultural lands. If charged with trespass, you must provide documentation of written permission in court, so carry a written permission or courtesy card.

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It is unlawful to hunt or trap on private land without written permission. This applies regardless of whether the land is posted.

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DEC says always ask permission to hunt on private land, whether or not it is posted. Land is legally posted with signs at least 11 by 11 inches placed no more than 660 feet apart along the boundary, and entering posted land against the signs is prohibited (ECL 11-2111, 11-2113). New York sporting licenses do not extend to Indigenous Nations lands.

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To hunt, fish or trap on posted land of another person, you must carry written permission signed by the landowner, lessee or agent and dated within the last 12 months; some counties require permission on all private land. Land may be posted with signs or with vertical purple paint marks at least 8 inches long, 3-5 feet above the ground and no more than 100 yards apart.

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North Dakota is a posting state and posting can be physical or electronic. No person may hunt or pursue game, or enter for those purposes, upon legally posted land belonging to another without first obtaining the permission of the landowner, which means unposted private land may be hunted without permission. Hunting posted land without permission brings at least a one-year suspension.

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Physical posting means signs alongside the public highway or the land, with the owner's name in legible characters, not more than 880 yards apart; posting all gates of a fully enclosed parcel posts the whole enclosure. Electronic posting requires annual enrollment in the window set in the regulations. It is also illegal to hunt within 440 yards of an occupied building without consent.

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You must carry written permission at all times while hunting or trapping on private land and show it on request. A permission form is printed in the Ohio hunting regulations booklet.

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29 O.S. section 5-202(A): no person may hunt or take by any means or method upon the land of another without the consent of the owner, lessee or occupant of such land. Consent is presumed valid up to one year unless the landowner specifies otherwise. Written permission carried on the person is an affirmative defense, not a precondition.

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Prosecution for hunting trespass requires a written complaint from the landowner, lessee or occupant, a game warden, or an authorized officer. ODWC states that hunters and trappers must obtain permission to enter any posted or occupied land or land primarily devoted to farming, ranching or forestry purposes. Penalties start at 500 to 1,500 dollars or 30 days for a first offense.

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It is unlawful to hunt on private property without permission from the landowner.

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Ignoring purple paint marks, signs or verbal orders to keep out is defiant trespass, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Purple paint marks are vertical lines at least 8 inches long and 1 inch wide, 3 to 5 feet off the ground and no more than 100 feet apart; they are not valid in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties. Unarmed people may enter private land solely to retrieve a hunting dog.

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No hunting on posted land without landowner permission. It is also unlawful to fire into land for which one lacks permission. Permission is required only on posted land.

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It is unlawful to enter upon the lands of another for the purpose of hunting, fishing, trapping or retrieval of dogs without the consent of the landowner or manager. The paint marking statute was not verified.

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No person may hunt on private land or retrieve big game animals from private land without permission from the owner or lessee. Permission is required whether or not the land is posted, except within the Black Hills Fire Protection District, where the rule inverts and posted land is what denies entry.

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If private land is posted with signs that show the owner's name and address and the words "HUNTING BY WRITTEN PERMISSION ONLY," a hunter or trapper must carry the owner's written permission.

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Penal Code section 30.05: notice that entry is forbidden may be given by oral or written communication, by fencing obviously designed to exclude intruders, by posted signs likely to come to the attention of intruders, by purple paint marks at the size and spacing set in the statute, or by visible cultivated crops. Trespass is a Class A misdemeanor when the person carries a deadly weapon.

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Parks and Wildlife Code section 62.012 applies only in counties with a population of 3.3 million or more: no person possessing a firearm may hunt on land owned by another unless he has in his immediate possession the written consent of the owner, containing the hunter's name, identification of the land, and the signer's signature and contact details. Landowners, lessees and agents are exempt.

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Written permission is required to enter or cross properly posted private property, and also for unposted land with broken soil for crops, active crops, or irrigated pastures, or land fenced or enclosed to exclude intruders. Permission must carry the owner's signature, the name of the person permitted, the dates, and a general description of the land.

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Hunting, fishing or trapping on properly posted land is illegal without written permission. Posting must be recorded annually with the town clerk, and signs must be not less than 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches, in contrasting colors, on or near all boundaries, at each corner and not over 400 feet apart. A person must leave the land immediately on demand of the owner, whether the land is posted or not.

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A person must have the landowner's permission to build, erect, maintain, use or occupy a permanent or portable tree stand or ground blind on any private land in Vermont.

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It is unlawful to hunt on private property without the permission of the landowner. Trespass on posted property carries fines up to $2,500 and up to 12 months in jail; unposted property carries fines up to $500. Posting with aluminum or purple paint is statutory: a vertical line at least 2 inches in width and at least 8 inches in length, no less than 3 feet and not more than 6 feet from the ground.

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RCW 77.15.435 makes it an offense if a person knowingly enters or remains unlawfully in or on the premises of another for the purpose of hunting or retrieving wildlife. Written permission is not required by statute, and statutory defenses include a reasonable belief that permission was held. It is a misdemeanor and conviction can bring a two-year license suspension.

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It is illegal to shoot, hunt or trap upon the fenced, enclosed, purple paint marked or posted lands of another person without having in possession written permission from the landowner. Purple paint marking is statutory.

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Not verified. DNR states its hunting rules do not allow hunters to trespass without the landowner's permission, and a hunting dog running on land without permission is treated as at large. The state's trespass statute, posting rules and any dog-retrieval allowance could not be read. Confirm with the official regulations before you hunt.

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W.S. 23-3-305: no person shall enter upon, travel through or return across the private property of any person to take wildlife, hunt, fish, or trap without the permission of the owner or person in charge of the property. Permission need not be written for daytime hunting, but written permission of the landowner or lessee is required to hunt at night on private or leased land.

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