Brad,
I'm sorry to hear that people are abusing your land. How hard is it to
tell the difference between a field that is being used, and one that is
laying fallow for the year (city boy, have I got that right?) or has already
been cut if it's Fall.
I have obviously hit a nerve, but you do understand the distinction
between riding trails and woods on undeveloped property, and building a duck
blind on somebody else's farm? If I had "hundreds of square miles" of land
legally open to riding, I wouldn't ever put a tire on unattended property
again.
In NJ, there is NO state land where you can legally ride motorized
vehicles. Not parks, not undeveloped land, nothing. The only legal areas are
privately owned OHV parks. Or should I say park- there's only one in the
state. The Meteor MC club owns some of it's own land, and somehow gets
temporary access for two events a year.
NY doesn't seem to be much better, at least within 100mi of the city.
Connecticut has one public area for trail riding, which is only 7 miles long
and is closed from October 15 to May 15. Gas pipelines, power transmission
line right-of ways, trails through the woods, hayfields that have been
unused for years, tell me how I'm hurting anybody?
I am a law-abiding (in every other regard), taxpaying citizen and have
almost no legal options for riding within 120 miles. I have called parks
departments in all three states, asked every place around that sells
motorcross bikes, and come up dry.
This sucks. It sucks worse that a$$holes like your trespassers screw it up
for people like me.
Devon
bradklr650 wrote:
> Whoa - Devon many times I have read and agreed w/ your posts but this
> one I have to take exception to,
>
> I have a farm, I have grown corn, peas, hay, etc on about one eighty
> acre field, and I have had:
> People ride their quads through freshly sown fields
> People build duck blinds, People set up tree stands, I even had a
> couple of SOB's park their truck in my barn and then try to stick my
> dog with a broadhead from a tree stand they set up in my orchard, as
> I was a cop at the time I couldn't do what I wanted to to them,
> though I did send their asses to jail and impound the truck.
> I have had people tell me the fields were leased to them and I had to
> pay them for the pheasants (a**hole from a hunt club down the valley)
> I had shot, this took cojones as I was standing in my driveway with
> an over/under 20g under my arm.
>
> I CARE, it's posted (their torn down - plausible deniability I
> guess), it's fenced but they continue, in Washington State the
> property owner has no obligation to post his property, the charge for
> violating this is Criminal Trespass 2nd, a class C (5yrs)felony.
> Crossing a fence or opening a gate, you can be charged with Burglary
> (20 yrs).
>
> Construction sites, surveys are expensive, property gets vandalized
> (usually not by the rider but who is most visible)
>
> Plausible deniability, heard of ignorance of the law is no excuse, I
> heard this to many times to count as I taking someone to a State paid
> vacation.
>
> If some of these people have asked for the right to hunt, to ride,
> etc. I would have evaluted the request and maybe allowed it, now if
> you are not a close friend you don't get on my land and if you do you
> go to jail, I'm fed up with the sh*t.
>
> btw, in my area less than one mile away is hundreds of square miles
> of State forest lands open to all types of uses but people would
> rather destroy or damage property because they can see it from the
> pavement.
>
> Now I ranting time to go.
>
> Brad.
>
> --- In DSN_klr650@y..., Devon Jarvis wrote:
> > My usual dilemma is finding an entry to riding areas where there
> are no
> > posted signs visible. This in order to maintain plausible
> deniability.
> >
> > If the owners care about your presence, they will post or fence the
> > property. Until then, keep the noise down, keep the place clean, and
> > don't tell people about it who have really loud pipes. The longer
> noone
> > knows you're there, the longer you will have that particular
> playground.
> >
> > Don't do this during hunting season. If you see people on horseback,
> > leave immediately- If you spook somebody's horse, they'll call the
> cops
> > the next time they hear a motor.
> >
> > Devon
> > A15