DNR changes
Contributors to this thread:West Virginia
From: Babysaph
02-Aug-16
Just saw where the use of purple paint can be used as a method to post private land that requires written permission to hunt. Doesn't all private land require written permission?
From: Rutbuster
02-Aug-16
I think I will like this new method. Its seems like it should be easier than posted signs.
From: David Mitchell
02-Aug-16
JR, I believe you are correct about private land needing written permission. That is my understanding as well.
From: gobbler
02-Aug-16
Yes
From: Babysaph
02-Aug-16
So why do we need the paint?
From: Jim Casto Jr
02-Aug-16
"So why do we need the paint?"
Good question that I've never been able to figure out. I suppose signs and paint distinguish private land from public land--maybe. IDK.
From: hoppies56
03-Aug-16
Purple paint is just like a fence it now can be used to mark property boundary lines.Lots of places in WV where land changes from one person to another where there might not be a fence. A hunter could have written permission on my neighbors land but not mine. This will make it much easier and cheaper to mark my property lines.
From: hoppies56
03-Aug-16
I have used posted signs, some need placed every year due to being torn down. I just cant afford to replace all the old fence lines.So purple paint it is. May not do a lot of good, some people dont care if the land was posted, fenced or purple painted. They will still cross the line. Hard to keep them good old boys out !!
From: Babysaph
03-Aug-16
Good point Hoppie. I can see where it can be used to delineate property lines and hold down the costs. I have some orange paint on some of my property that has been there for 15 years so paint does last.
From: Babysaph
03-Aug-16
Good point Hoppie. I can see where it can be used to delineate property lines and hold down the costs. I have some orange paint on some of my property that has been there for 15 years so paint does last.
From: gobbler
03-Aug-16
It's cheaper, especially for large landowners . If a timber company owns 15 thousand acres signs can get really expensive, especially considering they can be torn off. Paint will last for years and the tree would basically need to be chopped down or bark removed which usually ends up killing the tree. It dosen't take very many destroyed trees to turn the offense into a felony.
From: quadJ
04-Aug-16
About the written permission.... I asked a DNR officer about a potential poaching problem during turkey season. He told me that if I didn't have my land legally posted there isn't a whole lot that can be done. I then asked, don't they have to have written permission? He basically said that was a grey area and that it would be up to the officers discretion.
From: Babysaph
04-Aug-16
Not according to the DNR handout. Did you show him that? That is one of the reasons poachers don't get turned in. They don't do anything about it unless it is a big buck that is killed.
From: Turk
04-Aug-16
The way that I have always understood it to be is.... If the land is not posted or fenced, ( or you have not been told otherwise by the owner) than you can hunt it. (It is and never was IMO the ethical thing to do.)
Also the way that I have understood it, some of the past critics of paint posting have said that it makes it too easy for someone to "post" property that is not theirs. An example would be a large non-resident land owner that seldom comes into WV may not give out permits, but they really don't care if people hunt on their land. They could come in some day and find part of their farm marked with paint.
With that said, As a landowner I can appreciate the cost savings & convenience for someone wanting to post their land.
From: gobbler
04-Aug-16
I can see valid good points and valid bad points, but for whatever reason the legislature passed it and it is the law now.
From: Babysaph
04-Aug-16
Good points Turk. But the way I read the regs it says you have to have written permission to hunt on someone else's property. I know several properties that only get hunted the first week of gun season. They don't allow hunting but it is not posted and I could bowhunt it.