question about trespassers

forgot to list that I live in NW Iowa.
I can see now I probably need to post no trespassing sign near my driveways and at the corners of my pastures/treeline. I guess I was hoping people would be more respectful of anothers property without the need for the signage/etc. I still cannot wrap my head around the sense of entitlement someone must have to wander around someones place uninvited. I cannot picture doing that myself and feeling fine with it.

Very easily. if it isn't theirs and they weren't invited, then they shouldn't be there. plan and simple.

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He who thinks he knows, doesn't. He who knows he doesn't know, knows.~ Joseph Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMrK...AE7062ADE5A19C

You mean like inviting people over to check out your puppies and then being furious when the come over and check out your puppies?

Or being irate because someone is looking for a farmer on a farm?

That is not and has never been the law in this country.

It is funny how people who are, in other contexts, fixated on the freedoms guaranteed by the founders ignore this point.

MWSmith - They did send them packing, but as an afterthough they thought about getting the license number and it was too late. Her son-in-law is a policeman and she told the story to him. I also told her that she should notify ADT and let them know they have some impersonators wandering around. Sorry about not posting the whole story.

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"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back..." Maya Angelou

LOL yes free not to be harassed, free to live in peace, free to do what you want to on land you PAID for and pay taxes on.
wait until you someone threatening comes up on your land. looks in your windows. brings in germs that could kill your livestock,pet or trees.
then you will see how you feel.

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He who thinks he knows, doesn't. He who knows he doesn't know, knows.~ Joseph Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMrK...AE7062ADE5A19C

Foxtrappers post :"You mean like inviting people over to check out your puppies and then being furious when the come over and check out your puppies?
Or being irate because someone is looking for a farmer on a farm?"

Giving someone directions and making a time to show a puppy is not an open invitation for anyone to just show up, find no one around, and wander the property looking for the kennel and helping themselves. I appreciate all replies...even the ones that seem to feel all people are entitled to do as they wish as long as there isn't a sign telling them not to. Please reread what you wrote and ask yourself if you really believe that? This is a big part of the problem in America today....misplaced sense of entitlement.
I now completely agree that the ag sales guy was OK in doing what he was doing...just didn't feel right to me at the time. This is my first time living in the country and I asked this forum becuase I know a lot of you have lived in the country all your lives.Do to the reasons I have heard on this forum I have changed my stance on what he did. I do feel he could have done more to do his job better (calling/current plat map/etc.) but do not see what he did as a big issue. The puppy people definitely went over the line of what is right/normal/customary.

I don't think your touchy or paranoid.

People just showing up & wandering around is wrong.

I don't buy into the theory of posting a bunch of signs. I mean really when I go shopping does someone have to stand there & put a sign in my face saying don't steal?
Bottom line you know what belongs to you & what doesn't.

Ive read story's about people that put up beware of dog sign's & then got sued to high heaven when someones unsupervised kid got through the fence/gate & got bit.And the fact the sign said beware of dog, was an admission you have a dangerous animal on the property.

The rationale, they couldn't read or understand the sign.

If I am awake, anyone wondering around will deal with me, directly.
They will be given the option of
1: leaving immediately & never return
2: cops & ambulances, & I aint the one going to the hospital or jail.

OTOH I rarely lock stuff up, even the door & have never really been bothered.
The few times I have been the people chose to leave as fast as they could.

Bottom line if it aint youre property or stuff, don't mess with, & if you don't know what you do or do not own, you belong in a hospital, or a jail cell

I agree on the puppies by the way. If you set an appointment with someone and they can't make it that doesn't give them the right to just show up any old time they please. To be honest if that became a problem I would probably set up a place to meet away from your farm in future.

And yes you are right people shouldn't just feel free to wander your property and pet your animals and what have you. We have that here all the time. We raise Highland cattle and we get lots of people stopping to look and occasionally try to pet them. We also sell baked goods and veggies from our farm and so I have people pull up all the time. I have 2 large dogs so as a general rule people pull up and honk since they don't know if the dogs are friendly. And here in our area that's just common practice. Every area is different.

In a perfect world all of us would be courteous and mind our own business but this is far from perfect! So if it really bothers you to have strangers on your property then post signs and let them know. You'll still get the occasional idiot but for the most part it will stop people from coming up unless you invite them.

I think the puppy buyer was definately out of line. I never give out directions to my home beforehand. I always arrange a mutually suitable time-frame such as "Saturday morning, sometime between 10 and 12", ask them where they will be coming from and then say "give me a call as you are ready to leave your house and I will give you directions - it will take you about xxx time. I will arrange to be here then. Do NOT get out of your vehicle. Honk the horn and wait for me" My LGDs are pretty nice guys, but I don't want anyone to think they can just wander around as they please - however, nor do I want anyone to think I have vicious dogs. That is a whole nother can of worms...

The ag guy - well, I agree that he was probably OK. You are unlikely to find many farmers or homesteaders in the house much of the day. He should have knocked and hollered, though. If I am visiting anyone and I don't see them in their yard, I go a reasonable distance from the house and shout "Helloooo" That way people are not surprised by my presence. I wouldn't dream of opening anyone's front door for any reason.

Mary

I love my country too. I am a veteran, as is my husband, and our daughter is in the Army in Iraq. I post my land and lock my gate. I once arrived at my ranch to find the gate wide open, and the chain and locks all missing. From the house I could see several pickup trucks on our property, by the pond. I called the sheriff, and he came out and confronted the guys. They were hunters, and claimed they didn't open the gate, but only came in because they found it open. It was still posted though. They hunted my land without permission, and filled their trucks with stolen apples from my orchard. I don't feel I should have to risk being shot on my own property by hunters who don't respect my property rights.

I also shouldn't have to risk my life to confront 12 armed men on my own property. I shouldn't have to risk having a goat shot because some trespasser thought he was tracking a deer.

I don't appreciate having my patriotism questioned because I post my land.

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I yam what I yam and that's all what I yam.

Popeye

No one questioned your patriotism. I explained my rationale for not posting my land. Your milage may vary.

I stand by what I wrote.

So you disagree with 300 years of law on this continent.

That's fine. You are obviously free to disagree with the law. But that doesn't change the fact that a presumption of open access, in the absence of actual or constructive notice to the contrary, has always been and remains to this day the law in this country.

Our land is fenced with barbed wire on three sides and the river on the fourth side.
The private road is gated.
There are no tresspassing signs posted along the street side fencing.
I have a bell 1/2 down the road.
If someone came up on me unannounced they would be greeted by my dog.
One of the reasons we bought the land is that we have a strong desire for privacy.

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"I yam what I yam" Popeye (btw I yam a woman!)

Absolutely. And you would have every right to expect it, given the steps you have taken to make your wishes clear.

The OP wants to have that same degree of privacy without taking any of those steps.

Don't really think that is possible.

If people did what they were supposed to we wouldn't need locks on the doors, or, in some cases doors, or laws...

Personally, I agree with you. But most folk get real casual about things like this and regard you as a store since you've got something for sale. Doubly so since you're "country". It's not done with malice. They show up, you're not home, they can probably hear the dogs, and so they go and help themselves to a look-see.

What you regard as being right/normal/customary most folk do not. Doubly so because you're in "the country", and doubly above that if you've got something for sale.

Thank you for letting me know this. I will be going out to buy my signs tonight. To bad they made them SOOO ugly. Now do I have to register them at the courthouse too?? would Private property sign work?

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He who thinks he knows, doesn't. He who knows he doesn't know, knows.~ Joseph Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMrK...AE7062ADE5A19C

While I realize that you are being sarcastic, there is an actual answer. What that answer is will depend on your state law.

No really I wasn't. I was asking to be sure I did things right and not just half way.

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He who thinks he knows, doesn't. He who knows he doesn't know, knows.~ Joseph Campbell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMrK...AE7062ADE5A19C