I've been hunting on my dad's farm for 5 years now. This year I went to one of my sweet spots & there were just stems left. Later that day I ran into a couple walking on our land with their bags half full of mushrooms. I told them to leave & that this is private property, so they left with out a problem. My question is does anyone know what my rights are? I know their mushrooms were from our land. What can I do!

Those mushrooms were stolen then. No different than if you owned an orchard and someone stole your apples, or if someone raided your henhouse. Is your land posted? If so, you should have demanded the morels or called the cops. The value of the morels ($65 per pound right now in my area) makes this more of a crime than simple tresspassing.

Yes it's posted all over. I was told I could only call the cops and that I couldn't hold them (I have 3 other brothers & we all run around 250#). By the time the cops could ever make it they would be gone. I've come up with a plan though. No trespassing signs seem to do nothing so I'm going to post beware of dog signs too.

You could also follow them out and get their plate number to give to the cops. Especially if they're stealing.

I agree with yooper...follow them out and make it clear that you are doing so. that will scare them. then get the plate numbers and turn them in.

forgive them like the lords prayer says!

It happens to me too. I came home from work and there was a car parked right in my driveway just down the hill so no one in the house would see them. I honked the horn. They had my beautiful morels. I still seeth about it!! Then last Sunday some lady just drove her SUV threw the lawn. Took off when I asked her what she was doing.

I am very new to the morel obsession, but some people are so bold! That is just crazy to me how someone can just trespass and not think anything of it. I live in wyoming tho, and morels are not a big known thing here. It must really be an obsession for some people to make them so stupid like that.

they make signs that say IF U TRESPASS WE CAN SHOOT that would make anyone turn around. my buddy had a problem with people riding there atvs on his land but when he posted these signs he never had a problem.

You can hold them for stealing.I know for a fact that they will come to take them to jail if they were picking your crops and stealing your livestock and I sure as hell would flatten the tires of any idiot who is so stupid as to get on my land without permission.I had some jerk shoot one of my cows cause he didnt know what a posted sign is and though the cow was a deer.He lost $12k of his dollars and his hunting licence for the next 2 yrs.I have told the law if they don't want to see some riddle bodies that they had better come a running when I call.I don't hesitate to shoot after one of those trespassers punched me in the face.I got a $50k judgement against him.He thought it would be ok to dump a trailer full of broken concrete on my land and I objected and he punched me.That dumping cost him an additional $2k,too.

remember what happend to those humans that were stealing corn in the movie "planet of the apes"

They arent going to treat it as stealing as morels arent a "crop" since you arent cultivating/growing them. Tresspassing sure but stealing not a chance. The more I read in this forum, the more I think half of you are psychotic! No offense to the sane folks in here.

No, you're the tool, and it is so stealing. Same as if someone came on your property to pick up dead limbs for firewood, collect rocks to use in their garden, or if they walked across your lawn to pick your neglected apple trees clean, or catch fish in a pond on your land. When you own property, you also own the natural resources that the land contains and produces. I once found a guy grouse hunting on my land. He said he was just passing through and got an attitude. I found his ATV parked inside my gate, and saw he ran over some trees I planted when he drove around it. I hooked it to my truck and dragged it to the highway, where it happened to roll over as I pulled it sideways across the ditch. Another time, I found a tree stand on my land. At first I just took it down, but decided to send a message, so I cut it into 6" long pieces with a torch and put them back at the base of the tree.

Again, all your examples are tresspassing which I dont agree with. Neither do I agree with going on your land and taking anything. If its stealing then it must happen all the time so lets hear some cases where someone "stole" something and got convicted of theft, not tresspassing. I dont really care but I cant stand it when people blow tha thruth WAY out of the water like Mr "watch out or I'll point my laser scoped rifle at you". Kind of suprised you didnt get destruction of property for yanking the wheeler out that way. Why didnt you just pull the keys or the spark plugs or something and have the DNR come remove it as his expense?

Pull the spark plugs? Where's the fun in that? This thread is getting way off topic, but I have one more to add. Several years ago, I lived on a river in Northern Michigan that attracted fisherman, canoers, tubers, etc. Lots of fisherman walked my bank to avoid the holes, and they were always polite. One time, a drunk in a canoe was spotted on my bank urinating in my fire pit. By the time we got to him, he was back in the water with his buddies, laughing and cussing us out, and throwing empty bottles. Obviously not locals, and not very smart. My brother-in-law and I were waiting for them at the next bridge. I think that urinating will now be much more convenient for that guy, as all he has to do is empty the bag that's strapped to his ankle.

yooper. you are a douche bag. get over yourself. i think your story about the guy and the bag and all that is probable just made up, if not...too bad the poor guy wasn't carrying a gun like i do, cause if it were me and some worthless ******* with nothing better to do than to come at me for pissing on the ground....a fire pit especially....i'd have just put 5 or 6 in your chest and happily continued my fishing trip. the world today is a ****ed up place and i understand the joy of being away from it all, its disappointing that a few greedy *******s think they have to ruin everything for so many people because they don't want anyone on their land...because honestly, if they're walking around in the woods they're not gang bangin'. its once thing if they're taking things, but for **** sake....just get over it.

Go buy your own land or use public property like the rest of your poor white trash bretheren, just stay off my land, tough guy.

you make too many assumptions...and i kill people like you.

That message has been forwarded to law enforcement. Using a telecomunication device to convey a threat, real or implied, is a felony.