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Game Survey of the North Central States 



If the farmer is to prevent overshooting, he must have the right to say who is 

 to hunt on his land, when, and how much. Otherwise control of overshooting is 

 a physical impossibility. 



Trespass laws give the farmer the legal sanction of the State for exerting this 

 control. They require the hunter to obtain the farmer's permission before hunt- 

 ing on his land. The statutes of the various States differ in what constitutes 

 "permission," and for what kind of land permission is required. 



One would expect intelligent sportsmen to support reasonable legislation 

 toward this end because it constitutes the first step toward the practice of game 

 management on farms. In actual fact, however, many sportsmen and even sports- 

 men's organizations have opposed such legislation on the grounds that it re- 

 stricts free public hunting and imposes an inconvenience on the hunter. 



Table 56 summarizes the trespass laws of the region. 



TABLE 56. Summary of &espass laws 



