Run ins with land owners or the police

[kalgra]

Go to the county clerk or tax district and they should either have maps or be able to tell you. To trespass there does NOT have to be a fence (sorry Braineack). Here is Cornell Law Library's definition, notice no mention of fencing: "Trespass is defined by the act of knowingly entering another person’s property without permission. Such action is held to infringe upon a property owner’s legal right to enjoy the benefits of ownership." Full definition here: Trespass

As an amateur wildlife photographer and avid birder it is at time tempting but . . .

I live in Texas, so crossing that boundary (fence or "line in the dirt") could be hazardous.

Be safe and smart.

This sounds right to me. I'm in Colorado and was taking some milky way pics way out in the eastern plains where there is pretty much nothing. I found a small dirt road that terminated about 50 yards off the main road at what appeared to be an ancient rusted out old windmill. There were no signs and no fencing and it appears no one had even been down that road for months or possibly years as even the tread marks from previous vehicles were beginning to grow over with new vegetation.

I figured I was safe to shoot some pics there and had a cool windmill to boot. Anyway just as I finished up and was beginning to load my gear back in the car I had my head lights on. I see a car passing on the main road, stop, backup pause for a moment then start heading down the dirt road towards me. My heart was beating out of my chest wondering what this person wanted. I was literally in the middle of nowhere at least an hours drive from even the first sign of population. I was probably in the ideal spot to bury a body lol! To my relief the car shines a spot light on me and I see it is a police officer.

Long story short he asks me what I'm doing to which I explain "I'm just taking pictures". He replies "OF WHAT?" looking around at basically the nothing surrounding us. I say " the stars" to which he proceeds to ask me "Why I think its OK to just drive onto someones property and start taking pictures?" I have great respect for law enforcement so of course I was very polite and apologized explaining that I had no idea I was on private property and mentioned the fact that it was not posted and no fencing was present. The Officer explained to me that it doesn't matter if its marked or not. He went on to state that in Colorado almost everything 15 feet from a county road is considered private property.

He was cool though and let me off with a warning and suggested a couple other places within an 45 minute drive where it would be ok for me to get some shots.