Brush up on Idaho's trespassing laws before you go hunting or fishing

Note: If private property adjoins or is contained within public lands, the fence line adjacent to public land should be posted with "no trespassing signs" or bright orange or fluorescent paint at the corners of the fence adjoining public land and at all navigable streams, roads, gates and rights-of-way entering the private land from public land and posted in a way that people can see the postings.

People can use a variety of tools to determine whether they're on public or private lands, including maps, GPS software (some of which also shows private land ownership), smart phone apps, and more.

Hunters and anglers seeking permission to be on private lands should get written permission from the landowner. A permission form is available on page 2 of the 2024 Big Game Season and Rules booklet and at Fish and Game offices.

Other methods of permission are still legal, but written "is the most solid permission you can have," Wooten said.

Sportsmen and women should also beware of penalties for trespassing. Hunters and anglers have long faced a mandatory one-year revocation of hunting and fishing privileges if they are convicted of trespassing while engaging those activities. There are also steep fines for repeat offenders, and for a person convicted of trespassing three times within a 10-year period, there's a minimum $5,000 fine, one to five year license suspension and they could be charged with a felony.

To learn more about the new law, see Fish and Game's 2018 Trespass Law webpage.