How accurate is OnX?

[HuntInWild88]

My real question is how accurate are the lines. This area i wanted to hunt is a bedding area directly off a private corn field. The farmer has the whole area fenced off with private property signs. But OnX says he has his property lines wrong. Do i cross the fence or not?

 

[cmahoney]

I hunted the Sheldon Antelope refuge last year and the no hunting area boundary was about 1/4 mile off.


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[GetWestern]

I try to never risk hunting that close to a boundary for fear of onX being off and getting a trespass ticket or having to contest property boundries with the land owner or a warden. I mostly use onX to see where private roughly begins and I try to stay a good distance from that if I can help it. Not saying onX isn't accurate or anything just not worth the risk in my opinion, I would definitely look more into it if your dead set on crossing the fence.

 

[Magnum61]

There are many ways to approach this... this would be the safest.

1) Politely ask the landowner if you can cross to access the public land to hunt. If you get a no, proceed to the next steps.

2)Contact OnX and ask them where that data for that area was pulled from. It’s going to be some department of a county, typically. And get as much info as possible of where that information lays. (You need to know this)

3) Contact your local warden or sheriff, the one assigned to your area, and ask if you could talk with him about a boundary issue. Meet him at the boundary and tell him everything you’ve done until this point as far as homework.

They should be able to give you advice on who to contact from there. You can’t run it up the flag pole correctly without having your information and actions documented. You want to make sure that you have so much of their work done that everyone you meet with can easily give you a yes or no answer.

What can happen typically is a warden or sheriff will tell you exactly how to approach the property. Document that and what was said on the exact date. Send an email as a thank you. Make a copy of both and have it in a ziplock bag with your license. ALWAYS

If you move forward with a hunt and something happens you’re covered with so much detail that law enforcement will respect you and help.

Most wardens and sheriff deputies are very dialed and great to work with. It’s better to make friends with them early. Your taxes pay their salary, there’s nothing wrong with calling them and asking for help.


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[HuntInWild88]

There are many ways to approach this... this would be the safest.

1) Politely ask the landowner if you can cross to access the public land to hunt. If you get a no, proceed to the next steps.

2)Contact OnX and ask them where that data for that area was pulled from. It’s going to be some department of a county, typically. And get as much info as possible of where that information lays. (You need to know this)

3) Contact your local warden or sheriff, the one assigned to your area, and ask if you could talk with him about a boundary issue. Meet him at the boundary and tell him everything you’ve done until this point as far as homework.

They should be able to give you advice on who to contact from there. You can’t run it up the flag pole correctly without having your information and actions documented. You want to make sure that you have so much of their work done that everyone you meet with can easily give you a yes or no answer.

What can happen typically is a warden or sheriff will tell you exactly how to approach the property. Document that and what was said on the exact date. Send an email as a thank you. Make a copy of both and have it in a ziplock bag with your license. ALWAYS

If you move forward with a hunt and something happens you’re covered with so much detail that law enforcement will respect you and help.

Most wardens and sheriff deputies are very dialed and great to work with. It’s better to make friends with them early. Your taxes pay their salary, there’s nothing wrong with calling them and asking for help.


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Man that has to be one of the most detailed answers i have ever recieved on a forum.
Thank you!
Ill give those step a go. I normally wouldnt go through so much trouble but this area is kind of unique. Because of the bedding area river and farm land the deer doesnt have to leav more then a 1/4 mile area. Watched the spot for 2 months over 50 deer. All they do is feed in the field and go bed down.

 

[Magnum61]

Man that has to be one of the most detailed answers i have ever recieved on a forum.
Thank you!
Ill give those step a go. I normally wouldnt go through so much trouble but this area is kind of unique. Because of the bedding area river and farm land the deer doesnt have to leav more then a 1/4 mile area. Watched the spot for 2 months over 50 deer. All they do is feed in the field and go bed down.

Been there done that. Happy to help. But I have to emphasize, you want to be positive with all of this and work with the landowner if you can. And be upfront - “I want to do this right and respect everyone and not create any drama..”


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[Rich M]

Pull up the property on the local property appraiser. Check out that information first.

 

[HuntInWild88]

Pull up the property on the local property appraiser. Check out that information first.

I just looked that up and his property lines are wrong on there.. im going to try and drive by his place again but if i remeber from last year, even his front yard is posted private property.

 

[Rich M]

I'd have trouble believing that the property appraiser website is wrong. They have all the disclaimers but they are usually real close to perfect. We use the property appraiser info when we don't have surveyors mapping out property boundaries. Trust the property appraiser over onX.

If it is still something you are dead set on doing - I'd talk to the local GW and see what the take is there - they can tell you exactly what they'll do when the guy calls to report you as trespassing.

 

[handwerk]

All I know Is I've used it to find the corner pins on my own property and it brought me right to them like, within a foot.

 

[HuntInWild88]

I understand being a few feet here and there. But i on the website it says he has 30.3 acres. I maped out what he has posted as his and it came out to just over 60 acres.
Im going to talk to local GW to see what his take is on it.

 

[Rich M]

That is a bunch! No wonder it is all posted up tight.

Let us know how it all works out.

 

[HuntInWild88]

It might take a while because i work an odd shift. But ill update as i go.

 

[SoDaky]

Make sure it is worth it.Wardens and Sheriffs don't make boundary decisions.At least not legal ones.Working with them is good and may,only may,protect you if they are wrong.Keep in mind that there are legal doctrines,ie 'doctrine of practical location',etc that can render surveys and any 'county records' wrong.

 

[ND_muley]

Just keep in mind that if you go through all of these steps and find out you're correct and the guy has his signs up in the wrong spots, most likely he is not going to be happy about it and might go out of his way to make your life miserable whenever you're in there. I'm not saying you shouldn't proceed, just wanted to mention that fact. It sounds like he has basically doubled "his" land and it probably wont go over well to have to "give it back".

 

[87TT]

That's why they shot down the new proposed law in Idaho that let you sue landowners who block access to public land.

 

[HuntInWild88]

So a little follow up. I went to the county assesor and pulled the map. She told me that OnX goes off of her maps and she hadnt updated them since 2016. However the map hadnt changed. She then disclosed that her maps could be wrong...if the assesors maps are wrong then who's are right??
Anyhow, the sherrif called today and was going to get with blm management and head out to take a look.
As far as making him mad. Im not too concerned. The only qay he would know i was there is if he drove the area and actually saw me. He would be able to see the truck. And he drive his boarder almost every day.

 

[Charon]

Historic property boundaries vs. current GPS property boundaries are typically off.
My neighbor sold a portion of his property so they had it surveyed with new technology.
The boundaries shifted about 6 feet to the north, which doesn't align with the obvious "historic" boundary.
You can make historical boundaries real boundaries thru a legal process.

 

[Charon]

This actually isn’t the case. Technology doesn’t have an impact on property boundaries. Monuments placed at boundary vertices, PTs, PCs, etc delineate parcels. For larger properties defined as an aliquot part, a Section breakdown may need to be performed, and sometimes it is found that fence lines are off....and then there’s typically more laws that come into play to determine what is actually legal.

But boundaries don’t change whether your using a survey grade GPS receiver, a total station, or a theodolite & a chain.

i tend to disagree with you.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I have dealt with issues of fences being wrong a few times, in one case the fence was back a few hundred feet into private and the owner was aggressively reporting trespassing on his slice of land that appeared public!(found this out afterwards). OnX had it right in that case and I avoided walking this land unknowingly, I kept to onX even though the fence was a few hundred feet away.