Along with your signs, we’ll send you a copy of the NH Landowner’s Guide to Protecting Your Property, which explains how and when to post, along with other useful information. Click to view.
About protecting your property
People are often surprised to learn that by default privately owned land in New Hampshire is open to hunting.
This means that if you do not put up “No Hunting” signs, anyone with a hunting license can come on your property and hunt.
It is even legal for hunters to set up tree stands and observation blinds on your property from Apr 25–Jun 1 and Aug. 1–Dec. 31 in the absence of “No Hunting” signs. (Written permission is required to bait or trap animals on your property, however.)
Other states have what’s called “reverse posting,” which means privately owned land is off limits by default.
Allowing public use of private land is a tradition that dates back to New Hampshire’s first settlers.
Back then, when wild land was abundant and people depended on animal meat and fur for survival, the idea of public access to private land for the “public good” made sense.
But today, the New Hampshire landscape is completely changed. There is far less undeveloped land left for wildlife, and only a small percentage of people hunt.
Expecting today’s landowners to forego their property rights and leave their land open to hunting is an outdated notion.
