While hunting on private property is a unique privilege for hunters, it also benefits landowners as hunting controls wildlife populations, promoting ethical conservation and improved safety. However, there are a few things Connecticut landowners need to know before they start allowing hunters on their private property.
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1. Landowners are Sometimes Exempt From Liabilities
If they do not charge a fee for hunters to use their land, landowners are free from any liabilities incurred by the recreational hunters on their private property. Hunters, not the landowners, should purchase insurance to protect against any injuries. However, private property owners are indeed liable if they willfully fail to warn against dangerous conditions, activities, and structures. Private landowners are also liable if they charge a usage fee. This does not apply, however, if landowners lease their land to the state, even for a fee.
2. Landowners Have to Give Consent
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In order to allow rifles and revolvers, landowners must possess at least 10 acres of property.
On the consent form issued by the State of Connecticut's Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, landowners must specify the seasons in which they will allow hunters, the calendar year in question, and the weapons that they will allow hunters to use on their land. This consent form is only necessary when issuing permission to hunt deer or turkey on private land. Hunters of small game only need verbal permission. The authorized hunter may not bring any other guests onto private property without the permission of the landowner.
3. Landowners Benefit From Allowing Hunters on Their Private Property
Hunting large game like deer reduces the tick population on the property, which can reduce the risk of Lyme disease (improving public health) and reduce the over-foraging of gardens and woodlands. Hunters can assist the landowner in wildlife management by regularly hunting certain populations. Wildlife management increases safety, improves habitats, and promotes sustainability. In addition, hunters must abide by Connecticut's daily and season bag limits, so landowners do not have to worry about imposing sustainable guidelines.
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