Effective signs?

[Jeff]

Um, yea, ME!  :D   Actually, they are all over up there. My neighbor Lou has a 1994 Wood-Mizer LT40 with less then 200 hours on it that has never been out of his sawbarn where he used it to saw cedar to build his home. He knows I am first in line if he ever decides to get rid of it.  :DCustom sawing up there would be a rough row to hoe cause there are mills hiding all over around there. 

[Larry]

Congratulations on the land.  It's what dreams are made of.  As somebody already noted they ain't makin no more of it.

Personally I don't like signs as they seem unfriendly but at the same time I like trespassers even less.  Guess your going to have to use signs being an absentee owner.  Is there a purple paint law in the UP?  If not there should be.

Around these parts the power companies have no problem with a gate or fence across there easement.  All they want is access for maintenance and that is accomplished by double locking the gate.  A power company lock and your lock.

[Sprucegum]

In light of what you're doing there maybe you could buffalo them with a different look:

   EXPERIMENTAL WOODLOT

     DO NOT DISTURB

It would make me wonder what the heck is going on   ;)

[SwampDonkey]

I don't mind people walking or hunting my ground, just don't leave garbage and damage my trees. And my trails are too wet for ATV's so don't tear up my ground. When you take away the mode of travel for most people they will not venture in if they haven't a cushion under their butt. Not hardly anyone posts land here, just have to respect the land and resist any temptation to be a destructive slob.

[OneWithWood]

 8) 8) 8)

Congrats Jeff and Tammy! 

Feels good don't it?

There are a few good reasons for posting your property.  Mostly liability issues.  A good less offensive sign is 'Please, no tresspassing.  Hunting by permission only.'  The good folks will ask for permission and it gives you an oppportunity to explain your concerns, i.e. no nails, no screw in steps, no trash.
My signs (an example can be seen on the marking boundaries thread) Simply state Private Property, No Trespassing, No Hunting - if you cross this boundary you accept whatever fate befalls you.
I put that last bit on there due to the many trees I have girdled.  Those trees fall and can be dangerous.  I did not go the hunting with permission route because I did not want to fool with hunters at all.  My family and I are all the hunters needed.
Occasionally I have to run some atv'er done and explain why I do not allow atvs on the property.  Each time I had to do that it was either raining or just stopped.  The damage they caused was easily evident so there was not much discussion.  They always say they are sorry but never offer to help repair the damage. 

[Norm]

Well I think it's darn cool you guys are landowners, especially in such a pretty part of the country. 

When we bought our place it had been a rental farm for 50 years or so and most folks treated it like their own. I went out and posted it on the corners of the property, basically no trespassing signs. Any adjacent owners understood completely, those that didn't were the ones that I wouldn't allow on anyways. First couple of years we had a few problems but that went away.

Hope your able to move up their eventually and build your retirement home. Now don't worry about making my guest bedroom too fancy....I wouldn't want to impose. :D

[Cedarman]

Congratulations on a nice piece of land.  Those big cedars look real nice.   Just to be able to look at something that old is worth much more than making a bunch of lumber.  I can imagine the thrill you will get over and over each time you take a walk.
I expect you will have hard decisions o which trees to cut unless they are dead or dying when you build your cabin.  It is amazing how things can come together to make a deal work.

[Gary_C]

Jeff

Now that you completed the purchase, you should go back to the seller and ask if he still has any of the historical information on the property that he would be willing to share or at least see. If this was an estate sale, they may just dispose of any papers, pictures, etc. that belonged to the owner.

Can't hurt to ask.

[Jeff]

Gary_C. I did just that through the realtor early on in the sale. I told her since I was going to be the new steward of this land I was very interested in what the previous owner's history was (it had been owned by the same fellow for 50 years)  She got back with me a copuple days later saying the owner had no history, that he only knew it was his uncle's who lived in Ohio, as did the seller, and that he never knew of his uncle going to Michigan, and it was simply property to be liquidated.  :-\   Lou told be that in all his live (78 years)  that all they ever knew was  that someone from "down south"  owned the property and that he doesnt remember anyone ever visiting it.

[Jeff]

I hope in possible coming years the location doesn't stop folks from coming to the pig roast!! 

[Ron Wenrich]

Go to the county seat and do a title search.  You should be able to take it back to the warrant deeds or whatever was used as the initial land grant. 

I used to do those for landowners and myself to get familiar with a tract of land.  I would find deeds that talked about houses and barns and the current land was all forested with no hosue or barn.  I even had one tract that had some pretty big timber where we found the remnants of an old snake fence on the boundary lines.  It was once a pasture.

[Jeff]

Cedarman, there is places on the property that is awe inspiring. One small section on the end seems to be peet. No standing water as the property is very well drained,  where you can trace back generations of cedar tipping over and coming back up. Its park like in there and the cedars  are very nice.  This band of cedar crosses the road and goes over on to Lou's property. I plan on never cutting any live cedar, (depending on Ron's recommendation though) but Lou cut several of his when he built his home. He said he had to use a razor to keep track of the growth rings and that many of the trees were 200 years old plus. Some of my trees you can see where the old tree tipped and the new tree came up back 3 and 4 generations and the first tree is still visible. You gotta really be looking back in time. Some of those trees are in a slight arch from where they went over and they form benches that you can sit on.  I'm not painting a very good photo with words. It sounds like a cluster when I describe it.  :-\ What it seems more like to me when I was sitting in there is like a lush green park and and the oldest generations of cedars look like creatures rising up from and back into the ground and finally coming up and erupting into trees.

[Bro. Noble]

I for one sure hope to attend a pig roast there someday ;D

As far as signs,  It doesn't sound like there is any need for them.  You havn't mentioned any sort of vandalism,  dumping,  or tire ruts.  When you were there during hunting season,  you would probably have seen trespassing at the worst.  A visit with the neighbors would be my advice and would be a good thing to do anyway.  We have a few neighbors that have no respect for anyone or their property,  but signs are a waste of time to people like that.  Anyway if you put up a bunch of signs,  you're the one that has to look at them the most :-\

[Stephen Alford]

Congrats sounds great,and thanks for sharin. I would put a great big SOLD sign right out front. Pretty much says all. Stephen :

[Jeff]

There was some evil signs of trespass by hunters.  I found two large cedars with Pole barn nails holding boards onto them for ladders so they could climb between them up to a micky mouse stand. I Dont think I want to post the whole thing, just something on the corner that denotes at least for awhile, that the property has new owners and is no longer "free range" so to speak.  Perhaps just my frequent presence there will do it.  I have the perfect place for a large sign on that corner though. I'm thinking that

FORESTRY FORUM
TEST FOREST

[/size][/color]

Would peak some curiosity.

"What are they doing in there?"  "I heard they are growing some form of mutant northern white cedars in there that can be mashed and eaten like grits." "There is some scary big dude that patrols it with a 44 mag on his hip"

[SwampDonkey]

Sometimes signs invite people to do damage instead of deter. It's worst if they know your an absentee owner. I did an appraisal for a family down in NY that owned land in the middle of nowhere (to my mind) and they thought they had good relations with the neighbors. They had bought the place back in the 60's era and had only visited the place once every ten years. There were buildings on the place at one time. I think the last time they visited the place was in 1997 and they discovered the buildings had been burnt down and they probably didn't go into the woods to see their state at the time. When I went there I found someone has a shack built there on the front and was then abandoned, but the occupant had been cutting wood for firewood and the rest of the lot looked like it had been cut 30 years ago, after the original purchase. The wood was small once you got 100 feet away from the road.  :-\

[asy]

Hey Congrats Boss and Bossette!!!

We're just about to put signs up on our place...  Hanging off the back of the National Forest, with no road between, people see our lagoon on the map and just come on down for a swim...  Andy's found a few people driving through "not realising it was private property"...  (um BS! there were tractors and fuel drums and shipping containers on the clearing they parked in!!!).

My kids wanted to put a sign up that says: "Private Property, Trespassers will be mulched"

I think we'll just put proprietary "Private Property" signs up. Least offensive, it's obvious they were bought "off the rack".

asy :D

[sprucebunny]

Congratulations, Jeff and Tammy  8) 8) 8) It sounds like a beautiful spot !

I'm so happy for you. Owning a chunk of forest was my lifetime ambition and only realized a few years ago.

I've had some trouble with trucks on the powerlines and trails. ATVs also. But I don't mind hunting ( on foot).

My handwritten signs say " Private Property No Wheels Cameras in Use"

Seems to have worked well.  ;)

[beenthere]

Congrats on the land buy.  Looks like a place to visit soon.  Don't put dem signs up too fast.. ;D

Years back when we bought land that was the favorite hunting ground for many neighbors around, and were told they would still be hunting on it....I said, "ok, but just let me know when and who will be there ahead of time".  After that, I put a couple "no hunting without permission" signs up and never have had a problem. Doesn't mean you wont, but just another idea to think on. 
Coon hunters call ahead, and deer hunters for the most part just don't come onto the land. As well, the drivers don't drive it (except for a couple times over 40 years), which really surprises me.

I hunted with a fellow a couple years when I first moved to WI, and he was furious that there were so many "no trespassing" signs where he wanted to hunt. I stopped hunting with him when he just ignored them.  Couple years later, he bought 200 acres, and the first thing he did was put up the "No Trespassing" signs.  Ironic 

Enjoy the land buy, and I too, wouldn't jump to conclusions.

Just arrived in Rolla, MO ;D

[Greenedive]

I didn't post my land for years....till finally a couple incidents made me change my mind. One guy shot a deer on top of the one ridge and dragged it down to the edge of the yard before gutting it. Another involved a couple of LOUD 4x4s roaring up at 4 in the morning and turning around right by the house and then parking over by the pond on the 1st day of hunting season. And the other, someone drove 3" nails with reflectors on them in some of my nice cherry trees so they could find their way to their stand in the dark.  You wonder where these people come from...and the squalling they'd do if you did something like that on their property.

I put up signs that said 'No Hunting without Written Permission' and so far that has worked out fine. I don't mind someone hunting there if they are not afraid to give me their name and address. At least I'd know where to take some fresh deer guts if I needed to. ;D I also no longer allow ATV or four-wheelers on the property....one guy came to the house and asked permission for his father who was old and would only ride to the top of the hill and stay on his stand....found out later that he brought a friend and they both rode the ridges all day long. People will tell you they have hunted that property longer than you've been alive...well...they should have bought it then.

But seriously, Jeff, most people will respect your rights of ownership, but like different ones have said...go slow and don't alienate everyone right off the bat. You are going to do a lot of living in that beautiful spot, so keeping on good terms with the neighbors is a big step in the right direction.

[Jeff]

Maybe to begin with, I should get the Realtor to keep a sold sign on it for a month or so until people see us up there and about the place.

Thanks for all the food for thought on this folks.

[pigman]

Congratulations on your " Forestry Farm"  8) 

Bob

[Furby]

This follows the same line of thinking OWW was talking about.
You may wanna talk with your current homeowner's insurance carrier about the property.
When we had our vacant lot, my folks homeowner's insurance covered it while it was vacant land for no extra cost, incase someone were to get hurt on the property. Visitors and tresspassers.
The only catch was, the property MUST be posted against tresspassing.
Talk to your insurance carrier and see what they require and post the minimum to meet their needs if they will cover it.



I know where Rolla is Beenthere.......... question is........ where ya heading ???

[Greenedive]

I did a little diving in the St Marys river up near Sault Saint Marie...how far are you from that, Jeff?

[beenthere]

Furb
In Rolla to spend the night, and then on toward Little Rock tomorrow, hopefully finding Bro_noble and Arky on the way.
May even get grits fer breakfast.....(I'd better  ;D ) if we find the breakfast place recommended.

S'pose to be a nice day tomorrow.

Hope the signs are effective......