A dispute over access to hunting grounds made the police blotter on Oct. 9 when James Hren of Further Lane, 79, reported that someone had cut down a tree on his property, which runs to Skimhampton Road. He suspected it was done by hunters, he told an officer.
The tree was removed, sometime over the past year, “for hunting purposes,” Mr. Hren claimed, adding that he feared losing his land to hunters via the process of eminent domain. Police told him he need not worry about that; however, a nearby vehicle was another matter.
While still talking with Mr. Hren, officers caught sight of a black 2011 Nissan parked adjacent to the Hren property. It proved to contain hunting equipment, they reported. Its license plate read “BLUDPATH.”
Mr. Hren told the officers that he did not allow hunters on his land. They then noticed a path that appeared to be recently traveled that ran through the property. They contacted the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and were waiting for a D.E.C. officer to show up when the Nissan owner emerged from the path, wearing camouflage clothing and carrying a bow-and-arrow set.
The man, whom police did not identify, claimed that signs forbidding hunting or trespassing on the land were illegally posted and were years old, and that he wasn’t hunting. He was not displaying a required tag indicating that he was a hunter, and told police he didn’t need to, unless he was actively hunting. Police, however, said he was definitely trespassing, and would be arrested if he returned to Mr. Hren’s property.
Mr. Hren filed a trespass complaint as he awaited a visit from the D.E.C., which was to include a property walk-through to check for possible hunting violations.