PRINEVILLE – The public road running past Brad Santucci’s ranch provides people with a good place to watch the elk and deer that frequently roam his 10,000-acre ranch.

Unfortunately, some can’t resist what they see. Last year, a mother and her son shot a deer that was in Santucci’s field from the road, he recalled.

”They were coming onto the property to get it,” Santucci said. ”We didn’t end up pressing charges, but I had a long talk with the kid and told him the way it is: In order to go on private property you have to ask permission.”

The simple lesson remains lost on many people, Santucci and other Crook County ranchers said.

Trespassing is a perennial problem that many ranchers say costs them time and money. They must repair cut fences and broken gates, replace bullet-riddled ”No Trespassing” signs and wait for law enforcement to come cite the perpetrators they do catch.

And it’s a problem many believe has been getting worse over the years.

-The Crook County Sheriff’s Office cited 18 cases of criminal trespassing during buck deer-hunting season, which was from Sept. 28 to Oct. 9.

The sheriff’s office cited one person during the 2001 buck hunting season.

-The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office reported four trespassing calls during this year’s deer season. Patrol Sgt. Jim Adkins said he suspected the calls most likely dealt with people hunting on private land.

-The Deschutes County Sheriff’s office reported a handful of trespassing calls; however, most involved people bird hunting.

-The Oregon State Police responded to 52 game violations and six trespassing calls in the tri-county area during the buck deer season: one in Crook County, two in Deschutes County and three in Jefferson County.

The game violations may have also included trespassing, said Terry O’Connell, director of the Eastern Region Command Center.

Trespassing on someone’s private land is a Class C Misdemeanor in Oregon, punishable by a maximum$1,000 fine and up to 30 days in jail.

Trespassing in possession of a firearm is a Class A Misdemeanor and punishable by a maximum of $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.

”We had a lot of (trespassers) this year,” said Crook County Undersheriff Jim Hensley. And he expects to see more in the upcoming bull elk season.

Kirk Winebarger, manager of the Gutierrez Cattle Company near Paulina, said the ranch has a constant stream of trespassers.

”And it’s bad, bad, bad during hunting season,” he said.

The trespassing hunters drive off the road, tear down fences and leave gates open.

He estimated that the ranch spends about $1,000 per year on ”No Trespassing” signs, most of which get shot out or vandalized.

David Armstrong, a member of the Ochoco chapter of the Oregon Hunter’s Association, said responsible hunters realize it’s their obligation to know where they are at all times.

”The idea is to promote an awareness that hunting is a privilege you can have taken away at the ballot box,” he said. ”It doesn’t help hunters as a whole to be branded with a bad image because of a few.” Still, those few can wreak havoc on local ranches.

Brenda Hartzell, who manages the Twin Buttes Ranch with her husband, said many times people trying to get on the property will cut fences, leaving holes where the cattle can escape.

And while Hartzell said they’ve only caught a handful of trespassers, there’s evidence of many more.

”They leave gut piles, litter and tire tracks,” she said. The evidence can occasionally lead to the perpetrators. Employees at the Twin Buttes Ranch caught a pair of trespassers last year as they were coming back to claim two elk they had killed on the property earlier that day.

For Winebarger, it’s not only the trespassing – but the motive behind it that is unnerving. He values the deer, elk and antelope, for viewing and for hunting, that roam the Gutierrez Ranch.

”A person that will trespass is usually the same person that is your poacher,” he said. ”He’s not only going to trespass, but he’s going to steal wildlife from you and everyone else in the state that supports wildlife.”

He sees trespassing as a continual problem – one that has been exacerbated by the increasing amount of people recreating on public land that he said pushes wildlife onto private land. The hunters, he added, follow the game.

”The wildlife (on private property) has gotten out of hand,” he said. ”And it’s strictly from tourist pressure and road systems in the national forests.”

Santucci, in Prineville, said he’s also seen an increase of wild animals on his property, which sits next to about 64,000 acres of Forest Service land.

The amount of elk and deer he and his employees see on the adjacent forestland is insignificant compared to what they see on their own ranch, he said.

The reason for the increase of animals on his ranch is obvious, he said.

”This is where all the good feed is at,” he said. ”The animals want to come down here – it’s like a candy shop for them.”

The ranchers do what they can to stop trespassers.

Most put up signs and fences to warn people they are on private property – and hold the people they do catch until the police or sheriff’s officers can cite them.

Winebarger said he held one person under a citizen’s arrest for three hours Sunday, waiting for the Sheriff’s Office to come write the man a ticket. Still, he and others say they don’t have the time or manpower to constantly patrol their property.

Undersheriff Hensley said the sheriff’s department follows through with every call they get on trespassing.

”We actively investigate them,” he said.

The department has gone as far as to mail citations to the valley, after identifying the perpetrators by their license plate numbers.

District Attorney Gary Williams said his office tries to aggressively prosecute criminal trespassing cases, and files charges when they have enough evidence.

”We know it’s a big problem,” he said. However, he said resources are limited for crimes of a lesser degrees, such as Class C Misdemeanors.

”Judges historically do not send offenders guilty of Class C Misdemeanors to jail,” he said. ”As a result, we don’t usually recommend jail.”

The office does recommend fines, community service, and restitution to landowners, and occasionally jail, depending on the situation and circumstances, he said.

He added that people who commit game violations could also have their hunting privileges suspended for up to two years per case.

Still, some ranchers would like to see harsher penalties.

”I don’t care if first offense or 10th offense, they should be penalized to the furthest extent of the law,” Hartzell said.

Winebarger said another solution would be for ranchers to have the ability to take law enforcement training classes and be deputized, so they could hand out their own citations.

Santucci suggested that more hunters police themselves, and watch for other hunters who might be trespassing.

The heart of the issue, he said, goes beyond the fact that trespassing is a crime. It’s a matter of principle.

”It shows a total lack of respect for the landowner,” he said. ”It is about personal property rights.”

Kelly Kearsley can be reached at 541-504-2336 or kkearsley@bendbulletin.com.