Paintball

[Reality Compromised]

Something kind of weird happened today. I was standing out front of my garage today talking with my brother (Jeramey100). When off in the distance we heard a few shots and someone call themselves out. Our outlaw field hasn't been used for most of this season. So I went back in my pickup to see what was going on. I ended up finding five people on my field. They were just packing up when I pulled up to talk to them. Turns out they were local kids from the lake. They found our field during the summer when they canoed in from the creek. I have no idea how many times they've played without me knowing. Our filed is a ways away from my house and in the summer the sound doesn't travel. Anyway, I told them that they were on private land and to call me if they wanted to play on my field. As long as someone from the farm was playing with them then safety could be enforced. They had masks but I doubt they had a chrono. Hopefully they will listen. Then I'll get to play more often. One thing that did impress me was they didn't just scatter when they saw a vehicle coming.

Anyone else have this happen to them? Or should I have handled this differently? My main concern was the liability angle more than the actual trespassing.

[snaparen]

Well at least you know your feild is appealing.

[Ir0nExpress]

I'd have to say since it's private property and since this has happened possibly more than once, you might want to put some sort of cctv wireless camera (or one of those cameras for watching deer) there since people have found the field to see if they come back, especially if it's the same people.

Also put up a sign of some sort.

You are in Canada and not in lawsuit happy land but to avoid further trouble on your property, it'd be best to keep watch.

[Reality Compromised]

I have access to a trail cam;if I needed to use it. And I had a use at own risk sign up at one point. The field is "patrolled" by myself in my field car and my brother on his four wheeler time to time (trials through the bush). But really if these guys like my field so much. The least they can do is call me ahead of time so I can join in. I've been back there bow hunting, my dad has been cutting wood and we never noticed fresh paint on the bunkers. The last thing I want is someone getting hurt on my field and I don't even know they are there.

[Ir0nExpress]

You might want to change that "use at your own risk" sign if it's still there since it implies consent of use without permission and put your number on it so you can join them :P

[Reality Compromised]

I don't think the sign is up anymore. One of the guys told me their parents aren't like that when I brought up the liability issue. In my experience no one is lawyer happy until something happens, then I'm up the creek. I've seen people get hurt on commercial fields. It's not something I want on my field.

[BlueFish]

Since it's private property, and you've talked to them, if something DOES happen, then they're still trespassing, and you shouldn't be held liable.

Not sure if Canadian law is similar to ours in this regard, though.

but yeah, they should call and invite the field owner out to play on his own field!

[Reality Compromised]

Originally Posted by BlueFish

Since it's private property, and you've talked to them, if something DOES happen, then they're still trespassing, and you shouldn't be held liable.

Not sure if Canadian law is similar to ours in this regard, though.

but yeah, they should call and invite the field owner out to play on his own field!

That would be very thoughtful. I'm more concerned about the parents calling me up since I gave them my number.

[BlueFish]

worried how? the way I see it, you talking to the parents would be a good thing, make sure everyone is on the same page.

That's why I have all of my students' parents' contact info, so I can call them if I need to.

[Reality Compromised]

You never know when dealing with parents. The kids (oldest one was 15ish) could give a whole different story than what happened. They may think their kid is "Johnny never do wrong" and call up bitching. Or they could just be against paintball in general. And I'm the bad guy for providing a "safe" field to use. You never know. I've seen some bad politics between local filed in my area.