7 Things Wisconsinites Can’t Legally Do to a Trespasser

With Wisconsin’s nine-day gun deer season starting Nov. 21, a stranger on your land could be a hunter.

If someone is trespassing, Wisconsin law limits what you can do about it.

Here’s what you can’t do, and the lawful steps you can take instead.

Note: This is general information, not legal advice. Wisconsin laws are subject to change.

1. Setting a Spring Gun

Rigging a spring gun for a trespasser, a firearm set to go off when someone trips it, is a Class G felony under Wisconsin law.

The statute isn’t limited to trespassers, so a rig on your own land is covered too.

The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison, a $25,000 fine, or both.

The trespass statute spells out how you can post land with signs.

2. Deadly Force to Protect Property

Deadly force against a trespasser who threatens only your property is unreasonable under Wisconsin’s law on defending property.

The statute’s wording covers force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm.

Because the rule turns on reasonableness, you can lose the legal protection that reasonable force carries if property is your only reason.

The same statute allows you other force against an intrusion, as much as you reasonably believe is necessary.

3. Pointing a Firearm

Pointing a firearm at a trespasser falls under s. 941.20(1)(c), a Class A misdemeanor.

In State v. Watkins (2002), the Wisconsin Supreme Court applied the self-defense privilege to a threat against a person, not to defending property.

The offense itself turns on intentionally pointing the weapon, not on whether you fire it.

A Class A misdemeanor carries up to nine months in jail, a $10,000 fine, or both.

4. Using Pepper Spray

Spraying a trespasser with pepper spray can bring you a Class A misdemeanor charge under Wisconsin’s law on oleoresin of capsicum devices.

That law’s exception names people acting in self-defense or defending another person, as allowed under s. 939.48.

5. False Imprisonment

If you hold a trespasser in a barn or shed against their will, you can face a Class H felony charge for false imprisonment.

The statute covers anyone who intentionally confines or restrains another person without consent and knows they have no lawful authority to do so.

A Class H felony carries up to six years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

Trespass alone is usually only a Class B forfeiture under the trespass statute.

6. Damaging a Vehicle

A trespasser’s truck parked in your pasture is still the trespasser’s property.

Slashing the tires, keying the paint, or breaking a window can bring a criminal damage charge, at least a Class A misdemeanor.

The statute covers anyone who intentionally damages another person’s physical property without consent.

Damage above $2,500 can raise the charge to a felony.

7. Keeping Their Gear

If you take a trespasser’s trail camera, tree stand, or backpack to keep it, that can be theft under Wisconsin law.

The theft statute covers anyone who takes, conceals, or holds onto another person’s movable property without consent and with intent to deprive the owner permanently.

Theft of property worth up to $2,500 is a Class A misdemeanor.

Property worth more than that, up to $5,000, is a Class I felony.

A Class I felony carries up to three years and six months in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.

What the Law Allows

The law doesn’t leave you without lawful steps against a trespasser.

Wisconsin’s trespass statute applies to someone who enters or stays on land after the owner or occupant has notified them not to.

Posted signs can serve as that notice when they meet the statute’s standards.

Castle Doctrine Limits

The castle doctrine names a dwelling, a motor vehicle, and a place of business, so a trespasser in your open pasture or woods falls outside it.

Outside those places, the ordinary self-defense statute applies.

Under it, deadly force requires a reasonable belief that it’s necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.

Visitors Who Aren't Trespassers

Wisconsin's trespass statute lists exceptions for some visitors you might mistake for trespassers.

Among them are hunters entering land that state law requires to be open for hunting.

Archery hunting for deer has been underway since mid-September, according to the Department of Natural Resources' season dates.

The state Department of Natural Resources says some private forest land enrolled in state forestry programs is open to the public for recreation, deer hunting included.