Hunting prerogatives overcame property rights in the state House as representatives voted to allow hunters to continue going on private land without permission unless the landowner puts up signs to warn off trespassers.

North Dakota law assumes hunters are welcome on private land unless the owner puts up "No Hunting" signs. The provision has long irked rural legislators, who say they should not have to go through the time and expense of posting signs to assert their private property rights.

They were outvoted in the North Dakota House on Monday. Representatives voted 69-24 against a change.

"If we pass this, we're reversing almost 120 years of heritage in this state, where hunting has been allowed to take place on private lands unless it's posted," said Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Wolford. "The message that we send to hunters … is certainly going to be negative."

Rep. Rod Froelich, D-Selfridge, argued that keeping the status quo sends a hostile message to landowners.

"Why is it … that the law enforcement officers need a court order to go onto your property, but someone else with a hunting license can go on your property if it's not posted, and not get into any trouble at all?" Froelich asked.

Froelich and Rep. Jim Kerzman, D-Mott, were the two primary sponsors of the defeated legislation. Under their proposal, farmland would be considered private, even without "No Trespassing" signs. Hunters would need the landowner's consent to enter.

Similar bills have been defeated in previous sessions of the Legislature.

Froelich, with support from the North Dakota Farm Bureau, sued Gov. John Hoeven and Dean Hildebrand, director of the state Game and Fish Department, last year in state district court over the issue.

Froelich's lawsuit asserted that North Dakota law and hunting rules deprive landowners of their private property rights without any compensation to the landowner. It was dismissed.

"This is not about antihunting. This is not about posting your property. This is about private property," Froelich said in a House floor speech Monday. "I don't care which party you belong to … it's in your platforms that you respect private property."

Rep. Chuck Damschen, R-Hampden, said he believed changing the law would improve relations between rural landowners and hunters.

"I appreciate hunters. I rely on them to control the wildlife population on my land," Damschen said. "But I would much prefer hunters that respect my rights as a landowner, and my property, to the point that they'll come and ask before they hunt."

The bill is HB1338.