liability with hunters?

[isabel liedel]

We have land in upstate NY
We allow hunting by a small group of people
Are we liable if they hurt themselves or somebody else?
Should we require them to have their own insurance?
Is there any legal form they can sign to absove us of liability?
Thank you

 

[ALawyer]

Anyone can sue anybody for anything. Often the insurance is most useful to cover the costs of defending the suit -- even one without merit.

And landowners generally owe a duty to invitees, and in some states a duty is owed even to trespassers!

You'd really need someone who knows NY law on duties, but I'd worry that a casual contract purporting to absolve the owner of liability (perhaps vs. a very carefully crafted one, with detailed disclosure, full indemnities, and a solvent signatory, etc.) would not stand up and might be used to suggest that the owner had reason to fear there was something wrong and failed to disclose it..... Making sure the users had insurance on their own is not a total solution, as if the hunters shoot X on or outside the property you can bet X will sue them and you. Also if they get hurt, their insurance company might pay them, but also it could come after you if it had to pay out on their policy....