Today should have been straight forward, the summit is on public land, I have a pass, simple...well not so much. It is not uncommon in AZ for private property owners to block access to public land because they own a small piece of property where you gain access and/or claim ownership of public land because they lease grazing rights. This summit has commercial towers on it. Today, while on the summit, we ran into a guy working up there. He informed us that we "were not supposed to be there because it is private property". I research all the summits I do and this summit is clearly on state trust land. The guy was nice and said he didn't think there would be any issues because we were not doing anything destructive. I understand that ranchers spend a lot of their own money improving government land so their cattle can graze. I completely understand the frustration/anger when idiots get on the property and start knocking down fences, pollute their water tanks by shooting up old TVs, destroy the roads by mud bogging in their trucks etc. The old saying about a few bad apples applies here. I have had actual encounters with unhappy ranchers in the past, not doing SOTA but while hunting. Although I am not one of the idiots that destroys other people's stuff, angry ranchers tend to direct their frustration at anyone they find out there. As a result, I try to be prepared with maps and other documentation to show that I am allowed there, I also am willing to share my ID etc to help assure them that I am not going to destroy their stuff. I have always been able to diffuse the situation. Although I had every right to be on this summit, I chose to do 40M, get my contacts and leave. I had my wife with me and I had no maps or documentation to base an argument on. The fact is, the Sheriff has no idea who owns what (I know from experience, hence the reason I try to be prepared) and is likely to side with the rancher, whom they usually know. If I choose to do this summit again, I will contact the rancher in advance and let him know what I plan to do and when. This way, I can avoid any unpleasantness and show a non HAM about SOTA. Who knows, it might even open up some of the other closed areas for me.