Boundary survey - how can I find them

Yes, but there are literally hundreds of ways to make a mistake and mark your line incorrectly. The best approach is to contact the surveyor who prepared the plan you have, and hire him or her to mark the line for you. You need a lot more training and knowledge than you will gain from this forum in order to correctly do the work you wish to do. I'm talking formal classroom training combined with on the job training with a surveyor (many months to years, not days).

If you have a copy of the survey, it would be easiest to call the surveyor who did the work and ask them to come back and mark the corners up, but you will more than likely have to pay them for their time.

If you can find the two corners of interest, and know that those are the true corners described in your deed, you can put up a post near each one and pull a string tight between 'em.  I like the neon pink construction line (stringline), but that's, of course, neither here nor there.

@dave-o 

This boundary is over 380 meters long through a tree'd forest

I was hoping for some kind of software solution. Even some guidance on possibly using a compass. I don't need perfect just enough to know I'm inside my line. 

thanks though

@peter-lothian 

thanks, wasn't trying to take away from what they do. Was just hoping the with the information they provided there was a way with some app or something. I dont need perfect, just to be sure I'm inside the boundary.

I was actually hoping something like just using a compass and an appropriate bearing, I could kind of make my way down the line. I just don't know what bearing or how to interpret the N71 03 30E that seems to show my bottom boundary from post to post in the survey. 

If there was a way to change that into a compass heading I could use that, I'm comfortable navigating that way. 

The answer depends greatly on the length of the lines in question and whether or not a line of sight (such as through a rifle scope) is possible from end to end.  BTW, be sure to empty the rifle first.

I have places where I could easily see a half mile quite precisely via a locked down scope.  Other places, 30 feet might be the most.

Simplest is to call the surveyor and ask for some help.  He/she may also have some advice for you based on local customs and fence construction.  DO NOT pull any monument set by the surveyor and then attempt to put a post centered on that point.

If you’re going to put up anything permanent hire a surveyor. If you’re going to put up posted signs with staples go to YouTube. YouTube is readily available .consumer grade information.

Is there any software, apps, GPS tools that I can use to input that and then attempt to walk along that boundary to mark it for myself? 

Yes, such things exist. Surveyors everywhere have invested around $100,000, per kit, to acquire it, and several years of life to learn how to use it. I recommend that you have a surveyor do it. 

Nevertheless, 9 acres, if square, would be about 600 feet on each side. Set a 4' long lath over the first corner. Set a second one in the general direction of the destination corner maybe 50' on. Set a third lath at 100', on line with the first two by eyeball. Then a 4th on line with the second and third,  a 5th online with the 3rd and 4th, and so on, eventually arriving in the vicinity of your destination corner. Which you will miss by some distance. Figure out how far, proportionally, you would have to move that first lath for the line to aim at the destination corner and repeat the whole process. You should be there within 3 or 4 iterations. Not perfect, but, if well done, maybe good enough for fencing acreage.    

@dave-o 

This boundary is over 380 meters long through a tree'd forest

 

I was hoping for some kind of software solution. Even some guidance on possibly using a compass. I don't need perfect just enough to know I'm inside my line. 

 

thanks though

If money's what keeps you from hiring a pro, 380m isn't too far to try to split (stand in the middle-ish) and clear enough by hand to get line of sight - unless there's a hump > 2m along the line.

For sorta close, there's a cool iOS app called Regrid that allegedly displays late boundary data from your local property records source,  I wouldn't mark a line with it as it's usually govt GIS accuracy, but with a deed/monument call you can *probably* locate your corners.

There are also some innovative boundary line hunters using compass and sketch on YouTube (as well as a few I've seen that are just plain wrong).

well, N 71 E is a bearing that you should be able to follow with any simple compass.   as long as it's not an assumed bearing.   GPS would only make it worse given the mentioned tree cover.  

Somehow people have been convinced that it's not worth the few thousand dollars to actually define what they're more than willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for

@jph 

Not to mention how much the Real Estate agent and Real Estate Broker were paid.

The only one that really has any liability here is the Surveyor...

Assuming one line is a road compare the bearing using your compass to your map. Adjust the bearing of the unknown line by the difference.  I’d recommend using a Suunto compass. Using flagging start at the road and mark the line using the adjusted bearing. Measure the distance you miss the rear corner by and adjust the bearing you just ran.  Repeat until the results are satisfactory for your desired purpose.  If you didn’t take high school trig you’re probably screwed.

Get your neighbor to help if possible!

Get your neighbor to help if possible!

@somequestions this is very important; if you and your neighbor can agree as to what you'd like to occupy, you don't need a surveyor. Just make sure it gets documented.