trespassers and stolen stands

[wrenchman]

Last year i had a tree stand stolen and this year i have been haveing problims with trespassers.
Well one of them fine trespassers was nice enough to leave a nice stand in its place just in time for the holidays how did they no i needed one. lol
I was nicer then them i left a note with my number as to if they want it back to call me.
I am thinking i will have them meet me at the sheriffs office
and choose between the fine and the stand if they call.
I dont think they will call me what do you think?

[M.T. Pockets]

I've learned to never underestimate the stupidity of some people. I know a guy who put up a trail camera on some land he didn't have permission to be on and it disappeared. He called the Sheriff's office and filed a complaint against the landowner--- Really.

I'd have done the same thing you did. Keep us posted.

[Valigator]

After all these years and all these leases and all this private property...I have finally come to the realization, you gotta look at your hunting the way you look at your business...their is gonna be cost and loss...especially in the nicer hunting areas...we have had this conversation before on this site...seems we are always amazed that another hunter will come in and mess with your sh88....dont be amazed...and the nicer the hunting grounds the higher the loss...In one lease we lost over 20 thousand in equipment from the Mexicans that came in and was involved in the clearing of part of the property....that was big....we took a ride up and took everything out of the 44 ft trailer, because they didnt get into that part....but they busted into the 20 ft one and after they were done...the rats ate the rest....that was our best lease for over 15 years....my philosophy...dont leave nothing in the woods you cant afford to lose....

[fabsroman]

I agree completely. I don't leave anything in the woods that I care about, much less something I cannot afford to lose.

[DaMadman]

I agree that I wouldn't leave my stuff in the woods but I honestly think it is a Piss poor way to have to live and hunt. I mean DA#$ IT !!! If I am on my lease or my personal property and choose to leave my portable stand in the tree then I SHOULD be able to do so without fear of it being stolen. Unfortunetly you cannot do that these days and it really urks the hell out of me. Especially since I have a $200 portasble tree stand that I never use because with my bad back I can't carry it in and out of the woods every day so therefore I do not get to use something that I should be able to use if it weren't for a bunch of Trespassing Theives

[rickjordan]

I still remember everything that happened the day my stand was taken. I sat in it in the morning, went home for lunch and a nap then went back and found it gone. It was a $100 stand and they took my ladder as well. I had engraved my name in the bottom of the stand and check every stand I find in the woods that was like my old one. If I ever find it again, I won't just take it back- I will patiently sit at the bottom of the tree and wait for him to come. He will know what I think of stealing my tree stand- this I promise. They must of had pretty big ones if you know what I mean because if I had been walking back in and seen them walking out with my stand, someone would have been shot. I respect other people's things and truly do not see how other people can't respect my stuff.

[Nulle]

I don't leave the truck unlocked with guns in it and neither with anything else in the woods without locks.

[rickjordan]

I learned the hard way, Nulle- 3/8 chain and a padlock on anything I leave in the woods. Atleast make 'em work for it!

[Ken14]

Thought our place was secure...went to fill feeders during lunch break yesterday...some mongrel shot a hole in the leg of my tripod stand, and cut down my feeder..folks with waaay too much time on their hands.



folks like that need to meet ballistic tips at a high rate of speed.....

[Rapier]

I never have understood why one hunter would mess with another hunter's stuff, or shoot it up. That is pretty sorry.

But, me and my buddy had four 30 acre plots to hunt that formed a 120 acre block in the middle of a big timbered area. We found three tree stands in our area and had to drop trees to stop folks from running deer with 4 wheelers on our site. Then we came across an 870 12ga tied to a tree with a trip wire across a deer trail. My buddy almost walked into the wire. Luckily it was a lunch walk rather than a pre dawn walk and he saw the gun before he walked into the wire. So be careful and watch where you are going, there are some dangerous fools in the woods these days.
Ed

[rubicon]

Had a kid steal my 55 gal feeder a couple of years ago but I guess he didnt see the trail camera so after printing out the pics I went knocking on doors and making accusations. Kid said he didnt do it and his dad got really huffy defending his son until I pulled out the pics. Then I had my say. My demands were met:
Return the feeder immediately , refill it with corn, then appologize and stay out of that area ----or I would take the pics to proper authorities and press charges. I didnt want to cause the boy who is normally a good kid grief but the dad really had this ole hillbilly fired up.

[wrenchman]

You know its not the trespass that bothers me it is the theft I know i can never stop the trespass and in some ways i cant blame them.
I dont think this is the same person that stole my stand but i am sure i no who it is we have had words.
I am sure it was kids that got my stand.
The property owner dont want any one hunting that is not on the lease and signed a waiver.

[fabsroman]

The trip wire attached to the 870 is down right scary. People must be retarded. To think killing another person over a deer makes any sense. The guy wouldn't even know the person he is killing with such a stupid thing. I cannot even fathom this.

Of course, I had something similar happen to us while we were hunting a marsh on the eastern shore. We were coming out of the marsh toward dusk and all of a sudden the prop caught something and a brick flew across the water at us. Turns out some idiot attached a wire to two bricks, and put one brick on each side of the water way. Imagine if one of those bricks had struck somebody in the head and killed them.

Of course, last year we had the incident with the "hunter" in the stand that opened fire on some other hunters because he was trespassing. People have to be out of their mind.

[petey]

I had a double stand hung for hunter/videographer, and I went and pulled the one stands yesterday. With the fresh snow I saw that someone was using it in the morning. I'm afraid to say they are going to have a suprise this morning as I pulled the bottom 7 steps and left one lock-on there for next year. Unless they are 10' tall they aren't using my stand anymore.

I've heard through the grapevines that 2 other bucks were shot out of it this season (gee, thanks for asking). Not that I would mind, but at least ask. Can't say I've ever had enough brass to use another hunter's stand, especially without asking permission first.

Both were chained and locked to the tree, so they were just being used by other hunters b/c they saw the size of buck I shot in archery and sought it out. Do your own homework and woodmanship, and respect the property of others. Unfortunately it's not that easy it seems. Everyone wants to take shortcuts. Very sad world we live in.

[Ken14]

My money is too hard earned to have some bonehead hunt my place or damage anything I have put up. Im not sure how one handles it.....Do you need make an example out of someone??

[M.T. Pockets]

Please don't misread me, I respect other people's property and want the same respect back. It's not that hard.

But, when encountering others in the field be careful. Remember they're armed and remember if they're not responsible enough to stay off private property then how responsible are they going to be with their firearm if they feel threatened. You don't have to intend to threaten someone in order for them to feel threatened. And, some people who feel threatened will react without being rational. We all know of examples of this and we don't want anyone getting hurt over a tree stand. I'd suggest contacting law enforcement, trespassing laws do have some teeth in them.

I don't like trespassors or theives either, but think of your own safety first.

[Ken14]

Probably well put...but the Sherriff's dept here acted like they did not care....especially when i would not let them drive across my pea patch

[fabsroman]

MT,

I agree with you. I try to avoid confrontations in the field, and I rarely ask anybody if they have permission to hunt the farm. I wait to talk to the farm owner and then we report it to the authorities if the person is actually trespassing.

I know people that love to confront trespassers. As far as I am concerned, that is asking for trouble, especially if done on a continous basis. You might not find trouble the first, second, or third time, but eventually one of these idiots will do something stupid. Heck, they are already doing something stupid by trespassing.

[moneychanger]

someone stoled the heaters out of my friends blinds .the property is fenced and posted, i guess some of these idiots just can't read or figure out why the fence is there.

no wonder it's so hard to get permission to hunt private land

[wrenchman]

still no call and the deer seasen is just about over it ends the end of the month.
we have guys out there hunting but no one has even come over and talked to us.
we have had a slow year so far no bucks we have killed a few does.