Its the second day of deer season and...

[slowzuki]

So far we've had about a dozen tresspassers on 4 wheelers tearing through our hay field.  They have cut down the barbed wire fence in 3 places now and cut trees in 2. >:(

Our neighbours are good hunters and are respectful of the no hunting posted on our land but a new logging road next to us makes it tempting for visiting hunters to cut over into our woods and fields.

The ATV's cause compaction and extra winter kill which costs us hay production the next year.  If they would stay on foot it wouldn't be such a big deal.

[Tom]

It is a big deal too. The Government lets you rent your land and the hunters use you for a care-taker. Isn't there such a thing as "mine" anymore?  Dad-blasted, inconsiderate, vandals.  Makes you want to replace your signs with live images of Yosemite Sam and let him take care of them. He sure gave that rascally wabbit that kept getting away from Elmer, fits.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  I'd get kicked off the forum, if I told you what I would do. >:( >:( ;D

  On second thought, make up a few boards about 6" wide X 4 feet long, and drive a few nails through them. Place them in the ruts just below ground level. It won't be long before you own some Quad bikes. Trespassing and leaving the bikes would allow you to gather them up and get "Storage" fees ??? ;D ;D ;D

[slowzuki]

Would I ever love to! :D  My sister's blacksmith did that to some of his fields and he caught about a dozen tires.  Unfortunately 3 were the police doghandlers truck and they threatened to charge him with some kind of offence.

I'm not a hunter but I like shooting and walking in the woods.  I can understand the enjoyment of hunting season but most of our land is just too close to houses and we work on it too much to let hunters on it.

There is about 10,000 acres or so behind us that is uninhabited but most of the visiting hunters refuse to get off their ATV.
Ken

 I'd get kicked off the forum, if I told you what I would do. >:( >:( ;D

  On second thought, make up a few boards about 6" wide X 4 feet long, and drive a few nails through them. Place them in the ruts just below ground level. It won't be long before you own some Quad bikes. Trespassing and leaving the bikes would allow you to gather them up and get "Storage" fees ??? ;D ;D ;D

[EZ]

We have a few wheelers that ride threw on our place. One day I was down there when they were coming threw and they stop and ask if it would be ok to go threw. I said no problem as long as you say on the trail. I dont want any problems with anybody, so I would rather have them think I'm a nice guy. ;D
EZ

[etat]

EZ, you are a rare individual. I recken I'd be more like what Fla. didn't say cause he was tryin to be nice!

[sprucebunny]

My woodlot has state snowmobile trail through it. It's mostly wetlands. Those jerks drive not only 4wheelers but Jeeps.Chevys etc thru it and make a serious mess .They are unlikely to get caught but if I try to repair the damage , I will probably be arrested for fooling with wetlands.
Go figure.
I put up a cable and they yanked it down. I told everyone I could find about how I was going to insert a chainsaw just below the cable and cut the inside of the tree so the next time they yank on it, the tree will land on thier truck!!
Haven't had much trouble since.

[Murf]

I have a situation much the same as SpruceBunny's and I got tired of fixing the damage and listening to the noise of it.

I merely told the snowmobile club I was going to close the trail because of the problems I was having because of it.

They sent a couple of fella from the trails committee over to see the problem and talk to me about it. I said the snowmobiles were not the problem, the off-roaders were. They offered to post signs and gates and maintain them at their expense if I would authorize them as my 'agents'. I agreed to try it. They had volunteers sit out there on weekends for a while, they had more than 10 people charged with trespass and the problem disappeared.

At another location I just dug a very deep narrow ditch across the driveway and planted it in hay. The grass grew up, the trucks slid in, problem solved. A big tow bill usually puts a dent in the enthusiasm of people real fast.

[redpowerd]

i know the frustration that comes from tresspassing across feilds and into 'frozen ground only' logging roads, but i would advise at all cost against running a cable across trails. just plain dangerous, you may end up with more of a mess than your rutted up roads or trails. its unforutnate measures like these need to be taken.  think if some kid didnt see the cable, at best hell get knocked off his bike, at worst, hate to think.... the law may look at it as a booby trap. in some parts of the farm im scared to run fence for fear of some dude hitting it accidentley.
theres other ways of making your land inhospitible to atvs and 4x4s.

[sprucebunny]

Cable has alot of flagging on it. Anyone going more than 10 miles an hour in that area won't be on the machine for long cause it's very rough country. It's not a road or designated trail and hasn't been for thirty years when it was a skid trail in winter. Can't figure out why anyone would want to thrash thier truck that bad? Mommy still paying for it??

[redpowerd]

im sure your scenerio was well thought out and there were reflectors and signs  warning of the cable and tresspassing, right? ;) just kidding. ;D im sure you wouldnt cable off a 100mph snomobile trail

just wanted to warn of some possible outcomes, so no one goes out and sticks a cable where a trail was without thinking of concequences first.  you never know who may be reading.... :

[slowzuki]

Luckily I have no intentions of hurting anyone!  I took up the sledge to where they are crossing and pounded dried slash into the ground upright then intertwined smaller brush.

No one has gone through since then so I assume they have the idea now.  I think the people just crossing are nice people trying to avoid driving on the highway.

The people actually hunting now thats another story!

I can understand the off-roaders as I enjoy it myself, but I don't tear up someone fields or drive over their trees.  I also try not to make trails wider at wet spots by going wider and wider.

Ken

[Murf]

I don't know if it's a sign off the times, or what, but I just got back from the local coffee shop where a bunch of us chew the fat regularly. One of the guys was late getting there and another said there was police and Game Wardens at his place when he came by that way.

When he finally arrived he was still in a state of disbelief. Our shotgun season here does not open until Nov. 3rd so he was rather surprised when he heard a shot at dawn this morning. Just by coincedence we had a good frost last night and when he went out this morning there were obvious tire tracks in & out of one of his pastures, the one furthest from his house.

He decided to go in and investigate thinking he was going to find the remains of a successful jack-lighting expedition, a little pre-season poaching.

Instead what he found was the remains of one of his head of cattle!

It had been shot at close range with a 12ga., the empty cartridge was 10' from the carcass, and they had hacked off the entire hind-end and both front quarters, leaving everything else lying in field right where it had dropped.

When the authorities came they said this has become a growing problem, but they have been trying to keep a lid on it for fear of giving others the idea.

Apparently the 'poachers' know that in the area between the 'suburbs' and the 'country' there are very few police on the road during the overnight to cover a big area. They also know what the reaction times are, especially if there is a distraction at the other end of the patrol district. The poachers just find a likely spot then sit listeneing to a scanner and wait for an accident or break-in to keep what officers there are a long way away and busy.

According to the officers it is happening at least once a week over an area of about 100 miles around the city.

[redpowerd]

if someone did that to one of my girls, it wouldnt be long before id take to poachin poachers. >:( >:( >:( at what point do you take the law into your own hands?

[redpowerd]

the fact that the shell was ten feet away bothers me more, she was proly a pet. >:( the booby trap idea dosent sound so cruel when it comes to these people, does it? time to bear trap your gates, they wont be runnin to far with a missin leg or one of them traps wrapped around their tire. plus you know they wont be back.

[Murf]

Actually, they tell me that the cattle get so used to the sound of a diesel thrummin' along that when they hear one idle up they all come in close thinking it's bringing them a meal.

I know I helped a buddy down the road bring home a wandering soul a while back that had vaulted the fence and went on tour, he sat in the back of the truck talking to her and I idled down the road, she followed us all the way home and right through the gate.

[SwampDonkey]

Over the weekend I was out for a walk along the neighbors farm road, which deadends along a field edge. At the dead end I see where the moose hunters made their own road right down the corn rows and out the the USA border, which goes nowhere on either end because of beavers dams on the streams that cross the corridor. This is a farm my father recently sold, and we always had trouble with hunters driving all over the crops. We had a public road that came up to the middle of the farm. It was a dead end road and no one else had access beyond that point. We weren't even allowed to gate the road to keep crops from being driven over. Its about as bad as wood theft, the judge doesn't see the value in your crops if they are damaged or stolen. Not a sweet clue if its not in the books, no attention given to the problem.

Today I go for a walk in the same area and I here animals crashing through the bush. Automatically I know its moose. I walk back to the pickup and drive home and cross the bridge to the brook I was just walking by, then procede a little further and 3 moose. A bull, 1 cow and 1 calf, running down the road like I was hurding cattle. I wasn't going fast and slowed up and stopped as they where looking for a spot to duck into the bush. They found their spot and I drove by slow to see where they were searching for and it was a small gully or old washout that they were looking for because the bank along the road is steep, leading down into lowlands. I figure them moose were pretty smart to have tagged that spot where to cross, from past experience I suppose. There's 3 moose that made it this year. I don't like the buggers eating my hardwood, but I like watching them.

[Haytrader]

FDH,

I think we went to the same school... ;)

Two years ago I was having trouble with hunters crossing a feild I had crops planted in. I had No Trespassing  and No Hunting signs up and they just drove around them.
I made me some 1x4x6' and since I have an air nailer, it was easy to equip the boards to accomodate travel from either direction. I put them just inside my property and notified both tire repair shops in town. I put the word out that anyone not heeding my signs would get more exercise than they wanted.

Sure enough, the next day I got me one. Both front tires on a CJ5. The best part was it was the Christain preacher and an out of town friend of his. I left the boards another week and since have removed them. When someone asks if I still have my "trap" set I just smile and give the I dunno look.
Haven't had any more tracks across my feild either.
Mission accomplished.
 

[Fla._Deadheader]

  8) 8)  Ya don't hafta get mean, right off. Them folks just need a little edimakashun.  8) :D :D

  The longer the boards, the less chance of them getting "lifted and exposed" when they do their job. Also, getting more than 1 good year at a time, makes it hard for the "offender" to get away. How many folks carry 2 or 3 spares ??? ;)

[Murf]

I personally like the 'tank trap' method, especially when the wrecker driver is a good friend. ;)

[Paco]

What is wrong with people? My family owns 55 acres and that is the only place I hunt. We have it posted and have gone to gates and fencing, but it doesn't stop those bound to tresspass. they run over the fencing cut new roads around the gates. and then when caught in the act of trsspassing say they didn't see any signs. We put he word out this year that the warnings were over! Tresspassers with get the free ride in the back seat with a nice pair of silver braclets. so far so good. but am keeping my eyes open.

[SwampDonkey]

Paco:

I here ya. It wouldn't be so bad if people walk, but these days everyone has turned lazy at hunting and ride wheelers or in a warm pickup cab. When my grandfather ran a sporting business everyone walked to hunt when they got to their designated area. The last deer he shot, while not guiding,  we had to tote the thing across 2 beaver ponds and a clearcut to get it out, 240 lbs dressed.  A friend of mine in Virginia hunts with permission  from the owners, some of his hunting is also on a nearby base. Personally, I have no interest in hunting since 10 years. Don't care for deer or moose meat. Like grouse though.
The threat of cuffs will only keep the honest ones out. ;)

In New Brunswick, we aren't allowed to post land and hunt it ourselves because no one owns the wildlife. If it's posted and you hunt, your breaking the Fish and Wildlife Act in New Brunswick. If you go out and deiberately shine a light at night on game it's a violation of the Act as well, even if you have no gun. Its harrassment of wildlife.

[Haytrader]

I live in Kansas and have some land in Oklahoma. One of my hired hands lives in Oklahoma so he routinely checks the cattle down there. He has been seeing truck and 4 wheeler tracks in the farm yard where they shouldn't be. Then he saw hunters in a pasture of ours. I called in the tag number and they said they couldn't give me the name. They did give me the game wardens #.
What the game warden told me is what surprised me. He said if I didn't have it posted it was like saying I didn't care if anyone hunts. I told him that was not the way it was here in Kansas and there WOULD be  NO HUNTING signs up the next day. (they were)
That night the game warden called and said there were hunters on our place and since I had my signs up he had run thier tags and told me who it was. A little later the hunter called to apologize.
That is the way it is supossed to work.

[slowzuki]

Our treepassers were back, they broke down my brush gate and also drove over a bunch of young maples scaring them all up. >:(

Up went the barbed wire, 1 strand.  If they take it down again I'm putting down the board with nails with brush over top. >:(

I was thinking of putting up one of those trail watching cameras like the hunters use for deer...

Ken

[redpowerd]

that sucks >:(
please make sure you flag that wire!

when they see the flash from the camera, they will just walk over to the tree and take it. set up some connibears ;D

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Bury the board a couple of inches. It will NOT stick to the tires. Just tossing brush on it WILL allow it to stick.  ;D ;D ;D

  Can you charge storage on the rig, while they try to get it fixed or towed ???  Might wanna check into that, also. You were nice, now ya gotta get mean  >:( >:( ;D ;D

  I agree about the camera, waste of time and money. ;)

[Furby]

Heck, if it was me.......
I'd have them boards down, then set up my camcorder in a tall tree a ways away. Hide with leaves so it looks like a nest or something. Set it to run about the time I think they migh come along, then sit back and have a few laughs at the end of the day. Who knows, might even get something good enough to make a few $$$ on. :
How far away is the area they are going in at, from the house?
Closed circut could be done cheap, and controllable from the house.

[slowzuki]

Sorry, I did put brush up with the barbed, don't want anyone getting hurt, just attitude adjusted!

It is a ways from the house, it is at the back of our property, about 1/2 mile away.  I figure the nail board with rebar pinning it down would do the trick!  The bruch is so someone on foot wouldn't step on it and poke their foot.

[Paschale]

We've got a story of people taking advantage too.  My dad owns 59 acres in the U.P.  The one acre from the original 60 was sold years ago to a guy by my great grandfather.  The guy who owns that place now asked my dad a couple of years ago for permission for his own invalid dad to do some hunting on the edge of our land.  Basically, this guy couldn't move much anymore, but wanted to get into our woods just enough to be away from their camp.  My dad agreed, since he's a good guy.  Now, it turns out this joker has been getting more and more emboldened the past five years.  We give some really close friends permission to hunt, and this joker ran into them a couple weeks ago, baiting for deer.  He told our friends that he was bringing six of his friends to come hunt on our land, and apparently was pretty belligerent.  When we heard about this, my dad was steamed!   >:(   The gall of someone to take advantage of someone's generosity like that really torks you off!  

Well, my dad got on the horn, and sent a fax giving exclusive permission to our good friends, making it clear that if these jokers set foot on our land, it will be trespassing.  The cool thing:  one of the guys we give permission to hunt on the land is a Michigan State Trooper.   8)

[Timber_Framer]

Man! This is sooo sad!
I've been hunting since I was eleven back in '71' and we asked folks if we could hunt rabbits to deer on their land and we parked and walked a lot farther then we had to so we didn't disrupt things on their property. And if we saw some one else on their land we didn't know...we asked why they were there not the property owner, we protected their land as if it belonged to our kin!
And when hunting season was long forgotten and the crappie and walleye were coming up through the ice, these kind folks that allowed us access to their land a few months back found filleted fish on their door step with a note of thanks from us. This business that I'm reading in this thread really chaps my ...well you know. :( :'( :-[ >:(

[craigc90]

 I might as well put my .02 cents in. I bought 50 acres about 5 or 6 years ago. The property has a fishing/swimming hole on the back corner. The first year I owned the place I picked up 10 trash bags of beer cans. When I would be down there fishing everyone would act like I was bothering them. When I asked them to take there trash with them and and have a good time. never ran any one off and only had 1 person ever ask my permission to fish. I would go down the day after I asked someone to take there trash. There would be the cans laying right there.I started getting more upset and I was down there with my son hikeing and these guys were drinking and fishing and MFing everthing. I said hey watch your language and they laughed. The signes went up the next day and I became the sterotypical A@#hole landowner that never let anyone hunt or fish. That is why people have nowhere left to hunt. I could write a book on confrontations I had the next 2 years after I posted the property. It got to the point I didn't enjoy that part of the property anymore. I sold the back 20 acres where I always had the problems and am much happier now. I have 30 acres no one ever bothers me up on the ridge.The new neighbor I sold the 20 acres to is the best guy around lets me use his dumptruck and dozer or anything I need and still get to go fishing down there. Sometimes less is better.

[sawguy21]

Kids were roaring through the public campground on their dirt bikes at all hours. Camper just happened to be dragging a fire log across the road back to his site. Bike stopped, kid in lake. Big confab with warden but nobody knew anything. Problem solved.

[Fla._Deadheader]

  Hey Ken, How many "Good Years" did ya bag  : ;D ;D ;D

[slowzuki]

0 goodyears!   :D  Too bad but I'm sure hunting will be just as good next year!

Our neighbour caught them on an atv and blocked them with his truck.  Had some choice words with them!

A friend had ATV's blasting through his corn all fall, he talked to the guy 3 times and the guy laughed him off.  He felled some trees blocking trails but the guy went around.  I told him to take his Ford TW-25 and the res-till over and drive across his lawn... in the spring... over the septic :D
Ken

 Hey Ken, How many "Good Years" did ya bag  : ;D ;D ;D