More posted property!
Pennsylvania
The one property I hunt ( where I shot my last two bucks ) is going to be posted and closed off to other hunters. I've been hunting there the past 9 years.
I went there yesterday to check a trail cam only to find it GONE!! When I came out of the woods, the lady who owns the property asked me if I got many pictures. When I told her what happend, she was not happy to say the least!
She said she hasn't seen anyone else going in there and no one else asked permission this year. I told her that people park on the back road behind her house and go in that way.
Long story short, after we talked awile, she asked me if I would post the property for her and throw out anyone else I find on the property. She said she doesn't want thieves running around her property that close to her house.
Another case of property that was never posted and anyone who asked being allowed to hunt being closed off to everyone because people can't keep their fingers to themselves!
Rant over
Ben
I hear you buddy these thieves make me sick. Ive been having problems with one particular thieve in one of my spots. He snagged all my cameras out of there again this year. He has done it in the past but It's been a few years since he's taken anything because my buddy caught him red handed stealing his stand only problem was he didn't press charges. This guy takes others stuff and walks circles around people while they hunt to try to bully them into not hunting there. It has worked on some hunters but I'm not giving in to him. Plus I shoot a good buck our of there almost every year, that is what he hates, he's one of those jealous types. I'm not complaining because I know I risk him taking my stuff so I except it anymore but I would not be surprised if some day he catches a five piece in the grill ; )
Mike
Mike, yep these scumbags suck for sure!
This one property is the only place I leave a camera during the season in Pa, because in 9 years, I've never had anything messed with. Hell, there's a summit climber sitting on the bottom of a tree there that has been there for 5 years now!! Every year, I make the cables on it a little bigger so it doesn't grow in to the tree. No one has used it all this time, squirrels have the seat all chewed up on it but other then that, it still looks good.
Ben
Well at least you can control the property now so not all is lost. The place where the guy has been messing with me my buddies and a few other guys I've talked to over the years is public land so we just have to deal with this child. The guy is now retired hunts all day most every day and still has to go out of his way to mess with people. I've reported him twice for harassment to the warden but nothing ever happens. The guy told me that I'm trying to dominate the area WTF? By him screwing with me? He also said he's been hunting there since the 70's and ever since I started hunting the "bedding area" he sees fewer deer, also he's of those guys that's against shooting does, says he burns his doe tags. Yeah he's a real gem! Several hunters are getting tired of his crap. Carma gets him most years.
Mike
I have gotten two trespassers/poachers convicted on private land where I have permission to hunt. Testified in court against both. Different incidents for each. One only got a $50 trespassing ticket but was worried that it could have been some jail time due to the fact that he was a convicted felon in possession of a firearm (flintlock). DA dropped the gun charges on him but WCO is hoping to catch him this year as he is sure to do something illegal. The other is paying several thousand in fines for all kinds of game violations for shooting a nice 8 point buck from the back of his trailer (safety zone) and then letting it lay in waste. I have had numerous trail cameras stolen over the years on this property and as a result my tactics have changed. I basically only put the cameras in hard to find places during the hunting season. Off of main trails etc. I get less pics but still know more or less what is out there. Trail cameras seem to die a natural death after two years and so as they "die" I put them in more easily seen places. If they are seen hopefully this discourages trespassing, if they get stolen, they were on their last leg anyway. Trespassers, thieves, poachers are just part of the scenery. They usually get what is coming to them, just need to be patient.
Sad to say, but licensed hunters are thieves too - there's just no getting around that. Mike, you must have the patience of a saint,.....LOL,.....not sure I could deal as well with that idiot as you do. One way or another he'll get his in the end or at the end. There's no escaping Karma.
Your right Roger! About the thieves and Mike being a saint!!:)
It's just a shame that there are probably some good people who are going to lose a place to hunt now. Like Mike said, it's not all bad for me because now I can control who is on the property but at the same time, you feel bad for the guys who hunted there that never messed with people's stuff.
Ben
Well Ben, I think the answer for that particular property is in your statement, i.e., "I can control who is on the property". You simply permit honest folks that you know/get to know, and anyone who is in the least suspicious can go steal elsewhere........You'll figure out who is who right quick.
I put up posters today. In September I was checking stands and found one gone, it was a heavy double ladder stand that had to take two people to carry off. It was on our family farm, I guess I spend next Sunday putting up more posters. I can't stand thieves.
That really stinks! :(
We had problems this year on one of our 5C Hunt properties. Had a bully on one of the adjoining properties try to kick our hunters off the property we had permission to hunt. Dan Smoker our property manager will be hunting that spot again and will have the PGC on speed dial if he tries to cause any more trouble! ;-)
