Need advice
Massachusetts
Been reading site long time but never registered til now. Specifically regarding trespassers, what is best way to catch them.? Police don't have time to handle it, EPO are stretched too thin, and in past threads no one ever posts the trail cam pics they have of trespassers. If PD/EPO won't do it, shouldn't we police ourselves by outing the offenders?
Call the local PD or MA Wildlife and tell them that people are out poaching deer. Give them a description of the person, and identify the car and license plate number if you can.
Regardless of whether or not they're poaching, it doesn't matter, you report it that way so it gets attention from law enforcement. With that attention, if the person is contacted by law enforcement, they'll know they're being watched and will be less inclined to trespass.
Get the plate number if you can find the wagon or locate the house they walk in from. Is it posted ? Your land ?
Always best to try to talk with people first. If it turns ugly then its a new decision / direction.
More details may help at this point . Three roads to choose from ... Work with it /around it , Police help , Old School .
If the land is not legally posted according to state law then they have the right to access it until you tell them it's private and they have to leave. Make sure all your ducks are in order first then put up trail cameras
the land is legally posted all around, and yes, there are plenty of pictures to go with it. Perhaps there should be a new thread called "Uninvited" where people can post pictures of trespassers so that everyone can see?
Twalls - regrettably on Bowsite there's no way to make a "sticky" (stuck at the top) thread. Im thinking of a "trespassers" sticky thread on another site as I type that... But, if folks kept adding to it, it would stay close.
If you have pics, perhaps taking the actual pictures to the local PD, may at least put the "guy" on the radar.
You could post em here, but rather than saying trespasser if you are at all unsure, just say "people on trail cam"... on paper that's not slanderous or anything... Not sure that matters, but could be worth considering.
Will
Go to the police with the pictures and forewarn them that you are going to be watching your land. Then get a contact number from one of the officers. They will give you a card with their name and numbers on it. Advise this officer you will be calling them direct when the trespassers are confronted on your property. They will get there quicker than you think!!!
Start here, available from your local PD. This subject gets me very upset. Had 3 cameras and a tree stand stolen from my own property. This was when it wasn't posted, it is now, legally.
Chapter 266 section 120- simple trespassing Chapter 266 section 121A- trespassing with a motor vehicle
Chapter 131 section 36- hunting while trespassing
These 3 were getting a free pass until the old lady in the middle thought it was a good idea to F with my camera, get what she got !
What did she get? Did you like...kill her or something?
Haha, got a copy of "Keep your ass out". See above
XI, I feel your pain there since I am down several cameras. Lots of different people, all in camo. Private land that is posted and yet people trespass anyway. I’ve shown pics to local PD and they have no way to identify so it goes nowhere. I guess I was thinking the problem was wide-ranging enough where the bowsiters would welcome a place to post pics in hopes of stopping the behavior. If they are doing it at my place, then I’m sure it happens on other private lands—- private lands belonging to people who as a result of trespassers have become anti-hunting and become barriers to our laws getting changed. I feel like it has to be said that most of the problems the public has with hunters is brought upon by hunters— the “hunters” who feel the rules don’t apply to them and give the rest a bad name
TWalls- So true. And most of the problems us Hunters have are from "hunters" ...
We need a new name for them . Maybe "Funters" ... Taking suggestions folks . Fire away.
Here’s some guy who decided to go onto my land last week and cut down a tree. Sorry Crappy pics from PC to phone.
And I’m guessing his daughter
Well isn't he a great role model. Find his house and send him a copy. With a bill for the tree / wood. Maybe you can trade his guilt for some local information , like who is trespassing . If he is a snot , Go to your local police station with the evidence. She has a piece of tree also . Picking up wood and bad habits from dad... Slam dunk !
i cant wait to c ware this thread goes
Pi- I have the time stamp from the camera. I took that horrible pic to ask the neighbor. He knew them and we resolved the issue. Said he took a left instead of a right, doubtful but now he knows there’s cameras out there so doubt he’ll be back.
One Down ! Post a "No left turn" sign . Maybe paint all the trees on the line. Better yet , Build a Wall and protect your boarders .
Keep taking pics friend , Who knows who will wander in ... Maybe a Misdirected Politician or X President spy , State department Pay for play slug , FBI sleazebag or 3 , A Tabloid informant , Or even a Huma- Weiner with Laptop -itis ... Huma - Weiner ... Good name.
Oops . I forgot where I was. Blame it on Al -(Gore) -zheimers Or Lost E-mail syndrome. That one is contagious and worse than Lyme Disease.
Lmao. That wasn’t supposed to be question marks.
i guess back to the original question... why don't guys post more photos of trespassers or poachers on Bowsite in hopes that someone will recognize them and tell them to quit it. For me, if I saw a buddy on here proven to be poaching/trespassing, I'd want to distance myself from them quickly.
TWalls20 - that's a good point. I'm suspecting people dont want to risk being in legal trouble if something some how comes back to them (IE, someone see's the person and slashes the tires on their truck or something).
Your point makes sense though. On two fronts. First, if people are doing that stuff and I'm around them, I'd like to NOT be around them. Second, if I made a mistake, I'd like to know.
Great example. Couple years ago, a buddy and I were looking for new, unlikely to be driven woods to still hunt during ML (Look for areas with houses lining 3-3.75 sides. a home owner could do it, but it really limits gang drive action and can be a good way to find late season deer). He found a cool block on the map in Phillipston. We drove to the area we thought we could park near a swamp, no posted signs so all is good. He goes in there, I walk 200yds down the road across the swamp, and head into the woods on an old cart road. I'm into deer fast and spend the afternoon bumping several around but never could get a shot. He was into tracks, but never saw a deer. Around sunset we are texting and decide to work out. I'd gone about a mile, so I had a mile walk back with about 12" of snow. I'd mentally shut down, and just decided to hike out. The fastest route, was to parallel a ridge that I'd still hunted the top of. So I just started hauling. I get to the road, and it's gorgeous. Fading peach light of the quickly ending day was making the snow covered trees just amazing to see. Once back on the pavement, I turn to look west to see how the sky looked, and realize that I'd walked out between two posted signs. Never saw one in the woods. Or going in. I start walking back to the swamp and truck, and realize that I'd gone into the woods about 50yds shy of a posted sign - never saw it. There were none in the woods anywhere, and this is not a written permission area so I had been happily enjoying a fun hunt and thinking about coming back during the following archery season.
Point being, I sure didnt plan to trespass, and never would have had I seen the signs going in. but that day, I sure did!
Accidents can happen, so I'd give folks the benefit of the doubt (assuming no thefts) until they were spoken to.
I’ve been lucky that everyone who I’ve “caught” on camera was was easily IDed by my neighbors, who are the eyes and ears of my institution, and resolved. Besides these 2 there have only been 2 others over the years. I posted those two photos because I found them to be so odd they made me laugh. If I caught the same person numerous times and couldn’t resolve it I would probably post it but I’ve had too many concussions in my life so theres a good chance this time of year that I have given someone permission to coyote hunt and forgot about it. There’s been numerous thread on how people would handle it Everything from posting a pic, police or just kicking his ass.
could help settle some of the theft cases though, especially since a lot of guys probably have the same people on cameras elsewhere... maybe I am hyper-sensitive to it, but losing cameras sucks for all of us, and I don't really know any anti-hunters that are willing to go through briars and such just to pull off a cam. It had to be a hunter who knew they were caught and thought either it was a good idea to steal the evidence, or add to their already existing (likely also stolen) camera collection.
