Ideas for Gate to keep out Trespassers
General Topic
I am getting pictures of UTVs on my posted land, which is not unusual. Most just pull in an turn around and leave but the last guy drove all the way past every one of my stands. I want to put up a simple chain across the entry. Any other ideas? Seem I remember once seeing a counter weighted swing post. I don't want to put too much into it, until I get a fence all the way along the road they would just be able to drive around it. I need to keep the access open for the farmer who rents my tillable.
Just get some of these signs!
A lot of the ranchs we hunted in S TX had bump gates that were pretty effective in deterring ATV/UTV traffic. Supplement with a few signs like WW posted and "maybe" they'll get the hint.
"Smile your on Candid Camera"
Warning video surveillance sighns are pretty effective
No way to really stop someone if they really want to trespass! We have several hundred acres in the mountains of Cali, and we always have people trespass, We have a massive steel gate, and signs and cameras and we still get people on foot, truck, ATV etc... We even had a guy live in a little box of a shack at the very edge of our property... Who knows how long he was there???? We rarely go down there! People Suck!
Put some signs up that state something to the effect that there are nail embedded planks throughout the property -- Keep out.
Where can one purchase one of those signs? Asking for a friend....
I don't know much about the laws in the western states but in the East, trespassing does not negate your ability to effectively sue a landowner for an injury from known dangerous situations such as spikes, barbed wire, pits, etc. Be careful about placing them and certainly avoid bragging that they exist.
I wouldn't put them out - just the signs - maybe even put a couple boards out with some bent over nails to make it look like there are more scattered around. Sounds like a farmer uses the area, so that would not be a good thing.
Shouldn't be too hard to plant two posts and hang a 10' or 12' gate. Either just latch it or put a padlock on it. Give the farmer the spare or hide one close by. Hang a posted sign on the gate. Should keep the honest folks from trespassing. Should be good until you can fence. By then, you'll already have the gate up.
I don't think I'd go with a chain. Could be hard to see in low light and get someone hurt.
Good luck.
Maybe a rusted out shot up car or pick-up at the entrance of your property. Nothing says stay out like a vehicle all rusted out and shot up with buckshot. Make it look like some crazed hillbillies live there and people will stay out. Let their own mind scare them away.
I know where you can get these Bob..............
Careful with locks, had someone glue ours shut the night before season once.
Hang a sign. If you catch anyone disregarding the sign, teach them a lesson that ensures they won’t come back. It sucks to be that way but, if you don’t, you’ll be the one to suffer from it. People will literally rob you blind and rationalize it’s ok.
Isn't it sad that being neighborly has died? All for the sake of taping an antler. The first one to put a tape on an antler should have been strung up on a big cottonwood.
Its not about putting a tape on an antler. Its about owning something you've paid for. You are the king of your castle. And, unless you let people come and use your stuff, your house, your land etc... as their own, without paying for it, asking you if it is ok, or having one ounce of skin in the game to ensure that it gets utilized to best suit your wishes, you are way outta line on this one.
A friend of mine owned 40 acres of hunting land in WI. Somehow he acquired an engraved tombstone. Put a "No Trespassing" sign on the gate. Put the tombstone next to the gate and a sign that read "Don't Come In And End Like Him."
Bunji stick pits and tigers
I found out a trespasser had been on my property and left his climbing stand about 40' from my ladder stand. I took his stand and left a note with my name and phone number on the tree. Note stated that if he wanted his stand back call the land owner (me) and make arrangements to talk.
I never heard another word from the owner of the stand. He lost a brand new Old Man Climbing Stand. I hunted my stand thereafter without any interference.
Friend had this on his property in Texas.
TMBB
I made custom signs (I heard that people may consider them more than a store-bought). I printed them on paper in color. I printed 2 on each page (making them about 5 x 8. Then I put them inside plastic slider bags and just stapled them to trees along my borders The way they fit into the bag, they have a shiney look, so they look like metal until you get close. The message is my own. I had 3 versions. Something to the effect of "Pictures will be turned over to law enforcement of prosecution", another to the effect "No, you don't have permission. No, it's not okay for you to hike. No, you can't just ride the trails..." For the third one, I forget how I worded it. In all versions I left my phone number. In some I posted the penal code number and the verbiage of it.
I made them all look similar to the attached pic. They don't look like typical "posted signs" so I think they get a little more attention. (I can't find my original file or I would have just put that up here).
Overall, these were very cheap to make a hundred. Just ink/paper and plastic bags.
I saw a large sign in south Alabama years ago posted on a gate with something along the lines of "DANGER - KEEP OUT - EXPLOSIVE CHARGES IN PLACE". Then there was the 4 X 8 foot plywood sign at another place that read "NO HUNTING YOU BASTARD". I looked over at my buddy as we drove by and said "Reckon he has had some trouble?".
Have had success with sign saying caution-beaver and coyote traps present.A friend had : Do not feed the alligators. Both of these were where people were coming in along a creek
I have found if I create a fortress that I think they cannot penetrate: such as gates and locks and signs and traps, etc. I get more damage to my land and cabin.
I have switched to a simple gate no lock and a no trespass or hunting sign on the post. Thus I have found less damage to my place. If people are determined to trespass they will do what they have to in order to do so. A closed gate with a sign will deter 97% of the people, nothing deters the other 3%, they are going in no matter what they have to destroy.
therefore I do not decorate the land with signs and orange paint. just a simple gate with one sign.
I do have game cameras focused on the gate and the cabin, but they are in obvious locations so if they want in bad enough they will destroy or take the camera along with whatever else they were going to do.
oz
What about a sign that states " castle law practiced here" or just , video survaiance and you will be prosecuted.
I'm just guessing but with a handle name of BigOzzie that 3% is more like 0.5%
Years ago, my BIL, a farmer in SW PA, had a problem with a particular trespasser. The guy was so brazen that, even after being told, still drove back the long dirt lane to a back field. Well, my BIL figured he'd help him out. Hooked his tractor to the guy's vehicle and dragged it all the way back to the main road. Never saw the guy again.
vosssigns.com
http://www.vosssigns.com/product/311ar/ if someone could message me how to hotlink this i would appreciate it
I got the custom posted signs and the surveillance signs that are reflective
finally! I saw this one when I was a kid. I've been using this for a decade and I'm putting it up at my new place.
treble hooks on 6lb line face high on entrance trails works good
That’s a good one Cornpone! : )
Reminds me of my college days.................came out of dining hall to find my room mate’s car was parked in by someone with a Dodge Omni. My room mate was a power lifter and lifted the back end enough to slide it around 90 degrees. He left it there sticking out in the road and drove away. Always kinda wished I would have stuck around to see the look on the guy’s face when he returned! ;-)
I knew an older gentleman in the mid 80's who was a dairy farmer. Owning several hundred acres as he did it was quite common for him to have people stop at his farm and ask permission to hunt.
Every once in awhile he would be in a pleasant mood and grant permission for someone to hunt....mostly if you asked to hunt pheasants or small game but never for deer.
Well one day a car pulled up to his milk house as the morning was drawing to a close and a couple of young guys got out and asked if they could hunt pheasants in a certain field down the road. The farmer told them no. He had his kids and grandkids coming for the weekend to hunt and didn't want the birds pushed as this was a Friday morning and they would be hunting the following day.
Well when the 2 young guys left they left in the opposite direction of the field but circled around the section and came in from the other way as to think they wouldn't be seen and parked their vehicle and went hunting any ways.
While this was all going on the farmer had pulled his manure spreader up to the parlor and turned the gutter cleaner on and cleaned the manure from the barn. He then left and headed down the road in the direction of said field to spread manure on some adjacent property. Well as he approached the field that the 2 guys asked to hunt there sat their car and nobody around.
The farmer being the old cantankerous ass that he was pulled into the field and backed his manure spreader up to the car and turned the PTO on and emptied the contents all onto the car.
The field was rolling terrain and the 2 hunters were in a low spot and could not see what was happening until they reached the next knob. Seeing their car covered in manure they ran back to their car and confronted the farmer. They said they were going to call the sheriff on him for vandalizing their car. The farmer told them that would be fine. Go ahead and make the call or better yet stop at the sheriff office and speak to him personally. Just make sure you tell the sheriff that the property you were trespassing on is the same property he will be hunting in the morning. The sheriff is my son.
My land has a ditch road, and most idiots assumes they can walk on it.
I starting posting with a bulletin board I bought on amazon, people stop to read BB's. I post of photos of trespassers from trail cam, state it is under wireless surveillance, and no trespassing is allowed, full prosecution. It seems to work pretty good, trespassing traffic is down, I only get pictures of the complete moron level of total idiots.
lost Arra I may be known to exaggerate, but I am going to stick with the 3%. But they are easy to catch they tend to be moose hunters and they are predictable, they show up the first day of season, when no other rifle seasons are open and let themselves in my gate, and head for the back section of my property that can be seen from surrounding hillsides and tend to hold a fair number of moose. It is a good weekend to dump a couple of trees across the road and cut firewood for the day, then you get to meet them and tell them to get lost.
oz
A lot of braggadocious comments from people I highly doubt own land and have had to actually deal with trespassers. BigOzzie is on point, the cold hard truth is if you have private property you have trespassers, it’s only a matter of to what degree. My extended family are farmers with a fair amount of private land in Ohio. Having personally placed dozens of trail cameras all over the property for many years I can attest that trespassing is an annual occurrence (if not monthly), despite it being well known in their community they do not want trespassers on their property. I even have pictures of parents taking their kids on trespassing expeditions through the property, both with guns in hand (one generation truly teaching the next how to break the law). In reality the best approach is to post no-trespassing signs on all your major access points and hidden trail cameras on likely vehicle access points. Then, once you have photographic evidence contact local law enforcement/game wardens and start jumping through the hoops to get them ticketed. In today’s litigious society I would hate to see a law abiding landowner get caught up in a costly (perhaps extremely costly) legal dispute because they did some of the silly things listed here (booby traps, physical confrontation, firefights, etc). Be smart, punish them within the law, and do it consistently to let it be known trespassing on your land isn’t worth it. Word will get around. Unfortunately, not much else you can do. My 2 cents
Agree with Zim. Some states like MO allow you to sign a form that lets the controlling authority prosecute without needing your additional permission. We signed one and also gave a key to our Conservation Officer.
I don't think most of the trespassing is out of malice, more so the locals who grew up in an era of free reign and still do not accept needing permission to go somewhere they don't own. I have one neighbor, in his 70s, that still slams me to others because I will not let him have the run of our land like he has since he was a kid. Times change, some people resist it.
Put up a sign " any vehicles or trespassers found on property will be "peacefully protested" by owner.
Just wear an outfit like this when you hunt.
A sign like this should help
Wireless Surveillance signs is the best IMO.
The key with a threat is it can't be empty if it is going to work.
Tech has come to the point where everyone knows that anyone has the capability to be watching. Cams are so small, wireless is so cheap...it isn't an empty threat - unlike most of the above.
Years ago I had an old bachelor friend that had these all over his farm. Always cracked me up but he was dead serious.
