Poachers and trespassers

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This is a question, not a criticism. How do you run them off? That sounds hazardous.

I imagine a farmer/rancher is going to approach trespassers differently than someone with acres for non-income purposes.
 
I usually just tell them that it's private property and posted they usually leave I've only had to give two cussins but I try to refrain from that because some folks are just crazy enough to shoot ya.
 
Lwh I would keep bugging the fire out of the local game wardens. I would also encourage you and your neighbors to press charges. One of my neighbors caught a man shooting one of his cows because he ran him off his land, fishing a posted pond. That night the young man came back and shot the cow. When they got to court the judge ordered the young punk to not only pay for the price to replace the heffer but also the calves she would have had in the next few years.
 
Hunting/poaching that would make my blood boil.
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Its wrong but after you've trekked 30-50 miles or more down forest roads only to be met by a sign and a half mile to the main road...
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Guess I don't understand the difference if one trespasses to hunt or to ride an ORV. While one makes your blood boil, while one is perfectly fine. Both are examples of entering private property without permission and showing disrespect to the landowners rights, especially when ignoring no trespass signs. Both are also illegal. I've ridden ORVs/Dirtbikes for years. The biggest negative we have against us are folks like you, that ride on private property without permission. This is why there are always signs on trails asking us to "STAY on the trail!" In the case of an emergency, if lost or unknowingly entering property you don't have permission, you might have a argument, but just because you didn't research your ride and are too lazy to go back the way you came, makes you no different than the dirtball trespassing hunter.

I always go slow, make very little noise and if approached never "run". I also would never approach or come near anyone's home,
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Same can be said for the trespassing hunter. Why does that make it right for you? Over the years, I have heard almost every stupid excuse there is from folks I've caught trespassing. Funny thing is, most of the time the trespassers act like I'm the dick for being angry at them. Last spring it was a couple hunting morels. Their excuse? All the ones on public land were picked over. They didn't understand, not only were they trespassing, they were stealing. Yet, I was the dick for telling them to leave after dumping my morels out on the ground. Private property is just that....private. Don't want to have to ride 30 miles back to where you started, know where the 'ell you are going first. Sorry, but the excuse "but I can see the road from here" is just as lame as all the others I have heard.
 
I don't know how Conservation or police handle trespassers where you are but I wouldn't "tell" trespassers anything or "run them off" or "confront" them. I would call the police and Conservation. They can deal with it. If they're back tomorrow, or next week, or next year, I call again, and again, and again. Someone will get sick of it (or be in jail) and it'll stop. It won't be me.
 
They won't do much to them the game wardens are busy making drug busts and the that is all the police are worried about too. They might get a 100 ticket and a slap on the wrist.
 
I know someone who supposedly started putting bullets in the trees around the poachers.
Not the approach I would take, but they no longer have problems with poachers.
 
I imagine it would be difficult getting an officer out in time for them to actually do something though, or am I incorrect? I didn't live on a farm but I lived on a house surrounded by ranches, and the PoPo and it would have taken them at least 20 miinutes to get out there-and thats motorvating along.
 
Haha I will make be a sign that says just that, and I have called the law numerous times I didn't vote for our current sheriff so I don't get very good service around here
 
zincwarrior said:
I imagine it would be difficult getting an officer out in time for them to actually do something though, or am I incorrect? I didn't live on a farm but I lived on a house surrounded by ranches, and the PoPo and it would have taken them at least 20 miinutes to get out there-and thats motorvating along.
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Maybe, I guess it depends on your presumptions as to how the situation is going to unfold.

As I said, I wouldn't confront them so they have no reason to leave. I'm also assuming they're hunting, so they plan to stick around for awhile. Plus, if they're not, I can always get pictures of vehicles and if I do interact with them I would audio record it, as I do all "unpleasant" confrontations. So, I'll have evidence.

The police around here respond fairly quickly too, generally speaking. Conservation, not so much, at least during hunting season.
 
After talking to conservation officers and other LE's, it became apparent poachers and trespassers are not high priorities. They would take notes after the fact, but don't expect a stake out or trying to catch anyone in the act. They were more than willing to pursue the bad guys if you provided them proof of a violation....(ie: photos, eyewitness accounts, or a signed confession by the perps, fingerprints, DNA.) Left me wondering why I had to do the work for them? If that's the way the problem gets solved, I'll play the game with their rules.
 
My brother in law has had a similar problem with poachers, but not to the degree some above have indicated. He's in a very remote area but doesn't have easy access from the main roads, something some poachers seem to like.

2 things seemed to have helped: We installed a camera system that snags license plates and activity, which he does turn into the sheriff after he sees them twice. A call from the sheriff to the license plate owner, after they've been identified seems to help (It's a small east Texas county).

The second is along the lines from johnwilliamson062. They typically shoot up the retaining strap and seat / platform after taping a target on the strap.

They try to avoid direct contact, not a lot good can come out of that.

Good luck, be safe.
 
Here is Wisconsin, trespassing is not a hunting violation but a criminal act. Wardens do not come to a trespass call, the local (generally Countie Mounties) LEOs respond.....and they take trespassing very seriously. They are happy to use photos of backtags, license plates, 4 wheeler registration numbers or photos where the identity can be seen. Photos showing the individuals on your property are evidence. Last year with the couple trespassing and picking morels, the husbands got snarky when I told them to leave the morels they were trying to steal. He claimed I could not prove they were taken from our property. I told him the photo on my cell phone showing them with full ice cream buckets on my property would be hard to deny. I told them they could either empty the buckets and go back to their car and leave or they could wait for the cops to show up and talk about the trespassing and theft charges. Again, they were on my property without permission, in attempt to steal something of mine and the husband still called me a f%&#ing jerk as they walked away. This is the mindset of most trespassers. They somehow feel entitled to use land they did not pay for, do not take care of, nor do they pay taxes on, just because of who they are. Many times, if folks would just stop and ask first, but no, it's better to trespass than to risk the chance of being told no. For some, being told no means they now have to trespass. Like the morel hunters. I watched them drive by slowly twice and saw their brakelights as they parked around the corner, thinking they were out of view from the cabin. The little cover in the woods made it easy to pick out the white ice creme pails they carried....stupid is what stupid does. If I see folks on the property I do not recognize, I always go to see who it is. I generally have my GWP with me, a 1911 in a shoulder holster and a cell phone. Sometimes it's someone lost, a utility worker or someone that does have permission to be there.

I have had trail cams trashed, No Trespassing signs torn down, fences cut and gates left open from trespassers. I have had my opening day of Turkey or deer season interrupted because someone didn't see me in the woods and figured it was open to them, even without permission. The only real deterrent is having someone there or making folks think someone may be there. During the general gun deer seasons, my sons or I leave a vehicle parked at the cabin on our land during the week on days when we aren't there hunting....otherwise some of the neighbors and others feel they are safe to go.
 
Thirty or so years ago my parents bought a piece of property in MS. On this 50 acre plot the house was up front new fences built and life was good. I was there during deer season and walking the property and found the back fence cut an a 4x4 parked in the back pasture, strategically out of sight of the house. I left a note on the windshield telling them that there was a new property owner and they did not have permission to either hunt or access other property from there please do not return. The next day I went out and fixed the fence. A few days later they were there again. This time they returned to a truck with 4 flat tires. The caps were in the pasture and the valve stem cores were in my pocket. I have to admit I thought about cutting the stems but passed on it. No cell phone coverage there in those days so they had a long walk out to get some help. They never showed up again...at least as best as I could tell.
 
In Oklahoma many sheriffs and game wardens are little help in problems with trespassers. Some sheriffs simply refuse to get involved with trespasser issues.

Had big problems with trespassing hunters on one of my properties for years. The place was properly posted. All my neighbors had problems with trespassers too. The sheriff and game warden were no help.

Then a new Dodge diesel pickup belonging to trespassing hunters burned up while parked in tall grass on the adjacent property. No more problems with trespassers.

An acquaintance and his neighbors had problems with a trespassing/poaching neighbor for years. The perp is a local cattle farmer who even shocked his neighbors fish ponds. He took advantage of an OK law that allowed trespass while "searching for missing cattle".

Then the law changed and the "searching for missing cattle" provision was eliminated. The guy continued to poach on his neighbors property until they got together. Result: Some of the perps cattle really did come up missing. End of poaching problem.:D
 
On the land that adjoins mine, the ATV of the trespasser was shot in the engine block as soon as the trespasser got off it and walked about 15 feet away from it. I do not advocate that, but it cured my neighbors trespassing problem. Shame the Sheriff's office could never find out who shot that atv and bring him to justice.:rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
In Missouri, unless your property is posted with a sign or "purple painted" every x number of feet ( it is either 50 or 100) around the perimeter it can NOT be considered posted and you can't prosecute the offenders. That is the first question LEOs will ask when you call in a complaint. Unless your answer is yes, they will not respond. Game wardens will not respond to trespass calls and are very slow to respond to poacher calls despite the fact we have a 1-800 game thief hotline.

Neighbors and personal vigilance are the only ways I know to combat the douche bags without possibly incurring personal liability for flattening tires, etc. as has been suggested previously.
 
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