I don't blame you. That would upset me so much. There were 3 deer here. We don't have a lot of deer around here, and so they have never been a problem. Two does and a buck. I hadn't seen them in a long time and was told that the local drunk/red neck/hog hunter had killed them. This low life owns no property...lives on one acre in a trashed out house trailer.

But I got some good news the other day. I don't normally wish bad for other people, but he was waiting to go to court on 4 DWIs, and got drunk, ran over someone and now is looking at 15 years. His girlfriend is already doing 5 years for the same thing.

I hope your landscaper gets caught. I know one thing, game wardens are very strict. I had already decided when I catch someone trespassing on my property again, which is usually ATVs making a big mess after a rain, I am going to start calling the game wardens and tell them I think they were back there hunting. I think it will do more than when I've had to call the sheriff dept. on them

We have an old trail that winds through some of our property. It's beautiful, and I love to walk back there, and I don't mind people riding horses through there, but I hate the noise and the mess left behind by the ATVs.

I know how you feel. We live in the country, with no neighbors close by. On several occasions, we have had trespassers. Once, DH saw someone digging up plants on our land. He told DH he didn't know anyone lived here. Helllloooo--a 5,000 sq. ft. house (with furniture on all 3 porches) didn't provide a clue that someone lived here??? And even if no one lived here, did that make it OK to steal? Oh, and DH let him take the plants he had already dug up!!!

Several times, DH has approached hunters on our land. One guy said he saw a black bear and was going to shoot it. DH told him it's our "pet" black bear, AND it's our land. We posted "No Trespassing" signs, but they disappear. I guess if you take the sign down, it's OK to trespass...

My cousin has a home and barn in the country with 50 acres. People use her land for dumping unwanted kittens, hunting, and snowmobiling. Even with "No trespassing" signs. They even park in her driveway during their "visits." And if they see her, some wave hello!

Discouraging, indeed! I wish I lived closer......I would patrol your land with my camera around my neck.

But not during hunting season. I'm a good friend, but I'm not suicidal. (I almost said "I'm not crazy," but I decided that was a bit of a stretch.)

Marilynn - If that guy has 4 DWI's I certainly do hope they put him away for 15 years. I agree with you about the game wardens. They told me that they've been trying to catch him for a few years now. I think he's really annoyed them.

Wanda - Your husband must be a really sweet fellow to let that guy keep the plants. I could just picture my husband doing the same thing.

Jannie your post about your cousin reminded me of the time we were sitting on our front porch and a car came up our driveway and saw us and tried to turn around and leave. But my husband walked over and asked them what they were doing and the driver said he just wanted to know if there was a house for sale at the end of the driveway. My husband said it wasn't for sale and that he was trespassing. The driver replied - well it's too small for us anyway. My quick thinking husband told them that this was just the caretaker's house and that the big house was behind the hill.

Susan I don't think you'd make a very threatening security officer. But I always take my camera with me now when I'm out just in case I see someone I could snap a photo of them. We're also thinking about nailing a security camera to a tree at the entrance to the driveway where it's very visible with a sign that states 'this property under video surveillance.' Even though that camera wouldn't be operable maybe it would make someone think twice before proceeding. And if they disable that one they'd never know if other cameras might be hidden in the area.

People like that give good hunters a bad name. (Crap, they give PEOPLE a bad name!)

Sorry that you guys have had such bad experiences. If I owned any amount of land at all I'd have fences and gates and nasty signs everywhere!

Well, after running over someone, he has 5 now. :))

Oh boy, does this post hit home. We've owned 50 acres for the last 12 years which is undeveloped and we don't live there. For years my no hunting, private, no trespassing, chain have all been taken. ATV trails developed too. Now out land directly adjacent to us has someone finally living there. We've met the new neighbour who has the same frame of mind as we do to preserve the land, enjoy the wildlife. We email each other. He asked us if he could have some of the dead wood for firewood - we told him to help himself since most of his land is a beautiful waterfront and ours is forest. There is enough deadwood for the next 10 years if he wants it. Also, since he moved in the ATV trails have overgrown (people don't know how much is owned by the home next door since there is no home on our land). I did not mind if the cottagers wanted to go for a walk - when we have driven up for a day I always made a point of introducing myself and saying hello - I have told them we don't mind if they walk through to enjoy the land but please respect our land and don't leave garbage, beer bottles. These folk were older people, many from our city. Now all of that has stopped. We've also had someone dump roof shingles - it cost money to take that to disposal so they used our land...along with a large chest freezer and hot water heater. Nice folk. I can't do much while living in the city but our neighbour's presence has stopped all of that. We email each other and keep in touch. We also learned the person hunting deer on our property who left the legs....lives right across the street. So we asked him to let the neighbour know we don't appreciate deer hunting on our property. If necessary we will drive up to his door and have a wee chat - I'd rather not though because over all the folk over the last 10 years who have purchased adjacent properties are really nice people. I am hoping to stop over next time we visit our land to introduce ourselves and say hello. I prefer a friendly approach first, get email addresses, keep in touch so that by the time (I wish it were YESTERDAY) we build out there we know our neighbours.

It sure grates on my nerves what people do who don't live there as well...I've lost sleep for a long time being pissed off. Now I've learned to let go and stop worrying/getting pissed off because I really can't do much about it living here. Having our new neighbour has been a godsend for us. He is a super guy and.....a retired sewing machine/electronic repair guy...I'm a quilter.........

At any rate things have now improved for us but I totally understand the frustration.

Ya Ya, fences, gates and nasty signs have no effect on trespassers. They've been known to leave gates open and a neighbor seeing it open, closed it for us. Lucky that he saw it or our cattle might have been parading off down the road.

"NO TRESPASSING"

"Caution: This area is bear-trapped".

"Hint: We're not totally heartless: we hide a knife (and a rope for a tourniquet) within reach, so that you can cut your leg off before you starve to death".

ole joyful

P.S. "Jamming devices installed to scramble cell-phone signals within a half mile radius of the traps".

(Maybe we are near to totally heartless, after all!).

o j

o j - we think alike!

I wanted to put one of those 'Reverse treadles will damage tires' signs at the entrance to the driveway and another one that said the area was booby trapped. And one that says 'Danger, radioactive waste dump' might make some people pause.

In our state, a certain shade of purple paint on trees or posts acts exactly the same as a "Posted-No Trespassing" sign. You might call someone and see if your area has something similar. Signs may disappear, but it takes years for paint to fade.

We live on about 90 acres and have the occasional looky-Lou come down our long, narrow and winding driveeway. Sometimes they're looking for someplace to hunt/poach or they might be selling something or pushing religion, but it's quite rare. More often, we'll find evidence of them out near the highway, 1/3 mile away, where they've used our driveway as their bathroom, or lover's lane, or picnic area. Or they just turn around out by the highway and fall into the ditch on the side of the drive, those ones tickle me because sometimes it requires a wrecker to get pulled out, it's deep and sided with bedrock. lol And since no one can seem to turn around without knocking our mailbox and breaking the post, we find that fairly often, too.

It always amuses me that the game wardens KNOW who the biggest offenders are but can't seem to catch them. That happens around here, too.

IMO, consequences for actions speak louder than warnings. We will prosecute anyone who breaks the law on our land, be it trespassing, poaching (but I think that's the State's responsibility), stealing firewood, whatever, if we catch them. Warning, shmorning. :)

Have any of you ever thought you should try to get to know the locals? I'm not talking the neighbors who have just moved in. I'm talking the people who have always lived there. I know lots of people who have cabins here. I can honestly say that those who get to know the locals have no real problems like the stuff you describe. I know around here that some of the cabin people have some real attitudes to the "locals" and thus they can have some real problems with both the locals and the law enforcment. I'm not saying that anyone here does this but I know it is quite common here.

Just get out and meet a few of the real locals and just possibly some of your problems will stop. You will then have a network that will watch out for your property when you are gone. Give it a try.