Contact sheriff's office AND game rangers. Especially if the tracks in snow are still visible, demand a deputy come see.
What to do about persistent poachers?
- Thread starter Kdawg
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Set up and hunt exactly where they hunt. It's your land, hunt as they hunt, hunt on your property right under their stands and have no regrets. Sh*t on their tree stands, throw gear oil all around their stands that are on your property, Set up close to their stands without them knowing and take a shot early and scare the sh*t out of them. I did that a few years ago to a guy that was hunting too close to me, maybe 50 yards away. I was in the stand earlier and then he came in to his stand, had no idea I was there. I took a random shot at daybreak. Never saw the guy again. And he left his stand for me to take.
Game warden involvement is key but their generally not interested in property rights, more toward the poaching aspect. Another idea is to deputize a group of hunters that you invite onto the property. Advertise 400 acres for hunting and there will be calls. Deputize them all as watch dogs on the property as they hint for free. The farm I hunt in the catskills had that system. 300 acres and 13 hunters. We all had the owners permission and all had a piece of paper with a number and all of our names. If somebody was seen in the woods, we all knew we were able to be asked our number to match against the list. If not on there, they were told to leave. If the didn't leave, 13 hunters were after the guy in a heartbeat. It worked for years. Now the grandson has a very few people on the farm and as a result, there have been more invaders and poachers.
Random barbed wire in the woods works too. I've walked into that in the dark plenty of times on the old farm.
Follow all of this to the letter.
Notify EVERY law enforcement agency within 20 miles. The criminals may be doing this all around, and simply come home to roost.
Introduce yourself to as many local police officers, you can find, in your neighborhood.
Go thru the firehouse looking for law eng. names to connect with. The safety of your property is on every first responders mind, all day, everyday. This is a nugget.
Offer a reward, thats clearly bonafided. These ******** will rat each out for a 6-pk. Imagine how fast your Great Dogs killer gets fingered down at the Co-op, TSC Store, or favorite breakfast diner......
Make your concerns crystal clear to all you consider to be a friend.
You could look into leasing the hunting rights to a group of reputable hunters and give them a bounty if they collect evidence of the others using the land without permission.
Cricket
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I've known people who hid their cameras pretty good - and then a second couple *real* good. Nobody was looking for the second ones.
400 acres is only manageable with boots on the ground. Patrols, as mentioned above, serve your stature in the area. Now the mystery is, who are the reputable hunters? Law, Fire, EMT, and Veterans.
The "non violent" part makes any of this tough for you...I own land bordering state land in MN but not enough to be a "farm" so I have to post and come across as a Ahole to the Citiots who come up and hunt in the State woods to keep them away...it sucks but if your a "Giver" its hard to deal with "Takers"(look up the "Giver and Taker" thing it will help explain their attitude....If this was big enough to be a farm(and I farmed it) I'd be protected by the no tespassing laws without doing anything.....so get a hunting licence booklet and look up the laws and go from there...Good luck, Michael
I’m Leary of retaliation physically because I have more things in the open that could be sabotaged in return. Sure I could, and have installed camera systems on barns, etc assets they could attack, but a burned down barn is still just that. A shot horse or cow is easy to pull off and just about impossible to defend against. I tend to lean toward making poaching expensive. Call them out publicly and Sue them and have it cost them thousands in legal fees, but have not done the later yet. Thanks for your thoughts.
Yes, more reputable hunters. Got two hunting unsuccessfully for free this year but they can’t guard against 4:30 am drives these guys do.
I have posted the property but the next day or week the signs are down. Probably going to paint perimeter trunks plus post signs next. The reason the guy who shot the coyote on my land did not get cited this time, or last time, was that, according to the conservation officer, who responded to the scene was the property line didn’t have “enough” posted signs. Even though the tracks onto my property could be clearly seen passing within 3 feet of a sign they hadn’t torn down yet. Amazing. Thanks for your insights. Much appreciated.
As others have said: start with wildlife officer. This is their job. Certainly when you see tracks in the snow.
Next time you hear the shooting, call 911 and report "Shots fired by my house...please get here, I don't want to be forced to have to defend myself!"
Cameras: best idea I've seen for them: put up bird houses...every now and then one of those bird houses has a camera in it. Bluebird houses work great because they are the right size and height.
Are they leaving stands in your woods? If so, take them down ASAP. Sell them to pay for more cameras. This isn't theft...they are on your property. I worked with an absentee landowner client who took one down in his woods put a lost and fond notice in the local paper (yes, this was several years ago) for the stand. Guy called. Client said "let's meet next Tuesday". Called game protector "Wanna write a ticket next Tuesday". Yes, in fact he did. But I'd just sell them.
As others have said, find people you know and can trust and give them permission to hunt. Have them label their stands. Let all of those with permission know who else has permission. "If you see anybody else out here, call the game protector. If you see a stand that doesn't belong to those who have permission, please take it."
Next time you hear the shooting, call 911 and report "Shots fired by my house...please get here, I don't want to be forced to have to defend myself!"
Cameras: best idea I've seen for them: put up bird houses...every now and then one of those bird houses has a camera in it. Bluebird houses work great because they are the right size and height.
Are they leaving stands in your woods? If so, take them down ASAP. Sell them to pay for more cameras. This isn't theft...they are on your property. I worked with an absentee landowner client who took one down in his woods put a lost and fond notice in the local paper (yes, this was several years ago) for the stand. Guy called. Client said "let's meet next Tuesday". Called game protector "Wanna write a ticket next Tuesday". Yes, in fact he did. But I'd just sell them.
As others have said, find people you know and can trust and give them permission to hunt. Have them label their stands. Let all of those with permission know who else has permission. "If you see anybody else out here, call the game protector. If you see a stand that doesn't belong to those who have permission, please take it."
I’m going to cultivate a hunting group this coming year from exactly that list. Good call.
Sorry I’m late to the party. I know how frustrating this can be but please resist the urge to do something that’s going to land you in jail. The big thing here is knowing the laws yourself. What do you need to prove a trespassing, theft, vandalism, or poaching case in NY? In NJ, for trespassing, the property has to be marked no trespassing with property line clearly marked. Or the violator has to have been warned, in person or in writing, in the past. Once you have satisfied these requirements, they are in violation if they ignore them. Destroying your signs would be criminal mischief (or vandalism or destruction of property), stealing your cameras would be theft (or larceny). The values of both the vandalism and theft will dictate what grade the offense is or whether or not an officer will sign charges or whether you have to go to court and do so yourself. For example, in NJ, for theft under $200, it’s a disorderly persons offense, not a crime, and you would need to sign your own charges. With all that said, you need evidence. A video or photos of the tracks leading onto your property and back off. Photos of people and vehicles, especially capturing the license plate. Place your cameras well hidden or out of reach. I suggest getting a WiFi trail cam so the photos are instantly sent to your phone or email. That way if the A-hole steals it, it’s too late for him. You already have your footage. Turn all your evidence over to law enforcement and provide a statement. Keep a log so you’re very accurate with dates/times. Also, you may want to have an attorney draft a letter and deliver it to the neighbor warning them that they are not to enter your land and future violations of trespassing will result in charges. There are few things that change attitudes as well as applying handcuffs. It’s a shame they couldn’t just be decent.
Are signs required or just adequate property markings? Looks like NY doesn't have a purple paint law...but I'd still paint trees every 66'. Orange, purple, light blue shows up really well.
I agree with the outsider problem. Problem with my program of field improvement with yearly investment of $3-5k in clover, Jerusalem artichoke, hay making strategically to allow for luxurious deer nutrition through the winter is that these jokers are even more rabid for the 10-12+ point bucks it cultivates. And it makes them insane and willing to poach those nicer animals on my land because they don’t leave their new generous food source. Lord have mercy when I plant the 5000 apple trees planned in the next year or two. They are all takers and feel entitled to take whatever they want…
The "nail"/retaliation could cost YOU thousands...Our DNR here would be all over this thing!!! They can be NUTS here...If you have live stock here it really makes it illegal(not that poaching isn't) to shoot near them...1000' or so here?...but I would be worried about the burned barn too...IF I could buy 400 acres here I'd have some damn nice things inside that barn!!!!!!!
MichaelI enjoy farming and don’t necessarily need to earn a living doing it. I’d like to pay the property taxes with the hunting and continue to improve deer habitat and nutrition yearly. yes, am not too worried about it except that it endangers my family, my livestock, and my dog is dead. I found where one stray bullet lodged in the side of my horse trailer. It sends a chill down the spine, for sure. Some of the poachers are 20-somethings, usually drunk. But 5 or so of the regular poachers in the family are in their 40’s 50’s and upper 60’s. They should know better and act better but evidence shows they don’t.
Ha! Darn Geneva conventions.
Exactly, and spent a tremendous amount on a lift, 2000 slates, hundreds of pounds of copper, new windows, new Timbers and installed all of that myself to restore (not completely yet) the one barn. More time money sweat and tears on two others.The "nail"/retaliation could cost YOU thousands...Our DNR here would be all over this thing!!! They can be NUTS here...If you have live stock here it really makes it illegal(not that poaching isn't) to shoot near them...1000' or so here?...but I would be worried about the burned barn too...IF I could buy 400 acres here I'd have some damn nice things inside that barn!!!!!!!
I will send a cease and desist demand Along with a specific legal notice against trespassing to each of them in the coming week.
I took to hanging the no trespassing signs high enough in the trees that they’d need a ladder to snag them, which prompted the criticism from the game warden that they were too high. SMH. Yes the game cameras will be hung high and well camouflaged from now on.
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