What would you do if you were sitting in your stand or blind on that perfect November day and some random hunter who was trespassing on your land or lease walked up? What if they had a rifle and you had a bow? What if they didn't see you? Maybee you were hunting with your wife or kids.... A friend of mine ,(no seriously) had this happen to him twice from the same stand on private land. Both times he yelled "HEY" loudly and the dude ran off. Then he showed up to slip in a hunt a few days later, after work, and his stand was gone! WTF right? What is the best way to deal with this kind of "situation"?
That is a tough one, I would say put some cameras in a few areas and see if you can catch them on camera so when you report them you will have proof. Not real sure if I would confront them unless I was armed heavier than they were.
Just right it off as bad luck and go on hunting. If it happens again then worry about it. Put up a few more no trespassing signs and call it a day. IMO
Honestly i would have confronted him the very second i saw him. I would go up to him very respectful and calm the first time because you never know the situation. The second time he does it im not going to be so nice since i already spoke to him. Now i am assuming that its bow season and if he has a rifle i might even call the game warden. Even though i am not allowed to have a CW while im archery hunting i would carry some type of handgun if i had one.
I had a deer lease and during Oct. bow season a lot of people would ride there 4 wheelers through it and I got the game wardens email and I would walk up to them and take a quick picture with my phone and then email it and then I would explain to them what I did and if they came back he would already know who they were and I wouldn't see that particular person again and after some time word must got around and people quit coming. Taking a picture of someone and emailing it usually takes the fight out of them quick, knowing they cant stop there picture from reaching other people.
Like it hound, Might be a bit leary of approching someone with a firearm. Although a slim possibility, some doofus might shoot you before you could explain what ya did with their photo and that in carrying out what they are thinking, would likely result in them spending many of their remaining years as big Bubba's personal lover in the state pen.
If he didn't see me I would have let him proceed to do what ever he was going to do. If I had a phone to take pics or video him, I would have done that then called the cops or the GW's. As far as the stand goes, I don't think the guy would have stolen it had the trespasser been A.) Alerted the guy to where the stand was B.) Game Wardens would have caught him red handed which would have probably kept him from steeling the stand. The situation he is in now, there isn't much he can do. He has no proof and all he can say is he saw him. His word against the other guys. He could hang a stand back in the same tree. Then use a climber to get up higher in another tree and put up a camera. Doesn't have to be an expensive one either. Something like I used. A $40 Wild Game innovations cam. Give it some time and eventually, something will happen. I have one 18' up a tree right now waiting on a trespasser. When I get his pic, I will be calling a certain officer who knows about the situation and he will handle it from there.
I have had guys walk in on our lease and I have got right in their face and let them know I would not TOLERATE it! I have also gotten pics of trespassers and have lost a camera. I know confronting someone might not be the smartest thing to do, and I wouldnt tell some one else to do it, but when I see some one I can not help my self I get so mad.
This is coming from a land owner. I payed a lot of money for my land, and nobody has the rights to hunt on it but me and whoever I choose. I would get down out of my stand, track him to where he is going. I would ask him if he knows where he is and who's land he is on. I would then tell him he was on my property, and he is breaking the law. I would tell him to leave and not to come back. I would let him know that if he did, I would have him arrested for trespassing. Unless it was a particular individual that I know, then, it would be straight to jail for him period!
I have had it happen also! He was not tresspassing as it was public ground at the time. He came in with a rifle in Bow season, walked right under my stand. He also had a 2 bags of water softner salt pellets and a hatchet. I watched him dig a hole 10 yards behind me and dump in a bag of salt. He then left deeper in the woods with the other bag. I climbed down and called the warden. Yeah he caught him when he came out. The guy got fined as minerals are Illegal during the season and he was littering as he through down the empty bags in the woods. Dont know what happened with the rifle issue! He also made him dig it all back up. I moved my stand and days later arrowed a nice 9 point that happened to die 10 yards from the ground blind the guy had made from brush. I gutted my Buck and layed his junk on the guys fold up stool
Call the warden an local pd an just keep tabs on the dude til they arrive --- I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=36.090196,-95.893699
Happened to me once in gun season except the guy was in my treestand. When he saw me coming he took off his orange and climbed down attempting to sneak off without me noticing. I confronted him asking who he was and what he was doing on the property and instead of answering my questions he asked me who gave me permission to hunt my own land! Haven't seen him since.
Myself and the old man where hunting a spot that I had just received permission for a couple weeks prior. we both where on a tree line over looking some beans, I saw my dad walking down the tree line toward me so I checked my watch and was thinking it was a little early to call it quits (thought maybe he had a deer down) so i quickly got out of my stand. the first thing he said to me was how sure was I that we where on the land we where suppose to be. I said 100% and pointed over at the land owners house which was no more then 400 yards away. Thats when I saw the jeep driving down the tree line he said it was a kid with a shotgun in camo. the kid looked like he was going to piss his pants, he had nowhere to go except right down the trail toward us. he said he was duck hunting a pond back in the woods with some of his friends who live down the road and have access to the pond, I said that did not make any sense, if your friends backyard goes right up to the pond then what are you driving down this trail to hike a good 500 yards through the woods back to a small pond? He just stuttered and repeated himself, I took out my phone took a picture of his vehicle and license plate and never saw him after that. I drove down the road stopping at all the houses that may have had access to the pond and none of them said there kids duck hunted.
Cell phone pictures are great if you can get a close up. Text the message to someone you trust then confront the guy in a very polite manner. There may be a logical explanation (I doubt it) especially if it is a new hunting spot to you. He could be lost, or has been hunting this spot for years and didn't know anyone really cared. At either way, don't get into a shout out or a shoot out. You've got the picture and you can decide what to do based on the quality of your conversation. If he gets loud... just walk off politely and call the GW. Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
I would let him have it. Honestly, it would make me so mad I would not care. I may be scared of drug growers on public land but I'm sure not going to be scared protecting my land from a trespasser. No fear man! My blood is boiling just thinking about it.
If I walked up and found them in my stand I'd be livid. I don't even know what I'd say actually. Prolly just a big ole' WTF mate? If he didn't get down and leave we'd have a problem, but if he got down and never came back I'd prolly just move my stand and keep hunting. Tough thing.
