That's all I saw this weekend. The trespassers actually had the nuts to tell me "they knew" they were trespassing, when I was screaming at them from my stand. They were 50 yards out before they realized I was there (I was wearing orange!!!) and I started yelling at them. They hightailed it out of there before I was able to get out of the tree, luckily I had the clear thought to call my dad on my cell phone before making my presence known.......he circled the property in his truck trying to catch them on the way out but they somehow slipped us. I'm pretty sure they were the ones who stole stuff last year, and I'm 99% sure I know who they were based on the direction they headed during their exit strategy. When following their tracks, they walked through the property line at less than 10 ft from posted signs. Let me tell you, there are few things in life that make my blood boil worse than driving 4 hours one way, to hunt for one day, on a property that you have invested thousands of dollars into every year................just to have a pair of idiots stumble into a core bedding area at 9am from the wrong wind direction. I could hear them crunching through the snow and talking loudly from 100+ yards away, what slobs. I'm usually a pretty mellow guy but it's probably best I didn't personally catch them while I was alone that morning. These are the same guys that last year I found a corn pile 20 yards away from my property line. I'm going to try and see if I can find another corn pile next season, and at least have this "taken care" of by the PGC. I'll also report the incident to the PGC later today so they have it on record. I'll be back at it during the late season after x-mas. The good news is that I don't know of anyone that has shot one of the better bucks we got pics of this year, and the firearms season is finally over. Hopefully several of them make it through to next year, and if we are really lucky, maybe Dan or I will connect with one during the late season.
Glad you at least saw them, maybe they will stay out. Its one thing for someone to mistakenly get on your land but its another for people to know they have no business being there.
Man, I can't imagine. I get worked up over my land that is right next to my house. If I had to drive like you, I would have been really mad. It's a violation that most people just don't understand.
That's got to be VERY frustrating. I feel bad for you Matt. To be honest, it's situations like this that have kept me from attempting to own my own hunting land. I could never afford anything close enough to where I live, and being too far away from my land and running into a situation as you describe would make me irate to no end. Especially since the trespass laws in this state are all but meaningless.
I'm pissed off for you Matt as I know just who your talking about and I know how hard you work at it. SOB! Wish I would have been there with you. Then again, ....
i have had some really stud places to hunt in the past, couple spots kept giving me problems, like cig butts stuffed into the tree from someone smoking from my stand, to every thing stolen,stands and steps all the way up to my truck vandalized with flat tires and someone stole my plates, the last guy was the dad of the landowner that met me on many occasions would leave me notes on my truck window, one day i saw him leave the note and went to the house and showed the landowner the note and who left it. i told him i wont be back, and you dad has a problem . i would rather hunt a place where i have no problems and zero deer than hunt where i have to worry about my truck or my stands.
I'm not sure if there is any other way of taking of the corn issue or not. But if reported there is a good chance that the game commission will block off a 500yd radius around the corn pile with "baited area" signs and it will be off limits for hunting for 30 days i believe. Not sure if it gets handled this way everytime but just something to think about.
Pretty much stereotypical situation in PA. Like Ben said, I live right next to the land I hunt, and I STILL have problems with trespassers (just followed a set of tracks coming off the neighbors and onto us last week), I couldn't imagine trying to deal with it being so far away. It's not fair seeing as you put all that time and effort into your property only to have others walk into thinking they own the place. Simply frustrating, Matt.
how about on a piece of ground that you cant keep a eye on . while your there on the ground simply call the sheriff dept and who ever shows up give them written permission to hunt the ground, also have them have you sign trespassing complaints forms while your there,(so they can prosecute) without you having to come all the way to court... word get's around fast.:D
Thanks for the thoughts guys, I appreciate it. We will deal with this accordingly. I would gladly give up the first month of archery season to bust this guy. The area of my property where his corn pile butts up to is a bedding area that I never go into until November anyhow. I've got a pile of other good spots to hunt on this property well outside of 500 yards, I've also got another 3 good properties to hunt that are MUCH closer to home. I can promise I will not lose this battle, I guarantee he will end up with a pocket full of citations and his name in the paper before the end of the 2010 season.
Sort of an offtopic, Matt, but are you still planning to move to the area someday? Maybe that could be some light at the end of the tunnel so to speak.
