experience last year, tresspassing, theft, during deer season.

My daughter ended up liking a ground blind a few years back, so last year for her birthday in October, I bought her one of those see through blinds. We set it up on our property in the woods on flat ground. Hunting out of it, and a field opening weekend. The following weekend, we had something come up (stuff always comes up during gun season), and couldnt make it out. My step brother had his daughter with him in it once, another time, then went further out back, and into the steep hollar. He ended up texting me that weekend asking if I had put up a tree stand on the back of our property at the bottome of the hollar. Told him I hadnt. It was taken down. My step father went about asking a few close neibhors about it. Everyone said no, etc, they were not the type to do stuff like that. There were some suspicions of another family though.

The last weekend we came out, our blind was gone. So, guessing whomevers stand that was, noticed it missing, and came up top, saw the blind and took it.

Anyone else experienced things like this, and how did you handle it? I have some no tresspassing signs / no hunting signs that I plan to put out. But if our suspisions are correct on whom it was, someone who has had a past history of poaching, drugs, and theft.

I'd post it with blatantly obvious signage, run an ad in the local public notices, and alert local law enforcement of your previous issue.
Hopefully they will take interest.

If that doesnt help your situation, get more creative. And direct.

A lot of people get mad at landowners who post their land, but growing up we had a decent size chunk of land and dealt with crap like that all the time.
Posting it likely won't help with the type you are describing, but its a necessary first step.
I'd suggest getting the signs that include "Without WRITTEN permission".
Doesnt mean you ever have to give anyone permission but makes you look a little less like an a-hole.

Good luck.

Keep us posted!

Sorry, just a little humor for a dull Friday night...

Trail cameras. The best way to set them is to put a cheap one (doesn't have to work) at ground level for the trespassers to see. Have a good one at a higher spot where it isn't noticeable and point in the direction of the other. They will steal the cheapo and you will have your subject and proof of trespassing and theft.

birddog 68 said:

Trail cameras. The best way to set them is to put a cheap one (doesn't have to work) at ground level for the trespassers to see. Have a good one at a higher spot where it isn't noticeable and point in the direction of the other. They will steal the cheapo and you will have your subject and proof of trespassing and theft.

Click to expand...

That was one thing I was thinking about doing. I have some old ones that dont work.

MtPockets said:

A lot of people get mad at landowners who post their land, but growing up we had a decent size chunk of land and dealt with crap like that all the time.
Posting it likely won't help with the type you are describing, but its a necessary first step.
I'd suggest getting the signs that include "Without WRITTEN permission".
Doesnt mean you ever have to give anyone permission but makes you look a little less like an a-hole.

Good luck.

Keep us posted!

Sorry, just a little humor for a dull Friday night...

Click to expand...

Alot of neigbhors around, but they know we hunt back there, often times get to hunt on anothers land. But, he passed away a few weeks ago(cancer). The world will be a darker place without him. Most know though if they say, shoot a deer, and it runs and expires on our property. Np with getting it, heck, let us know and we would glady help them recover it. Most of us help one another out there.

birddog 68 said:

Trail cameras. The best way to set them is to put a cheap one (doesn't have to work) at ground level for the trespassers to see. Have a good one at a higher spot where it isn't noticeable and point in the direction of the other. They will steal the cheapo and you will have your subject and proof of trespassing and theft.

Click to expand...

That's a great idea!

Make it a cellular camera, if at all possible.

birddog 68 said:

Trail cameras. The best way to set them is to put a cheap one (doesn't have to work) at ground level for the trespassers to see. Have a good one at a higher spot where it isn't noticeable and point in the direction of the other. They will steal the cheapo and you will have your subject and proof of trespassing and theft.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what we have done before.
A trespasser carrying a shotgun opened the camera to steal the SD Card so I wouldn't know who came scouting...but my other camera caught him bent over taking it out.

Trail cameras everywhere..... in the open so they can see plus hidden ones.

Block every access point. Barbed wire, gates... make it hard for them to get on your land.

You need to make them not want to come on your land. Too much work, hassle, uncomfortable.

I walked into home depot today and just about sh#t my pants with all the creepy ghosts, goblins, Halloween freaks.

Put one of those near access points so if they come walking they walk up face to face with one of those in the dark.

Not a chance in hell I'd ever come back on that property if I came up to this in the dark....

Put glow in the dark stickers on the eyes or reflector eyes...

Cant block the access. Its unfenced, and some areas on my land are so steep you need to slide down sitting. A small creek in areas divide the land...some of the land on other side is even to steep to go down on your rear. Havnt ever seen anyone or heard of anyone else going down to some parts, but sometimes, thats where our bigger bucks travel. They followed the creek in, from a mile or so through the woods we think. No idea why they came to my land.

mazroth said:

That was one thing I was thinking about doing. I have some old ones that dont work.

Click to expand...

It works very well

Alot of neigbhors around, but they know we hunt back there, often times get to hunt on anothers land. But, he passed away a few weeks ago(cancer). The world will be a darker place without him.

I have battled trespassers for over 8 years, Essentially since we bought this farm. They even cut down trees to get at my cameras (which were intentionally put high). I was shot in the arm and leg during turkey season 3 years ago by a trespasser. The season before last someone shot at me in the dark with a rifle, the round passed through the collar of my jacket just above my collar bone but fortunately missed me. I routinely find dead bucks with there heads cut off. I finally got clever and bought some dicreet cameras (for nurseries) and some apple air tags. It has paid dividends in catching the !##$%^

It is hard to keep trespassers off your land. Many years ago a good friend had a 300 acre piece of land in a very rural area. We spent a great deal of time and effort improving this hunting area. Permanent hunting stands, small food plots, posting the perimeter, etc. We would occasionally run into trespassers and would clearly ask them not to continue to hunt or trespass. A couple of years later we came across a tree stand literally 100 feet from one of our large permanent tree stands. My friend removed the stand. A week or so later we came back to find the permanent stand completely destroyed. Low life people are not easily deterred. They actually attempted to burn the property after we confronted them the next year. Law enforcement did not help, and my friend sold the property.