Theft on the farm

Dave H (MI) · Dec 23, 2015

Frankly, I am shocked by this. Located in a nice area. We have owned the acreage for almost five years and just this past summer bought the house down by the road. House is well lit and looks like someone lives there. It is furnished and I spend many nights there, but no one knows that. West of the house is a good sized wood lot. South of the woodlot is one of my corn fields. To the west of both of those is a large field owned by a neighbor with no trees. They lease this field to deer hunters who sit along the edge of my woodlot. They have done this for as long as I have owned the place without incident. This year, I took my tree stand and laid it on the ground behind the woods on the lane between woods and corn. Last week I noticed it was gone. Looks like it was picked up and carried west a quarter mile to the nearest road. Thought it was time I set my trail cam up again so I put it in the woods along the lane in hopes of catching the trespasser(s). After two days, last night I went out to gather the camera. Camera, security case, and cable lock...all gone. So this time they came with tools to cut locks? And they took every bit of it...not even a broken lock left. Now I am wondering about 3 pt equipment and such that is outside the shed. This is just a terrible thing. People coming off neighbors land to steal. Not sure how to stop this. I am sure the sheriff will do nothing.

BMAG · Dec 23, 2015

Some people are just worthless. There is a house my grandpa rents out on one of our farm properties, it had been vacant for a couple years. One day I was passing the lot, and pulling out of the lane was a dodge pick up truck with the bed full of junk. I slower way down and they pulled out in front of me. I sped up to try and get in front of them to get them stopped, and they hammered the gas. It was a high speed car chase for about 8 miles, down country roads going 80mph. My buddy was going down the road on his tractor and they ran him off the road. It took all I could to maintain 80mph, stay on the road, and write their license plate number down. I called my buddy and he said he got a good look at the fellas and he knew all three of them. He told me their names. I called the cops and gave them the thieves names, their license plate number, truck description, and even where they lived... Think they did anything about it? NO. Since they did not catch them in the act we were crap out of luck. Turns out they ripped up the floors and stole all the copper plumbing out of the house, stole a brand new furnace, hot water heater, and whatever scrap junk they could find laying around the barn lot....

mite-help · Dec 23, 2015

If the only ones in your area is connected to the neighbor's lease, I'd let him know about it. he might pass the word & good guys might weed out the bad, if they aren't connected, they would sure be good lookouts for you.

D beatty · Dec 23, 2015

I sounds like somebody that knows your area well and if you catch them you might even know them. I think your going to have to use the cameras and do a good job of hiding them. You might have to mount them high aimed down. I know you would get in trouble but it would be great to use a snare and find them hanging in a tree.

rbhuntn · Dec 23, 2015

I know that this is kind of worthless to keep people off but you can put up no trespassing signs every 20 feet and paint the property line no hunting purple. I know this will not keep these dregs of society off but then at least then if you catch them on your property the Sheriff Department has to write them up for trespassing.

Other option is ..... I am sure you have digging equipment....

L.Fure · Dec 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 17:25:54 12/23/15) Some people are just worthless. There is a house my grandpa rents out on one of our farm properties, it had been vacant for a couple years. One day I was passing the lot, and pulling out of the lane was a dodge pick up truck with the bed full of junk. I slower way down and they pulled out in front of me. I sped up to try and get in front of them to get them stopped, and they hammered the gas. It was a high speed car chase for about 8 miles, down country roads going 80mph. My buddy was going down the road on his tractor and they ran him off the road. It took all I could to maintain 80mph, stay on the road, and write their license plate number down. I called my buddy and he said he got a good look at the fellas and he knew all three of them. He told me their names. I called the cops and gave them the thieves names, their license plate number, truck description, and even where they lived... Think they did anything about it? NO. Since they did not catch them in the act we were crap out of luck. Turns out they ripped up the floors and stole all the copper plumbing out of the house, stole a brand new furnace, hot water heater, and whatever scrap junk they could find laying around the barn lot....

Start moving your complaint above the sheriff. Find out who his boss is, and if no satisfaction go to the next person. Someone is bound to listen to you. The excuse that they didn't catch them in the act is pretty lame.

dr sportster · Dec 23, 2015

I always place the camera high in a tree pointing down and camoed. I would have expected my camera to be gone at ground level.I read in the paper that some cameras email you if tampered with. That would be a nice feature but I have not seen one that does that.

GordoSD · Dec 23, 2015

You need to lease that land. I had the same situation here. Went to the landowner and told him I would pay the same or more for the hunting lease. He said "those guys don't give me a dime" It's yours! "Go put up your signs"

ss55 · Dec 23, 2015

Somehow I doubt that anyone carried the deer stand 1/4 mile to steal it, they probably drove up to it and hauled it away.

Theft is an ago old problem at vacation homes, vacant farmsteads, hunting shacks, ice houses, etc. These guys sound like they take their time and are well organized, not just some dumb kids. I would still report the problem to your sheriff and insurance company, even if you don't have any faith in them. Secure and document the items you have left, mark them so they can be recovered and take pictures. Can you move the more valuable items to secure off-site storage?

Nick m · Dec 23, 2015

Multiple black flash hidden cameras. Had a couple chainsaws and other things come up missing. I've got xameras everywhere now. Wife thinks I went overboard. Don't care. Really hope they come back.

dhermesc · Dec 23, 2015

Probably your hunters. Some of those guys think they own the place after they've been allowed to hunt and they take other hunters stuff to prevent them from hunting.

DoubleR · Dec 23, 2015

Is the house down by the road the one you were having trouble with the renters a while back before you decided to buy the house?
They know your not there all the time. You could just about bet its someone that knows you don't live their.

ericlb · Dec 23, 2015

some younger people are just worthless, i say young people, as last week i hung Christmas decorations in a subdivision common area,one of my ideas was to put up 2 of those star burst laser lights, now i used my bucket truck to put those in the tops of 2 60 foot tall pine trees, went back at about 9 pm to aim them like i wanted, crossed patterns on the part of the grass, it was beautiful, then the next morning i went back out there to do some light work,about 7 30 am and both were gone,! now nobody my age climbed 2 60 foot trees and stole 2 lites that were only worth about 85 bucks, what made me made was these kids stole Christmas stuff, i mean who does that? cant do anything nice for people anymore without somebody swiping it

Rich_WI · Dec 23, 2015

You could put up a wireless cam but those can be defeated too. Anybody can put a blanket over themselves and walk right up to the cam and smash/steal it, nothing you can do about it and the police cant ID the person. People can also shoot the cams from a distance, too far for the cam to get a good picture but still able to be shot. Multi cams is about the best but unless you get a clear picture of the offender in action, police wont do anything.

Putting up a decoy cam with a well hidden cam pointing at the decoy is a common way to get good pictures of a thief. Only problem is, you could get just nice pictures of an unidentifiable thief or of a freshly shot decoy cam.

Here is a wireless cam, it transmits the pictures to a different location so if the cam gets stolen or destroyed, at least you got the pictures. http://www.spypoint.com/EN/products/trail-cameras/wireless-trail-camera/product-TINY-WBF.html#

dhermesc · Dec 23, 2015

Those "young people" grow old and are still worthless POS when they are in their 50, 60s and 70s. Usually they just learn to hide it better with experience.

sgtbull · Dec 23, 2015

The Sheriff is an elected official. His boss
is the voter. So until the next election,
not much you can do.

jacksun65 · Dec 23, 2015

When scrap is high they will steal anything. Had some old gates and metal poles on hillside washout for fence they climbed up side of hill pulled out poles and took everything. Old military chaplins neighbors stole his trail cams. No morality with todays youngsters. They see it everyday the Gov steals corporations steal No justice.

Ron-MO · Dec 23, 2015

Glad I am not the only one with that experience. This is one reason I do not allow hunting - period. Don't get me wrong, I know not all hunters are thieves, but the ones I have had experience with that do not own property and simply enter without permission, are less than desirable. Prior to moving where I live now I would constantly see evidence where people would hunt or fish (I just called it trespassing), and about once a month every door on every outbuilding would be standing open, often with something missing. Once I starting building and cleaning up the place, I started running anyone off that touched foot on the place. Unfortunately it got worse before it got better, as it made them angry and they cut fences, smashed mailboxes, you name it, but they showed their true colors. I found it took about 5 years of confronting them and giving them unwanted attention, and finally it started letting up. Now it is rare for me to have an issue, and my mailbox has stood untouched for a few years now. I live along a stream crossing a county road, and once in a while I have someone that still believes they have the right to go up the steam, and I have to educate them of the merits of staying within the road. The last crew was an entire family with a UTV stuck in my creek. Fairly sure they will not be back, as they came very close to losing it as I had full intention of either removing myself or having it impounded.

K Effective · Dec 23, 2015

VERY hard to secure a farm with animals and friends coming and going as I like. I am planning on more security in the future.

rbhuntn · Dec 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 13:30:47 12/23/15) Glad I am not the only one with that experience. This is one reason I do not allow hunting - period. Don't get me wrong, I know not all hunters are thieves, but the ones I have had experience with that do not own property and simply enter without permission, are less than desirable. Prior to moving where I live now I would constantly see evidence where people would hunt or fish (I just called it trespassing), and about once a month every door on every outbuilding would be standing open, often with something missing. Once I starting building and cleaning up the place, I started running anyone off that touched foot on the place. Unfortunately it got worse before it got better, as it made them angry and they cut fences, smashed mailboxes, you name it, but they showed their true colors. I found it took about 5 years of confronting them and giving them unwanted attention, and finally it started letting up. Now it is rare for me to have an issue, and my mailbox has stood untouched for a few years now. I live along a stream crossing a county road, and once in a while I have someone that still believes they have the right to go up the steam, and I have to educate them of the merits of staying within the road. The last crew was an entire family with a UTV stuck in my creek. Fairly sure they will not be back, as they came very close to losing it as I had full intention of either removing myself or having it impounded.

Ron,

You are correct not all of us hunter are unethical. I hunt on a friends farm property the is a non-working farm. It was his grandparents farm. We do trash it up. We either burn the trash in the fire pit or haul it away. We make sure that all of his buildings are locked up. We work on the place to help keep the land brush hogged, clean out fence rows, repaired the pond dams and other things to help him out. Maybe my hunting partner and I are the exceptions but the owner really appreciates us helping take care of the place. He has even allowed us to put camp trailers there perm and build roofs over them. We share the electric bill with him as well.

Maybe we are the exceptions.

rbhuntn · Dec 23, 2015

I typoed I was trying to say we do not trash up the place

Dave H (MI) · Dec 23, 2015

Only two ways to access that spot...thru my locked gates (didn't happen) or across a 50 acre fresh plowed wheat field. We are very muddy this year. Any vehicle on those lanes or in a field would be traceable to an access point. These clowns carried it out.

Dave H (MI) · Dec 23, 2015

Actually, I am following up on that. Two occupants back is a guy who poached so blatantly that I had to fence off his property. Just found out he is living around the corner...just a few hundred feet south of that neighbors field. Don't know how he could get by the hunters but he may have another way in.

Dave H (MI) · Dec 23, 2015

That's a nice option. Appreciate the link. I'm in the market too!

Spook · Dec 23, 2015

I had something similar a few years ago. I was taking care of my neighbor's place, and the guy he let hunt there was always trespassing on another property, and the they hunter's there stole his tree stand, ground blind, and some other stuff. He got it back, then it was stolen again. At one point, he came knocking at my door, a deer was down, but he was afraid to carry it out, because the hunters were running thru the woods with flashlights, looking for him. He wanted me to go with him. I declined....

Every time this comes up on some forum, some bozo comes up with the excuse " most hunter's are honest".

My experience: most hunters are situationally honest. They will stretch every rule to the max. I hunted for 30+ years.

Finally, there is a reason that virtually all property is posted. M Most landowners don't want to deal with the problems.

Dave H (MI) · Dec 23, 2015

Or you can be like me....posted AND deal with the problems. If they think you are not there, anything goes.

Married2Allis · Dec 23, 2015

That is really a shame that kind of stuff goes on. Years ago someone was stealing my neighbor's firewood. He was into reloading his own ammunition and decided to 'load' a few logs. He drilled holes in select pieces and filled them with blackpowder then capped them with wood plugs. I'll bet that ended the stealing quick.

RBoots · Dec 23, 2015

Maybe start randomly putting up birdhouses. Painfully obvious at first, especially if in the same location as the other camera was. Put at 7' so you can't just look into them, and you could add and remove cameras if needed, just have to figure a way to mount it in birdhouse. Then birds also have some new homes. If you wanted to, put on up in that area, say 8' high and just see if someone messes with it first. If you put them up all over, slowly, you would think they would be pretty indiscreet, who cares about birdhouses? Just an idea...

Ross

showcrop · Dec 23, 2015

(quoted from post at 09:25:54 12/23/15) Some people are just worthless. There is a house my grandpa rents out on one of our farm properties, it had been vacant for a couple years. One day I was passing the lot, and pulling out of the lane was a dodge pick up truck with the bed full of junk. I slower way down and they pulled out in front of me. I sped up to try and get in front of them to get them stopped, and they hammered the gas. It was a high speed car chase for about 8 miles, down country roads going 80mph. My buddy was going down the road on his tractor and they ran him off the road. It took all I could to maintain 80mph, stay on the road, and write their license plate number down. I called my buddy and he said he got a good look at the fellas and he knew all three of them. He told me their names. I called the cops and gave them the thieves names, their license plate number, truck description, and even where they lived... Think they did anything about it? NO. Since they did not catch them in the act we were crap out of luck. Turns out they ripped up the floors and stole all the copper plumbing out of the house, stole a brand new furnace, hot water heater, and whatever scrap junk they could find laying around the barn lot....

Sounds like you have evidence enough to file a civil suite against them except that chances are they have nothing for he court to award you in a judgement.

Ron-MO · Dec 23, 2015

I agree, I have had a few ask to hunt that I know are honest, and would not harm anything, and I honestly would like the deer herd thinned, but I know if I allow it, the
guys driving the roads will get the wrong message, so I make no exceptions, that way I also do not have to worry about who is hunting, where or when. Another reason is
that I occasionally fire my .243 at a varmint, and this way I never give a thought if anyone is in range. I actually have some signs printed, but have never posted that
state "Rifle Range Impact Area, Keep Out" which should provide some discouragement in entering the property.

davpal · Dec 23, 2015

Put another camera up where they can see it with a tracking device in it. Let the cops go right to the guys house. Now that would be funny. The technology is out there to do it.

Theft on the farm

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