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MTY

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I was sitting up reading late Wednesday. At 2345 some one fired off a round just below my house. It was about 50 yards away. I killed the lights, and stepped outside. After a few minutes I heard someone drive off. I can see the road above my house, in the direction the truck went, and I watched for a short time, but never saw anyone drive past.
Thursday morning I walked down to where the shot was taken. I could not find a critter, spent brass, or blood. There were quite a few fresh elk tracks. I took a load of wood to the other house that afternoon, and I did not get back until Friday afternoon.

Friday it rained most of the day. The guy who purchased the property next to mine showed up Friday afternoon to have a chat. He had game cam pictures of a man with a rifle coming down the property line between his place and mine. Between us we have about 75 acres, but he lives in town 45 minutes away.

The pictures were time stamped about ten minutes or so after the truck took off from below my place. The guy with the rifle was about 300 yards max from my house when the picture was taken. I have no way to tell how close he came to the house. I did not get a picture of him on my camera in that area.

Today I walked around a bit with my dog, and I found quite a bit of elk sign in the area around where the picture was taken. I hope the pictured person was a poacher, because living out here a mile or two from any neighbors makes me take a dim view of anyone sneaking around my place at night. Being armed automatically makes them a threat. Poaching would have been the best thing he could have been doing.
 
That sucks... I dont understand how some people couldnt care less about other people and their property. Its amazing how many idiots there truly are out in this world
 
My neighbor called the warden. When he did, the game warden told him he had just spoken to me. So there are two reports on this. The neighbor has cameras that notify him via cell phone. Even though he may live in town, he gets instant updates on what is going on out here.
 
I know what you mean, one year while hunting my own woods a person in a tree stand climed down to inform me the property was private land and he knew the owner and I didn't have permission to be there. I promptly informed he I did have permission because I owned that 50 acres of woods, demanded he show me his license. Turns out he was from a neighboring town and I ushered his back side off the property I did show my address to prove my ownership I also pointed out the state land across the road when he said to many hunters there.... The nerve!
Coupe
 
I'm on my 11th mailbox. Last guy that screwed with me got 5 years federal for felon in possession of firearm and a state case for road hunting. He dropped a dime, said he would shoot me between the eyes. Some sort of "destructive device" went off, thrown from a vehicle, close enough to rattle my windows. Death threats yelled from slowly-moving vehicles went on for about a year. His family's history for serious crime goes back generations. Not all poachers simply slink back to their haunts nor are intimidated by the law.

He shot a fawn at dark from the road, directly in line with my home and family, using a spotlight.

My land (206 acres) is posted. We publish a "No Trespassing" notice in the local paper. Because I manage my property for wildlife, I have deer, turkey, quail, bobcats, coyotes, eagles, waterfowl, coons, beaver, and on occasion, otters. Where others bulldoze fencerows and make big dollars planting every acre, I have 30 acres in CRP/WRP. Last property sold nearby went for $8,000 an acre.

Road hunters and especially spotlighters have no clue what's behind their target. Many don't even retrieve the animals they wound or kill. The only "season" they observe is salt and pepper. My "reputation" has earned very real dangers, but also grudging respect and fewer trespassers. Around here, barns and houses have burned. So....enjoy firearms deer season. I choose "primitive weapons" season - a week in my woods with flintlock or percussion and less chance of being a "statistic" (whether accidental or intentional).
 
I know what you mean, one year while hunting my own woods a person in a tree stand climed down to inform me the property was private land and he knew the owner and I didn't have permission to be there. I promptly informed he I did have permission because I owned that 50 acres of woods, demanded he show me his license. Turns out he was from a neighboring town and I ushered his back side off the property I did show my address to prove my ownership I also pointed out the state land across the road when he said to many hunters there.... The nerve!
Coupe

Years ago in my twenties I had a group of guys try to pull this trick on me.
I went up to our family property to do some deer hunting. It is 300 acres and has a dirt road through the middle of it. I drove out the road to the back, as the best hunting is the back of the property along a ridge. About halfway through the property there was two pickups and 4 guys standing outside of them. At the time we did not post our property and did not mind if others hunted it. I stopped next to the guys to simply ask where they planned to hunt; for safety reasons, to not interrupt each other's hunt, and to use where they were going to hunt to my advantage. It was the '90's at the time and we did not post our property and had no issues with other people hunting it.
I stop and one of the guys immediately says that I'm on private property and need to leave. I started to respond with who I was, but he continued on before I could say anything. He said that such and such owned the property and that he was one of the other guys standing off to the side. I stared silently at him for a few seconds, amazed that he would try such a stupid ploy but also impressed by the boldness of it. I said nothing for long enough that some doubt crept into the guy's face.
I finally smiled and responded with, "Well, that's a surprise! See, this is family property owned by my dad, two uncles, and my aunt! I don't however recognize "such and such that owns the property" right over there as any of them!".
I then dropped the smile and told them that we actually didn't mind others hunting our land and that I'd only stopped to see where they were planning to hunt so we wouldn't step on each other's toes...but after the B.S. they'd just tried they could kindly get in their rigs and leave the property immediately.
In their defense, they didn't argue or say another word to me. They just got in their rigs and left.
I have to wonder how many times that may have actually worked for them before.
 
Back when i had a ranch our insurance company was very clear that if we did not post it and actively keep folks out they would not cover us. One neighbor even got named in a lawsuit by the family of guy who decided to end his life on their property.
 
I’ll be in MI next week for some lite M-L deer hunting. I plan my own jointly owned land, relatives & then maybe public access ‘paper Co’ type land. I like to test people's manners, out of State license plate & all.

I’ve also seen where people will put up ‘no trespassing’ & ‘private’ signs on land they don’t own. Another is inferring both sides of a road is private when only one side is.

My relative just put up cameras that send instantly to the cell phone, at our camp. This is more for security than as a game camera. Those type are more & more common.
 

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