It was a feint.
I lived a decade in a similar rural isolated home, and am very sympathetic to this story--I was burgled several times, and caught a couple of "visitors" who had poor explanations for coming, at a time when I was not likely to be at home. I believe you had a close call, and that this was a tactical feint by some bad people who were deliberately testing your defenses. I kid you not.
People in cities have idealistic images of country people..............and they are wrong. Rural farmers and loggers might be upstanding citizens, but many of their teenage children are completely un-moral and corrupt as hell. My estimation is that ten percent of the rural population grows marijuana and another ten percent steals it. Rural burgleries are very common---many of the teens are dropouts and have all day to study your schedule. Amongst the criminal class there, home-invasion robberies are not uncommon against each other---who they gonna call when their dope gets stolen? These punks may appear to be stupid stoners, but they can be very cunning and bold when they see profit possible.
A gate and a keep-out sign is simply essential! Breaching these without invitation is plain evidence of ill-will. An electronic warning of gate-opening to the house is great, but even a simple battery-powered "personal alarm" siren ($10.00) is effective in waking you and warning intruders off.
Don't forget that intruders can walk through the woods, evading your gate alarm. Here motion-sensor lights are very useful, but must be mounted low with a high angle so that passing deer, racoons and cats will not set them off constantly. I actually knew a guy who mounted an aircraft landing light on his roof, aimed down his driveway! An outside dog sounds nice, but they can bark their heads off all night at possums, and can be poisoned easily by evil intruders. Better to have a big dog outside by day and inside by night, who will accompany you if you decide to go outside.
As mentioned, your fully-loaded shotgun should have a mounted light with an intermittant pressure switch, so if you must go outside, you can see for an instant and then move while concealed by darkness again. Keep behind cover, like trees or parked vehicles, and consider carrying an unwrapped road flare to light quickly with your eyes closed and throw where you think the people are, wrecking their night vision while you protect yours. I like that idea of a "Dragon's Breath" shell---shoot the flame upward while you shield your eyes so that you can see them and blind them at the same instant. Practice this in the daytime, and know the lay of the land and what protection it offers you that intruders would not expect. Keep in mind that the intruders may have absolutely no compunctions against simply shooting you if you catch them on your land, as they can simply disappear.
Finally, a good home gun safe, heavy and bolted down tight, to keep all of your REAL papers and valuables secure is a great comfort. There really ARE bad people in rural areas, and good security planning is simply good sense.....................elsullo
