Ruin a hunt on purpose???

[ATAShooter]

Guys, I need a bit of help. I have been an avid hunter for 30 years, and made sure to follow local laws and regulations. I have made it a point to respect all my neighbor's properties and rights and get permissions needed. The way our lands is laid out, it leaves a 1 acre square in between all my neighbors and myself. This lot I don't hunt. The son of the owner of that 1 acre lot has built a blind that is definitely used to hunt my, and all my neighbor's lands instead of his own. Now, if I had been asked could he hunt my land, I would have said yes without a hesitation, but he hunts our land out of his blind on his property without our permissions. He retrieves the game without permission off our property, which in VA is a no-no. So, I tried to contact this 1 acre owner to try to come up with a resolution, but he refuses to speak, I also saw his son and tried to engage in conversation and was snubbed. I called the game warden and was told there was nothing he could do unless they caught him in the act, but they are to busy to come and sit and wait OR it would take so long for an officer to get here that they'd be gone by then. I bought 2 infer-red game cameras and both have mysteriously dissappeared off the trees. All of our lands are posted and clearly marked ( all my other neighbors are angry also ). I find dead fawns that have been shot and left,... but no proof that he was the shooter and my neighbors are picky harvestors like me, so I know it isn't them. It is to the point that my wife & kids are scared to go back in our own woods, a fear of this dumb dude eiither shooting us or our dog. He is VERY careless. SO,... my question is, what is the easiest way to constantly run off deer? A scent,? a noise,? I figure if I can ruin the hunt, they'll go away to somewhere else ( Gosh I hate to do this ). I know I am commiting hunting season suicide here for myself, but this has to stop. Or does anybody have any ideas of what else to do?

 

[Rembrandt]

Unbearable and generous amounts of "Skunk Scent"......

 

[kyle1974]

he's hunting on 1 acre? what size is your place? can you move your stand?

 

[ATAShooter]

Kyle, Yes, he is on 1 acre of land surrounded by woods. My land is 8.5 acres. When I do hunt I stay as far away as possible from his stand. I hate the idea that I am to the point of being afraid to walk my own woods because he is so wreckless. Last year, he was on the 1 acre shooting clay targets and raining my house with shot so bad I had to call the county police. He knows well which way the houses are, so its just plain disreguard for others or safety.

 

[EmbarkChief]

Sweet Jesus. He crosses YOUR fence to recover deer he shot on YOUR property? Around here that's a fantastic way to get yourself in a place you never want to be. Easiest way to ruin his chances? Put out a crow gun, they run off propane and are loud as hell. Frankly this kind of activity really calls for a visit with his old man to get things taken care of before it gets out of hand.

 

[Telekinesis]

Find a bunch of local guys with machine guns (preferably belt fed) and set up a safe place to shoot them that is easily within earshot of where he is hunting. Think of it as a mini Knob Creek kind of thing. Begin firing at dawn, take a break during mid day (really, everyone deserves a siesta for all their hard work lol) and then reload for a night shoot starting an hour or so before sunset. Bonus points if you can find a few guys with Fed Explosive Licenses and/or Destructive Devices

See if you can get a group together that wants to come over every weekend for a month or so, even if its only a few people. And make sure they know the just cause for which they are fighting for! If I had a MG, I know I'd put a few more mags down range to help clear that guy out!

 

[LJ-MosinFreak-Buck]

Put up a nice sized fence on your property line, regardless of whether or not it's going to be surrounded by trees. Fences are always a pain to haul deer over. If he takes it down (which he probably will) take him to court for destruction of property. It's YOUR property. He doesn't have the right to be on it at all.

Were the IR trail cameras set up on your land? If they were on his, he could take them down, but if they were on yours, that's a no-no too, and since they disappeared, that's also theft. If he's caught with them it's possession of stolen property.

A more extreme route is taking the trees in that area of your property out, or in low-roaded attempt at exacting revenge you could always tear his blind up. Either way.

 

[Flintknapper]

If I am reading you post correctly, the person whom you cite has legal authority to be on the land mentioned. Unless you can PROVE...he is doing all the things you suspect him of...then you have little other recourse.

Assuming, the person hunting the land is NOT there illegally, then what you propose (scaring away the Deer) might be illegal (it is in my state of Texas).

Your State probably has similar laws!

The Sportsman’s Rights Act
Parks and Wildlife Code§ 62.0125. Harassment of Hunters, Trappers, and Fishermen.
(a) This section may be cited as the Sportsman’s Rights Act.
(b) In this section:
(1) “Wildlife” means all species of wild mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, or amphibians.
(2) “Process of hunting or catching” means any act directed at the lawful hunting or catching of wildlife, including camping or other acts preparatory to hunting or catching of wildlife that occur on land or water on which the affected person has the right or privilege of hunting or catching that wildlife.
(c) No person may intentionally interfere with another person lawfully engaged in the process of hunting or catching wildlife.
(d) No person may intentionally harass, drive, or disturb any wildlife for the purpose of disrupting a person lawfully engaged in the process of hunting or catching wildlife.
(e) No person may enter or remain on public land or enter or remain on private land without the landowner’s or his agent’s consent if the person intends to disrupt another person lawfully engaged in the process of hunting or catching wildlife.
(f) This section does not apply to a peace officer of this state, a law enforcement officer of the United States, a member of the armed forces of the United States or of this state, or employees of the department or other state or federal agencies having statutory responsibility to manage wildlife or land during the time that the officer is in the actual discharge of official duties.
(g) A person who violates this section commits an offense. An offense under this section is a Class B misdemeanor.
(h) It is an affirmative defense to prosecution that the defendant’s conduct is protected by the right to freedom of speech under the constitution of this state or the United States.

§ 12.22. CLASS B MISDEMEANOR.
An individual adjudged guilty of a Class B misdemeanor shall be punished by:
(1) a fine not to exceed $2,000;
(2) confinement in jail for a term not to exceed 180 days; or
(3) both such fine and confinement.

 

[ATAShooter]

Mosin, the cameras were 100 feet on my property from the line .

 

[ATAShooter]

Flint, thats where the problem comes in.... he is on his land which is NOT illegal to hunt. What he is doing illegal, we cant catch him, which is using MY and others property as the killing zone. But You are correct, it is not illegal for him to sit on HIS land with a rifle at all. I have no complaint if he would just hunt his own place. Also, section 2, C&D states "Lawfully". What he's doing isnt lawful.

 

[Telekinesis]

Oh, you might also want to check with your neighbors before trying to ruin the season for this guy. Anything you do has a fair chance of not only screwing up his season, but also all of your neighbors' hunts as well.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

If I wasn't about 4 hours north of you..., I'd spend the time to bust him with photos and such. So perhaps you can find a LE person, who might like to trade some time on your property to hunt, for apprehending said intruder. Perhaps some of them feel the same way about taking care of the land, and would be an asset to have a stake in your property. Heck the LEO could hunt, and observe the guy's blind at the same time. In VA you don't have to be DNR to enforce DNR law. I have the same arrangement up here in MD, and nobody poaches where I hunt anymore.

LD

 

[Shadow 7D]

CAMOUFLAGE, and motion sensors,
get together with the neighbors, PLANT A SCREEN, something with prickers and grows quickly to keep him from seeing into your property, the fence, cover a DECOY camera, with a real live camera, that has a REMOTE (if possible) recording, so you can see it online etc. Also call the sheriffs to serve both the dad and son with CEASE AND DESIST letter and trespass warrants.

 

[Cypress]

If he's as dumb as you say, buy one of the realistic deer shaped targets and find a way to pop it up while he's hunting. Find a far away shadowy spot. If he's a POS he'll shoot at it anyway. Video him shooting it and show the video to the local GW. In Texas its illegal to send a bullet across a property line. Maybe you'll get lucky and he'll fall out of his stand and tumble down a rocky slope. He'll probably try to tell others that you kicked his butt while he was hunting but accidents happen all the time!

 

[ATAShooter]

Tele,... yes, this is why I am seeking advice on here, as I have discussed this matter with the others, and it really is the LAST thing we really wanna do. Its kinda a "shoot your own self in the foot" situation. I , well we, are super pro-hunt folks, we aren't no tree huggers, so to wind up in this situation is crap.

 

[ATAShooter]

HMMMM, LIVE video feed.... You might be onto something here...

 

[Shadow 7D]

Deer archery dummy on skates or suspended by mono-filament on a zip line
always have a camera covering a camera, cause as bad as poaching is, he'll feel stupid getting nailed for burglery, also, POLICE REPORTS, every time, even if the officer hates it, cause you are going to need a paper trail on this guy.

Oh, and for the cameras, record the Serial Number so it it's stolen, you have a record of it.

 

[ATAShooter]

Cypress, yes, he is arrogant as hell too. The day he rained the house with a pissload of shot, I said" Hey man, you are raining my house" to which he replied, " You got a problem, take it up with my Dad", so...I called the law.

 

[Art Eatman]

Granted it's not the cheapest thing, and it's work, as I well know: Build fence. All along your property line, at least in the area not visible from your house. I'd go with four-strand barbed-wire, with the bottom strand no more than a foot above the ground. And I'd add a length of that nasty ribbon-wire/razor-wire along his area, at the least.

I used to have a poaching problem at the old family place. Mostly on weekends. So, right at daylight on a Saturday morning I'd go jeeping along the woods road, singing and yelling or playing a tape deck and pounding on the side of the jeep. Didn't matter if it were Hank Williams or Bo Diddley, the deer didn't like it.

Sometimes I'd just sit and wait. If I heard that "Bank, whop" I'd wait a bit and then go to the spot where the poacher was gutting the deer. When he got done I'd walk up and say, "Hey, I appreciate your helping out my freezer, that way." But I wasn't running for political office, and didn't need his vote.

Another game was to wait until I heard sneaky footsteps. When a poacher hears a squalled-out "Good morning!" about two feet from his ear, he proves that levitation is indeed possible.

 

[ATAShooter]

Guys, I appreciate it. As I sit here with the other land owners, reading the suggestions, we are agreeing on a deer decoy covered by video feed to turn over to LEO. I thank all of you. We were at wits end of what to do. We are gonna chip in for all the equiptment.

 

[egg250]

Since his Dad won't help, I think you would need to bite the bullet and sacrifice your hunting season, or work out some sort of schedule with your neighbors. You guys would have to "stalk" this poacher, keeping eyes on him when he's in the blind. Make sure to bring a camera to document anything that might occur. Once he does something illegal, observe and document the act(s). File a complaint and work to have this guy convicted of poaching.

 

[627PCFan]

I would give the local gamewarden a heads up. After you find the first deer, follow the blood trail to origin. If it starts n your property he has a probem. Get thew gw to file it for record and t2nd the gw should have a case. Fwiw I do have the same setup, bordering along some antihunting folks, and could lose a deer on their property without the chance to retrieve. I keep the gw number in my pocket so they could retrieve my deer needs be, however I would never launch a bullet of my property.

 

[ritepath]

I used to have a problem kind of like this....Some mornings/evenings I crank up the mower and mow (in November) sometime's I'd just build a wood working project or two with the table saw. Ride my jeep or an ATV nearby ect...More than once I would short stand this person. Eventually he gave up and never returned.

 

[Cob]

Even if it is only 1 acre, he does have a right to hunt his property. Your plan to ruin a hunt could backfire,and if he is a POS, more bad consequences could follow, especially if he suspects you are to blame.

If his blind or stand is on your property, simply remove it. You could offer to buy him out, absorb the acre, and get rid of the probelm all together.

 

[TNboy]

At one corner of our property the property line is T-shaped, gov't land to the South, our land to the East and neighbors land to the West. Now the property line is right in the middle of a wooded funnel, always a great place for a stand. For years I had permission to hunt the neighbors land, then it was leased and I lost it, oh well I still had my land and the gov't land, so no big deal right? I had a huge salt lick on our property that I had maintained for years, there was a 2 foot deep hole in the ground 4 feet wide, deer tore that place up. The first year that it is leased the guy builds a treestand a couple of hundred yards up the fence line from me, not a huge deal but not really appreciated (this whole time I am hunting from my land and the salt lick is on my land.) The second year the guy puts his stand right on the property line in order to shoot over the salt lick. This infuriates me. Mind you I have decided from all of the cigarette butts, D cell batteries, snuff cans, ect he has already thrown down in the area the first year that I don't care for the guy. A couple of days before bow season opens I wake up early, drink a rather large pot of strong coffee, then relieve myself on the salt lick. MY SALT LICK. I hunted the opposite side of the property opening morning and killed a doe, didn't hear anything his way except for rattling and grunting every three minutes. It was suicide to my favorite spot but I wasn't letting him kill deer off of it.