I don't know how your property is set up, but lets assume that you live in 30 acres or so. If you live on 5 or so you can adapt this technique the same way. Try to give yourself a 3+ acre DMZ.
I would clear cut (leave only trees) about 3-4 acres (square) aroung the house and put a fence about 1 acre around the house (smaller white picket fence is fine, whatever floats your boat here). Mount motion lights around the house and have regular lights mounted in the trees interspered through your DMZ. You can then throw the switch and light up the whole area. The DMZ is the buffer between your 1 acre fence and the area you didn't cut. Make sure they are pointed at the ground and can light up most of the floor area that you clear cut. This takes cover away from the bad guys and just like any other animal, bad guys want "cover".
Get some dogs. Labs, Pointers, Cowdogs are find for this, something that will bark. Feel free to get something else, but never train a "security dog" to be aggressive, not unless you are loaded and if you are, hire a security expert and quit getting freebee's from us.
I second BullpupBen on the pistol caliber carbine or carbine advice. 30-30 would work nicely here and they are pretty "lawyer" friendly. Also, get a pistol, holster, belt, flashlight rig so that you have it all together and some clothes by your bed.
There are driveway alarms that you can get, they just go off (like a ding ding ding) when someone comes up the drive. I would also get a video camera system, put camera's (night / day capable) at the front gate, put them also around the house, garage and what not.
With all of the above, you should be secure against hooligans.
Don't deactivate or bar your gate. It needs to open or God Forbid, what if you want to get out or the police, fire dept or medics need to get in... One strategy I have seen employed is to lose the gate in favor of a cattle guard and purposefully let the brush and trees and grass grow up around the entrance... That makes it tougher to see, easier to miss, easier to notice someone "searching / probing" for the entrance and makes you a little less of a target of opportunity. When people see a gate, the first thing they do is wonder, "what's back there?".
Don't forget, they may cut your phone line, so Cell phone or a CB base station to channel 9 or something would be a good idea...
The below photo might give you an idea... and no, this isn't my crib... Would be nice though.