Surprize when I got home tonight!

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm not going to sleep well. Gone all day and came home after dark, 8:15, 8:20 pm. or so. 350' driveway and dark, but there was a pickup in front of the garage and the brake lights came on as he backed and turned 90 degrees, then the headlights came on. I blocked him in and asked the stranger what he was doing, in the dark, in my driveway. Said he saw a for sale sign out front! (in the dark!) There is one, a quarter mile away, on the corner, for several places down the road. Asked him for his drivers license and he got ####ty. He backed up and got around my car but I got his plate and called the sheriffs dept. When the sheriff came he had already run the plate. Hmmm. Said they would look him up and have a little chat...

So what do you guys do to protect yourselves? With most of the leaves down my splitter and conveyor are more noticeble from the road. And if you read between the lines, there are chain saws close by. I had already pulled the tonge out of the conveyor, but the engine is easily accessable. Pulled the hitch coupler from the tonge of the splitter a month ago, but same with the Honda engine, accessable. Four bolts and the love joy coupling slips apart. Pull the wheels I suppose, and trade our Golden for a Doberman. The dog was with me so it would not have mattered.

It is a wake-up call anyway, and a bad economy.... So what do you guys do?

 

[Pleasant Ridge]

I hang steel targets by the road that have large dimples and holes in them.

 

[rex]

i chain my drive way off every day and still lock the fort down.....

i was ripped off at my old place and it will never happen again

my new house has a extremly long drive and i chain it off every day...like you now that leaves are gone you can kinda just barely see my house from the road and thats a theifs dream....i also have 3 dobes that have the run of the property

that mofo would of never pulled out of the drive way if i had any thing to do with it....

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I like it!

 

[sawkiller]

There is a place in my drive I can park and you can't get around me or off my place. I have often parked there and cautiously aproached gun in hand when I see a strange vehicle in my drive. It is has always turned out to be someone that was supposed to be there so far! Maybe you should consider a couple fence panels to at least mask your equipment a couple peices of privacy fence will hide alot.

 

[MacLaren]

just the basics really. already mentioned. you did all ya could really do. just follow up with the sheriffs offfice tomorrow. theres no doubt that dude was goin to rip you off. you were just lucky you got there. You could post a sign that reads this propery monitored by camera 24/7. That may thwart some off. Bad economy people maybee, but drugs is a different story. they dont give a damn. Gotta be careful about blockin these cats in. If you do it again make sure you have a pistol man. Im serious about that too. Ive saw way too many convicts in prison for shootin the hell outta people because they were jacked up on dope. Be carefeul and sleep well tonight my man. All will be allright.

 

[nickelmore]

I was thinking.......

I'm thinking something like this.

Nothing worse than someone taking your stuff from your house..nothing.....

 

[shelbythedog]

Situations like this are what got me to take a MI approved CPL training couse last weekend. Gotta be armed if you're gonna approach a total stranger in a dangerous situation such as this. As far as I am concerned he committed the wrong doing when he trespassed on your property, thankfully you stopped any theft/vandalism. Sadly, he has now been close enough to know what is there and is likely planning to return in the near future. Whenever I am securing any of my belongings I try to keep it in a reasonable perspective, I am only taking measures to "slow a thief down," if they want it bad enough they will get it. A wise man once told me that locks are only for honest people. I have been laughed at for chaining the wheels on my tandem axle trailer together and putting a sawed off ball in the tounge when it is parked, but guess what, it is still out in the driveway. Anything you can do to discourage a thief is a good thing, and "out of sight, out of mind" is always a great rule to live by.

 

[John R]

If that happened he'd still be there when the sheriff showed up, one way or the other.
Sounds like you didn't block him in good enough.

 

[Muffler Bearing]

You Do Know Why He Was There?

I would have walked up and shot the Mother ####er in the Head. Than stripped his truck for parts.

 

[dingeryote]

By nature most thieves are cowards, and once you make eye contact and create a situation of potential conflict, they will go away and find easier pickin's.

All the same. Chain your stuff up, put up some motion lights, block the drive if you can, and generally make things less convenient to be swiped.

You can't stop them, you can only make it so that somebody elses stuff that didn't take precautions, is a better option for them to steal.

You in the City or on the outskirts?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Sandhill Crane]

What I really hate about thieves is they change you. They steal peace of mind and trust in people you 'kind of' know. You never really know who they are: strangers, friends, friends of friends, neighbors down the road, the kids buddies. They get in your head and homestead, change the way you think and do things, stealing/challenging your natural desire to trust. My parents taught me not to lie. I've jokingly said many times that I've been at a disadvantage ever since. Liars and theives... so what can I control, and what is simply beyond that, or unpractical. I like most of the ideas so far. Guns... no/maybe...probably not/maybe... shotgun? No. Hookaroon?

First; BTY 1894 registered to a small black Chevy pickup and a Caucasian male in Fennville, MI. Some of you are very close by in S.W. MI

Second; Pull one wheel off the equipment; get a doggy door for attached garage (per sheriff's suggestion); run electric to woodshed and along drive for lights on motion detectors; shoot up a No Trespassing sign (I like that!); take a self defense class?; really big blinding flash lights in every vehicle next to pepper spray; and begin to carry that little digital pocket camera with a flash in my jacket pocket (that's kind of fun anyway to have around). Hmmm! My exbrother-in-law used to have half a dozen cars on their sides and upside down, junk everywhere in the yard. Said it kept people away, redneck style. Now days you would probably come home to an army of paint ball totin neighborhood kids and young dads having a blast. I wonder how much keycard gates are. Too much I'm sure, and it would look rich. A regular gate (what a pain, I'd be thinking of that chump every time I opened and closed it.) signals when you home, and when your not. Although, had I closed a gate behind me he would have been there when the sheriff came, good or bad. Sister-in-law works in a bank. They tell them to give them what they want and get them out the door.

Third: I did vote for the new jail (!) that did not pass, again.

Fourth! BTY 1894 MI spells CHUMP....
Keep the ideas coming... Thanks!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm a few miles outside of town, deadend road, lots of summer places. Drawn to the rural beauty and then want all the city stuff. Bigger, better, greener (as in grass). Lots of traffic, remodels/construction/maintenance,UPS/Fedex multiple times per day, natural gas lines this year, weekend lookers, hunters, lots of litter.

 

[Longshot]

Get you a coupla airedales or a boerbull; sleep tight!

 

[harrybeaver]

"Nothing worse than someone taking your stuff from your house..nothing....."

Unless they shoot and kill you, that kind of sucks.

We have a driveway that can be blocked off with our car. If a unknown car is at our house we block off the driveway then ask from a distance what they are doing if itheir story sounds fishy we can walk/run to the neighbors and call the police. I know many don't have a neighbor nearby so that may not work, maybe a cell phone would. I think it best to not get too close and to avoid confrontation, you don't know how many there might be.
My real concern is with my wife, especially when she has our two young children with her. For her it is best to not even block the other car in, just drive to the nearest public place while calling 911.

 

[Junkrunner]

What I really hate about thieves is they change you. They steal peace of mind and trust in people you 'kind of' know. You never really know who they are: strangers, friends, friends of friends, neighbors down the road, the kids buddies. They get in your head and homestead, change the way you think and do things, stealing/challenging your natural desire to trust. My exbrother-in-law used to have half a dozen cars on their sides and upside down, junk everywhere in the yard. Said it kept people away, redneck style. Now days you would probably come home to an army of paint ball totin neighborhood kids and young dads having a blast.

You're right about it changes you. I TRY not to pre-judge people, but it's almost impossible not too, anymore. Old friends say that i've changed alot. They say; you're always up-tight and look pissed. I just can't help it. had my splitter stolen, then the SOB's got my jobsite, and stole 4,000 dollars in tools. The police is a joke. The first thing they'd asked was. You do have insurance??:censored: They aren't at all worried about my tools. I told them, never mind I'll take care of it myself. But, they promptly reminded me that i could get arrested for terroistic threats!!

If you had junk cars laying around here, the low life pill heads, would steal it, and scrap it. It's gettin bad. i've mentioned this in another thread, but i'm dead serious. when I find the person(s) I'm gonna brand THIEF right on the forehead.

 

[Tesen]

So what do you guys do to protect yourselves? With most of the leaves down my splitter and conveyor are more noticeble from the road. And if you read between the lines, there are chain saws close by. I had already pulled the tonge out of the conveyor, but the engine is easily accessable. Pulled the hitch coupler from the tonge of the splitter a month ago, but same with the Honda engine, accessable. Four bolts and the love joy coupling slips apart. Pull the wheels I suppose, and trade our Golden for a Doberman. The dog was with me so it would not have mattered.

It is a wake-up call anyway, and a bad economy.... So what do you guys do?

1) Concealed carry is a good thing.

2) Block your driveway with gates, lock them when you are not home and after you pull in your driveway. If you have a wife and kids, educate them to do the same.

3) Store your items inside a locked garage.

4) Install motion activated cameras put a sign on the gates as well. Really the setup is not that expensive.

I have a friend that used to get people pulling up to his work shed and house, his house was back from the road almost concealed. He woke one morning to find a guy helping himself to his wood supply. From that day on, he kept a 12 gauge under his bed loaded. His philosophy was that in combination with kicking on very intense floodlights, that the first step should always be a warning shot and then a leveled long arm at the intruders.

For a while he had a sign on his gate that read: "If you not invited to be here, you will be shot." apparently the Sheriff asked him to take it down

I feel for you man, this is the worst feeling to have in the world. Your kingdom has been violated and often it leaves an everlasting bad taste in your mouth

Tes

 

[kyrob]

Just one guy in the truck? Kinda odd if he was there to to steal. I'd bet there was one or two more that took off to be picked up later or they was close by watching to see what your intentions were. Good thing you didn't grab the guy or they may have shown themselves in a bad way.

"I like most of the ideas so far. Guns... no/maybe...probably not/maybe... shotgun? No. Hookaroon?"

May have to change your thinking to compete with thieves today. They may have been wanting to get inside to look for pills. That's what they are doing here. Lots of home invasions even when people are home to get pills and money. Best bet is a gun (kept with you) and know how to use it and accept the fact that you may have to use it to protect you and yours.

When you are not home, you may want to pick up a couple of good trail cameras and aim them at your doors and equipment and driveway. They have some new ones out that will video and take pictures without any type flash at all. They are called blackflash cameras. Cheaper than a full blown surveillance system and they work.

Good luck and be safe.

Rob

 

[savageactor7]

sorry to hear about that, first thing I'd do is get some motion sensor flood lights. Most thieves hate to be seen.

If you have a small game hunting license somethings mostly always in season esp ...varmints. That way you can keep a long gun right in your vehicle.

In the mean time you still have the guys number so learn what you can about him. See how he likes you parking in front of his house.:greenchainsaw:

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I hang steel targets by the road that have large dimples and holes in them.

Subtle. I like that. No bragging, no threats. Just.... thought provoking.