What to do about persistent poachers?

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Kdawg

ArboristSite Member
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Jun 23, 2020
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Location
Putnam ny
Hi there,
Bought 440 acres of farm (fallow for 75 years and needs tons of rehab) and forest in the Adirondack park, NY and moved my family up here 4 years ago. I don’t hunt. Every year during deer hunting season the neighbor clan and their friends take to poaching my property. Put up camera? They steal it. Posted signs? Torn down. Night (spotlighting) hunting, shooting from the road on thanksgiving; check. Rutting up my field picking up a buck they poached; check. Allow others to hunt, hasn’t changed anything.

Well, I found one of their cameras on my land with some of the usual suspects’ faces on it from where they set it up beginning of November. Turned it in. Filed charges. Then Wednesday before thanksgiving my “dog of a lifetime” defends my chickens against a fox with two others, running the fox into the woods… and I hear a close gunshot. Only two of my dogs return. Have not turned up a body despite extensive searching in an organized pattern across the property with help of my remaining dogs. Nothing. Posted fliers, took out google and Facebook ads, went door to door in a 30 mile radius without a sign or a single lead. So realistically shot by a poacher on my land.
Then this morning I hear another shot on my property with fresh snow down. Track it to offending family next door with tracks walking past my no trespassing sign onto my property and shooting a coyote, and then proceeding deeper into my land….

So what to do? I’m sure some of you have dealt with stuff like this before. I’m upset, non violent, and mainly sad about this dog that was truly my best friend, and would appreciate thoughts on how to solve this.
 
Hi there,
Bought 440 acres of farm (fallow for 75 years and needs tons of rehab) and forest in the Adirondack park, NY and moved my family up here 4 years ago. I don’t hunt. Every year during deer hunting season the neighbor clan and their friends take to poaching my property. Put up camera? They steal it. Posted signs? Torn down. Night (spotlighting) hunting, shooting from the road on thanksgiving; check. Rutting up my field picking up a buck they poached; check. Allow others to hunt, hasn’t changed anything.

Well, I found one of their cameras on my land with some of the usual suspects’ faces on it from where they set it up beginning of November. Turned it in. Filed charges. Then Wednesday before thanksgiving my “dog of a lifetime” defends my chickens against a fox with two others, running the fox into the woods… and I hear a close gunshot. Only two of my dogs return. Have not turned up a body despite extensive searching in an organized pattern across the property with help of my remaining dogs. Nothing. Posted fliers, took out google and Facebook ads, went door to door in a 30 mile radius without a sign or a single lead. So realistically shot by a poacher on my land.
Then this morning I hear another shot on my property with fresh snow down. Track it to offending family next door with tracks walking past my no trespassing sign onto my property and shooting a coyote, and then proceeding deeper into my land….

So what to do? I’m sure some of you have dealt with stuff like this before. I’m upset, non violent, and mainly sad about this dog that was truly my best friend, and would appreciate thoughts on how to solve this.
Catch them any way you can.
https://www.scheels.com/p/spypoint-link-micro-trail-camera/LINK-MICRO.html
 
I have a Spypoint cellular trail camera (Link Dark V) I bought for my remote land in NC. To be honest- it was a waste of time and money.
I am on Verizon- my phone works fine with texts on my land but actually talking is difficult.
Since texting works on Verizon I figured the camera would work. Nope- not well at all. No other cell coverage is in reach. Even tried external antennas mounted 25+ ft up a tree. No go -doesn't help- yet my phone works standing under said tree.
I'm 4-5 hours away and don't get there as often as I like. I'm heading up later this week- deer season is in full swing, I haven't owned the land long but I suspect I'll find trouble. Haven't got around to posting all of it yet. Did put up a cable gate on the old logging road into the property.
Honestly if I could meet a local hunter/good guy that could be beneficial to both of us - I'd let him hunt if he could keep an eye on things.
Caveat would be - when we are there- no hunting.
There is nothing on the property at all- I camp on it for now.
Rural (it's pretty much all rural LOL) Ashe County NC if anyone is local PM me!

re the dog- that sucks. I'm afraid I'd be in jail if I caught someone shooting my dog on my land. I know about the once in a lifetime dog- we had ours killed in a rollover caused by an inattentive idiot t-boning us....been 4 years and it still hurts.
 
I'm sure your local game warden would like to hear about the poaching.

I have a Spypoint cellular trail camera I bought for my remote land in NC. To be honest- it was a waste of time and money.
I am on Verizon- my phone works fine with texts on my land but actually talking is difficult.
Since texting works on Verizon I figured the camera would work. Nope- not well at all. No other cell coverage is in reach. Even tried external antennas mounted 25+ ft up a tree. No go -doesn't help- yet my phone works standing under said tree.
I'm 4-5 hours away and don't get there as often as I like. I'm heading up later this week- deer season is in full swing, I haven't owned the land long but I suspect I'll find trouble. Haven't got around to posting all of it yet. Did put up a cable gate on the old logging road into the property.
Honestly if I could meet a local hunter/good guy that could be beneficial to both of us - I'd let him hunt if he could keep an eye on things.
Caveat would be - when we are there- no hunting.
There is nothing on the property at all- I camp on it for now.
Rural (it's pretty much all rural LOL) Ashe County NC if anyone is local hit me up!

re the dog- that sucks. I'm afraid I'd be in jail if I caught someone shooting my dog on my land.
Maybe a beter one that cost more would work properly?
 
Maybe a beter one that cost more would work properly?
Can you name one? This one is Spypoint's best at about $300.
One has to be careful shopping for them as some don't do Verizon- some are only on third tier carriers such as T-mobile- which is non-existant in the area I need it in. Same for ATT- no good there.
 
Can you name one? This one is Spypoint's best at about $300.
One has to be careful shopping for them as some don't do Verizon- some are only on third tier carriers such as T-mobile- which is non-existant in the area I need it in. Same for ATT- no good there.
New to me ,how about go on Amazon look a few up and look at reviews.
 
Hang any cameras high enough the poacher can't just steal it.
Tracks in fresh snow is often enough to get the warden to knock on a door.
Report your missing dog. That should get the Sheriff to know on the door of the neighbor.
One other possibility is to send a registered letter to the neighbor stating they have NO permission to trespass on your property. The neighbor may ignore it, but the DA may find it very useful evidence in any prosecution.
 
It is a difficult situation. You need to check your local/state laws and contact your insurance company. Around here, as I understand it, anyone can hunt/trespass on your property as long as you don’t post it. If you post it (and there are a very specified set of rules to posting private property) and they trespass anyway and get hurt on your property, they can sue you for damages. If you don’t post it, and they trespass and get hurt, you are in the clear. Its crazy.

I have 70 acres and have been through this before with the insurance company. They tell me not to post. Find out what the laws are and what rights you have. Depending on that outcome, you might need to lawyer up and have them send out a few “notices” to the neighbors. Good luck. Dog thing just plain stinks. Sorry for your loss.
 
Your going to have to become part of the community. Your an outsider. They are just hunting as they have been for generations. We had the same thing about 20 years ago. You have to hunt it and work the ground and be seen improving the woods and fields. Hopefully sooner. They will grow to to respect you.
We tried the game warden idea and it didnt work. The area has unspoken rules , and you slowly change them.
 
Shooting my dog or animals would spark a war where i sleep in the woods and catch them red handed at the end of a barrel criminally trespassing then filing a trespass against the household they came from with the Sherriff taking them into custody. Dogs cost thousands of dollars on top of the emotional attachment making it felony property damage. Order 200 signs and 5 miles of barbed wire, put that sht up like Clark Griswold christmas lights so there is no excuse or plausible ignorance to property boundaries or even get in there and cut down trees on the property lines, run wires through the forest to cameras setup to record and stored on a hard drive setup, not all wireless. Build a case and present it to the offenders with warnings of prosecution if they continue it. These people may be tied in with local law enforcement so it must be a dead ringer case. Once you get one conviction the rest of them will stop trespassing. A 50lb box of roofing nails sends a strong message.
 
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