Didn't go hunting yesterday because it raied. Went today around noon. Walking a 4-wheeler trail and noticed a bootprint. I looked where one of our blinds is supposed to be and discovered it was missing and only the chair was there. More bootprints all of the same type of very distinctive tread. I was surprised to be able to follow them so well because even over leaves i could faintly distinguish the mud pattern on the leaves. But then when the mud wore out it was only leaves so i did lose the trail but it took me far enough that it just about had to go to one of two houses.

First place i checked out the driveway wondering if i was going to set off an alarm going around this guys truck, but there was no visible tracks.

The next driveway had a set of identical tracks to what was in the woods.

Nobody home, so i went and got my digital camera and took pictures of the footprints with a measuring tape for reference. Went back to the empty blind spot and took footprint pictures there.

Called the Sheriff and the deputies came out and i brought the pictures up on my computer and they agreed it looked like same print. They went to question the guy, but still nobody home but they came back and said they saw the prints and they looked like a perfect match. They are supposed to come back and question the guy tomorrow.

If my trail camera had of been working, i could have caught him red-handed, but the damn thing was turned off. The footprints leading to the house are enough evidence for me, but he'll probably lie out of it.

Any suggestions on how to secure a hunting blind other than packing it in and out?

Plinker

trip wire and a bouncing betty if you know what that is

A mouse trap with a 12ga shell in it. Aim it up in the air to scare 'em. LOL j/k

a button cap brad along with a note in his mailbox informing him you know where he lives and you want your blind returned to where it was.

Hey Plinker. That must be a WV thing because I helped my neighbor retrieve a ground blind someone stole as well. It was across the field a few hundred feet in the woods. The owner of the field spotted it after snow covered the ground. We had a rifle and two pistols on us when we got it, just in case. The place is infested with druggy, welfare punks. We are moving to nearby Virginia next week.....

I hope you get your blind back and the piece of crap who stole it gets what he deserves. Keep us informed.

I have had three stands stolen here in SW Ohio, so it ain't just WV.

Never had a problem in Texas, but that was twelve years ago.

Well, i today i called in to find out if they made contact yet and they had been shorthanded and busy and not made it out yesterday. I know my stolen blind isn't as important as meth labs and stuff like that. So i asked the deputy how about if i put a note on the door that says "Put The Blind Back" He chuckled and said go ahead and try it and let me know. So i did that but nuthing so far. If i was him and got such a note i'd be thinking someone saw me. I figure if he does put it back he'd prob do it after dark but we'll see.

The next step i'm thinking of doing is to confront him and sort of bluff and mention having a trail camera back there (even though it wasn't on) Prob a good thing i'm a little ol lady instead of a big man or with my hot head i'd go beat the crap out of him and end up in jail.

Plinker

quote:

Originally posted by Plinker603:
Prob a good thing i'm a little ol lady instead of a big man or with my hot head i'd go beat the crap out of him and end up in jail.

Even so I'd be careful. If the situation goes even remotely badly you could end up getting yourself cited for assault or slapped with a restraining order. No sense acquiring any sort of blot on your record over a pop-up blind.

Yes be careful. Those thieves have more rights than you do.
I recently was cutting firewood on my place when I heard hammering. My son and I went to look for the source and came upon a guy that was placing a treestand on our property. the tree was near the property line. We called the neighbor and asked if anyone else was given permition to hunt. He said no, so out came the chainsaw and down went the tree. It mangled the stand a little bit. awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww...
Worse yet, was then I realized he had cut about 15 -20 saplings for shooting lanes. He has since been cited for tresspassing on quite a few parcels.
I show no mercy on illegal hunting or the lack of respect for others. I have been known to spray cologne,coyote pee or soap all around stands. This is highly effective.. No confrontation and the poor SOB never knew why he doesn't see deer. I learned this trick from my neighbor who is 75 years old and has lost many $$$ to nails in timber trees.
We cut a large tree and placed it across a barway a while back. A week later the tree was gone.
I feel for you about blind. Be a little proactive. Scare the shite out of him. The slob will generally hunt some place easier where no one bothers him.

Another anti poacher treatment I have been told about--- but have not had the opportunity to utilize is go down to the barber shop and collect a bag of hair trimmings --- thence spread that all around the offenders tree stand -- reportedly this has a serious effect -- I am not actually sure about this but it would appear to be a great defensive tool not only for the poacher but those individuals that will not respect someone’s hunting area.

I had a couple tree stands stolen from me two years ago. I am pretty sure I know who took them, but don't know the guy's name or where he lives. Good thing for him because I'm a prosecutor in the county where it happened. You know, even though I've been putting drug dealers, pedophiles and wife-beaters in prison for years now, I still can't picture what goes through the mind of the sort of ---hole who would steal your stand, or cut down your trees, etc.

Thanks for the advice about how to sabatage their hunting area. Those tips could prove useful sometime if someone decides to set up on the property line. Have had that happen before, too...don't mind much unless the stand is facing my land and not his.

This big dumb liar denies he took the blind and his wife called to take up for him and i told her the prints were made by a size 11 Rocky steel shank boot. She said her husband don't have any Rocky boots because they couldn't afford boots like that. This is after i was on their porch and saw the boots setting there with my own eyes.

I sure wouldn't want to be a law enforcement officer or a prosecutor. It would be frustrating to deal with liars and thieves every day. They can't really pin them down, without catching them with the goods. And even if you see someone taking your stuff it's your word against theirs.

I marked our other two blinds with permanent marker above the entrance, although that'd be easy enough to blot out. Also marked inside the pocket area where it's harder to see. If you haven't lost anything to thieves yet, lock it, mark it and keep receipts and a record of the brand name. I don't even know what kind of a blind it was other than it came from Cabelas. Lightning set i think, but not sure.

Plinker

Woodmnctry,

Nevermind all the bouncing betties and anti-poaching tricks.....how in the world do i get those bouncing..er um bouncing babies below my name?

cracking me up!

Sorry the Sheriff failed to do his job on this one. A good Sheriff would have been on the guy's porch within a couple of hours. Might not have gotten your stand back, but would have served notice that it's not "open season" on your stuff.

You might try pointing out to the Sheriff that there's an election in a couple of weeks.

You have to remember that catching speeders with speed traps is more important then recovering stolen property because it costs money instead of making money. Money is the only thing that rules the judicial system.
I would give up hunting for a while to watch him, follow him and take pictures of him using the blind. Also watch the want adds to see if he puts it up for sale. A civil suit will make a lawyer money and be great in the eyes of the law. Think money because the police do not care about justice alone.

quote:

Originally posted by Woodmnctry:
Another anti poacher treatment I have been told about--- but have not had the opportunity to utilize is go down to the barber shop and collect a bag of hair trimmings --- thence spread that all around the offenders tree stand -- reportedly this has a serious effect -- I am not actually sure about this but it would appear to be a great defensive tool not only for the poacher but those individuals that will not respect someone’s hunting area.

It works very well. We have a fence line 1.5 miles long, lots of trees & brush. The neighbors to the east have love grass only. 4 or 5 different hunters are setting feeders against our fence and are set up to shoot toward our land. I believe this is unethical besides being dangerous. You just don't shoot towards others land. We have been spreading human hair by the trash bag full for the last 3 weeks over there. Its' going to be a long 2.5 months over there for these fellows. There isn't a single deer track within 50 yards of that fence line.

Hunt safe - Hunt ethical

Guess I am guilty, I have satolen 3 tree stands recently . . . . well the last 4-5 years or so.

Whoa wait a minute they were all on my property so I feel better . . . a lot better, Heck one was less than 100 yards out the back door.

First one had a small buck (archery hunt) dead and rotten within 75 yards of the stand, and that ius how I found the stand. It took a bit of time for my brain to sort that one out, but then I remembered testing some 44 Mag ammo on my home based range opening weekend and I think the sounds bouncing around in the back of the holler must shook up a bow hunter that may have been trespassin just a bit. A bit since the surrounding landowners also allow hunting by written permission only.

I gave the stands away so it all works out.

quote:

Originally posted by TCLouis:
Guess I am guilty, I have satolen 3 tree stands recently . . . . well the last 4-5 years or so.

Whoa wait a minute they were all on my property so I feel better . . . a lot better, Heck one was less than 100 yards out the back door.

First one had a small buck (archery hunt) dead and rotten within 75 yards of the stand, and that ius how I found the stand. It took a bit of time for my brain to sort that one out, but then I remembered testing some 44 Mag ammo on my home based range opening weekend and I think the sounds bouncing around in the back of the holler must shook up a bow hunter that may have been trespassin just a bit. A bit since the surrounding landowners also allow hunting by written permission only.

I gave the stands away so it all works out.

I would be so tempted to loosen/remove vital screws on such a tree stand, and leave it there for the trespasser to use....

quote:

Originally posted by AFreeman:
Woodmnctry,

Nevermind all the bouncing betties and anti-poaching tricks.....how in the world do i get those bouncing..er um bouncing babies below my name?

cracking me up!

Guess that one of the forum Gestapo types was not as enamored with my avatar as a bunch of the readers of this forum were -- and killed it - no more bounce -- I must have offended someone –OOPSIE!!!!!!!

Well, i for one, don't care what kind of avatar anyone has. What is a Gestapo type?

Plinker

Well, you wouldn't expect to be able to smoke in a Mormon's house, would you?

I'd like to say that I am personally very much in favor of cleavage! But this is not my website.

quote:

Originally posted by Don_G:
Well, you wouldn't expect to be able to smoke in a Mormon's house, would you?

I'd like to say that I am personally very much in favor of cleavage! But this is not my website.

Don –apparently we have certain readers of AR that are physically constructed such that they wear their underwear backwards --- and were offended by the display of bouncing cleavage------------now there is someone to go hunting with

aahh, Here cometh the death dealer.

quote:

Originally posted by AFreeman:
aahh, Here cometh the death dealer.

yep -- though I was getting pretty attached to the bouncing cleaveage -- oh well!

G

You know, Frank painted that rather nicely as well. Minus the bouncin part.

quote:

had of been working

Any way of connecting a motion detector to it? I'm thinking you may be able to have the camera come on when the motion detector detects motion.
Oh and setting man traps is illegal in most places.

Hmmm... mine is still bouncin

Over here in the UK we have similar probs with thieving scum and poachers. My father owns some land on which he discovered a poacher.

Rather than confront him, we found his car and followed him home. We then went a bought a big can of the thick oil based masonary paint and drilled a line of holes up the can on all 4 sides. As the holes are drilled, reseal each line with a strip of tape.

Now, go back to his car and put the can on the roof. Holding the tape at the bottom, pull it off and walk away. By the time he notices, the paint should have spread across his car, dried and the can should be firmly welded to the top. Watch out for fingerprints.

Another favourite is to leave a choice remark on his front lawn by painting it on with derv / diesel. It will instantly kill the grass and he'll soon have a nice message for all his neighbours to see. The grass won't re-seed.

Lastly, take a shotgun cart and go to the rear of his car. Put the cart into his exhaust pipe and hit with the heel of your hand. The cart should drop into the back box and he'll drive of without a clue. Once at a decent temp, the cart will blow and scre up the cat in the exhaust. If you're really lucky, the pellets may travel up into the main box.

I know this sounds crazy, but on two seperate occations I have talked with hunters after they have trespassed on my lease. I asked them if they had any luck, made some small talk about their equipment, etc., then informed them as nice as I could that I had leased the land and there was 6 other people that were on the lease. I actually told them that I was sorry to have to ask them to leave, but that I had to because it was part of the lease agreement.... that I wasn't even allowed to bring a guest. They never came back!

Oh yea, I guess since I was just standing there in the dark within a couple of feet of them for several minutes before they knew I was there helped...I could have touched one guy when his flashlight hit my boots On both occations, I never took off my facemask, just talked in a low, creepy, sorta serial killer voice.

Woodmnctry, dang, I loved that avitar and set it as a desktop item. Then my puter hard drive went out and I lost it. I have searched for it with no luck, then I read your post. Made an old man feel younger.

quote:

Woodmnctry, dang, I loved that avitar and set it as a desktop item. Then my puter hard drive went out and I lost it. I have searched for it with no luck, then I read your post. Made an old man feel younger

Sent you a PM

Plinker
What ever happened to you "case" against the deer blind thief.

The police finally did question him but he denied it. In addition to the footprints leading up his driveway, i subsequntly observed the actual Rocky boots on his porch. His wife is a reformed Christian who wears WWJD jewelry(what would Jesus do?) She said he doesn't even have a pair of Rocky boots, they couldn't afford nuthing like that.

So, i never got the blind back. I heard his landlord kicked him out though. So he doesn't live so close anymore.

Plinker

In Texas, the "oil field" is real busy again and with all the drilling rigs and people in and out of peoples property, there is a lot of stealing and poaching going on. Most oil field companies have a no gun in company truck policy but these guys are in and out of the properties all the time and there will be some bad apples out there. This is the newest stealing that is happining: trail cameras. They drive by, see the flash, they are not supposed to be there, soooooo, they steal the camera! if not everything else but they do not want proof that they were in a certain location, especially if they are not supposed to be there. I would engrave an ID number on any trail camera I set out. It helps me identify them at the Pawn shops,,,,nothin puts me in a fast burn than to show up to hunt my feeder or gear be stolen or destroyed.drwes

Sounds like your trail cams need to hooked to a Claymore.

We had a tree climber stolen a few years back on the naval air station in bellechesse LA. We actually saw the dirtbag game warden driving off with it but couldnt catch him. We approached him about it and he bold faced lied about it. Well we got out there i few weeks later and found all his ladder stands. Made a point to wait till the day before the season and took every damn one of them. 8 total. He came to us about it and we made a pint to turn his same word right back at him. WASNT ME! Now i am not condoning it, But in this case 2 wrongs did make a right. We traded his stuff and replaced our tree climber with 3 better ones . Even enough for me.

Since your local authority doesn't want to get the job done then i guess u ve to do it yourself.Firstly arrest this thieve,read his right,prosecute him,put a 45 in his head & gives him a nice burial with R.I.P .Goodluck.