Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Son of a gun, they're already there!

Yesterday I visited our pond site with my wife, daughter, and her husband. Had a good time until we heard young voices in the front of the property (too many trees to see anybody). That's not so bad, but it was followed by a gunshot. Then another.

They obviously heard us, because the voices and gunshots abruptly ceased and I saw no sign of them when we left.

Now, the previous absentee owner did little with the land other than growing pine trees. Kids on ATVs were welcome, as were hunters. I'm sure that folks just got used to doing whatever they wished on the property.

But the fact that they made themselves scarce shows they know they are there without permission. And as someone who will have a house, pond, kids and young grandchildren on the property, I simply cannot allow trespassers, especially those who like to shoot just for the sake of shooting!

Obviously I'll talk with the neighbors, build a fence and post no trespassing signs. But is it time for me to inform the authorities, considering the use of firearms? If so, who should I call? Not that I can identify anyone, but it would be good to establish a baseline in case this happens again.

And yeah, I've got a couple of NRA metal decals I'll post at the entrance, plus start target practice so people get the idea that it's not a good idea to trespass.

Post it, then talk to the sheriff about you being the new owners and your plans for the place.

Anthropic, like esshup said, post the property first (check into whether a purple paint law is in effect in LA), then talk to your game warden and parish law enforcement. Certainly mention the gunshots. If no poaching or "dangerous" shooting was done near a road or home, and assuming it's a rural area, about the only criminal act is the trespassing,

In the state of Louisiana a land owner isn't required to display any type of sign or paint to post said property. If a person is on property without written permission from the property owner they are tresspassing in the state of La.

Wow! That def makes life easy!

I think his place in Tex near Marshall and is close to the Louisiana line. Frank, I would do a 3x3' No Trespassing sign in the area where u think the trespassing was, mostly because it might be an area where people were allowed to inter the property before your purchase. A big sign may catch their attention and u might be able to remove the sign after a yr or so. Trespassers will be prosecuted type sign. I do not have many trespassers but I have had some trespassers. My biggest problem is spotlighting deer in the area. We have blocked eyesight into some Pine Plantation lanes that could be seen from the rd.
Out laws have shot some nice bucks, cut their heads off and left the bodies. I hate these kind of people.

Tracy

I'm pretty sure trespassing, with or without it being posted is a crime in every state....the signs just make prosecutors and LEO more likely to charge the offense. Even with signs, and absent theft, most LEO just give verbal warnings, if they do anything at all...

It is certainly plausible that here in La. levels of property trespassing are handled differently from parish to parish. I speak with first hand experience, as a property owner, I have witnessed the hand cuffs being applied and a trip to jail. No form of posting needed

I posted various no trespassing signs throughout our land, but I also included on those signs the name and phone number for the local sheriff.

I erected two vehicle obstacles on a known and traveled route to our pond, and included the already mentioned signage on those obstacles.

I installed a number of trail cameras.

All in all, it took only maybe 6 months before almost all trespassing stopped. There were a few face to face interactions, which I actually preferred as it gave me the opportunity to address the trespassers, record the encounters, and attempt to appeal to them on a personal level.