helo today i walked down to the pond sick as a dog to feed the trout and what do i find trash, and algae that has been disturbed floating allover the pond plus trash all over the banks, the pond isn't muddy so they definattly wern't swimming. and i didn't see as many fish as usual. i have a game cam but it was turned off . so guys is there any thing i can do to keep the people away. and the game camera is always gona stay on now. so is there anything i can do to them if i catch them.help please. thanks in advance.
If you or your family owns the land, I would start by calling a game warden and tell them that someone has been poaching fish from your pond. Get him to come out and see what's going on, and ask him. Make up your mind (or your parents mind) to prosecute them if caught. If they aren't prosecuted, then there's no penalty for them fishing there, and they will continue to come and fish. Make sure the game cam is hidden pretty well - they might steal it if they think they are caught on it.
yes my parents own the land, they are just as upset as me. no trespassing sighns are going up this week. the camera is very well hidden my buddy a 70 year old living fossil as he calls himself walks down there every day with me i didn't tell him there was a camera until the second month i had it set up and he never noticed it. he was shocked when i showed him the pics. thanks essup i think you pretty much sumed up my problem.
Not sure about PA laws, but down here it is imperative (at least for legal prosecution) to have the property's "entry points" guarded with POSTED signs - stating that violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law (preferably by hanging). Beyond that, I know of a few non-hazardous "deterrents" that would make them think twice about wandering through the area.
Do a search across all forums for 'trespassing' and 'trespassers' and you will see a lot of good advice.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
I don't know much about Pa. I think we all have that trouble. Most hunting land and lot of fishing ponds are leased here in Oklahoma and they are not cheap. One thing you can do is lease exclusive rights to fishing that pond to someone you know for x amount of dollars , get a contract and all. When you catch your trespasser take him to court & sue him for the money you have to return to your friend. Let the word out it might help. When I lived in Mo. with my parents we had a frozen over pond with a nice dock. A group of kids college age stopped and ask if they could go ice skateing. My Dad said sure. a few days later I walked to our pond to find whiskey bottles broken all over the pond and our dock about 1/2 burned down. We just couldn't believe it. I hope you catch them.
Sunil i took your advice and found alot of good imfo from what it looks like everybody has had this problem thankyou. dale the one lesson that would have taught me is that no good deed goes unpunished.
Posting properly is imperative up here. We get our signs from the Sheriff's Office. The signs have to have specific nomenclature and state the MCL#, which references the law. They have to be placed every so often, depending on conditions. Main thing is, they have to be able to see them from every angle if entering your property. They are Blaze Orange, so kinda hard to miss. They don't have to be able to read them at any distance tho. All it takes up here is a witness for prosecution. With a game cam photo, the Judge don't even have to get out of bed
We have really good law enforcement in my property area, from State, County and Local Agency's. County usually deals with it, but local are all Deputized! Meaning, they can cross jurisdictions.
We did have quite a bit of trouble in the past with riff raff in the area, but that is cleaned up now. Sucks to be them , especially the neighbor kid doing Federal Time!
We all work together on problems. Like to live in peace. Do our own thing on our own property, which we have every right to, and not be bothered by Trash!
BTW, Game Warden (DNR Officer) would not have anything to do with someone fishing your private pond. Has to be poaching on/in State Waters. Land critters are a different story tho. Go ask a former resident in the area, who was a prolific poacher, till he nailed a Turkey, that was "HOT", what's it all about? After Prison, he never moved back. Nothing to move back to!
Sorry for going on, but this type of stuff effects everyone.
jkb I don't mind the long post verry intersting zep i like the ideas calling the cops will definatly work espescialy once the word gets out and believe me it will. i was thinking of taking up the offer from my sister to take her dog but i don't need no more responsibility plus he wouldn't be much of a gaurd dog he'd probably go all tame on the trespassers. note my dads name isn't clint. clint is the dog.
Being where you are located, and from my experiences with counterparts in PA, I suspect you have pretty similar laws to what we have on this side of the state border.
I would definitely start with a call to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Each state has somewhat different rules, but the "game wardens" have a lot of legal power, and, at least in WV, they work very closely with local law enforcement and the state police.
When I was last having problems, I would not have wanted to have been caught on my property with any hunting or fishing equipment, without written permission to be here.
Here in WV, there are certain paperwork forms a land owner signs, and there are things you do to your property to alert all law personnel to keep an eye on your property. I believe ours are good for 90 days, unless revoked or extended.
Local law enforcement can patrol the property, and they will detain/handcuff/transport/jail anyone found on the property without proper authorization. The person/s are taken to the county lock-up and presented to the magistrate court within 24 hours.
I found the "game wardens" to be extremely professional. They saw things I never noticed. Like "there is a piece of worm here at the water's edge -- have you been fishing here with worms in the last couple of hours?" They saw evidence of trespassing and poaching that I would never have seen.
That is one more alternative -- and a good legal alternative.
A sign that says "No Tresspassing: Waste Water Treatment site" works well.
- Dave 4.5 acre woodland pond constructed Feb 2011 - began fill Aug 25 - full pool Nov 18 - fish stocked Oct 25: 1200 Shellcracker; 3800 bluegill bream; 500 channel catfish May 2012: 500 LMB May 2012; 50 "permitted" sterile grass carp.
comon ya gota let me have a little fun every body likes to blow someting up once and awhile especialy if it means getting rid of a poacher this edjucation sure is better than the one i get at school way more fun and the people are 10 times nicer.
I agree with most everything said here so far, and would proceed to follow the suggestions made above, like the signs, showing that you are losing money via lease ( if you sue ), cameras, etc. I will add the following from my past experience so it may help.
Call the police as soon as possible. Do not hesitate and say "the next time". Game warden sounds good if they will come out, but in my area the police will start a case. I put signs up around my whole property as was told to do. They kept tearing them down. Every time I called and reported it so to build a history. It was impposible to keep them up, but the police eventually said that when I do catch them, at least there is a record of me trying.
When they were finally caught, I did prosecute. There was no cost to me, they took care of all the details/work. The police here find it very frustrating when you don't follow thru after they have tried so hard to help you. This was difficult for me to do, because you don't want to cause friction. But, since then, I have been left alone. Wiord travels fast. I do think that in time, more will come but you have to stand your ground.
Alot of this was a result of seeing my dad with the same problem for his whole life. Tresspassers coming, him catching them, calling the police, let go with a warning. Not long after, they were right back stealing, vandalizing, etc. My dad didn't want to cause problems, but it was a never ending problem to him. So, I am trying a different aproach.
Cameras are a great tool., but they are costly when they bust them up. Most will, if they find out about them. I took to putting a camera inside a box that looks like a bird's nesting box. I would then put alot of these boxes up all over. Most didn't have anything in them, but it took time on their part to figure out which ones. You might even start putting a few of these up now, so if later you put a camera in one, they will not be so suspicious.
I put signs up around my whole property as was told to do. They kept tearing them down. Not long after, they were right back stealing, vandalizing, etc.
Originally Posted By: fish n chips
Cameras are a great tool., but they are costly when they bust them up. Most will, if they find out about them.
Jezzzz fish n chips...sounds like you got some real dirt-bags hanging around your place.
Is it mostly stoner high school kids tryin to party?
SP if your property is large enough to legally allow target shooting, then doing that regularly might help along with putting up targets with bullet holes around the pond.
I shoot and make plenty of noise every time I go to the cabin.
This person in the pic has been warned once by me and once by the officer that showed up after this pic was taken. The officer assured me that if she trespasses again she will go to jail, I gave her husband the same warning. You need to let people know your SERIOUS.
as a dog to feed the trout and what do i find trash, and algae that has been disturbed floating allover the pond plus trash all over the banks, the pond isn't muddy so they definattly wern't swimming. and i didn't see as many fish as usual. i have a game cam but it was turned off 
. so guys is there any thing i can do to keep the people away. and the game camera is always gona stay on now. so is there anything i can do to them if i catch them.help please. thanks in advance.
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