So when I got home after work on Wednesday I took a leisurely walk around the pond as I often do. To my surprise, I find the remnants of where someone spilled out their tackle box. I start looking a little more closely around my feeder and can see the evidence where they had cleared out an area to fish. I found cigar wrappers, cigar ends, and the top to the worm container in the pond. The scoundrel had opened the top of the TH feeder also, to throw feed out I assumed.

Nothing makes me more angry than a lowlife trespasser. So I spent the next few afternoons setting out and tweaking trail cameras in an attempt to catch said lowlifes. During this time, Wednesday, I noticed that the feed in the TH was getting low so I grabbed a bag of feed and dumped it in.

Saturday, while I was walking around evaluating my camera placement, I go to the feeder to grab a handful of feed to throw out and notice that its almost empty, again!!. The SOB that had trespassed rescheduled my timer. The timer was set to go off at the max time all 10 times during the night.

You know its one thing if maybe someone has fallen on hard times and maybe, just maybe, was fishing to feed his family. But this person has taken trespassing to a new level for me. I will be in contact with law enforcement and pressing charges.

Thanks for letting me vent guys,

Dean

No we don't mind - you DEFINITELY deserve to vent after that one!

That is the kind of trespassing where you are driving home and figuring out how to wire 220V to the TH feeder.

Fortunately, you then remember that the authorities frown on that type of activity.

However, I would call your local sheriff, game warden, or other proper authority and file a report. Then if you ever do catch the guy, it will be much more difficult for him to argue that he "got lost" cutting through a field and has no idea how he ended up on your property.

Man, that's tough, Dean. You go to all the trouble to develop the fishery & spend good money on feeder & feed, and someone else makes off with the fish. I hope you catch & prosecute.

By the way, your experience matches what I've seen over the years: Poachers disrespect your property as well as steal fish. Coke & beer bottles, cigar or cigarette butts, trash are all typical.

With those details and the trash that was left behind, that ain't no kid. If you pick up all the trash, and they leave it behind again, (and the feeder is messed with again), if the police take it seriously enough could they dust for fingerprints and get DNA from the cigar butt?

Looks like they are at least targeting catfish, and there's no telling what they took out of the pond already. Call your local fish guy and ask him what he'd charge to bring say 100 adult catfish and other adult fish that are the size of what's in your pond? That way you have an idea of the $$ value of what was taken if you can figure out what was removed from the pond.

The $$ amount that was removed might change the law enforcement's mind on what crime to charge them with. $10 worth of fish vs. $2,000 worth of fish might make the charges change.

Yeah; there'd be forms to fill out.

Deancutler, do I read your post correctly to understand that you live at your pond?

If so, that's brazen on the d-bag's part.

I've found that leaving written messages for trespassers can be helpful. Also leaving visual cues like used paper targets, or a 5-gallon bucket riddled with bullet holes right by where the trespassers hang out are effective deterrents.

So, nothing showed on the game cameras?

There's nothing worse than a thief. I wish you the best of luck with catching and prosecuting the filthy vermin.

a few years back I drove up to my pond where I lived on 600 acres - middle of the day - one guy on my dock fishing and the other in a float in the water fishing. They played dumb but problem was my entire place was high fenced!

I had my 22 rifle with me so I told them to get the hell off of my property and they would regret it if they did it a gain. They packed up and left -

Next morning as I was leaving our place and go out our entrance I find that someone (for sure them) destroyed my lighting, plants, etc. Total trash humans

Vent away. A trespasser is just another form of thief......Someone had fished in our back pond a couple years ago, I knew this because my little john boat was not where I usually kept it. I did find the boat oars tucked underneath and the anchor rope was neatly coiled up around the anchor. No trash, just odd how they left the boat. Hope they caught catfish and kept em!

I have contacted the local game warden and he is supposed to be getting back in touch with me this week. I was able to catch a picture of the guy Monday at 12:12pm. He wasn't carrying any fishing tackle but was headed back toward the feeder. And yes, I live on the property and keep it well maintained. As you all know, we put a lot of blood, sweat, and money into our ponds in an effort to reap the benefits of our hard labor for years to come. I don't think that they were after catfish with the tackle and trash left. There were rubber worms and a rooster tail left lying on the ground. I wonder if they saw me drive up and split. I put up Posted signs and installed locks on the TH. One of my fears is the retaliation of the d-bag. I may come home and find my TH in the pond. It is currently bolted to its own little dock but someone with nothing to lose couldn't care less.

Thanks for the updates.

People littering on someone else's home ground indicates very low character. Now that you've got a line on this d-bag's patterns, you can start to see how best to deal with him.

I assume it was a weekday when the douche was at your place around noon?

The first visit that I'm aware of was last Wednesday. I then caught him on camera Monday.

Perhaps the d-bag is unemployed, or works some kind of odd shift work.

Now that you have his picture, you can do lots of fun things with it.

I recommend only sharing the pictures with law enforcement.

My 1st thoughts r go fishing with them. Ask them if they know the owner and wht all they have caught. Tell them you heard the owner is trained in martial arts lol. Ince you get to being with them find out their names and where they came from. Before they leave call the warden or police. When they show up they will think they r fine since your not running. Gotta play dirty with some animals. FYI this isnt what I'd do. To be honest I'd walk up to them holding my 12 ga and tell them if I seen them again on my property things will go very bad 4 them.

You could also print the picture. Post it on a sign at your place. Saying if this is you I wouldnt be caught here again. You have been reported to the authorities already.

Maybe if the bum needs a job, and you need some work done around the place, he can first work off the damages. If it works out, he can earn his way into being allowed to fish the pond in return for helping out.

But chances of this succeeding are pretty low. However, it may be a way of avoiding retaliation damages.

I'm all for anyone just asking. We dont eat the fish so as long as someone asks. Iv never told anyone no yet just gotta have some respect.

Someone coming along and asking permission to fish is one thing.

This is a wholly different gig.

Repeat offender(s).

It seems that people who trespass and poach on ponds always leave trash. They just cannot help themselves. Candy wrappers, cigarette butts, worm containers, plastic baits, monofilament line, you name it.

Nobody treats property they don't own like property they do. There's even a name for this, te tragedy of the commons

I am fortunate to have a neighbor who is very considerate of my property. He has full run of the place except during deer season. Another set of responsible eyes on the place is greatly appreciated by me. He also keeps the fur bearers in check, especially the muskrats and beaver, even though prices are low.

Responsible, permitted visitors are a boon.

Last year a trespasser on our place was detained "at arrow point" by one of our bowhunters, who called us so we could come throw the guy off of our property with prejudice.

You never did admit if you were sighting me when I drove down your long driveway. I felt an odd tingling like I was being watched....

I'm always watching you ...

I am sorry for you but lessons of tresspassers I have learned.
1. johnny law doesnt give a #!@& usually doesnt even respond considers it too petty for them.
2.Tresspassers are all low life scum and repeat offenders. tresspassing is just std op procedure for them.
3. When caught and confronted they turn rude vulgar etc etc.
4. if not properly made unwelcome they will come back again and tell their scum pals.
5. they should be made properly unwelcome, HOW thats up to you!
6. if made properly unwelcome they will tell their scum pals and word will travel that your place is very forbidden fruit.
7. if they see the game cameras they will steal them or wreck them, that I promise you.
8. if left unchecked their mayhem may increase, you may get broken into next.

I have seen and or experienced all of the above.
Good luck to you item 5 & 6 usually works wonders!! lol

Our 80 year-old hay barn caught fire and burned down in minutes on Monday.

There was no electricity to the barn, no stored hay, and no lightning.

I assume it was trespassers.

Don't know if it was arson, young kids dropped a cigarette or joint, idiot with a rifle hit some old steel, or some even stranger event?

I investigated with a sheriff's deputy and the fire captain, but nothing looked suspicious. There were no tire tracks. There was no walking path, as if it had become a hangout for local teens.

Perhaps it was a homeless person, but our farm is off of the beaten path of any roads leaving the nearest small city.

I have my game cams up for deer, but they are mostly on the opposite side of the property and captured nothing.

I just hope it is not some teen arsonist that is going to escalate. There are far too many unattended out-buildings in our area of farms!

FishinRod, I'm sorry to hear that.

Thanks, esshup.

I don't think we were ever going to use the barn in the future - so no big loss. It was built for a time prior to 5' big round bales.

However, in the five minutes it took me to see the smoke, drive to the fire, and line out the fire conditions to 911, the fire had already started running through our mowed grass field! That took six fire trucks to extinguish. (We just let the barn burn down, since there was no chance of saving it.)

My biggest concern is an arson fire that gets into our grass and traps my nephews out hunting, or the boy scouts asleep in their tents just before sunrise.

I burn big brush piles at our property. A big fire that is not moving, is NOT scary. A medium fire that is moving rapidly is VERY scary!

So sorry about the fire. Seems strange given the conditions you described.

I was actually out filling deer feeders on the other side of our property that day.

I thought the catalytic converter on my truck touching a grass bunch was the most likely cause of the fire. After the fire was contained, I went back over the two places where I drove within a 1/8th of a mile of the barn. No sign of fire from either driving location.

Has anyone ever heard of an old building catching fire just by two pieces of lumber rubbing across each other to create ignition by friction?

It was a low wind day (7-8 mph from the SW), and the barn has seen MANY days of 35+ mph winds. However, who knows what could happen if you set up the perfect harmonic to maximize movement.

Impossible in those conditions you describe.

Rod I'm sorry to say but its sounds like it was intentional if you ask me. On a good note they say all criminals return to the scene of the crime. I would set up a trail cam on it. It wouldnt be enough evidence for court 😉. But you would know who you can take off the Christmas list for sure.

Rod, sorry to hear. Glad nobody was hurt. I haven't been the victim of a similar event whether man made or natural, but if yours was man made, that is scary.

That is what I thought. I guess "man-made" is the conclusion.



Further, it appears that the consensus of the experts is that I need even more game cams!

Man, I hate that. Not knowing how it started has to make it worse.

Short of finding accelerants, the cause of fires like you had can really be hard to lock down because the fire destroys the evidence. I'm not even sure game camera pics, unless they showed the actual event, would legally prove anything other than trespassing. Now having said that, if you get a pic of a guy crawling under your fence at 3am, and a fire started right after that, any local law enforcement or fire marshal should jump on that evidence, and at least have a very solid suspect. I'm not sure how Kansas handles potential arson fires, but here, a public safety injury of any type escalates the penalty, and effort put in to determine the cause.

You've pretty much covered all the potential causes, and I would also guess it's arson. It's just that it can be really hard to prove.

I have seen a wood pile start on fire when sunlight was magnified through an old glass window pane.

SSS

"pour encourager les autres."


The SSS system would certainly work well, if it could by widely broadcast on social media, yet kept secret at the same time!