frustrating hunt

[RM81]

Planned a hunt for Saturday at my dad's farm in Ohio.  Got there to find someone had stolen the ground blind.  It's private property and no one else has permission to be there.  Last year we had two stands and two sets of climbing sticks stolen.  Makes for a frustrating day.  We quit putting out the trail cam after the stands were stolen.  Anyone have any ideas on how to catch a trespasser/theif?      

On a positive note, I did have a close encounter with about 17 turkeys that evening after going to a different location.  The closest one was only about 7 yards away.  All hens, and one of them had a beard.  Also had a few missed shots at a brave squirrel.  The margin for error is very small on a target that size.

[maineac]

Bummer about the stands.  Might be time to start building natural ground blinds, I doubt anyone would steal sticks.  Maybe hiding the trailcams well(if the IR so the flash does not give them away) and get picts of the trespasers. Especially if you set up any more tree or manufactured ground blinds.  Put the trailcam on the blind and  catch the thief in the act.

[huntnmuleys]

dang theft sure gets old!  i had a trail cam taken last winter, in the black hills of south dakota on national forest property.  heck i wasnt even hunting there, just wanted some cool elk pics..... damn thieves.

[RM81]

I think I will make a natural groundblind, since my dad only hunts from the ground now.  That's the main reason we started using popups the last couple of years.
The tresspassing is just as frustrating as the theft.  It makes me wonder if they're poaching as well.

[Ragnarok Forge]

If you can get pics of them.  Post them at every local bait and tackle shop, hunting stores and any other places that have posting boards within 100 miles.  Provide a description of their trespass and theft.  If they are local find their church and mail their pastor the photos and info.  If they work local mail it to the owner of where they work.  Most definately contact fish and game and the police.  Make the thieves lives a living hell.  The only reason they do it is people tolerate their behavior and don't go the extra mile to document and punish them.

[David Dumke]

Look online for a GPS transmitter, some thing small and put up a trail cam with it hidden inside and padlock the cam or just make it hell to open. if you're willing to spend the cash. Then, hunt them down with the authorities and get them charged and tell the police what other gear had been stolen and i'm sure there will be a search. I'm guessing they probably don't have a camp since they think hunting private property without permission is a good sport. I'm just assuming they are since they are stealing your blinds and cams.

[David Dumke]

They also have small cameras out there that transmit to your computer that are small. rig up a power supply for one of those, not sure if that'll be too handy in the dark but that's the only way I can think of as a trail cam is hard to hide some times, especially when it flashes in the dark.

[TDHunter]

A well hidden plot camera or trail cam...........would be nice to have pics of the *%$(^^)(%%^  who's stealing you stuff Matt.

[LimBender]

I heard of people hiding the non-flash quiet cameras up in a tree looking down on a path/entrance.  Just a thought and sorry bout that!

[joekeith]

I just got a Day 6 PlotwatcherPro.  Check 'em out.
..  Plotwatcher Pro

[Bernie B.]

I feel your frustration!  I had a $200.00 trail cam stolen last week on my own property.  The neighbor got a license number of a suspicious looking pickup.  We met with the county deputy sheriff Saturday and he has tracked the vehicle down.  It could be ginseng hunters who are trespassing.  I don't know if this will get any results, but the officer said he has six other cameras stolen in his area also.  Ginseng brings big money in southwestern Wisconsin and there are desperate folks out there!

Bernie Bjorklund

NC Iowa/SW Wisconsin

[frassettor]

Put a IR trail camera UP in s tree pointed down! Put it near a stand you don't mind if it's gets stolen. They will never think to look up for a camera!

[gregg dudley]

Set a treestand up in an obvious location and then set up TWO cameras.  They might find one, but they won't look for the second...

What is going to really tick you off is that you will probably know the person when you see the picture...