Rather than deal with the other thread on trespass and poachers, figured we could start a different one.

So situation was........outdoor minded farmer retires and builds himself a nice pond.......stocks it with bass, bluegill and catfish. His target was catfish as he liked to catch and eat em. To help fish along, he feeds them daily. They eventually become more pets than fish.

Problem in this case is where he built the pond. About a half mile......and away from view..... from his house near a public road. A year or two goes by and he gets prostate cancer. Is laid up in hospitals and at home. Unable to do much.

Meanwhile poachers show up and start fishing his pond. Turns out more than anybody knew, but one in particular started setting bank lines for the catfish........and was selling them. Pond was pretty much wiped out. Game warden called in and caught the guy.............but needed owner to cooperate to prosecute. They refused out of concern there would be retribution. Would get house or barn burned down......or worse.

Other than bend over and take it........or face backlash from the perp........what is a person to do? BTW, this was fish, but same could be said for other livestock, melon patches, etc. Or copper from buildings. Bend over and take it or? SSS wasn't and option. Those people were church.

Maybe I'm naive and haven't seen enough outside of Virginia, but I live rural around some 'good ol' boys' and I've never seen, heard of or considered someone burning down a house, outbuilding or that level of retribution in general...

Most folks I know take their lumps. Is this really a concern?

This was during era and about 100 miles from Skidmore MO of Ken McElroy fame .......if that helps.

Stand up for what is your's!

No one else is gonna do it for you.

"Backlash from the perp"? I say bring it on!

A quick story from my early game warden years about backlash: I charged a known poacher for several violations. While completing our mostly friendly encounter, he says to me that "people" knew where I live and that I should be mindful because my house might get burned down.

I stopped writing, put the ticket down, turned to face him directly, and told him this: "You better hope and pray that my house doesn't burn because when I see my house on fire, I'm driving straight to your house and burning it to the ground. So, you should drive by my house regularly and make sure it isn't on fire because I will burn your house down whether it was you that set my house on fire or not.....you SOB!"

Those were my exact words to him. I finished writing the violation citations and handed them to him. He got in his truck and drove away.

Had another encounter with him a few years later...friendliest person you'd ever want to meet.

My house has never burned.....and neither has his.

I'm retired now and he passed away about 5 or 6 years ago.

Fight for you and yours. Trespass them off the land, you can be as civil or mean as you want at that point.

A farmer owned half a mile of the Winnebago River along I35 in Northern Iowa. Great coon and mink habitat. I stopped and asked for permission to trap one summer day. He told me that two brothers (who I had heard of before, and who were known habitual violators) were trapping it. I said, if they have not asked you for this year, would you give me permission? He said, "They don't ask."

I then asked if he would mind if I went ahead and trapped it then. He said, I think you'd best just stay out of there when they are around.

They clearly had him afraid to do anything about it.

Sounds as if he is buffaloed and resigned to let them get away with it.

There was an old couple here that had the same trouble except she had cancer, could only eat fish, and he would catch one everyday for her. I'm sure they are both gone now but same story right along the road and they had a lot of trouble too. I stopped to ask permission one day and he fed the fish and showed me all of them but said he couldn't let me. They would be three owners ago now. Two owners ago the guy said there was so much cover growing in the pond that it "turned over" and all the fish died. Something about depleted oxygen or something. I'm not sure what happened but it was all gone. The lady that lives there now came from the city and probably doesn't know any of that. Anyway I've talked to a lot of people that fished there after dark back in the day. I honestly never did.

The game warden story reminded me of one here. Our old game warden retired, he was pretty chill. The new guy was pretty ambitious and over the top a little. His house didn't burn but he lived in a newer house with newer landscaping and woke up one morning with all his new trees from the nursery laying over and cut down. I didn't have anything to do with it or know who did but that really happened. It didn't help any. He's still a little much. I have to buy hunting and fishing lisc from two states. Last time he checked me I just started handing him tags one after another. I got to about 7 or 8 and he got mad and just left... after he sat me on the tailgate and tossed my truck. There wasn't anything to find I didn't care but the old timers I was hunting with were fit to be tied. That same game warden in plain clothes driving his Sunday car tried to get a personal friend of mine to shoot a dove off of the elect line when he walked out of a woods from dove hunting and saw this guy just sitting there.

There are all kinds on both sides.

I'm an "eye for an eye" kind of guy.

You'd have to kill me to stop me...if you destroyed my property or hurt my family....over your illegal nonsense.

you have prostate cancer

stand up for what is yours and what is right , get ready if you really think they will come to burn your house down and make sure they don't walk away your dead anyway in a couple years you might as well take a trouble maker with you if need be and teach the world a lesson.

Question... Who called in the game warden? If the property owner is the one who called and then refused to cooperate, that is just perplexing and I would see it as a big waste of time for the officer.

Letting the bullies get away with it will just incentivize them to do it again to others. Further, the farmer will be known as weak and other bullies will catch word and the problem will never go away.

ol' dad

Sounds like sentiment running towards "post it, then prosecute".

One irksome detail about that place has recently come to light. Involves a distant relative. Recently found out he was one of those poaching the pond. He said they only caught a few fish for dinner.....now and then. What is irksome is he also owns 50 acres that has an old pond on it. Pond is older than me, so now mostly silted in, but is in a perfect spot and if cleaned out, would make a great fishing pond. Came to light when I found a boat he had left on our pond..........he said my mother said it would be OK. So no telling how many fish he has taken from it too.

And that pond has some other history with relatives. Mom and dad had it built about 40 years ago for their use and for something grandkids could use when coming to visit. After about 5 years or so, was full of some nice fish and easy to catch. I was catching 5 pound catfish on crankbaits coming over submerged stumps. When asked.........mom and dad would usually say OK. Then one day, cousins and some friends showed up.......asked.......said OK. Were back there all afternoon. When they finally came out........"how did it go"? GREAT! We caught a bunch..........they had filled 3 coolers full of dressed fish........basically wiped it out. It never has really recovered to the extent it was back then. Nasty combination of greed and stupidity.

So when people ask about anything now, it is usually a big NO. Happened a few years back on a farm bordering a duck hunting club. Their place sucks. When it's wet.....ours shines. A natural hole that ducks just love. I'm sure they had been hunting it before and after as it's only 100 yards from their blinds............but reason for NO is once permission is granted, it's forever. Or at least they see it that way. Them and then the friends they bring in. Give it a few years and it's now seen as public hunting land. Not hard to find landowners who find guys on their land and when asked "who gave you permission to be here"........they will say the landowner did. The guy they are talking to. That does not go down well.

BTW, that also seems to be one motivation for landowners to lease the place. They are not using it and rather than police it themselves, they turn that over to the tenant and let him deal with it. And make a few bucks on the side while doing it.

Owners did. They thought warden would deal with it without their involvement. Found out otherwise after the fact.

Here in Georgia, GWs need an "intent to prosecute" affidavit signed and on file or in the officer's possession b4 hunting or fishing w/o permission charges can be issued.....by policy. Written permission is not required to hunt and fish in Georgia, hence the landowner affidavit requirement. It is used in court as a legal document...with notarized signature(s), list of allowed persons, and a parcel map of the property as an attachment.

Also, here in Georgia, written permission is required to trap.

Ok…I give 2 options. Take a whooping or call the deputies or GW. First trespassers I caught picked option 1. We had a come to Jesus meeting and even though they were in their 20’s one got his Dad involved. Instead of waiting I drove up and discussed it with him and told him I gave them options and what they chose. He assured me they would never be on that property again.
Since then word got around the county, it pretty much ceased. Recent guys were from another county, but now know.
So no, I don’t ever fear retribution. If I get too old I have boys that are still learning restraint and when to stop. They know them as well. Leave us and the property alone and you’ll be just fine.

Those people knew how to take out the trash and rightly so. End of problem.

I don't usually tell this story because I am not particularly proud of it.

Back in the 80's when fur was bringing a lot of money, I had an area of my line where I was having a lot of theft. I suspected it was a high school kid who lived on a farm in the area, he was a hot shot football player and wrestler and I suspected he was sneaking out of the house at night and spotlighting the bridges, stealing my coon and traps.

One morning about daylight I saw him in a pickup truck parked at a bridge where I had some traps. I saw him go down over the bank just as I pulled up. I hit the brakes and went down the bank right behind him. He was a big strong kid but I got right up in his face and told him if I ever caught him stealing any of my stuff, I would make his life a living (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman). He looked at me and said, "you think you're tough?"

I got right in his face, opened my eyes real wide and screamed, "I don't have to be tough, I'M CRAZY!!!" Then turned around and went back to my truck.

Must have had the right guy because the theft in that area stopped. I'm usually not confrontational, but I went all in on this one.

I very well knew of those brothers Mr B.

Similar is actually very common here . Like I've said before due to crappy property lines and what not. Deal is if your respectful generally no one cares. But when you and your buddies come and start wrecking the place ..yeaaahhh no stuff gets intresting... We don't deal with Warden usually tho