Badger123,
I have always had to pay for hunting access. It's just part of hunting for me. But, what I pay for isn't just to be able to hunt. I pay for the exclusive access and management rights to a property. I spend a lot more money because of this, ie...a tractor, harrows, spreaders, tower-type stands, etc. I bushhog access trails, plant warm season and cool season food plots annually, keep the fish fed in a one acre pond, do road maintenance year-round with my box blade, etc. The only thing I don't control on the property is the timber harvest and management, although the timber company has allowed me to do controlled burns in the past. I've had the lease on my 400 acre tract for 24 years.

Having a place to be able to do all that is very special to me. If I didn't have a property that allowed me to do this and be able to give a little something back to the game I hunt, then I'd probably lose a little of my strong interest.

I love the management aspect much more that the actual kill of a deer or gobbler. Therefore, I'm paying more for that than the kill. Just the kill isn't worth the money I pay. I can do that on public hunts.

Most folks have no desire to invest in hunting like I have over the years, therefore they can just quit when they find a reason to. I cannot do that. I don't play golf. I don't fish but 1 or 2 times a year (I don’t own a fishing boat.) I don’t have any other hobbies that take up my time, other than trapping. Hunting and wildlife management is what I do.

This 400 acre tract is 2 miles down the road from my residence, so I drive around this property everyday. It is definitely therapeutic for me.

The 866 acre tract is 1/2 mile down the road, but I have 9 members that help pay for access to that property.

The 1000 acre lease is about 90 miles north, but I have a nice little camphouse with power and water there.

If I couldn't go to the woods everyday, looking at deer tacks, turkey tracks, how the food plots are doing, seeing the rabbits and quail in the sandy roads,....I'd lose my mind....I ain't never gonna quit....if I'm breathing!

To each his own....I know where mine is.

I had a hunting property that had a constant trespassing problem, and it was always the "fine country folk" that was doing it.
It was originally my Grandfather's land and he always gave access to anyone that asked, which was very few, though the poachers outnumbered them.

After he passed the property went to my mother who spent considerable money to fix up the house, that same year some of the inbreds broke in had a party and burned the place down as they left....those "fine country folk" knew who did it but no one admitted to it....

So I then posted the property and had to convince a few that there was a new sheriff in town, no tickets were issued but the word got out. There was still trespassing but not as blatant. Being an out of town landowner made the place open range. Every visit to the property was anxiety producing, you never knew what was stolen or burnt. I finally sold the place.

I'm still bitter about it, people think because they don't have land, landowners should share with them "cause it ain't right" that someone can tell them no, entitled schmucks, and most of them are your neighbors and their families...

Some people just werent born to own land. Your Gramps was.

Im sorry, I didnt know you were there. The tone of voice by the caller/accuser sets the tone of the conversation. If you read the original post and didnt visualize the OP as a hothead, fine. The chance that someone goes to those extremes probably is not going to be cordial to the "trespasser-perp-lost person".
The OP was perfectly fine doing what he did, not saying otherwise, Just someone who wouldnt end up on my Christmas card list.

Diggerman, Yeah, but it's ok to burn someones house down and steal anything not nailed down, so you're just full of it...

Wow, where did that come from?

Your not really that dumb are you?

We're done, before you drag me down to your level....

I tried getting on his level but he is too busy guarding his cows and chickens.

You can not draw a parallel to your Gramps?, Who somehow was able to purchase, work and pay for the same land, got along with all those people for years and years, You get the land, develop anxieties and get the place burnt down in a few short years? You are not on my level.

Managing, SW, Managing.

I grew up in a world of hundreds of thousands of acres of BLM and forest. Ranches that let me hunt and trap. The trapping on public is gone and the ranches are 10-20 acre lots with no trespassing signs on every fence post. We hunted primarily for meat not biggest antler competition. Those days are gone and aint coming back, but I still wont pay for access.

At least we finally got on the same page!!!

"This camera is on an opening to the bordering property where they’ve clearcut"

You nor the manager actually talked to the boys that trespassed right? But because dad was a but you got the boys in trouble without hearing their side of the story. In your investigation did you find blood , feathers, a shotgun wad? Proof that they DID more than just t get lost. Not like they just drove down the road and pulled and jumped the chain. Apparently someone in their family has a lease in the area if not on the same road.

Folks around here that push the issue after a warning has been given karma finds them.
Think what some are saying is tell them they were seen . DON"T come back. That would have been enough in my opinion. But i'm not hiding or protecting anything on my land. I don't lease out to hunters as my livelihood

That's tough talk from someone that lives in a subdivision......

I hope nobody poaches a deer in jbyrd's food plot he worked hard planting.

Walk up into one of these weed patches around here & try telling them you got turned around, Lol...Do your due dilligence & know where your at beforehand.

Jbyrd63…
Did you read the initial post?? No we didn’t get a pic and call a GW. I investigated and figured out how and where. The manager took it from there.

Yes, manager inquired about who it was and put a message out to call him.

Manager wanted to talk to trespassers.

Daddy called and basically told him to pound sand and they got turned around and hung up.

Manager said ok…act like a jerk and we’ll let the GW figure it out.

GW calls and dad gives kids number.

Kid and friend admit to GW of crossing property after a bird but they eventually realized they weren’t where they were supposed to be…managed property looks a lot different than unmanaged. And of course the umpteen signs they went around were also dead giveaways.

GW issues tickets

Dad claims the camera that got them was on the right of way…that’s a dummy camera to keep folks honest
They were caught by my cam for predators.

They trespassed and knew it.

According to the hunters on that property, those guys are in another lease under the same name and were told to not go on that property.

Here’s a pic of what the camera sees…there were old coyote tracks coming from the clearcut area. I will not show the trespassers.

We don’t honor the can’t shoot unless fired upon. That’s exactly what Jbyrd is describing…if they didn’t kill anything what’s the issue?
I wouldn’t imagine a GW would issue a ticket unless he had enough evidence and apparently when the boys talked to him, they gave him enough, lol. Or he may have had the same attitude with the Dad that the manager had.
Again, if Dad had said yeah they screwed up, I’ll have them call you and that would’ve been it.
Read the title…just own up!! Especially when theirs pics of you, lol!!

There is one positive to the short lifespan of some trail cameras........once they die...they are great dummy cameras. I have a couple that I installed fake antennas on so they appear to be cell cams. They are at my gates.

Others dummy cams have a nice, colorful message written with a permanent marker on the inside. They know how I feel amd what to expect if they open the camera.

Yep…he did the same. But real cams may be nearby or down 50-100yds. You skirt the fake ones and get caught by the real ones.