I Hate Thieves!!!

S.Dailey

Senior Member
A few years back some low life stole my brand new API grand slam bowhunter stand off private property. The ironic thing is that I never left it in the woods just because I was afraid someone might take it. Well I finally got comfortable enough to leave it one day and yep you guessed it I came back the next day and it was gone. Talk about a strange feeling being in the woods at dark looking for your stand that should be on this certain tree and its not. ::huh:
 

mpowell

Senior Member
a friend of mine feels your pain

a good friend of mine didn't have a trail cam stolen but a number of ladder stands.

a guy who hunted a very small adjacent piece of property to his hunting land used an easement through my buddy's property to get to a small plot he hunted. this guy's a terrible hunter and a very suspect person.

my friend has tried peaceful measures to get the guy out of the property. this guy found out and has exactly revenge by stealing stands. yes, another low life at work. i suspect there's a special place reserved in you know where for those types.
 

DanSmith

Banned
ladder stand gone

I was at camp with 10 hunters .several years ago a couple of you were there . I had a homemade 2x4 stand stolen .. I WAS MAD!!! I said that I wished that the "***" that stole my stand falls out of it and gets killed DEAD!!. I stated that I also wished that the theifs dying from the fall would make me happy!! . also I wished that the loss of income from his death would make his wife and children suffer to the point they loose there home and die from starvation____ !!I WAS MAD!!____ Funny thing my stand was back on the same tree next sat.. never found out who stole it..but thy must have known just how "POed I was!!
 

whitworth

Senior Member
I remember years ago I was working in Texas and had clothes on a bar in the back seat area of my auto. The distributor and I were headed for lunch and he noted that I need not lock the door. That no one would steal the clothes.
Of course I gave him my upeast look - are you crazy.

A few months later I solved the case of the railroad thieves, that law enforcement, including the Texas Rangers, were looking. They were rather ingenious, those thieves.

Fellas, thieves will always be with us. That's why I carry my tree stand into the woods and always carry it out.
 

horsecreek

Senior Member
I like darryl and randys idea alot! I havent had mine stolen thank goodness, maybee cause I replace it more than its in the woods!!! :p
Mines STEALTH!!!! :bounce:
 

WLMIII

Member
I had to chime in on this, I hunt a 100 ac wooded area in south Forsyth County and have had a terrible problem with trespassers and thieves. The first year I hunted it about two or three weeks into the season I am sitting in a tree in my trusty Summit Climber, no name as it was so old Summit did not have enough models to name them. Anyway, I see the Game Warden sneeking though the woods so I wave at him and he walks under me and ask me to climb down and show him my license, permision letter, etc.... I get down and realize my wallet is in my truck with everything in it, it is about an hour and a half until dark so I decide to leave my stand so that I can use it the next morning. Showed the Warden my papers, he checked my back pack and even had me empty my pockets, no problems here and we actually became friends later. It rained hard Sunday morning and most of the day so I did not go back. The folowwing Saturday the stand was gone. I admit I was wrongfully suspicous of the Game Warden until I got to know him better.

Next encounter with a thief: Two years ago my wife gave me a Highlander game camera ($219.20 from Bass Pro) for my Birthday in May. Remembering my treestand I took it to her shop and had a 1/4" piece of flat stock steel slid though the back and then welded a piece of logging chain to each side so I could lock to tree. Scratched my name all over it and even epoxied my business card inside. Quickly addicted to it I had pictures of all kinds of stuff but that all came to a halt, cold turkey! November of the same year I went to check it one day and the tree that I locked it to had been cut down with a chain saw and the camera was gone. I can not ever remember being that mad, I am thankfull they were not there because I would have overreacted and probably hurt/killed them. I have not seen too many hunters walking around the woods during deer season with a chainsaw, so assuming they did not have it in their truck they would have had to go home, get the saw, drive back, walk back into the woods, cut the tree and then leave. They worked harder stealing my camera than if they would just have worked a few more hours at their job so they could get their own camera.

Sooooooooooo if you see an antique summit or a highlander camera with "MM" scratched all over it, let me know.

BTW, do we have spell check on this thing?
 

Randy

Senior Member
I had a stand stolen on my property in Upson Co. I hunted in it on a Saturday afternoon. At dark I climbed down. Knowing I was going to be back in the morning before daylight I left it there. The next morning I go in and can not find it. When the sun came up, I confirm the tree I thought it was in was right but the stand was gone. Somebody stold it in the dark! Somebody obviously saw me climb down and leave and picked it up. I am quite sure they are dead of some horrible desease by now! :mad:
 

GeauxLSU

Senior Member
Is it wrong to 'booby trap' your own stand for failure in case someone tries to use it? :eek:
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil
 

Hunting Teacher

Senior Member
Don't tempt me!

GeauxLSU said:
Is it wrong to 'booby trap' your own stand for failure in case someone tries to use it? :eek:
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil
Phil,
Don't tempt me!! :bounce:
I'm mad enough right now to do something like that. Later on, after I let God work on me a little bit, I'd feel guilty.
Teach
 

Drew

Senior Member
Theft deterrent

It could be overkill, but I "engineered" eyebolts at the top and bottom of my camera. When I put it on the tree I screw in two more eyebolts to line up with the ones on the camera box. I have locks on both of those. My particular brand of camera also sells a metal device that covers all sides except the front and it has a metal bolt that slides thru and I have a lock and chain on it as well. The entire deal is painted flat black. Knock on wood, I still have the camera as of last week. It is troublesome to fool with all of the locks and keys and it is not 100% fool proof, but a thief definitely has his work cut out to get my camera. Before I did all of this I just felt like I was strapping $400 to a tree.


Drew
 

GeauxLSU

Senior Member
Considering they are not the brightest lot around, put a sign directly above the camera:
"This camera is rigged with 1/4 lb of C4. (That's an explosive that will likely cause your death should it detonate.) Unauthorized tampering with this camera will result in detonation."
Or simply "The last person who tried stealing one of my cameras or stands developed lead poisoning. It was very tragic."
You could add to either of them, "I might be joking. Or...."
Hunt/fish safely,
Phil
 

Murdock

Senior Member
That is terrible. I have had tree stands stolen. I hate thieves too!
 

Muygrande

Senior Member
Sons of beehives need some South Georgia Justice!!!! I'd like to catch somebody in the act of stealing and beat the Brakes off their sorry @$$!!! :mad: :whip:
 

TJay

Senior Member
Man that stinks. Everyone that's ever been ripped off can identify. When I get new hunting stuff I try and put my drivers license no. somewhere on it, usually someplace inconspicuous. If you do get ripped off, file a police report. If they get picked up somewhere down the line you may get lucky and get your stuff back.
 

BANDERSNATCH

Senior Member
I said something about this in another forum, but thought I'd say it here as well...

How many times do you think that a trespasser steals a camera just because it has taken his picture?

Bandy
 

Ironhead

Member
I discovered my buddy stand stolen on Monday. Bad thing about it is it was the one my 6 yr. old daughter and I picked out together last year. She was even with me when I took a buck from it last November. The area I hunt is in Hall county and the thieves are most likely from the spanish speaking community seeing as how I called the game warden on them last year for trespassing. Guess they have their revenge now.
 

Bucky T

GONetwork Member
I use a security cable

My Deercam came with a security cable. I also put a little Master Lock on it.

A pair of bolt cutters would make short work of it, but my hope is to deter the lazy thieves, which most theives are anyway.

My camera got yanked off a tree last year, because I didn't have security cable on it. A club member caught the guy with my camera and the guy said he was coming to bring it back because he said he had taken it a couple days before because he thought the camera was on his property. My camera was more than a 100yds from the property line. He said he got confused and thought it was on his property.

Well, I got my camera back. Still think that dude's story was **. Believe he got caught red handed and was quick thinking.

Tommy
 

Rebel 3

Senior Member
I think many people steal things for a variety of stupid things. I think one of the main reasons thiefs like to steal things is for the thrill of taking something and getting away with it, even if they don't really need it and have the money to buy one on their own. Some people are probably just jealous that other people have nicer stuff, and they steal because they are too cheap to buy their own stuff. I work hard to get my hunting stuff and preparing it for use, and then some low life steals my opening day stand. I have two wishes this season. 1) catch a trespasser 2) kill a wall hanger
 

Adirondacker

Senior Member
"hunters" breaking laws

I have had several things stolen in the last several years and have seen so many rude, disgusting and dishonest things by so called outdoorman that it is a bit overwhelming when I actually stop to think about it (as this thread has promted me to do). I will not spend the time to give details. I just tell you that I have experienced, seen, and heard of more illegal activity and unlawful attitudes surrounding hunting and fishing than anything else in my life. I try to set an example for my kids and the young people I try to introduce to the outdoors but am often discouraged by the all too frequent "tendency" of "hunters" to "bend the rules. So I now just say:

A person who bends any law or hunting/fishing regulation or law while pursuing/taking game is not a hunter that needs to clean up his/her act but a POACHER!

A person who takes anothers property while "hunting" is not any kind of a hunter but a THIEF!

Too many of the values our nation once held dear have now been blurred. Standards are regularly lowered or erased. In the rare cases where right and wrong are agreed upon by everyone few want to hold themselves or others accountable. People who blur the lines around any law or hunting/fishing regulation erode the standard and make it that much easier for the next genaration, who is looking at if not up to us, to lower the standard even more. If you don't like a law then work to change it. Don't teach the next generation to break or even bend it. Our observed behavior and expressed attitudes are the most powerful influence over the next generation of citizens.

None of us is perfect but even in our mistakes we can, if we make things right, still influence the next generation to raise the standards for the behavior of those who love our country and the hunting/fishing pursuits. I want the people (young and old) that hunt with me to be more concerned about their character and integrity than a full freezer or antlers on the wall. If that is not their attitude I want my behavior/attitude to encourage a change in theirs.

I challenge all of us to not just complain about the unlawful behavior of others (this is not a slam against those who have in this thread) but set a law abiding example ourselves. We need to hold each other accountable to the letter and spirit of our laws and regulations.

Thump- thump! (thats me stepping off my soap box)
 
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