Actually, I was mad a few years ago. There wasn't much I could do as the property is over 100 miles from the house. Put up signs. They ignore them. I actually had some guys from Florida interested in a lease. Fairly large money. They went to hunt it and found 3 gut piles and tracks of a large party doing a deer drive (where people walk loudly thru the woods driving the deer to guys waiting to shoot them). I gave the check back. That's when I was mad.
I don't really get mad except in rare cases. I don't plot and plan to get even - waste of time. I don't plot to get one up either - just invites retaliation. I do however make careful plans to try and redirect bad behavior. I also have pictures of the trail they were on, showing the 7 (yes 7) no trespassing signs in the 300 yards. Also have pictures of me taking a picture of the camera (helps to locate the camera for court in relation to the signs, etc. I am hoping that there will be enough evidence to convince the courts to order the miscreants to stay 1000 yards from my property. Maybe confiscate the fire arms and remove hunting privelege for 5 years. Oh and some civil fines as well as the criminal.
NOTE: WI is a mandatory blaze orange state.
Camera Details:
Moutrie Model DGS-160.
A 4 meg IR camera that uses 6 D batteries. Can take color day or B&W IR night pictures with an array of 5x14 IR LEDs. I put the camera up with new batteries on Nov 21 or so. The battery indicator was at 92% today with the temps in the 10-12F range. It had been in the -15F range earlier in the week. (Getting "nippy") The camera was located in a small ash tree 10" diameter, about 18' up. The tree had a multi trunk maple in front of it. The camera is dull green/grey and while not camo is still fairly hard to see. I aimed it so that it would cover the road. Sadly the dozer work this fall left the road smooth and many pictures are of only a partial truck / atv. The Camera is just about silent and being IR has no flash to give it away. I spent about an hour in the cold finding a tree that was close to the road, big enough to get up in but small enough to not look it and at a place where the natural eye sight lines are forcing you to look in a different direction.
For this type of activity battery life is very important. You want to be able to leave the camera for weeks to months at a time and not have a path worn to it replacing batteries! At 4mb it is decent, but a higher resolution would have allowed for some back tags to be read. They are juuuuust too fuzzy. Lic plates are clear. Faces good too. The original is more clear than the posting.
If you are looking for a camera, line up the features and I would recommend ordering them by;
1) battery life
2) trigger speed
3) camo cover
4) resolution (4mb minimum - but no need to go whacko and get a 10+ mb)
5) Card capacity (older ones are limited to 1 gb. You want 2gb or more capable)
6) pre-view screen (neat at camp, but useless in the woods)
The Moultrie line is the best I have found that fit the bill. Battery life is unreal with spring/summer/early fall being all on one set of 6 D cells. Other brands are renouned for battery eating with some going a set in 1-2 weeks.
I was going to lay a trap with a cheap flash camera in plain view of the hidden IR camera, but had no batteries for my cheap camera. If you want my "sneaky input" --> Put the flash cam right out in the open with a no trespass sign next to it. It must be a flash camera as you WANT them to notice it. Plan out where a truck will stop so you can be sure to get the plates in the pictures. You WANT them to stop and either destroy or steal the camera. Adds a layer of "fun" as they tack theft and destruction of evidence to the charges.
jb AKA "sneaky pete"
