Five Seasons

was probably the truck gods trying to save you from buying a ford, but looks like they failed you in the end haha

ah yeah I guess if i was putting it on a dummy camera that would make sense. Seems like way to big a hassle on an active one. will keep this one in mind.

i can't imagine that rain wouldn't ruin or wash away the dust being stored outside though?

just think back to being a teen though. Heck I used to drive down an orchard road and park with my girlfriend. One time I got stuck, the owner actually helped pull me out the next day. I was super embarrassed and he was cool about it. He was like "I get it, no worries just be careful when its muddy". That's very different from a guy driving down that road to go poach deer. And if a teen was going for a walk with his girl and then realized he was caught on camera and made a bad decision to cover his tracks I view that differently and wouldn't want to harm the kid. Would I still be pissed and wondering about my missing cam? Of course. that's all i meant by that.

i've heard some crazy stories where guys have climbed illegally into someone's stand and hurt themselves and the owner held liable. This world is f'n crazy. But in all seriousness, my biggest concern would be kids. Kids and teens are dumb and there's a fine line between kids sneaking around looking to smoke, drink or hump and a grown man trespassing during deer season. But your boobytrap wouldn't know the difference.

yeah we're on the same page for sure. What sort of excuse or response did you get from the law on why they weren't enforcing or pursuing the cases? There are different levels of scumbag. I'd like to think even an appearance ticket would be enough to deter someone from future acts, but I understand that there are those out there that would laugh at that too. I guess my point was, that the shittyness of our courts wouldn't stop me from spending $50 and a few hours on posting property.

I spent $150 on locks and I'm starting there.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00L74G7YQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I went over a year without issues, and I'm new to this area and I'm hoping that this is just a case of someone who hasn't had to worry about being caught in the past and this was just them trying to cover their tracks and now that they know, they won't be back. However if they keep at it, I'll ratchet up my defenses too haha. I'm more worried about them coming behind a cell cam. Because once your pic is taken on a cell cam it doesn't matter if you take it.

I'm not saying that law enforcement or the courts will be effective. Heck they let people openly steal in California lol. What I'm saying is that the laws in NY do NOT require you post your land, but if it is posted, it carries more weight. The words I was looking for earlier was intent. There is trespassing and then there is criminal trespassing with intent or something like that. from the link i posted Trespassing Trespassing is illegal even on unposted property. Instead of posting, a landowner or other authorized person may issue written notice to another individual informing them that they are prohibited from entering the property. The notice must contain a description of the property, what restrictions apply (hunting, fishing, trapping) and the person or persons prohibited from entry. It should be delivered by certified mail or other processes (ex: legal notice in newspaper) to prove that the person was served. At any time, anyone by the landowner, occupant, or other authorized person to leave the premises (posted or not), must do so immediately. Trespassing on areas posted against trespass pursuant to the Environmental Conservation Law is punishable by a fine up to $250 and/or up to 15 days in jail.

I keep my old broken or bad cams for just this reason if it comes to that. I wonder though if I should keep old batteries and a cheap SD so they don't realize it's a bait cam and instead it's just a cam where the batteries died. yeah i can overthink things... haha

I'm not so sure that's true, but I do lend some credence to mans nature to want to go where he knows he shouldn't. The desire to explore the forbidden fruit or our constant belief that the grass is greener. There was a funny conversation on a meateater podcast a while back about stand placement. Lets say the average hunting grounds are 60 acres. That's a lot of land and trees to sit in, but if you explore many private lots you'll no doubt find the bulk on the fence lines lol. Must be bigger deer on his side!

yeah my dad had that happen to him. Some slimeball just snapped the plastic latch and stole the sd card, which in my opinion is at least better than stealing the whole thing. I often wonder if the person is really wanting to steal the camera to use or is it to cover their tracks from trespassing? I still run 5 year old brownings that really aren't worth anything so it always confuses me, just take the sd card. This particular spot was a buck trail. Not a lot of deer pics, but the spot where I'd get the best racks and I'm sure the clown has a few of the nicer buck pics now.

That's technically not true. While it's true that you don't need to legally post your property in NYS, posting your property can be the difference between a minor infraction and a more severe penalty (there's some legal wording that escapes me this early). Additionally it's often not the trespassing penalty you're going after, it's the trespassing that is used to search or pursue someone and often for a bigger crime. Think a broken tail light or a rolling stop used to pull someone over who a cop suspects of being drunk or having drugs or whatever. https://www.dec.ny.gov/lands/118436.html

what the heck is happening here?

This past fall was the first time I've had someone steal a trail camera. Admittedly it was not cable locked, I had run 8 cameras for a year with no issues the season prior. I've caught trespassers in the offseason and plan to redo some posted signs this year. It still irks me to this day, not the loss of the several year old camera and the pictures it held, but the action itself. Curious to hear your stories and what approaches you took to securing your land.

i've been using OnX. keeps the woods looking "pretty" haha

with the break in weather and another round of snow coming I snuck out of work a little after 2 today. Took my oldest with me and we went and pulled all the cell cams. Put a few with fresh batteries that I leave up year round for "people watching". Grabbed a bunch of cushion seats that I never got around to. I really appreciate the muddy mesh seats lol. Brought the .22 looking for some bushy tails but still quiet out there. Can see the deer digging quite a bit more than I expected. Good time to scout but I will say the heavy and active runs I see now are for sure not what the bucks use in the fall, so some good learning there. All in all happy to get some exercise and fresh air with my oldest. Also my kunz rough cut mower was delivered today. Spring can't get here soon enough!

Not even the mounts shoulder mounts. I cap all my bucks and mount them to a plaque in the garage. I can sit out there with a beer and cigar and each one will conjur up memories. Those that don't hunt will never understand why we really hang on to those antlers. I know some guys just toss them in a pile. To each their own, but the $15 in supplies and a little bit of effort is worth the memories they hold for me.

I totally understand why he is your X.

My OCD is triggered by all the nick knacks below the TV. How do you live with that?

If i ever took my wife hunting i'd give it 5 minutes before I got bored and wanted to fool around.

I think you can appreciate a mature deer without wanting to throw em back. Heck, when all the adrenaline wears off and the dust has settled I've looked down at some of the bigger bucks I shot and had a twinkle of sadness. They're amazing creatures and we respect the hell out of them, especially those that get through 3 or so hunting seasons and dodge countless cars and evade predators and survive the harsh winters. Feeling bad is just a sign of respect. But don't feel bad for those nanny does. They rule the woods and will absolutely ruin a shot at a good buck. Ask me and most how they know haha.

My heart always gets going a little if I'm about to pull the trigger. Especially if we're doing a little cat and mouse prior to the shot with me wondering if she will turn or go where I need to. But the heart thumping big buck adrenaline isn't there no. I'm with chef a little and this isn't meant to call you out, but if you're shooting a doe with no intentions of eating it, that's probably why. I get excited for a doe because I know it's more food. There's little other reason to shoot one. I guess I walked into that one huh?

April Vokey has been on meateater a few times as an angler she got all sorts of backlash because she's not bad on the eyes but had makeup on when fishing. She explained that she would often fish after she got done at her job bartending. Hunting I can understand, but I thought it was kind of funny some dudes had issue with her fishing with makeup on. I don't know about most of you guys here but my wife doesn't leave the house without makeup. I'm not talking dressed to the 9's or all dolled up but the basic stuff. So if a woman is practice shooting or whatever I think it'd be more abnormal not to have makeup on. If it's hot in the summer and she's wearing a low cut tanktop that is normal too. If we're honest, they know what they're doing but some of the shaming doesn't even make sense, like what do you want them to change their routine to appease some of the crotchety old farts out there?

I take my kids out a few times a year and I enjoy that time with them, but it's not really hunting. I hunt because I enjoy the time alone with nature. My dad and I call it woods therapy. I do enjoy commiserating with friends and family after the hunt though.

we'd need some pics to evaluate. Obviously this is a family site and blah, blah, blah but of course if you'd like higher marks then you know how to get em haha