With the hunting season still in full swing, I’ve already had several run-ins with trespassers that adversely affected hunts. Over the years, I’ve seen and heard plenty of stories about what some landowners have to endure as a result of owning property. The actions of trespassers come in a number of distasteful forms, which is why I felt the need to categorize them based on type and seriousness.
* The seriousness scale is 1 – 10 with 10 being the most seriousness.
The Clueless Neighbor
This is the person who lives in a neighboring subdivision and likes to take nature walks through your property. They usually have a dog and sometimes they even unleash it because they are in the “country” now. They typically act like they hadn’t a clue they were doing something wrong when confronted.
Seriousness: 5
The Sideliner
This is the person who set’s up their treestand right on the property line and will undoubtedly shoot over it given the chance. Typically, a pesky little nuisance because until he physically steps onto your property there isn’t a thing you can do.
Seriousness: 7
The “Lost” Public Lander
Own land adjacent to a public hunting area? If so, there’s no shortage of these fellas. These guys claim not to have seen the 150 bright orange signs that are posted on 150 trees in a row that mark the property boarder. They often claim to have been lost or that they didn’t realize there was private land nearby, but rest assured, they’ll be hunting your private chunk until they get caught.
Seriousness: 8
The Blatant Intruder
This type is BAD. These are the individuals who will blatantly cross the property line and help themselves to a hunt out of one of YOUR stands. Even worse, they’re probably your neighbor! This will occur most often to new landowners.
Seriousness: 9
The Help Yourselfer
A step above the blatant intruder, this one is treating your property like winning a treestand giveaway. Not only will they cross your property boundary to hunt, but they’ll take your treestands, game cameras, and whatever else they might find on your property. Unfortunately, these ones are pretty illusive.
Seriousness: 10
The Low-lifer
Perhaps not a type of trespasser, but a category needing mention as I hear these stories far too often. This is the person who claims YOUR deer. Whether you shot it on public land and another hunter had their tag around it before you could track it to its final resting place or you shot one that ran onto a begrudged neighbor’s, these guys claim a deer they didn’t even shoot. Seriously man?
Seriousness: 10+
The Bone Collector
Perhaps trespassing is at its worst when hunting season is over. Yup, you guessed it, shed hunting is when trespassers really scour the whitetail landscape. They typically walk around with a hood up, natural colored clothing, and a backpack on. Most of the time a trail camera is all that will catch these guys.
Seriousness: 9
Now that you’ve read the list, which is the worst? Is there any type we forgot?
