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#13702 - 12/17/05 07:27 PM Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
Hal Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 07/17/00
Posts: 10227
Loc: Blue Creek, Ohio, USA
If you are going to trap, there is some likelihood that sooner or later you will have traps stolen from you. And, you may also encounter other trappers encroaching on your territory or even your property.

How would you handle this situation?

Before we start, I want to clear the air in regards any suggestion of gross physical violence to person or property. We're not going to tolerate that. These acts can get you serious prison time, and nobody wants to go to prison over a few stolen traps.

smile -- Hal
_________________________
Endeavor to persevere.

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#13703 - 12/17/05 07:41 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
Buzzard.. Offline
Member

Registered: 02/26/03
Posts: 859
Loc: North Carolina
Quote:
How would you handle this situation?
Interesting,

I have but one avenue to deal w/ this and also "Peta" types that I encounter thru my work.

I pick up my cell phone and call the law...........911 if necesary , it has worked 100 percent of the time and I have done it more than once.

Making threats of physical violenece will land you in jail , even if you are in the "right"

Callin the law will not land you in jail and while it make not please you enough , it is the right thing to do.

One example,

In the city of Greensboro, I had problems w/ a bunny hugger who stole my traps , harassed the homeowners association because of my beaver trapping..........he was just a pest.

He made the fatal mistake of taking a 330 w/ a dead otter in it and hung it in a tree on the walking trail along this large pond.

I called the law and the local news station.......the law paid him a visit, the television showed his anger at the door and the following week UNC let him go as a prof of 30 years.

There is more than one way to skin a cat............

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#13704 - 12/17/05 07:57 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
hatch Offline
Member

Registered: 01/18/05
Posts: 48
Loc: ny

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#13705 - 12/17/05 08:00 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
trap jaw Offline
Member

Registered: 06/09/05
Posts: 430
Loc: Lancaster Co. Pennsylvania
Buzzard, I appreciate that comment. That is the ethical, professional way to go. My hat is off to you my friend. That approach does more for trappers than any animosity will ever accomplish.

I am a full time Police Officer. You can only imagine the various situations I deal with on a daily basis. folks, you've got to have faith in your law enforcement officials to handle these situations. I realize that there are probably some of you who may have tried to go this route without the results you had hoped for. What you've got to understand is that you have to give an Officer something to go on. Provide as much relevant information as possible. Give a good detailed description of the suspect. If a vehicle is involved, get the registration. The more infromation you provide, the grater an effort Law enforcement can provide. No matter what, do not be confrontational. Often times, this is what a perpetrator wants from you.

Turning the other cheek does not mean you are a wussy. Think of all of us when you encounter a situation before you lash out. The Conservation Officers in my area are very aggressive. If they receive a report of a violation, they will investigate it. If you are in the right, they will have your back and they will do their job. Let law enforcement fight your battle for you. Don't give amunition to the anti's.

Now, lets just suppose that you do all you can and the Game Warden does all he can but the end result does NOT end up in a prosecution. So what, let it go. Don't get jammed up by doing something stupid. It isn't worth it. As trappers we don't have to let people walk all over us but it is much more beneficial for our sport to take a modest approach.

Hal, thank-you for bringing this topic up for discussion. I think you will have made a difference for someone out there. I'm not a know it all, but if there is anything I can do to share my knowledge of Pennsylvania law, anyone, please just ask. I will do everything I can to help out.

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#13706 - 12/17/05 08:23 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
OKyote Offline
Member

Registered: 11/22/05
Posts: 45
Loc: Wright City, OK
Trap theft:
I would have to get my local game wardens involved in this. Their job is to protect the law abiding outdoorsmen from the people out there that like to reside outside the law. That's their job, and I have no problem letting them do it. If the theft was taking place on my own property, then the Sheriff's department would also be notified.

Encroachers:
If the tresspasser was only trapping on my property, and not damaging my property or livestock, I really would not be very angry. Don't get me wrong, I still wouldn't like the fact that I had a tresspasser. I think that I would give him a reason to leave without actual confrontation. Something to the tune of; firing all his traps, digging them all up and leaving them at the end of their chains, putting dead fish in them etc etc. Basically just getting under his skin. Nothing worse than every trap on you're line laying at the end of it's chain with nothing in it. If this doesn't work then I let law enforcement do their job.

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#13707 - 12/17/05 08:25 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
K. Sullivan Offline
Member

Registered: 04/12/03
Posts: 187
Loc: Northern Ohio
Quote:
traps that are illegally set on your land are part of the land just like a tree or a rock take it if you please and do with it as you please afterall it is your's you paid for it.
I don’t know if you are serious, or not.
I don't believe that just because something is on your land it automatically makes it yours. For an extreme example---How about if a hunter parked his car on your land to illegally hunt??
Would that make the car yours? I don't believe you can claim possession that easily.

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#13708 - 12/17/05 08:29 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
Hal Online   content
Moderator

Registered: 07/17/00
Posts: 10227
Loc: Blue Creek, Ohio, USA
I think, what we need to realize is that it's not the wild west anymore. You don't have to like it (and frankly most of the time I don't!) but you should realize that "retaliation" is not a favorable defense.

You do retain the right to defend yourself against bodily harm, but beyond that you can't initiate an attack on someone even if they are in your own back yard. There is no provision in the law for you to "right" any perceived wrongs that someone may have done to you.

Let me relate this little story. A friend of my caught two people on this property, stealing from him. He held them at gunpoint, and tied them up until the sheriff came. He very nearly wound up arrested himself for "unlawful detainment" which I think is akin to kidnapping.

frown -- Hal
_________________________
Endeavor to persevere.

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#13709 - 12/17/05 09:07 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
mountainman33 Offline
Member

Registered: 01/29/02
Posts: 412
Loc: Central Maine

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#13710 - 12/17/05 09:44 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
To prevent futher confusion.Would those of you who state that a trap set on your property without permission becomes your property cite the statute or provision of your state law that provides for this

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#13711 - 12/17/05 10:00 PM Re: Trap Theft, Trespassing - How Should You Deal With It?
Ric Offline


Registered: 07/22/00
Posts: 3695
Loc: Wellington,OH=USA
And your point being just what MM33.You link us to a page that is irrelevant to the question asked.Try it(CA) for a misdemeanor and you will more than likely be the one heading to jail

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