This past weekend on my way home with my wife and my kids I get a notification from my cell cam. Upon opening the picture I see that it is a game warden walking on the back trail of my property. Now where this sits is back in off a private road with 4 other homes spread out. On the backside of the property there is a neighborhood that is separated by a creek and woods. We arrived home just as the game warden was leaving and I stopped her at the end of the road and had a very positive conversation with her. She had mentioned that someone had reported my feeder (NOTE I am in special regulations area 5D where feeders are LEGAL). She mentioned that everything looks great and can see all the work I have done to the property and good luck. I had asked her how she was notified about the feeder and she said someone had called in but could not tell me who the other party was. After getting her card she went on her way after I thank her and wished her well!
Here is concerning part for me. In regards to where my feeder is located and my property in itself (which is posted), the only way for someone to know that it is there is if they were in fact on my property. I feel that as landowners we should be made aware of who made the call especially in a case such as this as only someone on my property would know this is there. All of my neighbors are fully aware of what is there and have all wished us luck.
Now back track to last weekend where I caught a trespasser on my property while I was putting a blind up as he walked 15 yards away! He came stomping through my food plot and when I approached him he said he lost his dog 3 days ago and came up through the creek and through my property looking for it. Now mind you he lives a couple miles away and was not calling for his dog and found out he hunts across the road as well. When I told him his story is -- he didnt argue but said ok I will leave. I escorted him out the way he came and told him if theres a next time authorities will be called.
I have my wife and kids that hunt our property and this boils my blood with someone such as this coming onto my property and my family possibly out there. Something tells me it was this guy out of spite as he would have seen the feeder. So my question I guess is if I call the regional office can they tell me who made the call? Thanks in advance.
I think that is kept anonymous in the case of possible retaliation against the individual that reported it. Could it have been the guy that you escorted off your property?
pchunter1231 I believe it could have been him as it was a week prior that I kicked him off. I gave the Warden his name and mentioned he is hunting across the street but the only real property over there is township property you CANT hunt. I have my neighbors property to the right and then after that is more township property. My thoughts are that he was looking for ways to access that property through mine and my neighbors but he wouldn't admit that. And I understand about being annoymous but my concern is that if it wasnt this individual then I have other trespassers on my land. Wife gave me the go ahead to buy more cell cams as well so at least something positive came out of this haha
JJ4D I agree. Just bothers me if it in fact was someone else. Should be able to know especially if there were no violations
agreed with pchunter1231 and JJ4d. must have been him if your neighbors know about it and are ok with it. hope you have no more trouble with him or the feeder. good luck
Thank you thats kind of what I figured. I don't hunt our piece as its just for my wife and the kids. Not upset at all about the Warden as she was fantastic and super professional and just doing her job, but again just ashame that people need to waste time and energy on things that are not in the wrong.
It is funny you mention that because I was thinking to myself how easy it could be for someone to come in and put something down or out and then call in for illegal activity. Kinda scary when you think about it
I'd not sweat the idea that someone else did it. While you can't prove it, you can be almost certain that turd is who called you in...hope you catch him (if he is trespassing again) on one of those new cameras!
Im not familiar with Pa baiting laws , I'm confused as to if you live in a area where baiting is legal and they got a tip that you had a feeder out what were they doing there if that is legal to do ? Are you only allowed to have so much bait out or a certain kind that they would be checking on that ? Just not sure why the PGC would investigate .
In regards to feeder it cannot dispense more then 3 times in a days and must be plain shelled corn. No more than 5 gallons worth of corn can be on the ground at any given time otherwise you are in violation and you can only bait on private property.
The reason they are there is to make sure the proper bait is being used, that it is not being dispensed more than 3 times a day and not too much on the ground at any given time. I appreciate them coming out and doing their job and have their support 110% as they are a reason why we can enjoy what we do. The only concern that I have is someone being on my property to see that without my knowledge. Again with kids running around and playing in the woods at times its a bit unnerving to say the least.
the PGC should have just told the guy when he called that feeders are legal in your area and let it go at that. i think you should be entitled to the identity of the caller or at least demand the PGC cite the caller for trespassing when they found out where the feeder is located.
They may have had to check it out to ensure the feeder was in line with the law. I am pretty certain that feeders that are used for baiting have specific requirements as to how much they can drop and when they can drop it.
I was just checked the PGC a couple of weeks ago for allegedly baiting, not allowed in my area. The 2 of them spent 2 1/2 hours scouring the property. They told me everything looked fine and there was no signs of it. Said it was probably in retaliation for working with them on the poachings or someone upset that I have it posted.
I’ve wondered this same thing. Say a private landowner is baiting illegally and get arrested, which he should. Now assuming nobody is allowed on this property how does the game commission get notified by someone who isn’t a trespasser? I’m not talking about a corn pile visible from the road or near the property line, I’m talking deep in a 100 acre property where nobody has permission to be. Could this not Be fought with a good lawyer to prosecute the trespasser? Because the game commission would have the persons identity.
That's exactly my point. Again I have nothing to hide so I am not worried and I am greatful for the Game Commission doing what they are hired to do but its the plain and simple fact that there are spiteful people out there and they are being protected about their identity and I feel as a landowner if it is deemed the only way to obtain information on a violation is by trespassing, then I should be made aware of who that person is. Therefore the next time they are on my property there are multiple documented cases of them being where they should not be. I guess it would be good to know what type of questions are asked to the reporting person as to how they obtained that information.
I agree that it would be worth a call to the Warden to advise that the only way to see said feeder is from the property, and therefore the "tipster" is likely a trespasser.
Whether or not they'd "follow up" with said "tipster" isn't a question I can answer, but I think it would be worth the simple question(s).
Of course, all the tipster has to say he overhead talk or neighbor X mentioned it... if he's smart... If the initial call was "I saw an illegal feed on property X" he's basically admitted to being on the property.
Juice probably isn't worth the squeeze in this case, and no, they won't tell you the name of the caller, nor should they.
Go with the added cameras. You'll find out soon enough if it was the guy you chased off, as he'll probably come back to see if his revenge tactic worked. (Assuming it was this guy in the first place, which I agree is highly likely.)
No the officer would not divulge the tipster or investigate the trespass because the PGC can only prosecute for trespass that is in conjunction with a game code violation.
If I got shook up about every trespasser on our farm it would drive me crazy. Quit thinking so hard, only person getting trouble here is you cus you're giving it to yourself.
Buying more cameras to deal with tresspassers? Fools errand.
Since someone brought it up, the idea of bait being placed on your property in order to "set you up", can be a real issue. Not sure how one would ever prove they didn't put it there, if an investigation takes place and bait is found?
Then there are squirrels. Years ago the field above my camp woods often had corn in it That field comes over the ridge and gets pretty steep down by my woods. Probably why they quit using it for corn? They now only grow hay on that part of it, but when there was corn there, it was attractive to my resident tree rat horde.
One year in fall turkey, my buddy was up in my woods, maybe fifty yards in. He was laughing when he came back in, about the squirrels making steady trips into the corn and back into the woods with ears of corn. They'd get to fighting over the ears of corn and entertained him all morning.
Got to thinking about it later and wondered how I'd ever 'splain all them corn cobs near my ladder stand, if a warden ever wandered up in there?
Since someone brought it up, the idea of bait being placed on your property in order to "set you up", can be a real issue. Not sure how one would ever prove they didn't put it there, if an investigation takes place and bait is found?
what a nightmare that would be !! someone gets ticked because you put a stand on a SGL where they like to hunt and you dont move...nor should you have to if you were there first and WHAMMO
they walk around spreading that dirt bag stuff that looks like dirt, or pockets full of acorns, then they call the PGC and tell them what they "found", try to explain that one !
This day and age it could be spotted by a drone and that wouldn't be trespassing. After reading various threads on HPA recently, I've come to the conclusion that it must be exhausting to own or lease property in PA.
The way to handle that problem is when you see the ears pick them up and throw them in your vehicle when you leave and in a container of some kind before you leave. Believe it or not, Wardens know that squirrels drag corn ears into the woods from a field and tat is not the normal way the baiters bait. They use shelled corn, which is kinda hard to explain in a pile in the woods. One of the most flagrant baiting situation I ever saw was in Wyoming Co. on Dutch Mt where there was about 2 dump truck loads of apple pumice on a heap about 40 yards from a camp. We were looking for bait in bear season and our noses led us right to the spot with two hunters sitting on chairs by the camp.
Yes it is hearsay but it is not introduced as evidence, it is simply the reason for an investigation to occur. Hearsay is not allowed in court as evidence, however almost all information given to officers by citizens is hearsay. If you tell me that john doe killed an illegal deer at the game lands parking lot in closed season at summit station and I investigate and find that a deer has been killed and my investigation shows that the information was true and I gather enough evidence to prosecute John Doe and go to court, what will be introduces as evidence is what I discovered and introduced as evidence , not what the informant told me. Hearsay is valuable to begin an investigation, that is where it ends, to never goes to court. Perhaps the easiest way to explain it is, an officer cannot not go to court and say the reason I filed charges against John Doe is because Sam Todd told me that John Doe killed a deer two days ago in June which is closed season because the arrest and charges would be based only on hearsay. However if I act on the information provided by Sam Todd and conduct an investigation and find enough evidence that John doe did kill a deer in June, such as fresh blood in the bed of John Does truck, and evidence of a deer being recently butchered in John Doe's shed, and another person who told me and would testify that John Doe gave him some venison that wasn't frozen a day after the alleged killing, the person who gave the tip isn't even in the picture when the case goes to court, and none of the evidence submitted in court is associated to Sam Todd but is the result of an investigation by an officer of the law. It is that evidence that the court considers, not who gave the tip. In other words, I cannot go to court and introduce as evidence that Sam Todd told me that John Doe killed a deer in closed season so I arrested him, that would be hearsay and hearsay is not evidence. I hope this is understandable.
I doubt that guy trespassed in order to get evidence against the land owner, he was just trying to get even with the landowner for sending him packing, however it doesn't matter what his motive was. Every day in this country, police get information from criminals who violated the law against other criminals. The trespass was not a PGC issue, since it was not a violation of the game code and since the land owner was not in violation for baiting the PGC is no longer involved, nor are they obligated to divulge the informant since it would be counter productive to their mission of apprehending game law violators.
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