Poachers and night vision

[wgungho]

My family owns a 300 acre+ piece of land in Eastern Virginia. My son and I are the main hunters on the piece. We're having trouble with folks poaching. The property is surrounded with rural roads, and has numerous access points, making it difficult to seal off. It does produce nice deer, with a 12 pointer being the best so far, with several ten pointers and big 8s. One main access is a power line cutover that runs straight through the property. The cutover tends to draw the poachers, who use rifles and drive trucks through the cutover to recover game. Frequently they simply cut out the tenderloins and leave the rest of the carcass. We have several permanent stands along the cutover and have tried to catch these folks. Our intent is to call the game warden when the poachers are on the property, rather than confront them, although we are well armed when we go out at night. This all boils down to the fact that I'm looking for cheap night vision, in the $200-$300 range, that will allow us to "see" about 200 yards in optimum conditions. All suggestions are appreciated.

[.284]

I hate poachers and really really feel for you. I cannot answer your question but, I felt compelled to reply to your post. I am concerned for you and your family's safety. These types of situations tend to have a 50/50 chance of ending positively. Have you contacted law enforcement or the game warden yet? If not, I would suggest that first. If so, what did they say? I know some agencies use fake deer to set up poaching stings. This might be a way to catch someone red handed as well as send a message to others that this property is being watched.

Please keep us update as this situation unfolds. Good luck, Jeff.

[spclPatrolGroup]

We have had problems with poachers as well, a couple things you can do, put out some spike strips, and put up a warning about tire damage. We have put up trail cams to capture license plate numbers, and a sign that says property under survaliance.

[Scorch]

My advice would be game cameras that use IR (no flash) to take pictures towards the center of the property (that way the liars, ahem, lawyers can't say they were on the road and you took their picture by mistake). You can even get trail cameras that will e-mail you the pictures to your cell phone, that way you can look at the pics, forward the pictures of poachers to the local constabulary, and talk to them all in one fell swoop.

[machrism]

That really sucks. I hope you can stop them. Especialy with the nice deer you have on the property and if someone shot it and took off. I'd be even more mad. Much less the fact that in the past. They don't even take the whole thing. Contact law enforcement. If they don't do anything. I would be taking alot of walks. That's just me though.

[Rifleman1776]

If it were me, I would be tempted to use night vision and hide. When they come in shoot the buggers out of their vehicle from your hidey spot. Then retreat into the night without a direct confrontation.

[wgungho]

.284,
It is not our intent to confront the poachers, but knowing they are armed, we would be foolish not to be armed, also. We've called the sheriff, and they claim it's a game warden problem, and we have no county game warden this year. We called the closest warden recently when we caught three guys shooting ducks before first light on our posted property. The game warden refused to respond. We got plate numbers off their trucks and are pursuing legal recourse. It's expensive. We tried the camera option, and one was stolen. Others have been better camoed, but no luck so far.
The powerline cutover is the most active area for intruders, but the power company has a right of way for their vehicles, so we cannot use spike strips. We're going to try a deer decoy this weekend.
I'm looking for night vision so I can cover some of the more isolated trails on the property. As a former recon Marine, I have some expertise in that area. LOL!

[twobit]

Your lowest cost night vision would be at places like optics planet dot com. I don't know how these "less than $1000" units work or what their quality is. I would however contact your game wardens and see if they can set up decoys on the place. I know here in Texas,for a site with repeated active poaching, the game wardens will usually set up on a place. Wardens have the multi-thousand dollar night vision tools, cameras, and other devices to catch the poachers. Hard core poachers will not hesitate to shoot you, so it is best to let the wardens take them on. Texas wardens put catching poachers high on their list.
EDIT:
You posted while I was typing. Our wardens are State Officers, not county or local. I would contact the higher up commanders if locally you cant get a response. Also here in Texas power line right-of-ways are common across ranch land but are always behind locked gates at each property line. The property owner and the power company have a key. Are your power line easements unprotected by gates? If so I would insist that the power company install gates across the easement at your property lines. Is the perimeter of your property fenced? Nearly all private land in Texas is fenced, but I know some areas of the country that is not the case.

[BIG P]

Game cameras worked for us had 16 pics and 34 shots fired.3 people charged
more to come,

[Mr Lucky]

Night vision binoculars. You will want Gen 2 or higher. Gen 2 may be in your price range. This source or www.OpticsPlanet.com. As long as you are going to be out there, you might want to look at night vision video cams too.

http://www.binoculars.com/night-visi...+7958+8083.cfm

[davlandrum]

power line right-of-ways are common across ranch land but are always behind locked gates at each property line. The property owner and the power company have a key.

That was my first thought - an easement guarantees access to a defined group, but that should not mean free reign to anyone who wants to invade your property. They don't have to be fancy gates either. My impulse would be a couple of pieces of pipe filled with concrete with a chain. Even if the rest is not fenced, if you can put the pipes far enough into the woods to keep trucks from going around them, you will at least slow them down.

[highvel]

I live in VA also, unfortunately there are way to many poachers in our state.
There are many,many, big bucks killed at night by people who are not nearly a hunter, and would only be successful stalking something in a grocery store isle.
My first response to poaching is "shoot em", but obviously we cant do that so the next best thing is catch the slimy B*******!
The most fun, would be to set up on the land and hunt the poachers then catch em red handed, but that takes a lot of time and luck.

My suggestion would be the IR game cameras "without" the visible red flash. A lot of Infra red cameras have visible red flashes that humans can see and steal when they get their picture taken.

I hope you catch them all!!!!!!

If I have offended anyone who illegally kill deer, GREAT, I did something good today!

Forgot to mention: Many cameras will not have the resolution required to capture licence plates and without those you may have trouble getting a conviction.

[hogdogs]

The taking of GAME on your place may be "A warden problem" but the ARMED TRESPASS (a felony in many places) is surely a "Sheriff problem" IMHO...

There is a handheld NV monocular that might cost less than a full set of goggles...

Brent

[taylorce1]

I think game cameras might be a better option that way you have pictures to prove what is going on. Never know you might get a license plate number at least a good idea of what they are driving. I'd put them near the areas you are having trouble with them crossing onto your property.

You can buy cheap ones for about $100 a pair. Make sure you camoflage them well and put a few up at each location. So hopefully if they take them they don't get them all. Not only then will you catch them for poaching and trespassing but you can add theft of personal property as well.

[LouCap]

I agree, you have poaching AND armed trespass on your property. Here in Florida we have state officers and each county has a few dozen assigned. If you have a state agency they would love to get some poachers, especially night hunters. But the trespassing can be handled by the Sheriff.

Sent from my kick ass HTC EVO!

[bswiv]

"armed trespass"

That is the big one here in FL.

Hope you have some luck with geting the sheriff to take it as such and not just a game violation.

Do be careful though......sorry no good folks can be unpredictable.

[Double Naught Spy]

Night vision binoculars. You will want Gen 2 or higher. Gen 2 may be in your price range. This source or www.OpticsPlanet.com. As long as you are going to be out there, you might want to look at night vision video cams too.

http://www.binoculars.com/night-visi...+7958+8083.cfm

You aren't going to find much in the way of night vision for $200-300 that is going to allow you to see 200 yards and you aren't going to find anything that is Gen II in that range. You can find some electronic night vision or Gen I night vision (such as from Yukon) that will be in your price range, but you are really going to need some way to illuminate objects that far away such as with a Luna Optics ELIR or Hyper Beam Redeye, but the IR illuminators that are going to work at that great of a distance are going to run you $150-350 by themselves.

Otherwise, in your optimum conditions (full moon on a clear night) you might be able to see blobbish objects moving at that distance if they are well contrasted against the background foliage, such as wearing gleaming white shirts contrasted with dark brown foliage.

The rinkydink IR illuminators included on most NV scopes are going to illuminate maybe out to 50-100 yards for the better ones.

The IR game cameras are a good idea, but are very limited in their capabilities. Most have sensor and IR "flash" ranges less that 50 feet, though some will go out to more like 70 feet, but they also cost more than your budget is allowing. While they don't produce a white flash, the units do glow red and the red glow is readily visible if you are looking in the direction of the camera. If your trespassers see the camera, they will take it.

The cheapest IR game cams run about $90 and go up to $650. So on your budget you can afford 3 and those three cameras will maybe cover a couple thousand square feet of the 300 acres. That just isn't much area.

[publius]

Go and have a talk face to face with the Sheriff and let him know you have trespassers vandalizing the property. Get in contact with the head of the wildlife and fisheries dept and the chairman of the commission (usually appointed by the Governor) and let them know about the lack of representation and response in your County. Talk to the County Board of Supervisors, they usually control the Sheriff's budget. Write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper.

[the blur]

We were leasing a poached property for exclusive usage. It was poached out. We stopped leasing it, as there was nothing left for us after opening day. They were brazen, armed, and would run the ridge with there truck too.

It wasn't worth it. We now hunt on public land.

[Uncle Buck]

I helped a guy install the cables across some of his land (tree to tree), precisely because the poachers were getting out of hand. He did not have an overhead line running through his property, but instead a gas pipeline buried underneath of it.

He called the gas company and told them he put spike strips out along the pipeline route to stop the poachers. (He spot welded a bunch of nails to a piece of flat steal and put a clevis hook onto one end of it so he could drag in with his truck.)

I know he caught one truck with the spikes, because the guy had to come up to his house to get the address so AAA could send a tow truck. (I do not remember the outcome, but it involved the sheriff and a game warden. )

I bought a cheapo first gen night vision scope and it only works on bright nights, full moon. Resolution is very poor. I would not recommend it to any one.

[twobit]

"I bought a cheapo first gen night vision scope and it only works on bright nights, full moon. Resolution is very poor. I would not recommend it to any one. "

Uncle Buck, thanks for this comment. I have toyed with the idea of the cheap night vision to help with my hog problem. Now I will not waste my money on them. In the past I have worn the good military night vision (at least in the 1990's it was good stuff) and I always figured the cheap stuff I could afford would not hold a candle to those.

[Double Naught Spy]

"I bought a cheapo first gen night vision scope and it only works on bright nights, full moon. Resolution is very poor. I would not recommend it to any one. "

I bought a more expensive Gen I scope, an ATN MK390 rifle scope for $500. It has resolution good enough to make out the presence of the squirrel cage underneath a feeder at 250 yards...when illuminated with an ir laser illuminator. I can see the T posts helping secure the feeder's legs. The resolution is there, but you need a light source.

I have a more expensive Gen II scope without magnification for which it has trouble seeing the feeder's legs at 250 yards even with the ir laser illuminator.

The point here is that some Gen I stuff is pretty darned good, but few folks get a chance to really shop around. You can't go down to your local night vision superstore and try out 8 or 10 units to find out what works best for you within your price range.

[HotShot.444]

With your sheriff's record of malfeasance and nonfeasance, and with your experience and Mil. background, run for sheriff! Being stupid about its application is the same as being ignorant of the law entirely; sounds like your current sheriff qualifies there!!

[grubbylabs]

I would also think the armed tress pass would be a concern for the sheriff, if he is not concerned about it then I would start running adds and letters to the editor explaining to the community that if armed people come onto their property the sheriff will not show up or send deputies out to protect the land owner and his/her property rights.


Our Fish and Game also put poaching right at the top of their to do list, but they need the sheriff to enforce tress pass laws they have no power to.

I also like the idea of the flash less IR cameras that way it is a picture and not just your word.

[Magnum Wheel Man]

curious if anyone has played with one of those green laser illuminators I think they are marketed by BSA... they can be used like a flash light, but I think also mounted on top of a scope & used to illuminate your field of view through a regular rifle scope... they aren't overly expensive... I've been wanting to try one, for night varmints on the farm... they could be used for hunting, identification as in the OP's situation, or even probably for long range zoom photography... & they are within the OP's price range

similar to this...

http://www.natchezss.com/brand.cfm?c...0with%20Mounts

http://www.studentmarket.com/BSA-Opt...5-BPC1001.html