Chris J. lives in Pender County, NC, and his family owns a large piece of land where they often hunt.
The private property is located next to the Holly Shelter Game Land which is a popular place for hunters to go.
One Saturday, Chris’s nephew ran into a group of hunters trespassing on the family’s property.
The 12 hunters had been hunting in the Game Land, but the dogs they were using ran a deer onto the family’s private property.
When the nephew encountered the hunters, he told them that they had moved onto private land, and they couldn’t hunt there, which made the hunters angry.
Chris soon arrived at the property.
“When I got out here, I blocked the driveway so nobody could get out. So, I could get to the bottom of what was going on here,” Chris explained.
“I went to go approach one of them and one of them said either I could move my truck, or he’ll move it for me. I said: I ain’t moving nothing until I get to the bottom of all of this because all of y’all are trespassing.”
Next, the hunters surrounded Chris and threatened him.
“The one behind me hit me and the one in front hit me at the same time,” Chris continued.
“The one behind me grabbed me and held my arms while the ones in front started hitting me. I just put my head down until I broke free.”
After getting away from his attackers Chris ran back to his truck and called 911.
The hunters went back to their trucks and drove off.
Chris suffered multiple fractured bones in his face.
The fact is that more than 1.3 billion acres of land in the U.S. are privately owned.
Whether you own a large piece of property or just your home, there are preparations you can make to deal with trespassers.
Here are a few things you can do to make your property more secure:
Gates:
Adding a gate to driveways or roads that you legally own can be a great way to inform people they are trespassing.
Of course, this doesn’t mean it will stop trespassers, but if they have to open a gate it makes it clear that they knew they were trespassing.
Also, the gate doesn’t need to be complex.
For instance, you can put a chain across the driveway with a “No Trespassing” sign.
Gates may keep out the curious. It puts people on notice.
It will stop people from using your driveway to turn around and it will make it clear that your property isn’t part of a neighboring piece of land.
Signs:
Like gates, a sign isn’t going to stop someone from breaking the law.
But it can help in court cases.
If there are signs all around your property it makes it obvious that it’s private land.
I recommend placing a sign every 50 feet along the property line.
Also, put signs on trees or posts where the signs are easy to see.
Metal signs will last at least a few years and will make it clear to anyone who thinks about coming onto your property.
Real and fake cameras:
These days you can get a quality game camera for about $150 such as ones from Browning.
You can use cell cameras or ones that record to a memory card.
The goal is to put cameras in places where it’s most likely that trespassers would enter the property.
This will help you catch and prosecute anyone who trespasses.
Put the cameras by gates, roads, parking spots, or anywhere there is a lot of travel.
Also, if you don’t want to buy a ton of game cameras you could put up one and use fake cameras in different areas.
Fake cameras look very real and may at least act as a deterrent.
There are fake game cameras that you can buy for as little as $20.
These steps will at least put some barriers in place.
They will also help you provide law enforcement with information in case someone breaks the law.
