Barbed wire found strung across trail!

[Pushin50]

This past October I was riding Tin Cup with my wife and daughter. We rode one end of the loop where there is a large clearing. There were some campers camped in the clearing. When we came back through about an our later the campers (bow hunters as it turns out) had piled a large mound of dirt in the trail. We just rode around it because I did not know if they had put anything in it. One of the campers walked towards us, holding a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, while sticking out his chest. We just rode on by. The incident was worrysome as there were alot of families on the trail that day. Small bikes, kids and mystery bumps are a recipe for disaster.

 

[2big4akdx]

i could tag along on your "visit"
Seriously, that is BS!

 

[tnrider]

Badger Man. We had the same idea!
My brother-in law (a hunter) was looking into building a digital scouting camera like that and found many of them were purchased to
catch trespasser's on private property. Just make sure you can turn the flash off.
And position it so it can't be seen or removed very easy! They also found that most trespassers will take the camera. So there is no evidence. So have it well hidden.

use more than one camera - pointed so that they watch each other. i do this with my game cameras to protect them too.

 

[silver]

Mike that is terrible glad no one was hurt.My guess would be he was hunting the last weekend of muzzle loader season and did not like the noise.I have a trail cam at home and can get you a few more if you want to set some out most likely he won't return unless he thinks he may go to jail then he will return to get ride of the wire.Proceed with caution there are some real nut jobs in this world.As far as law enforcement the DNR would most likely do a better job for this situation.Some of those guys get right in to nailing people like this.I would definatly, some how make this person pay for his actions but just be careful and if you need a hand with anything let me know only a short drive away.Mike

 

[D.LEATHERS]

Dave, didn't Bruce Turner have a situation on a marked orv or cycle trail this last summer? I'm thinking that he actually hit whatever was strung over the trail. KTM Mike, glad you're in one piece. I guess we all need to keep this crap in mind when on private or state property. Good luck finding these ass wipes!! :think:

 

[D.LEATHERS]

Sorry For The Screwed Up Quote, I'm P /c Illiterate. Yeah Nick You Are Right About Bruce Turner I Just Can't Remember The Time Frame When It Was. It Was Out On Marked Orv Trail, And He Was Pisssssssed Off!!! It's Too Bad We Have To Share The Land With These Idiots!!! But We Are The Bad Guys, Damn Noisy Bikers. Oh Well We Just Need To Keep Moving Foward. Thanks To Tom Dunn And Dick Rainey!!!!

Dave Leathers.

 

[MXGirl230]

That sucks..I can't believe the ignorance of some people. I'm glad you weren't hurt by the fence.

I hope you find the idiot who thought they were playing a game!

 

[bbarel]

Is there any law against placing a bear trap on your own property between a dirt bike trail and a deer blind because I've heard bears like those areas... :laugh:

 

[Matt R]

Mike,

I'm glad you and your kids did not get hurt. I would want to get justice as must as you. But remember... this guy is a hunter, hunters have guns, this guy has tried to hurt you once, so... crazy guy + gun + intent to hurt human = stay away. Since you have a good idea who was hunting there, call in the DNR or police and let them question the guy. It's their job and they can arrest, if needed, based on what's already happened. In my opinion, you don't need to poke around more. If you do, it could backfire and he can become more aggressive and actually hurt your family next time.

Of course, the evil side of me would string up barb wire above his tree stand. Or remove a few bolts/screws from the tree stand and see him land on his a$$. :p

Keep us posted on how things proceed. Good luck!

 

[Orangewoods]

Unbelievable, There clearly was much thinking behind the person action. Wire across Trail equals murder right or least attempted..for a deer. Muzzle loader season ended on the 18th so you probably wont see the the guy again until next year unless he has a private land antlerless firearm permit which is possible. I dont know if there available in your county. If you speak with the person you might be able to get a read on him of sort. Maybe if he is on the bad attitude trip you could tell him that your friend who Hunt's the property already caught someone on camera pulling up the wire and next thing you know it's across your trail. Does he know who else is hunting the property. When he asked to see the photos tell him it's in the dnr hands now. If he's guilty and a hot head which it seems he would have to be. That would make for a good recording. It just doesnt make much since he's the only visible hunter in the area. who else could it be.?

 

[KTM Mike]

A quick update on this little situation. At this point, that "suspect to the west" has been paid a visit by myself and the local cops. Long story short, no way no how did this guy do it. He is actually a pretty nice guy - and no longer on the list. In the course of both the discussion the cop had with him, and what I had with him, he did not once make a negative comment about bikes, me riding...nothing. I have formally filed a complaint with the cops. I also paid a visit to another neighbor, not some one I thought did it, but a local guy whose property borders mine on the north. He also rides occasionally, as do his kids - so I more went to warn him what is going on. This weekend I plan to visit one other neighbor - again, not a suspect, but to see if he might of heard or seen anything. There is a guy that lives in the Kalamazoo area, that owns land south of me (160 acres) that has a big hunting crew up each year. I will also call him. He is not someone I would think would do this, but perhaps one of his guests did, or may have seen or heard something.

I must admit, I was convinced it must have been that guy to the west. As he is off the list - I honestly doubt I will ever see anyone get charged with this. Given that, my approach right now is to make sure everyone around here knows about it. I want it rather public. Any reasonable person will react as all of you have. The person who does not react that way will certainly feel a bit of pressure perhaps? Worst case, who ever did it will sooner or later hear about it, will hear the negative reaction and wil know that I have taken it seriously, and will not quietly go away. I am also toying with either via a paid advertisement or a letter to the editor of the local newspaper offering a reward for info "leading to arrest and conviction". I dont actually think this will result in anything, but it does give me another forum to make sure people are aware of this idiot.

It was interesting when the cop did come to look things over. At first he was somewhat dismissive - suggesting it somehow accidently happened, or somehow someone was simply trying to get a loose tangle of wire moved to a more safe location etc. It was clear he was an avid hunter himself (he kept commenting about what a great spot I had for hunting - I think he might of wanted me to offer him a spot to hunt!), so I was a bit concerned where he might stand on this sorta thing (ie an anti biker attitude). Once I showed him how the wire was strung up his response was to the effect of "wow...there is no question someone deliberately did that - you definetly have reason to be mad about this". He took a bunch of pics etc. He also was quite clear that I had the complete and total right to use my property as I see fit (unless I was a clear nuisance noise maker), regardless of deer season and if any hunter on neighboring land did not like it, they had the ability to hunt somewhere else.

Oh, FWIW - I also spoke to a DNR CO - his response was much like all of yours - but as it was a private property thing, and at this stage not directly shown to be a hunting violation type issue, it was a county Sheriff case. He did indicate that they would of course help the Sheriff out if there was need for that.

So - the only "progress" has been to eliminate our prime "suspect", and to get the word out to a few more people. If anything more developes, I will keep you updated.

Thanks again everyone for the supportive comments.

 

[fatherandson]

Your idea about a letter to the editor is an excellent one. I would do it!