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.