I havent had anything stolen yet, I dont know if it helps or not, but i have engraved my name numerous times into my ladder stand, and i took a solder iron to my trail cam and literally burnt my name into the front of it for all to see. it wont stop them from taking it, destroying it, or whatever, but it sure might stop them from using it, especially in front of others.

As for the booby trap, many farmers around here leave gas cans full of gasoline laced with sugar! From what i hear, a couple teenage kids cars dont run anymore.

One never knows who you might run into out in the woods, case in point..........




Bitler found guilty of attempted murder, 2nd degree


A Riley County jury spared Gene Bitler a conviction of attempted first degree murder and returned a verdict of second degree attempted murder about 1:30 this afternoon


The jury also had the option of attempted voluntary manslaughter.
Bitler was convicted of stabbing Clay County farmer Marvin Macy last November during a roadside confrontation when Macy interrupted Bitler poaching a deer in southern Clay County.

The jury also found Bitler guilty of a number of lesser charges including hunting without a permit, criminal hunting, wanton waste of a big game animal, taking a deer in a closed season, fleeing or eluding a police officer, contributing to a child's misconduct and criminal deprivation of property.

Members of the Macy family said only they were "very disappointed" in the verdict after it was read.

Sentencing by Judge Paul Miller was set for 2:30 p.m., Sept. 5 in the Riley County courthouse.

Taking the stand as the only witness in his defense Thursday, a seemingly confident Gene Bitler never admitted stabbing Clay County farmer Marvin Macy during a roadside confrontation, but admitted "in my heart, I felt I'd hurt this man. I didn't know how bad."

The case concluded and went to the jury this morning.

Bitler was charged with stabbing Macy numerous times and leaving him bleeding in a field last November 13 after Macy interrupted Bitler and his two sons after they had shot a deer near Macy's home. He said he fled the scene of the stabbing because he had killed the deer illegally.

Bitler said Macy confronted him and wouldn't back away after Bitler said he warned him off. The testimony contrasted starkly with Macy who testified on Wednesday that Bitler pursued him relentlessly with a knife, stabbing and slashing him numerous times.

Bitler said only that he had "pushed" Macy numerous times.

After the attack, Bitler drove Macy's car about two miles, abandoned it and drove his pickup with his two sons along back roads to his then girlfriend's house in Council Grove. Macy, severely wounded, made his way back to his home.

"I was standing there scared, knowing what I did (killed the deer) was wrong," said Bitler who also testified he had consumed most of a twelve pack of beer that same day. "I was hoping he would leave, but from his tone I thought I needed to get up there and see what was going on. When I got to the pickup I said "What's going on?" Bitler said Macy turned to him and said "We're about to find out."

Bitler said Macy spoke in a "demanding tone" and claimed Macy kept coming toward him even after Bitler had "pushed him away."

Chewing gum and answering questions from prosecutors and defense attorneys directly, even joking at times, Bitler said he left the area after the confrontation because he had panicked.

"I just illegally shot a deer and I didn't want to bring attention to myself. (The buck) was just one of a kind and I wanted the antlers," Bitler said. "My heart leaped out of my chest, I made the decision to take this buck. "seeing a buck of that magnitude...you don't see one every day."

"I took Mr. Macy's car. I was scared. I was panicking," Bitler said adding that "all (he) wanted to do was get his sons and himself away from the area."

Bitler admitted throwing the knife and a rifle and several pheasants into the Neosho river on the trip back to Council Grove and admitted lying to KBI agent Bill Halvorsen about the incident.

"Why did you get rid of the gun and knife," defense counsel asked Bitler. "It was more than just the deer, wasn't it?'

"Yes, in my heart I felt I'd hurt this man. I didn't know how bad," Bitler said.
"If you felt in your heart that you had hurt Mr. Macy, why did you take his car and leave him out there and elude a law enforcement officer," prosecutors asked Bitler.

"Fear and panic," Bitler said.

Bitler had testified that before the incident he had shot a deer as it moved along Jayhawk Road "about as fast as a horse galloping" with the open-sighted .30 calibre Winchester rifle. The second shot, Bitler described as "decent, not great," brought the deer down. He said he was drawn by the size of the buck
Bitler didn't answer when, in final questioning prosecutors wanted to know how Bitler could shoot so well and describe details of his son's and his movements about the area if he was intoxicated.

Other witnesses for the prosecution were Dennis McKale and Jerry Chambers who encountered Bitler about 5:15 p.m. at a remote intersection urinating along side his pickup.

The encounter came after Bitler had shot the deer but before he returned to decapitate it, which he was doing out of sight of Macy who had arrived and had begun talking with one son who was waiting in the red pickup.

McKale and Chambers, suspicious of the out-of-county tag, said they asked Bitler if anything was wrong, both testifying that Bitler was acting "too loud and too happy--swinging his arms about." They said they thought he may have been intoxicated although they didn't see him stagger, hear any slurred speech or smell any alcohol.

Bitler assured them he had just stopped to relieve himself and there were no problems.

When the two heard about Macy being stabbed, they mentioned the encounter to Clay County law enforcement and subsequently picked Bitler out of a photo lineup.

Sheriff Chuck Dunn and Undersheriff Kelly Kemp testified dispatchers had begun trying combinations of license plate numbers with 8, 1 and 7 to find a Morris County tag on a red pickup. Macy, who had written down Bitler's tag number before he was attacked, had transposed two of the numbers. That search led officers to Bitler also.

Kemp said he found a spent 30 calibre cartridge not far from the stabbing scene on Jayhawk Road which led to the decapitated buck and head Bitler had left at the behind when he confronted Macy.