im pretty lucky about no poachers as well. i hunt in elizabeth in which is in harrison county. my dad owns 15 acres and the farm behind ours is 160 acres that on one is allowed to hunt. neighbors also dont hunt. its in the middle of the hoosier national forest

It's not just the young folks, they had parents that raised them wrong too. The last guy that sent a shotgun slug within 20 feet of me knowing I was sitting there looked to be in his late 40s, setting a great example for his teenage son (who also shot scarily close to me).

It's not really an age thing but an overall degradation of the morals/ethics/behavior of our society.

It's not really an age thing but an overall degradation of the morals/ethics/behavior of our society.[/quote]

+1 for what Spaniel wrote!!!

I hunt in Missouri & Ohio. In Missouri I hunt public land, havent had a problem with thieves or seen signs of poachers. I lock all my stands, and remove them after the hunt.

In Ohio its another story. 3 locked Stands have been stolen in the last 5 years. Constant trespassers hanging stands on our private property, riding four wheelers, stealing salt blocks. I have found this year alone 7 dead deer with gun holes in them before gun season. 5 of them were bucks, the antlers have been cut off.

Two years ago my father and I caught a 16 year old in a stand on our Ohio land, and called the game warden to get a message. Then called the Sheriff ( we were standing right below the hunter at this point), which the sheriff (meigs county) wouldnt do anything.

The problem I have is with the law enforcement (Meigs County Sheriff) not helping out. The sheriff is a joke in our county, yet the guys from ODNR are some hard working dudes. They caught two men shining deer on our land this year. Kudos to them.

My advise is Lock stands and remove them when not in use, put up good fences and gates, post signs, post signs, post signs, and plant pine trees next to the roads along the property to stop poaching.

I lock my stands for sure using bike locks (cable)Here if they want it bad enough they will cut the tree down.
My groundblinds are what I worry about.
I have 5 of the doghouse style and 1 GroundMax Vision which is a good bit bigger.It's SO easy to steal them.Each one has a nice chair and a quality camera tripod.
Some have Cat heaters in them.It adds up to years of collecting equipment and it would be hard to replace it.

I never leave the bags or anything so if they steal it they will have to hold it shut coming out of the woods.

its usually the locals..they know when your there, they know when anyone is anywhere near there lol...if ya take a long extension ladder and put your cam in an adjacent tree, then youll get the pics.....they prolly wont even see it..gl

Ironically, at my age, I hunt to get away from it all, not to have to deal with it all. Don't get me wrong, I do live to hunt and I want to shoot an animal, but I have shot enough in my young age of 51. My wife thinks my life revolves too much around my hunting and guns. She may be right. I love my sportsman club and I love my woods. These are places where I go to put this crazy world behind, so to speak. Don't need to deal with this nonsense in a place where I'm at peace.