Mottz

As a matter of fact, I have had a camera stolen, a tree stand ladder sticks stolen. Was I ticked, hell ya. Would I have shot them for doing it? Hell no. Plenty of other ways to go about it. Follow him out to his pickup sounds like a good idea to me. And for being a hunter, if that is your 1st instinct (to shoot someone) then I think that your hunting morals are wrong. Protecting your family or your house is 1 thing but a treestand sounds a little over the top.

halfbaked, Is everyone in texas have the cross the fence and get shot attitude? If so I feel sorry if one of your siblings would ever have to track a deer onto someone elses property.

snedd162

I think this story is a bit ridiculous. Great post though. Anyone stupid enough to Steal a Stand is Stupid enough to get shot.... But that doesn't mean you should do it lol. If it were me I would have taught the guy a lesson but shooting someone is just a tad over the top.

jcsites

a crime wouldnt solve another crime, let the authorities handle this kind of situation. they know better what to do.

LittleChief

Wow! You really are "half-baked" aren't you?

WICON42

Hardly believable IMHO. I had a guy sitting in my stand when i got there one time and then he hurried down only to complain that my stands were too high !!^@%@$#. He also shot a small deer that he failed to tell me about and I ended up tracking it for 2 days and finally got it. While some people "deserve to be shot" as they say , doing it is another thing. Thou shall NOT kill.

Big Bullets

Unless it is justified. Our job is to decide when that is the case. Error on the side of conservatism but, if defending yourself, your family or in some cases others or even property, it is justified. In PA we now have the "Castle Doctrine".

Just being in the wrong place makes the wrongdoer fair game. That has always been the rule in my house.

halfbakedi420

Maybe you should get some different kinda work instead of stealing peoples stuff

UPHunter08

Meh. The problem is that it's entirely subjective. Most people aren't qualified to make law enforcement decision on somebody else's property, much less their own (because it's more emotionally based if it's your stuff). Perfect example:

I come across a stand laying in the woods that someone else had attempted to steal (perhaps they heard the owner approaching and ditched the stand at the last minute so they wouldn't get caught). I pick it up with the intention of turning it over to law enforcement in order to get it back to the rightful owner. On the way out of the woods, I come across pissed-off Halfbaked who mistakenly thinks that I'm the one the stole his stand...and he shoots me in the back 'because that's the way we handle things in Texas!'

Even in Texas, you're likely going to go to jail and face a civil suit. If a LE officer discharges his weapon, there's a lengthy investigation into the circumstances. You don't think there would be something similar in this instance? You're a fool if you think you can just shoot someone and justify doing so over a petty property crime. Even in Texas.

That is why castle laws are restricted entirely to home invasion and immediate threats to person and property. There is no imminent threat when someone is walking away with your property. It's also why many people are (successfully) sued in states like Texas when they're taken the castle law to extremes, like Halfbake suggests. The issue of reasonable measures comes into play. Go ahead and shoot someone in the back, Halfbaked, and see if you don't have your ass sued off over it. Even in Texas. Get a grip. As satisfying as it might be for you to handle it yourself, vigilantism gets society nowhere over the long term.

Unless they're actually pointing a weapon at you, let law enforcement deal with it.

LittleChief

Wow! You sound like so much like a ticked off teenager here.

I don't need to steal other peoples "stuff", as you put it. My wife and I are both retired Navy and now we both work at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. I was taught as a child that it was wrong to steal, the Navy sure as hell didn't tolerate thieves, and the type of men and women that work here at St. Jude aren't the type that steal from each other. I have zero tolerance for thieves and I also have a low tolerance for the incoherent babblings of disrespectful children.

That being said, maybe you should go find that missing chromosome. That might fix you right up.

Chuck7

I beleive the story to be fiction..LOL nobody is that nuts...it would have made the news for sure..I can't imagine getting hit by a broadhead in the back of the leg..lot's of blood...and i doubt if a person could even walk after being shot there..the knee would be gone..pain would be horrible.

a field point maybe..but not a broadhead

and if true..the story would not "Have made my day."
sounds like somebody had just got done watching the movie Deliverance.