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optimistic
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2013 12:02pm
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I think my strategy (un-intended at first) worked well so far. I have been living tools among many items in my cabin since December and have yet to have a break in / missing things.
I have a 1500ft road that leads to my cabin but it is hardly a road. It is a combination of big rocks, mud, and narrow paths between trees..... it is windy as well. I think that if anyone looks from the road - it looks like no one uses it which deters most, and if someone does venture in he will stop after 400ft as the mud, rocks, and narrow path will make it seem silly to continue when you don't see anything in sight....
That is why I am not putting a chain-link in the entrance which will indicate that there is something back there. I am even thinking about not putting 'posted' signs near the entrance for the same logic... maybe just further up but even then. Perhaps just around the cabin?
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2013 06:19pm
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I have a gate. The one thing that I didn't do and I'm not sure on this but I am probably supposed to but I won't until somebody insists on it is getting what they call a 911 address. This address would be set up on the road so EMT could see it. Since there is no address even some of the locals don't know there is a cabin on our property. I would like to keep it that way.
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MtnDon
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2013 06:26pm - Edited by: MtnDon
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We gave serious debate to the subject of 911 address, especially after the county began taxing the cabin, not just the bare vacant property. This may vary by county, but our county also will add lat&long coordinates to the 911 database. So we got a 911 address. We did not get around to posting the numbers on a post yet.  (that is subject to a $50 fine if they want to) If we had need to call in a 911 emergency the responders have the how to get to info at their fingertips. Others do not have any clue what is one the other side of the gate.
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silverwaterlady
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2013 07:34pm
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Where I am there has to be a residence to get a 911 address. If I needed to call 911 I would have to drive off our property onto the main road since the cell does not work at camp. Keeping my fingers crossed about that address. We pay taxes on our cabin and land(quite a bit according to some). I think we slipped through the cracks.
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cabinbiscuits
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2013 04:35pm
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We have a double gate with chain and lock at the base of the mountain which is visible from the hard road. I always close and lock it when I'm not there. Sometimes when I'm there I leave it half open sometimes fully open, sometimes I close it and dummy lock it. I have two cables with signs across the road before you get to the gate.
At our place which is on the top of the mountain I have found that most of our trespassers come onto our property from the adjoining properties across the top of the mountain on two wheel dirt bikes. This is of course despite my no trespassing signs and physical barricades made out of downed trees and boulders. Lately we've taken to leaving our firearms targets on the barricades as well just so they are aware of their risk when they are trespassing on a live fire range.
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optimistic
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2013 09:12am
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Oh murphy...
after writing my last post here - I went to my cabin and found both my axs and chainsaw missing. they were in plain view in my storage shed.
I feel so violated that someone not only went on my land but also stole.. Makes me sad and sick.
I would've caught the person but I felt 'so safe' that I even didn't bother hanging my game camera back on the tree as I used to do.
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scout100
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2013 08:53am
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I leave my blinds wide open and curtains swung back. Refrigerator is strapped open showing no food. I make it so the thief can look in and see there isn't much of anything there. I take my chain saw and tools with me. A guy further down purchased the 8'x4' yellow poly/nylon band stand poster sign ( off ebay ) It has the big smiley face on it with the wording - SMILE YOUR ON CAMERA.. That's big and loud and I'm sure it probably deters thefts.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 12 Jan 2014 12:56pm
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Blinking LED light implies alarm system. Radio Shack has a cheap blinking LED module. 276-299 for $4.49, uses 2 AA's. Might last a year between battery changes if good alkalines used? I wired up something similar with D cells and blinked even longer between changes.
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Deep South
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2014 01:03pm
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80 to 90 percent of crime is relational. For example a friends teenage kid who came out or a delivery man. We had a major retailer who's delivery man went back and broke into homes he delivered appliances to. In other words keeping strangers away helps a lot. Limiting access by vehicle is number two in my mind because criminals are already too lazy to work. I have almost twenty years in LE for what it's worth. One of my friends had a sign on his trailer that said "nothing inside as valuable as window, the door is open".
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2014 06:16pm
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My property is half way up a one mile road from the highway, and the road goes right through the middle of the property. My neighbor lives at the end of the road and drives through daily. I considered this a liability when I bought the property, now I consider it an asset, since my neighbor is an honest person who would report anything he saw. In 7 years, no evidence of any person on the property except who I expect, no damage, no theft. Something to consider when you buy a property. Very remote is very private, which is just what a thief needs to do the dirty deed.
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toyota_mdt_tech
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2014 11:37pm
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Quoting: bldginsp My property is half way up a one mile road from the highway, and the road goes right through the middle of the property. My neighbor lives at the end of the road and drives through daily. I considered this a liability when I bought the property, now I consider it an asset
B/I, I have the same scenario. The road to my place goes by a persons place who I befriended, we have become such good friends, super honest and watches my place like a HAWK. The good part is you must drive past his place to get to mine. The road has no other way out, That helps a lot too. I have never had an issue as of yet.
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 18 Jan 2014 11:57pm
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A wise thief looks for a place to hit that has at least two escape routes, so a dead end road is something of a deterent. But that doesn't account for stupid thieves, which may be a high percentage of them, since, after all, they did decide to become thieves.....
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cabinbiscuits
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# Posted: 19 Jan 2014 10:12am
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Quoting: bldginsp A wise thief looks for a place to hit that has at least two escape routes,
bldginsp- I have to disagree with you on this one, a wise thief becomes a politician or a Wall Street broker. Less chance of getting caught, even less chance of being prosecuted, and no chance of ending up in a real jail.
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old243
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# Posted: 19 Jan 2014 11:00am
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We have a hunt camp, the door is locked . But a good bump would likely open it. Our camp is nice but nothing of much value. We leave coffee, and dry food no cans , if someone needs shelter they are going to come in anyway. Never leave liquor in your camp. if someone finds it they will return. Our road comes past a neighbors place. We are good friends , and they see who comes and goes. If they see something strange they will investigate. Go out of your way to be on good terms with the locals. We did have a bear broke into our camp one time, but haven't had much other problems. old 243
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lawnjocky
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# Posted: 27 Jan 2014 07:16pm
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My place is in New Mexico and I am thinking about putting a fake grave by the front gate with the following on the tombstone:
Jaun Doe
Trespasser
? - 2014
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 17 Feb 2014 09:54pm
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one time we were at our property-this fella kept driving by.he stopped to talk to us.looking at land.he said he was just looking for a place to take a nap.i was like what the heck?then he added as an afterthought-and a place to grow tomatoes.
i thought he was up to no good.
we have a huge no tresspassing sign.does no good.
we finally boarded up the trailer out there after someone stole a woodstove and our generator truck.
the best advice i have is lock everything up as good as possible.have neighbors be on the look out.
lawnjockey.i thought the same thing...i wanted to do that.
i cant wait for the first month we are living out there for good to see what all happens on a daily bases.
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cabingal3
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# Posted: 9 Apr 2014 10:10pm
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this is funny.i just read that the area where our cabin is...households have to own guns cause theres no cops out there to help u.u could be cited cause of no gun.of course i dont know who would cite us if there is no cops around.
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2014 08:46am
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To the person who said the police suggested to booby trap a shotgun to the door.... That was stupid advice and will get someone killed, and land you in jail. What would your defense be? A cop told me to do it? Most states do not allow you to use lethal force to protect property? Enough said.
Our cabin has a locked cattle gate, lots of no trespassing / ho hunting signs, and I have a "firearms in use sign". Ther are also signs saying that the area is under video surveillance (and some parts are).
This a great thread, thanks for all the info!
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2014 02:58pm
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If an enterprising thief/burglar saw "video surveillance" signs, they might be inclined to put on hat/hoodie/sunglasses, etc. For that reason and since I do have cameras, I don't use such warning signs.
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Smawgunner
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# Posted: 13 Apr 2014 04:57pm
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You have to think like a criminal. If there are signs about cameras...you might get them sought out and stolen or even if you're bluffing, the criminal thinks you must have valuables if you have a video surveillance system. If you have signs about firearms...there *may* be guns to be stolen. I think the best bet is to secure it the best you can and if looking in the window, have everything worth anything out of sight. Try to have friends stop in during the week and make the place looked used on any given day. My .02
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 21 Apr 2014 07:56am
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Well, we had a poacher this weekend. At 5:40AM some guy dressed in full cammo and a shotgun was caught on my neighbors game camera walking toward my property.
By 6:10 he had walked through my property and up to an adjacent neighbor's road, at which time he was confronted by my neighbor. When asked to stop, he kept walking faster, which then turned into a full run. My neighbor called 911.
The Sheriff came to investigate and found another car with 2 hunters on another neighbor's adjacent property. These guys lied to the Sheriff and said they had permission to hunt there, which was not true since the owner just said last weekend that he has never given anyone permission to hunt on his land. That's being followed up on.
I don't think you can really stop anyone... and it's hard to physically catch someone (especially on foot). We are having the Sheriff follow up on the car, as he did get the plate.
Looking into more game cameras, and more No Trespassing signs.
Sigh... cabin life.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 21 Apr 2014 02:47pm
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I'm hoping my new security guard will keep the trespassers away...
RichintheUSA, let us know if your story has a happy ending!
Relaxed security professional
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 21 Apr 2014 03:20pm
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Thanks, will do.. Game warden /Sheriff is coming out Saturday to meet with us land owners. I'll let u know whist he recommends.
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RiverCabin
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# Posted: 22 Apr 2014 02:18pm
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Hi all, I've perused this forum for years but have never had anything to say. I was reading the thread and decided I'd stop being lazy and offer some input.
As a way of background information, I have built a riverfront cabin in southern Missouri on ground that I have owned since 2001. It originally started as a 1950's mobile home (now long gone) and is now a built 480 sq ft. cabin on a slab. My cabin is on a gravel county road along with about twelve other cabins (no permanent residents). The road is about five miles long and dead ends at the last cabin. In the past 13 years I have been broken into once and have had items stolen on three occasions. I'll detail those below.
My Break ins/Thefts
1. Around 2002 I bought an old Snapper Comet riding mower for $50 that barely ran. I used it for a year and it was stolen. It believe it was a theft of opportunity as I left it in plain view. If I hadn't been lazy and had parked it behind the cabin, I'd still have it.
2. While the mobile home was still there someone (or more than one most likely) broke in, actually walked in as it wasn't locked, and left us a towel and a Winnie the Pooh watch. I suspect also that carnal activities were afoot.
3. A few years ago I purchased some more land and when clearing the land uncovered an abandoned freezer that had been dumped. A scrap thief kindly saved me the hassle of a trip to the dump.
4. Last year I again got lazy (this appears to be a theme) and used one of those kryptonite locks to secure my wife's kayak to a tree instead of storing it behind the cabin as had been the custom for years. My laziness cost me a kayak.
From my experiences and my work in law enforcement, I can tell you that the majority of thieves are lazy. Furthermore, they only grab those things that are either safe to grab (things like scrap or inexpensive items which the owner is unlikely to report) or items that are easy to pawn (i.e. electronics, guns, and jewelry).
Everything that has been stolen from me, I have presented to the thieves in a neat and tidy manner due to laziness. Thankfully a $350.00 lesson is easy to handle. On the flipside, my neighbors have things stolen every year. These things are stolen because, just like myself, they are lazy. I believe one neighbor is on his third canoe in ten years. Another neighbor had all of his copper plumbing cut off at the floor level when he left his crawlspace open (psst, here's a secret for you builders, no one steals pex).
My wife and I have decided that if you absoluteley don't want to lose something, don't keep it at the cabin. Sure its a bit of a pain toting down my Stihl weedeater or Honda generator, but it is a heck of a lot better than replacing them. So with that said, here's my cabin thievery avoidance tips:
1. Don't leave anything of great value at your cabin, i.e. no guns, electronics of any value, generators, or jewelry. My one smart neighbor who can't go without tv bought a flatscreen tv and keeps is in the original box to bring back and forth to the cabin (a fine idea but tv is the last thing I want at a cabin). I have also found that thieves will NOT steal a push mower, I guess they're too lazy.
2. Know your neighbors. Exchange phone numbers with your neighbors as they might see something on a week or weekend you aren't out.
3. Don't count on law enforcement. My canoe buying neighbor lamented to me that the local sheriff wasn't doing anything to catch the thieves. Well no kidding, I bet the sheriff has a bit more on his plate than canoe theft from a non resident who doesn't have the brains to lock up his canoe.
4. Make your cabin unappealing. For years I subscribed to the unlocked cabin theory but I have now switched to locking the cabin. I do leave the curtains back on the front windows so a prospective thief can see there is nothing of value in the cabin.
5. Vandals are not thieves. You can make yourself somewhat secure from general thievery but everyone is susceptible to vandals. A vandal, typically a teenager, wants only destruction and could care less if you own a shack or a million dollar mansion. This is frankly a risk you are just going to have to take.
6. Don't piss off the locals. While I am sure that most of us on the board are far from wealthy, we are typically better off than the folks that live full time near out getaways. There used to be a full time resident on my road who took great pride in driving up and down the road on his four wheeler watching out for the cabins. He knew that if I was down he could stop ad get a beer or three from me. I hated it when he moved away. On the flipside, another neighbor takes it upon himself to inform people in the river that he "owns the river because its on his deed" and that further, "they need to leave or I'm calling the sheriff". Not surprisingly, he has experienced the most vandalism and theft.
Well, I've gotten a bit verbose for a first timer but I hope these tips and my experiences helps someone.
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RichInTheUSA
Member
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# Posted: 23 Apr 2014 06:33am
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This was a good read... appreciate the verbose reply and the tips.
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RichInTheUSA
Member
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# Posted: 26 Apr 2014 07:49pm
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So, had a good chat with the warden today. Recommendation was to keep game cameras going, with pleanty of "no trespassing" signs so that poachers can be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
Otherwise, had a great day at the cabin.
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cabingal3
Member
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# Posted: 12 May 2014 09:30pm
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ha!
we talked to the neighbors that live out by our cabin.i got some feedback on my mosaic head i put in our window.i put a hat on the mosaic head and a scarf about her neck,placed her on a tv tray and hid it with the curtain.stuck her in the window like she is peeking out at people coming onto our property.
i mentioned to our neighbor i did this to scare people away.he said your plan worked.i showed my wife and she was so scared she could not look anymore.
i said well then it did its job...so hoping the bad guys up there get scared away too!
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woodswoman
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# Posted: 23 May 2014 08:55am
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Awesome thread! My husband and I just bought an 185 acre woodlot with a small cabin on it. The cabin needs some serious work (I hope to get some great tips on this forum!) but first we wanted to clean up and secure the property. It is adjacent to four-wheeler and snowmobile trails so although it is quite removed from any main roads, there is some traffic on it. We also found an active bear-bait close to the cabin - not a good idea since we want to use it with our kids and small dogs so attracting bears is not desirable. Several "No tresspassing" and "Private property" signs at main entry points were posted, but they were ignored.
Anyway, we cleaned out the junk from the cabin and left a few of our own things inside. The next weekend, we came back and about 100$ worth of stuff had been stolen. I put a lock on the door and we installed 3 game cameras. The police and Dept of Natural resources were alerted. A few days later, sure enough, we have pictures of our tresspassing thieves! We had a local identify them and are delivering pictures and names to police. Let's see if we get any results!
Overall, I find it extremely disheartening that people who supposedly like the outdoors could be so disrespectful. They have left garbage everywhere, driven through barriers we put up accross roads and now my husband doesn't think we should fix up our cabin because he's afraid they will burn it down. This seems like letting the bad guys win to me...
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RichInTheUSA
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# Posted: 23 May 2014 09:16am
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I've only had my cabin and land for a short time, but don't be discouraged... Be diligent with the no trespassing signs... You will need many more. People have told me that it takes a year or two for trespassers to know you are serious.
I also put up "Keep Out, Firearms in Use" signs. I wouldn't put up any of those signs that make light of threatening people though, like "trespassers will be shot" as those are just asking for legal trouble IMHO.
Good luck, let us know how it goes.
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SE Ohio
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# Posted: 23 May 2014 12:07pm
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Woodswoman,
Sorry you had to join this thread... I hope you game cameras caught thieves (carry stolen goods) instead of mere trespassers (people walking around). Trespassing even after the recent burglary might not amount to much (if anything) in the way of punishment for the offenders. They might be a bit nervous about returning for vengeance since they know there are some cameras about! Hide 'em well.
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