How to keep people off your woodlot ideas

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Madelinot

New Member
Oct 2, 2023
17
New Brunswick Canada
I own a small woodlot ( enough for us ) and there is one driveway . I had to put a steel cable in the front of the driveway but lately twice someone hooked there vehicle probably a truck and hauled on my cable trying to snap it .They ruined my padlock and manage to snap it once . . Looking for ideas as to what I can do . There is no place to put a trail cam there either . Im thinking they are determined to get in there to get to a stand of cedar at the back .THe trail is only wide enough for a atv .
 
Do you think they may of not seen your wire rope and ran into it either trying to turn around or go on a little off road adventure? How visible is it?
 
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Replace the lock and Put up a game camera or two. See who it is. Where there is a will there’s a way when someone wants to break in.
 
Replace the lock and Put up a game camera or two. See who it is. Where there is a will there’s a way when someone wants to break in.
I did replace the lock and will be checking this daily . Its about 3 km from my home . Its hard to put a trail cam anywhere near the entry as they would spot it right away . Its all small wood at first .
 
Place your trail cams deeper into the property. Leave your cheapest one in plain sight, that one will be the sacrificial camera. I’m assuming you have posted the property, some provinces have weird laws concerning trespassing. If you do catch them in all likelihood nothing with happen, good luck.
 
Drop a few trees on the access road
Put a few nail and screw boards on the road 1/2 buried with dirt.
 
Dig a large hole just by the gate/wire. Cover with weak plywood and dirt and leaves. When they drive in they sink the front end or 1/2 the front end into the hole.
 
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Here in the states putting potentially harmful obstacles in the way like boards with nails can get you liable and sue-able by the perps. Nothing worse than having to fight a legal battle against law breakers and losing. Maybe the great white north has different legal remedies, but I'd check with the law first.
 
Get a game cam that sends the pics directly to your phone. They’re like $100 here in the States. You can also get a setup that mounts higher in the trees and points down so they either won’t see it or cant get to it.

I like @bigealta ‘s suggestions. I really, really, hate trespassers. Especially when they are being as brazen as that trying to steal.
 
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But they shouldn't be trying to remove the cable
 
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There used to be a huge wood lot down in the valley. It was maintained by 2 parties. The tree company I worked with, and a retired guy who processed his own logs for firewood. There was problems with split firewood theft. A secure gate was installed and the problem ceased. 2 steel posts were put in the ground on each side and a second pipe swung across the road into a latch. The latch was padlocked with an enclosure protecting the lock's shackle. A trail cam was installed in a metal locked box inbound from the gate. This was enough DETERANT to keep outsiders out.
 
I remember signs in TN:

Private property
Trespassers will be shot
Survivors will be shot again
 
To dig a hole in Canada one would need an Environmental Impact Assessment, an Archeological Study including a First Nation consultation, a mining permit plus all associated fees including taxes. Being in New Brunswick all forms and applications will have to be submitted in both official languages. By the time you get approval the small wood you refer to will be fully grown timber and you’ll have to reapply to log it.
 
To dig a hole in Canada one would need an Environmental Impact Assessment, an Archeological Study including a First Nation consultation, a mining permit plus all associated fees including taxes. Being in New Brunswick all forms and applications will have to be submitted in both official languages. By the time you get approval the small wood you refer to will be fully grown timber and you’ll have to reapply to log it.
Sounds like you are familiar with NB laws . Maybe like me you volunteer for your local ATV club . So many permits plus dealing with indigenous reserves .
 
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Sounds like you are familiar with NB laws . Maybe like me you volunteer for your local ATV club . So many permits plus dealing with indigenous reserves .
The land of permits, fees and taxes, I think all provinces are the same.
What ever you decide on how to deal with trespassers be careful, ending up in court is better than ending up with a bullet in your head. Sad, so many crazy people out there.
 
And here I was thinking Canadians were a friendly bunch... (Which, btw, is the only generalization of national character that I know is a positive one....)
 
And here I was thinking Canadians were a friendly bunch... (Which, btw, is the only generalization of national character that I know is a positive one....)
We are a friendly bunch. We just get frustrated with all the rules and regulations that we have to deal with. Without getting political it seems you Americans have less government interference than us Canadians.
 
Ricky and Julian again, up to their old shenanigans.

I recommend a few life-sized samsquanch silhouettes placed strategically near where your cable crosses the access road. Add reflective dots for the "eye shine". That ought to scare them off.

We are a friendly bunch. We just get frustrated with all the rules and regulations that we have to deal with.

I love Canada, and the Canadians I have met when I have visited. I have never been to New Brunswick but have visited Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, BC, Yukon, and the NWT. All by motorcyle or car, so I got to meet a lot of people. Good folks across the whole country, as far as I can tell. A guy in Saskatoon saw me looking at a map on the side of the road so he stopped. I was looking for a hotel and my mobile data plan was expensive in Canada so I was operating the old fashioned way. He offered to lead me to the hotel I was trying to find and told me how to pronounce Regina. I met a guy in Jade City BC who gave me an almost new pair of tires because mine were about burned up. I was heading south and he was going north. His daughter delivered them to me at a campground in Prince George on the morning of Canada Day. That act of kindness allowed me to make it back to Michigan by the 4th. Great people.

When I think about "would I move there?", I am not so sure. Every place has its own problems and conflicts. Canada is one of the greatest countries in the world, and has a wonderful supply of firewood, but it does have its own issues.
 
Just put Bubbles shed by the gate and have him and the kitties watch it.
But don't let Randy be the gate guard. He's to easy to bribe with a few blimpie burgers.

I greatly miss Mr. Lahey. RIP buddy, he was the best.
 
When I was building my first log home in Texas, I dropped off 500bf of T&G pine mid week. When we got there Sat morning, it was gone, along with my tool belt and hand tools I had stashed under the new floor. I was pissed, so I drove two dozen log spikes into a 12' 2x10 and laid it across the driveway in front of where I placed a replacement stack of T&G. I covered the spikes with some leaves.
I used up the whole stack, but it took a couple of weeks and nobody touched it. I guess the perps lived by the ole, "never return to the scene of the crime". It was not the brightest thing to do, but dammit I was mad and struggling to pay for my materials as it was.

As stated, put a camera up high, almost no one ever looks up past 6 or 8 feet. Hot glue some bark and leaves to it to help it blend in. Build a gate out of Drill Pipe, sink it in concrete and armor the lock by welding a cover over it so you have to reach up inside to unlock it.

I effing hate thieves....
 
This young guy didn't even prosecute. Do like he did - obvious cameras and at least one hidden camera. It saved him.
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This young guy didn't even prosecute. Do like he did - obvious cameras and at least one hidden camera. It saved him.
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Yup saw that one a while ago. Frigin thieves, and they still kind of screwed the guy as i don't think he got everything back.

He seemed like a super nice kid. I would have been all pissed and been ahh ..... more confrontational.