Schedule:
Is someone trespassing on your land here in East Texas? Trespassing can be a very common thing for rural property owners; especially if the owner is out of town quite often. Many people notice how often a landowner is around and if they stick to a schedule when arriving, or only coming on weekends or holidays. There aren’t many ways to protect yourselves from this issue of scheduling. One option would be to ask friends to come by the land just to mix it up. If you have close neighbors they can be your biggest help with this problem. If you feel like you can trust them give them have a key to check the property for you. The more you come in and out of the property the less likely someone is going to trespass.
What is causing the trespassing:
Sit back and think about what could be causing someone to come onto your property. Do you have a pond on your property? If so, they could for sure be coming onto the property to fish or swim. Put up some “No Trespassing Hunting or Fishing” signs. This will make the trespasser aware that you know they are coming onto your property to hunt or fish. Do you have a lot of game on the property? They could be poaching on your property. If you believe that is the case immediately call the Game Wardens and let them know you believe this is happening on your property. They may be able to step up patrols in the area. Do you have trails across the property that can be used for off-roading? Without fences people may be coming on your land just to ride 4 wheelers or other off road vehicles. If this is the case is it possible to put up fencing and gates to block of trails? Fencing the property can be an expensive step, but focusing on gating trails can be a much cheaper option. If you have the ability to gate and fence of trails you should take this step. Be sure and use thick chains and good locks so that it will deter chain cutting.
Monitoring:
Video and pictures can be a land owner’s best friend. There are several options when it comes to getting videos or pictures of people and animals on your property. Game cameras can give you a good idea of what is going on without you being there. With a normal game camera you will need to go check the memory card to see what it has captured. Some trespassers will know to remove the SD card that goes inside of them to store the picture. When looking at game cameras check to see if they have internal memory just in case they do remove the SD card you can plug into the camera and still see what happened. Another great option is to get a GSM game camera, which will send pictures over the cell phone network. These cameras are more expensive and you do have to have a monthly subscription to a cell service such as AT&T or Verizon. Now, this does mean where you place this camera it must have cell phone service in that area.
Summing up:
See exactly what is causing people to come onto your land. Is it the fact you do not have adequate fencing? Are the trails throughout your property allowing people to come out and have a great time at your expense? Could it be the ponds you spent your hard earn money stocking? Are they coming out to drink or party on your property? Look at all the reasons they could be coming on and do what you need to block these people coming out with fencing, call police, using gates, No Trespassing signage and game cameras.