That was odd......

Just had a guy knock on my door and ask if I was the owner. Wasn't dressed nice enough to be selling something. Well long story short he wanted a place to pitch a tent. His girl friend kicked him out. I told him about the city campground (about 2 miles) and he goes into a rant about how it costs $5/night. Then I told him about the MN DNR campground along the river. Free but is first come first serve. Well he didn't know if he wanted to walk that far. Don't think he was casing the place but if he was two outside dogs and two inside might make him reconsider. I set up a couple trail cams just in case. First impressions he seemed like a bum. The joys of living on a main high way.

Sod Buster

No guessing there,,,He "Is" a Bum....

You get crap like that in Florida too. It is all I can do to keep from pointing a revolver at their heads and telling them to get the heck off my property. but I just tell them no and close the door. Heroin addicts to me.

neighbor has a house on his farm ....house is falling in front porch roof fell off house is too far gone to restore...house was his Father in-laws grandparents...Father in-law does not want it tore down till he is gone...anyway we were loading cattle one day and neighbor looks up and someone is looking out the window at us...neighbor calls sheriff squatters claim they have rented the place from owner....they were telling a good story if you did not know the truth, Sheriff Deputy made them leave. Squatters got their backpacks and headed down the road.

Good to be cautious and think like your potential enemy. I do not like unannounced strangers at all.

I lost a good friend who was shot point blank in the face by a murderer who approached him at work and was asking for directions, then robbed and killed him after he gave them the money. They never caught the murderer and likely will not ever catch him.

My place is a at the end of a lane that connects to super busy 2 lane state road that leads to VT, which is plagued with the heroin epidemic. I don't get too many strangers, lane is hard to turn off on, due to traffic, easy to miss etc. But I do get my share and I am very cautious about it. Few years back some locals from the nearby city thought they would unload a trunk full of garbage bags at the end my driveway on the other side of my tractor. They got the point and loaded it back up and left. Felony dumping per the law. Just recently someone pulled down my driveway and parked in front of my garage door at 11:30 PM, they soon left, but I kept an eye out, also knowing I have a distinct advantage over them.

You can't trust most folks today, better to err on the side of caution.

Neighbors around here have these darned junk garage sales. You know the ones that buy things then re-sell. They create a serious hazard on the 2 lane state road, park and block the lane here, then they all want to come up the hill, turn around and gaze at my place or drive down the driveway. That means every one of those people now have knowledge of the place and which one will be the one that is dishonest and come back to steal or what have you ? You can't ignore it, because if you do, you may regret it.

I like to see the good in people, but there's more bad than not today. I read the state police blotter and just this weekend I see a pair of shoplifters just previously arrested for same going in and out of stores at a nearby plaza. Instantly recognized them because I do what I can to keep tabs on what is going on around me. Both had backpacks on and you know darned well they were casing and shoplifting. Some get caught, released and immediately do it again, are arrested, then sent to jail, takes 2x around here before they are sent to jail.

Weird story sod buster, I would also have called the law and
reported the guy too just to be on the safe side, the game
camera idea is brilliant

(quoted from post at 09:33:53 05/02/18) Just had a guy knock on my door and ask if I was the owner. Wasn't dressed nice enough to be selling something. Well long story short he wanted a place to pitch a tent. His girl friend kicked him out. I told him about the city campground (about 2 miles) and he goes into a rant about how it costs $5/night. Then I told him about the MN DNR campground along the river. Free but is first come first serve. Well he didn't know if he wanted to walk that far. Don't think he was casing the place but if he was two outside dogs and two inside might make him reconsider. I set up a couple trail cams just in case. First impressions he seemed like a bum. The joys of living on a main high way.

Sod Buster

Click to expand...

Had a guy stop in and ask if he could set up his tent at the far end of a pasteur .He said he could see the cattle in there and they didn't bother him.I told him that the meanest bull to ever set hoof on planet earth was in there with those cows and wouldn't allow a stranger in there.I did tell him of a beautiful spot about 5 miles away where he could tent camp for a few days at no cost to him.I'm pretty sure it worked out for him.

And you do not have a gate at the road why?

be safe notify the sheriff they can make extra patrols at night, slide a couple 000 into the 12 gauge

Why would anyone want a gate on their driveway? That would be
the biggest nuance anyone could have. Having to open and close
it fifty times a day plus trying to remove snow and mowing. Not
to mention UPS,USPS,and FedEx couldn't deliver packages.

(quoted from post at 18:56:46 05/02/18) Why would anyone want a gate on their driveway? That would be
the biggest nuance anyone could have. Having to open and close
it fifty times a day plus trying to remove snow and mowing. Not
to mention UPS,USPS,and FedEx couldn't deliver packages.

Click to expand...

My comment was to Billy NY after his rundown post of all the "unwanteds" showing up.

Why a gate?
Well some of us must not be as popular as you are and see no real need to attract undesirables.

Sounds like the girlfriend finally wised up and kicked his deadbeat butt down the road. In 1975 I was eighteen years old and since
then I have never had to worry about living in a tent for any reason. Hopefully he just moves on down the road and is not a problem
for anyone.

my grandparents bought the farm i grew up on in 48. it was along a main fedral highway and they got drifters from time to time looking for food and
water grandma was a kind hearted soul and never refused someone a meal. dad bought the farm in 63 and i remember drifters would come by once in a while
but mom grew up poor and had to quit school in the eighth grade and go to work. so anyone that showed up begging for food got a peanut butter sandwich
and a drink of water from the yard hydrant. only once did she take anyone in a guy from quite far away had his motorcycle breakdown. he slept ln the
back porch and had to work for his meals. he stayed a month until someone came and picked him and his motorcycle up. in 66 we got an australian/english
shepherd mix pup.he grew up pretty mean and sat on the front porch and groweled and showed his teeth at anyone that came. so that pretty much ended
people coming by looking for hand outs

Yep something to be said for living in
the boonies. Two dirt roads to get to
my driveway from one direction. Really
rough road from the other. Add the 1/4
mile driveway and we get very few
uninvited guest. Pit/Great Dane cross
discourages the rest 😀

everyone around here has a gate in their driveway. Thieves watch ungated driveways & when they see everyone leave they rob everything they can get their hands on. See someone putting up a driveway gate you know they just got robbed.

Ranting on my porch is not well received.

I had a fool pitch his tent under a big oak tree by my shop. I had him pack up - he moved down the road a piece and re-set camp on the Shawnee Forest property. He had to pack up yet again when the game warden came by and caught him with a stop sign in his camp fire. He was burning the post off of it. That guy had to set camp three times in one evening (that I know of). Some folks go out of their way to make life hard for themselves.

I guess I am more shocked in that he actually asked first ? Maybe he was casing the joint ?

Gate would be somewhat annoying, but something like a sliding gate operating system or swing gate that could operate remotely would not be too bad.
I deal with perimeter control fences for max security prisons and am familiar with all the components for gate systems, just hard to fathom one needs these kinds of measures around the home sometimes. I work nearby and go home for lunch or to look after my elderly mother at different times + neighbors are always home. I could show up at anytime for various reasons, not much to steal here, problem is, perpetrators don't know that.