“I worried about that situation a long time,†David said later. “Those guys were fined heavily and had their guns confiscated, and almost lost their truck. They know who I am, where I live, and I didn’t know what they might do to me or my family or farm if they wanted revenge. I lost a lot of sleep about that, but what else could I do? When you catch poachers red-handed you’ve got to throw the book at ’em, or they’ll own you and your property.â€
“I would have gave them a warning.”
Like rock salt?
My sister has had this problem, trespassers hunting deer. They insist that they’ve been hunting that land all of their lives. She reminds them that the deed is in her name, and that there are no trespassing signs. They usually leave for the season, but they keep going into her property every year seeing if she’ll enforce her property rights. Her complaint is that the dogs they hunt with, there are a certain percentage who come to her house and don’t leave.
“I worried about that situation a long time,” David said later. “Those guys were fined heavily and had their guns confiscated, and almost lost their truck. They know who I am, where I live, and I didn’t know what they might do to me or my family or farm if they wanted revenge. I lost a lot of sleep about that, but what else could I do? When you catch poachers red-handed you’ve got to throw the book at ‘em, or they’ll own you and your property.”
This newcomer to the area, with lots of bucks, had no clue to the local mores. He could have made friends for life by giving a warning, or telling the men that they could hunt with permission on his land, or a number of other things.
Instead, he made himself out to be a jerk, and made enemies for life.
Wild Hogs are considered pests in most places with no limits.
I have seen this kind of high-handedness in city dwellers who move to the country, a lot. It costs them a lot of good will.