Thieves on the Tulameen River FSR

[finngun]

That sucks....I wonder it's getting to the point where one of your hunting party has to stay in camp.....

yep i think we are there already..take old timer for camp guard...might be really good idea. i woldn't leave big camp alone with all exp gear..generator etc..f,,,g.

[sames14]

I had my truck busted into when camped 60 miles out in the middle of no where in the Blackwater / Nazko area. My first thought when some co#$/×*€/£ drilled a hole in my gas tank, and stole a whole tank full of gas at the Stave Lake boat launch was thank God this didnt happen when i was in the middle of nowhere.
I wouldnt hesitate to break some skull but now i have dash cams and trail cams set up, but then again your shit is gone and at the end of the day good luck getting it back.

[fuzzybiscuit]

I set up trail cameras in my moose camp last fall. I had 1 on the road and on it were 7 different vehicles that came down past our camp a mile from the end of the road. Out of those 7 vehicles a second camera showed two stopped and the occupants wandered around our camp not 60 feet off the road. A third camera mounted behind the grill of my truck showed 2 of the five people who wondered around camp peeked inside our wall tent. Out of all this activity nothing went missing.

I was surprised to have people wonder around our camp like that since it’s not something that I’d ever think of doing.

[Big Lew]

I will admit I've been very lucky! Most of my long life camping was done when very few people worried about
leaving all their camp, fishing, or hunting stuff out in full view even if they planned on being gone all day.
The last 10-15 years have been different...thieves everywhere and they can strike any time day or night.
One couple I talked to had an estimated $14,000 worth of guns, atvs, and camping equipment taken while
they were camping in a popular lakeside forestry site. In the central Cariboo it's almost a certainty that if you
leave your vehicle alone on any of the main roads for even a short time it will be stripped or at least broken
into. At one time I thought it was probably only a few people doing this sort of activity but I now believe it's
many. They know the chances of being caught in the act are low so just grab and run. I also believe that
walking into and immediately around someone's camp is no different than snooping around someone's house
and yard...it's trespassing and should be treated as the same. Trail cams and other security devices should
be allowed in court to press charges.

[Iron Glove]

So why didn’t you shiet kick the intruder? Maybe I read the storey wrong but you came back to camp to find a dude intruding?

Yes, you read it wrong. First, it wasn't me, it was my Son. He arrived back at "his" site to find someone occupying it as to that fellow it was an unoccupied site as the thieves had taken almost everything away. When Son first pulled up and saw the guy he was pretty angry, I asked him if he took his rifle when he confronted the guy. He didn't, said that's not a wise thing to do. I agreed.

[browningboy]

Yes, you read it wrong. First, it wasn't me, it was my Son. He arrived back at "his" site to find someone occupying it as to that fellow it was an unoccupied site as the thieves had taken almost everything away. When Son first pulled up and saw the guy he was pretty angry, I asked him if he took his rifle when he confronted the guy. He didn't, said that's not a wise thing to do. I agreed.

Got ya, still thieves need a good licking!

[Iron Glove]

Got ya, still thieves need a good licking!

Agreed. Hopefully Karma bites them.

[Bugle M In]

And now you all know why I have a cam!
And no, I don't keep it right at the site...well, not all of them.
Hide one on the road.
One way in, one way out usually!
And to get it ripped off, somebody used a vehicle.

I suggest everyone start to do that.
Hard to find a cam that is in a tree, just off the road.
At the site, it may be picked out if one looks.
Mind you, the are probably worried that they will get busted, so they will move quick.

And yes, I record vehicles while hunting anyways.
For many reason, poaching being the main one.

[Redthies]

I saw a post on FB yesterday about an older black 4Runner with Alberta plates being seen stealing stuff out of campsites around Princeton. Might be the same clowns?

I always leave a trail cam hidden looking at my camp, but I also don’t leave anything out or unlocked. It’s pretty ballsy/stupid to be stealing shit from guys that you KNOW are carrying guns.

Friends were down in Washington about 15 years back at a climbing area parking lot that hunters use too. A couple of guys came back from a hunt to find thieves going through all the vehicles. They tied them to a tree with a sign around their necks stating they were the guys responsible for all the vehicle break-ins. By the time my buddies got back to their car they said it looked like the thieves had done a few rounds against Mike Tyson. I would have paid good money to have seen that!

[MichelD]

So far so good for me though I leave very little in camp if I'm alone. I'm self contained in my truck canopy. But on longer moose trips for example, we leave our tents up, Coleman stove and lamp tree, food lockers and various necessities in camp. We've been okay in Region 6 anyway. No LEH this year so we won't be doing that.

In May buddy and me were bear hunting in a popular Region 2 camping spot. We found a nice unofficial site by a stream so I left my camp chair and a bucket with three 2-litre water bottles in it by the fire pit to say "I'm camping here tonight, will be back." At other times I've put up a tent too. I've seen others do this too. So far it has been respected, but I have a pet axe I've had for about 30 years and I NEVER leave that in camp.