Either someone's lost or I've been pranked.

Guns.com Vault
Gather App
M

Mobuck

Hawkeye
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2007
Messages
14,289
City & State/Province
missouri
Curious scenario: Couple of days back, we were putting equipment away after harvest and arrived at our north farm to find a new padlock on the gate chain placed behind our locks preventing us from opening the gates. Three of us lifted one gate off the hinges in order to complete our tasks and rehung the gate when we left. None of those who are supposed to have access to the property admit to adding this new lock.
I'm going up with the cordless angle grinder to cut the lock and leave it and a message to "Whom ever it may concern" about this error. :devilish:
Son is mad as a wet hen but I'm trying to give the miscreant the benefit of the doubt--up to a point. It could be a 'mislocated' non-local hunter dude or just a PO'd local wanting to make a statement. I can 'handle' either but my patience will get short really quickly.
 
Seems to me that anyone who thought you had a legitimate right to use the gate would have put his lock through the shackle of one of your locks. But city folk can be pretty dumb about gate courtesy.

I think the angle grinder and note was the best way to handle it at this point. Camera is a good idea too.
 
I'm betting on prank just for the hell of it... makes no sense other wise.... for the simple reason that who ever put the lock on could not get in and by doing it, in theory you could not either... 3 men to lift the gate... must be one more mean heavy gate... I've done this to get into places more than once all by myself. For those that don't realize it most farm type gates you can either lift off the hinges or just take the bolts that hold the hinges to a post off and pick the gate up and swing it in backwards....
 
If it's a prank, it's an expensive one. Name brand heavy duty probably $10 padlock.
Big influx of non-resident hunter dudes showing up since end of October. I've been checking in with the out-of-state hunters who normally show up on the farms near our home place just to make sure there's not someone new who doesn't know/respect property lines. Our north farm is bordered on 3 sides by either non-resident landowners or leased to non-resident hunters.
This is the nemesis of having excellent hunting land. I'm willing to keep some rough, wooded land for sanctuary while the neighbors are trying to crop every available acre.
 
I have been known to chain the gate to the hinge post to prevent someone else from doing what we had to do and YES it's a heavy steel monster of a gate(actually 2 of them to reach across the 24' driveway).
 
My bet is on a prank as well.


A long time ago, I had a summer job working for one of the canoe rental companies in Sothern Missouri. I drove the people up river and picked them up and the canoes when they were done.

Lots of fun. But on one route there was one of those back country gates. Two people can have two locks and share the same gate.

I had never seen one before and nobody told me about it. So I locked the gate up, and locked the other owner out of the entrance. I bypassed the other lock on the chain. I didn’t know.

It was a long, long drive up there too. When the other guy called, my boss got so mad. He was cussing up a storm. When he said who could be so dumb, I raised my hand. 😀

I had to drive back up and open the gate for the other owner. Probably got assigned a lot of grunt work too after that.

It was all grunt work. I only lasted one summer.

And I haven’t had to deal with back country locks like that since!
 
I'd bet it was someone who doesn't know or respect your rights to be there. Happens a lot around here. Happened to me once. The "import" individual got a real attitude adjustment from the owner of the gate, and adjoining property about NOT locking out people.

Fix the problem, leave a note.
Just be prepared to do more of the same if it happens again. Or,, fill their lock with superglue if it happens again. Leave your contact info so they can get a proper education. Mention in your note that if it happens again, the local sheriff will be in attendance for the FTF meeting.
 
On various oil leases you’ll find a string of locks all hooked together. The locks are from all the contractors that need access to the lease. Pretty much all of the locks have the companies ID on them. It’s pretty uncommon for some newbie to screw up as they are rarely allowed out on there own. But it happens.

The procedure is used simple. Cut the offending lock, the call the company whose lock was cut. The company then replaces their lock.

I wasn’t clear, is it just Mobuck that has legal access or is the gate used by multiple companies/ people?
 
contender said:
xyo... Or,, fill their lock with superglue if it happens again. Leave your contact info so they can get a proper education. Mention in your note that if it happens again, the local sheriff will be in attendance for the FTF meeting.
Click to expand...

When I was working up in SW Montana years ago, there was some kind of pissing contest going on that had padlocks getting filled with epoxy all over the area. I imagine that gets expensive really fast for the land owners, and it's a giant pain in the butt when you're trying to cover ground and get your work done. Remember one day, we got in through one set of gates in the morning, did a bunch of work along back roads & trails all day, and tried to exit through a different gate at the far end of the road. Some neighborly fella had glued the lock, and we didn't have bolt cutters so I think we had to cut the wire to get out, and then do a quicky repair on the fence before we left. (And yes, I know that's not right either, but it was 25-30 miles of 2-track back to the gate we came in at, and the sun was going down.)

The joys of life in these United States!
:)
 
Last edited:
Mobuck said:
I have been known to chain the gate to the hinge post to prevent someone else from doing what we had to do ...
Click to expand...

Had a friend when I lived down in New Mexico, who kept having to replace his gates because somebody was stealing 'em. So, when we were replacing/updating ours, I would put a big lag screw into the post right above each hinge pin, and leave it sticking out far enough to keep anyone from lifting the gate up & off. Sure, you can just back 'em out with a wrench, but that takes time, so it's no longer a quick in & out with a "free" gate.

You can't ever stop thieves, but you can make life difficult for 'em!
:)
 
I cut the padlock off this evening, put it in a bag with a note explaining the problem, and replaced a section of chain. While doing that, I found a chain link that had been cut with bolt cutters so the new lock could bypass ours. Regardless of intent, that constitutes criminal trespass(there's a 'no trespassing' sign on the gate post) plus breaking and entering since the gate is on private property several feet beyond the state highway right of way.
I certainly hope the confused(?) individual does call me so I can get his phone number to pass on to the county Sheriff.
 
Just as a CYA I’d let local sheriffs department know …. Maybe game warden too.
Here the sheriffs dept will make sure they travel that area more often for several days too.

A prank like that is likely to get your a$$ kicked good if you’re caught.
 
I'm betting if it was someone trespassing they wouldn't have locked it back up. Probably as simple as someone making a mistake on who's property they were on. Don't know how many property owners I had to calm down as a rural deputy years back over what was usually a simple mistake. Fire dept most rural places uses bolt cutters to access grass fires too. Seen the fence cut for a shortcut by firemen too. They usually fix the fence and notify the owner after the fact though. Hope you find out it was something just stupid not malicious.
 
Removing the lock with a polite note seems to be the correct 1st step. I believe in starting nicely and giving the benefit of the doubt that it was an honest mistake. If you start nice it can be resolved and perhaps make a new acquaintance. Starting at whizzed off doesn't leave anywhere to go except a downward spiral. Nobody needs a new enemy
 
As someone who owns woodland, waterways and farmland, I can attest that there are certain type of individual's who think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want...Wherever they want! I've had more than a few harrowing experiences running trespassers off of my property, including having to get the Game Warden and the Sheriff's department involved on a couple of occasions.
 
I too own land,, and prefer to NOT have trespassers encroach here. But to have a strange lock added to my property would get my attention.
I agree that the first step is to try & be polite,, just in case it's a legit lock for whatever reason.
But after that,, all bets are off.

Just tonight,, as I was coming home,, I caught a vehicle parked on my property,, and as I pulled in behind it,, a guy came out of the edge of the woods, got into it, (passenger side,) and they drove off before I could politely ask them what was going on. But,, I do have a tag & vehicle description.
I will be following up with the neighbors to see if it was any of them, or if they know who it may be.
 
BULL'S-EYE said:
As someone who owns woodland, waterways and farmland, I can attest that there are certain type of individual's who think they can do whatever they want, whenever they want...Wherever they want! I've had more than a few harrowing experiences running trespassers off of my property, including having to get the Game Warden and the Sheriff's department involved on a couple of occasions.
Click to expand...
Over 40 years ago I was doing some part-time work for a farmer who had about 40 acres of grapes, 30 acres of mature woods and another 15 acres of mixed fruit trees. He had problems with people stealing fruit from the trees and putting up tree stands in his woods. We made one hunter remove his stands and then found them moved just a few trees away. The property was well posted and he was sick of people ignoring the signs and him. We took his payloader and blocked the hunter's truck in with logs on all 4 sides and called the Sheriff. The Sheriff looked in the truck and waited with us. The guy got busted for trespassing, no drivers or hunting license, an illegal hunting weapon and outstanding warrants. He was taken to the county jail and kept. His truck and hunting equipment was impounded and he never got them back. Sometimes you have to play hardball with people before they understand that you mean business.
 
Watertender said:
Over 40 years ago I was doing some part-time work for a farmer who had about 40 acres of grapes, 30 acres of mature woods and another 15 acres of mixed fruit trees. He had problems with people stealing fruit from the trees and putting up tree stands in his woods. We made one hunter remove his stands and then found them moved just a few trees away. The property was well posted and he was sick of people ignoring the signs and him. We took his payloader and blocked the hunter's truck in with logs on all 4 sides and called the Sheriff.
Click to expand...
Well that's true there are those cases where there is clear criminal intent but I can't recall any of them using high dollar replacement locks.Thats what makes me think there's a real explanation we're not thinking of.
 
Sounds like he had to get in for an emergency of some sort. Then didn’t want to leave it unsecured so he locked it.

But it seems he did in such a way that it rendered the original locks useless.
 
If not a prank, it's most certainly someone not from this area. Grouch Attack's family has owned this farm for 150 years and everyone in 20 miles knows it.
The guy who rents the pasture and another neighbor have been alerted and are watching the access points closely. Deer season is always a touchy time with all the 'not knows' who cruise the roads.
I'm going back up today and stretch some barbed wire across another field entrance that we'd left open after harvest. I was going to do this yesterday but found I had no marking tape to add to the wire for safety--don't want to create a dangerous booby trap for an unwitting ATV rider(even if they're trespassing).
 
Good idea Mobuck. I still remember running into an electric cattle fence I had actually helped put up. Early teens riding small motorcycle. Wire wasn't very tight. Slid over handle bars, up arms, and on throat. If fence had been tight or I hadn't hit the brakes soon as I saw it, I suspect i would have died. Wound up with a red mark across my throat, a chilling memory, and a vow to ensure fences are well marked - probably done overkill on flagging especially across trails since.
 
blume357 said:
I think we terminated a number of German dispatches carried by guys on motorcyles that way .....
Click to expand...
That's why jeeps had an angle iron post with a notch at the top facing forward. There was a snowmobile rider here over 50 years ago that hit a utility pole guy wire at top speed. His head ended up in his passenger's lap...
 
blume357 said:
I'm betting on prank just for the hell of it... makes no sense other wise.... for the simple reason that who ever put the lock on could not get in and by doing it, in theory you could not either... 3 men to lift the gate... must be one more mean heavy gate... I've done this to get into places more than once all by myself. For those that don't realize it most farm type gates you can either lift off the hinges or just take the bolts that hold the hinges to a post off and pick the gate up and swing it in backwards....
Click to expand...

Their is a comedian (I saw the gag on a YouTube video) with a routine about the things that can be done with a bicycle lock. Lots of stuff similar to your description. Funny routine but, of course, not one he recommended. Since some people can't discern humor from advice, I would suggest that it might be a practical joke.
Personally, wouldn't leave a note. Just cut the lock; carry the grinder in the vehicle; and go on with life.
 
Watertender said:
Over 40 years ago I was doing some part-time work for a farmer who had about 40 acres of grapes, 30 acres of mature woods and another 15 acres of mixed fruit trees. He had problems with people stealing fruit from the trees and putting up tree stands in his woods. We made one hunter remove his stands and then found them moved just a few trees away. The property was well posted and he was sick of people ignoring the signs and him. We took his payloader and blocked the hunter's truck in with logs on all 4 sides and called the Sheriff. The Sheriff looked in the truck and waited with us. The guy got busted for trespassing, no drivers or hunting license, an illegal hunting weapon and outstanding warrants. He was taken to the county jail and kept. His truck and hunting equipment was impounded and he never got them back. Sometimes you have to play hardball with people before they understand that you mean business.
Click to expand...
I used to pump an 27 well oil lease on 5500acres located right off north side of Interstate 412 right next to the Keystone Lake dam west of Tulsa. We dealt with some of the stupidest people inventing new ways to destroy their vehicles and boats trying to use our lease roads to boondock to put their boat in the water or worse was Deer poachers and oil production and equipment thieves.
Dragging the motor and transom mount off your new pretty boat on a cattle guard makes people laugh the whole time they are holding you at gunpoint awaiting the OHP to get there.
I had two men with rifles climb over one of our tight 5 strand barb wire then spend several minutes assisting two drunk chicks in totally wrong footwear for how gnarly that sandburr covered scrub blackjack oak and cactus covered lease land is, 4 lawn chairs, ice chest full of beer and food. And when I used the bullhorn speaker on my pickup radio to tell thèm to lay down the guns, they crapped themselves that they did not see me in my truck 50yds from them.
Expensive day for them, felony tresspass, no hunting license, no deer tags or orange, OHP towed their illegally parked car on the interstate ramp and both drunk chicks under 21.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Kevin
Lost wallet
2 3
Replies
75
Views
1K
Jeepnik
Jeepnik
Jeepnik
all hope is lost
Replies
12
Views
525
Tensaw
Tensaw
LCP22LR
  • Sticky
Lost, Found, & Stolen Guns
Replies
9
Views
886
protoolman
protoolman
R
Lost an old friend
Replies
22
Views
587
lowwall
L
M
Ever been Polygraphed?
2
Replies
57
Views
2K
KIR
KIR

Latest posts

Back
Top