Definitely put up a gate. I did this years ago as my house is a long way from the county road. I also have alarms near the gate so I will know if someone is trying to cut off my lock as the gate is always locked. also have a alarm on the road beyond the gate on the road to our house. I can not put up a camera as my house is to far from the gate No WiFi anywhere. 
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Quoted: Exactly this! had the same thing happen a couple of years ago. We are at the end of a dead end road & our house sits 100yrds from the road. I was just getting ready to go to bed, so all of the inside lights were off, & I was just getting ready to turn on the outside lights when an old POS truck, spray painted black, pulled down the driveway. They turned around and pulled to the end of my drveway & parked & turned off their lights. I snuck up on them & the same thing as you, male & female meth heads. Claimed they were looking for a friends house. I made it very clear that we are a shoot & shovel county that don't like meth heads looking for stuff to steal. I called the county & gave them their info & it turned out they had been stopped in town 2 hours earlier. Haven't seen them since. its always "THE FRIENDS HOUSE" |
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Quoted: That was weird Op. But don't shoot em right away, Amazon sends "Flex Drivers" with their own cars to deliver packages to people at 3am. Some of them have been shot. @StuckItIn Wow! I didn't know they made deliveries that early. I hope they all survived their injuries. |
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Put a good camera at waist height looking at the driveway far away from the house, hidden with a solar charger, etc. You want to catch their plates and faces coming and going and before they think you might be watching. Your current cameras are worse than potatos.  Kharn |
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Quoted: If I have to visit them to remind them to do their duty I'm angry enough to make them come to me to see it. Anger will not serve you well in this case. The cops are a tool to be used for your benefit. As humans, flawed as they may be, they will respond in kind. Helping them to see the problem at the station, although inconvenient, may be helpful. |
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Quoted: Anger will not serve you well in this case. The cops are a tool to be used for your benefit. As humans, flawed as they may be, they will respond in kind. Helping them to see the problem at the station, although inconvenient, may be helpful. You're absolutely right. Digging my heels in for a specific outcome isn't my best trait. |
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Quoted: Good info on the driveway alarms. I wish they had a little more range. I have a spot(cattle guard) that is about 380 feet from the house but have a feeling the metal siding would interfere with the signal, especially at the max stated distance of 400 the ones posted list. My actual gate is about 1200' from the house so looking for solutions to that. I will be installing a new automatic gate soon and I do have power up there so may end up having to do some sort of wi-fi solution using a point to point set up. @whiskey_bravo The Dakota Alert Driveway Alarm System that is suppose to arrive tomorrow claims 1 mile of range using digital MURS signals. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is limited to 2 watts of VHF power (150 Mhz) and that ought to be good for at least a mile, longer with flat land without obstructions. I always advocate the buried magnetic sensors unless you want a white tail deer sensor.  This is the dual sensor system with a receiver with external contact closures to which I'm going to wire a door/window sensor so when the chimes go off it tells my smart home system that there's someone on the drive.  
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Quoted: OP, if your sheriff's department has not been out yet, they aren't taking you seriously. Quoted: OP, if your sheriff's department has not been out yet, they aren't taking you seriously. Quoted: Did the Sheriff ever make it out? Nope. In Michigan the local sheriff signs off on handguns and carry permits so I'm not going to climb up on his desk. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll make the drive to his office. I can't wait to hear an excuse. Quoted:Anger will not serve you well in this case. The cops are a tool to be used for your benefit. As humans, flawed as they may be, they will respond in kind. Helping them to see the problem at the station, although inconvenient, may be helpful. I'm more of this speed when dealing with the government. |
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Quoted: @whiskey_bravo The Dakota Alert Driveway Alarm System that is suppose to arrive tomorrow claims 1 mile of range using digital MURS signals. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is limited to 2 watts of VHF power (150 Mhz) and that ought to be good for at least a mile, longer with flat land without obstructions. I always advocate the buried magnetic sensors unless you want a white tail deer sensor. This is the dual sensor system with a receiver with external contact closures to which I'm going to wire a door/window sensor so when the chimes go off it tells my smart home system that there's someone on the drive. www.amazon.com/dp/B09MJJSCRP Thank you for the link. |
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Quoted: I would put a gate in at the start of your driveway. This. Just a simple pipe gate. Enough to cause they to sit out there longer fooling with cutting it or having to walk to the house and shed. If you have a tractor, a ditch on either side of the driveway might help. |
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Quoted: This. Just a simple pipe gate. Enough to cause they to sit out there longer fooling with cutting it or having to walk to the house and shed. If you have a tractor, a ditch on either side of the driveway might help. That leaves 1200 feet unguarded but protected with 20-30 feet of birch, buckthorn, and spruce. There are three entrances, I can close the nearest two, one is the fire department access from the hydrant and the other is the entrance to the old 1800s homestead. The third entrance on the far side of the property is an access for the landlocked neighbor behind me. I'll be stopping vehicles from getting on or off the property so they'll have to hoof it back-n-forth. The perimeter is 5280 feet so I know someone is getting through. I had set up a hard interior and soft exterior so I was half-way there. I bought a bunch signage to warn people off. Wonder if meth heads know how to read? |
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Quoted: Nope. In Michigan the local sheriff signs off on handguns and carry permits so I'm not going to climb up on his desk. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll make the drive to his office. I can't wait to hear an excuse. I'm more of this speed when dealing with the government. Quoted: Quoted: OP, if your sheriff's department has not been out yet, they aren't taking you seriously. Quoted: Did the Sheriff ever make it out? Nope. In Michigan the local sheriff signs off on handguns and carry permits so I'm not going to climb up on his desk. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll make the drive to his office. I can't wait to hear an excuse. Quoted:Anger will not serve you well in this case. The cops are a tool to be used for your benefit. As humans, flawed as they may be, they will respond in kind. Helping them to see the problem at the station, although inconvenient, may be helpful. I'm more of this speed when dealing with the government. If the sheriff doesn't care about burglers he probably doesn't care about missing tweekers wink wink. |
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Quoted: If the sheriff doesn't care about burglers he probably doesn't care about missing tweekers wink wink. Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: OP, if your sheriff's department has not been out yet, they aren't taking you seriously. Quoted: Did the Sheriff ever make it out? Nope. In Michigan the local sheriff signs off on handguns and carry permits so I'm not going to climb up on his desk. If the weather is nice tomorrow I'll make the drive to his office. I can't wait to hear an excuse. Quoted:Anger will not serve you well in this case. The cops are a tool to be used for your benefit. As humans, flawed as they may be, they will respond in kind. Helping them to see the problem at the station, although inconvenient, may be helpful. I'm more of this speed when dealing with the government. If the sheriff doesn't care about burglers he probably doesn't care about missing tweekers wink wink. Had a few neighbors that were known to the county animal control folk at a previous place. They made it clear they would not be able to respond in a reasonable amount of time, and what was was needed for them to look at the shit dog owners and say "tough shit" |
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Quoted: You need a fence and gate at the top of the driveway. Absolutely. A fully fenced (or better, walled) property and automated driveway gates. Yeah, they won't stop anybody determined but it stops casual lookyloos and anybody on the property can be considered a true threat. |
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I’m sure I’m adding nothing new here, but when I see thread titles like this one it’s a raccoon or the like that’s the offender. I’ll admit I didn’t read the entire thread, so I apologize if this has been covered. This seems like a pretty unlikely incident. Perhaps the odds of it happening again are low, but we know it’s not about the odds but the stakes. From what little I read OP is taking this seriously and making appropriate improvements. It’s a damn shame that good folk have to spend good money to be risk averse. |
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Quoted: @whiskey_bravo The Dakota Alert Driveway Alarm System that is suppose to arrive tomorrow claims 1 mile of range using digital MURS signals. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is limited to 2 watts of VHF power (150 Mhz) and that ought to be good for at least a mile, longer with flat land without obstructions. I always advocate the buried magnetic sensors unless you want a white tail deer sensor. This is the dual sensor system with a receiver with external contact closures to which I'm going to wire a door/window sensor so when the chimes go off it tells my smart home system that there's someone on the drive. www.amazon.com/dp/B09MJJSCRP Quoted: Quoted: Good info on the driveway alarms. I wish they had a little more range. I have a spot(cattle guard) that is about 380 feet from the house but have a feeling the metal siding would interfere with the signal, especially at the max stated distance of 400 the ones posted list. My actual gate is about 1200' from the house so looking for solutions to that. I will be installing a new automatic gate soon and I do have power up there so may end up having to do some sort of wi-fi solution using a point to point set up. @whiskey_bravo The Dakota Alert Driveway Alarm System that is suppose to arrive tomorrow claims 1 mile of range using digital MURS signals. The Multi-Use Radio Service (MURS) is limited to 2 watts of VHF power (150 Mhz) and that ought to be good for at least a mile, longer with flat land without obstructions. I always advocate the buried magnetic sensors unless you want a white tail deer sensor. This is the dual sensor system with a receiver with external contact closures to which I'm going to wire a door/window sensor so when the chimes go off it tells my smart home system that there's someone on the drive. www.amazon.com/dp/B09MJJSCRP I haven't decided on what sensor i want to use. Yeah, I don't want nuisance trips from an animal sure. But with a sensor like that for vehicles, what keeps someone from walking up to the house? Has to be something better than that. |
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Quoted: There's already a nice drainage ditch there with a culvert about 40 feet long so there's enough room on either side of just a gate to get around. I'm thinking of a nice value adding set of square brick "towers" with a wrought iron fence leading to the ditches/forest trees. Maybe a pedestrian entrance. Couple of solar coach lights. That leaves 1200 feet unguarded but protected with 20-30 feet of birch, buckthorn, and spruce. There are three entrances, I can close the nearest two, one is the fire department access from the hydrant and the other is the entrance to the old 1800s homestead. The third entrance on the far side of the property is an access for the landlocked neighbor behind me. I'll be stopping vehicles from getting on or off the property so they'll have to hoof it back-n-forth. The perimeter is 5280 feet so I know someone is getting through. I had set up a hard interior and soft exterior so I was half-way there. I bought a bunch signage to warn people off. Wonder if meth heads know how to read? Quoted: Quoted: This. Just a simple pipe gate. Enough to cause they to sit out there longer fooling with cutting it or having to walk to the house and shed. If you have a tractor, a ditch on either side of the driveway might help. That leaves 1200 feet unguarded but protected with 20-30 feet of birch, buckthorn, and spruce. There are three entrances, I can close the nearest two, one is the fire department access from the hydrant and the other is the entrance to the old 1800s homestead. The third entrance on the far side of the property is an access for the landlocked neighbor behind me. I'll be stopping vehicles from getting on or off the property so they'll have to hoof it back-n-forth. The perimeter is 5280 feet so I know someone is getting through. I had set up a hard interior and soft exterior so I was half-way there. I bought a bunch signage to warn people off. Wonder if meth heads know how to read? Purple paint around here. Means you don't even have to know how to read. I guess at that point they can claim colorblindness. Idk. |
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Next time don't turn the lights on. In 1991 about a week after I returned from the First Gulf War a little shit-head broke into our apartment. He knocked on the door to see if anyone was home but I didn't turn on any lights and just looked through the peep hole. Nobody was there. We later heard him breaking into the window of the second bedroom. I didn't turn on any lights, told my wife to not turn on any lights and to call the cops. I waited in the dark with a Ruger .357 just outside the door if the room he was breaking into. Once he was all the way in the room I flipped on the light, cocked the pistol, and channeled my inner Lee Ermy. The cops came and took him away. Their response time is greatly improved once you have the shithead at gunpoint. He confessed to some 40 or so burglaries. He was known as the pantry burglar because he always stole ladies underwear along with cash and valuables. Showing up for court was hilarious. He pled guilty. Edit to add: I didn't want to scare him off because then I would worry about who he was, what he wanted, would he come back? Now I know his name, that he wanted panties, and he ain't coming back. I never did hear if the panties he stole were dirty or clean. |
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Quoted: There's already a nice drainage ditch there with a culvert about 40 feet long so there's enough room on either side of just a gate to get around. I'm thinking of a nice value adding set of square brick "towers" with a wrought iron fence leading to the ditches/forest trees. Maybe a pedestrian entrance. Couple of solar coach lights. That leaves 1200 feet unguarded but protected with 20-30 feet of birch, buckthorn, and spruce. There are three entrances, I can close the nearest two, one is the fire department access from the hydrant and the other is the entrance to the old 1800s homestead. The third entrance on the far side of the property is an access for the landlocked neighbor behind me. I'll be stopping vehicles from getting on or off the property so they'll have to hoof it back-n-forth. The perimeter is 5280 feet so I know someone is getting through. I had set up a hard interior and soft exterior so I was half-way there. I bought a bunch signage to warn people off. Wonder if meth heads know how to read? I've always thought a nazi ss type skull and crossbones would be a legit deterrent. |
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Quoted: Next time don't turn the lights on. I'm 1991 about a week after I returned from the First Gulf War a little shit-head broke into our apartment. He knocked on the door to see if anyone was home but I didn't turn on any lights and just looked through the peep hole. Nobody was there. We later heard him breaking into the window of the second bedroom. I didn't turn on any lights, told my wife to not turn on any lights and to call the cops. I waited in the dark with a Ruger .357 just outside the door if the room he was breaking into. Once he was all the way in the room I flipped on the light, cocked the pistol, and channeled my inner Lee Ermy. The cops came and took him away. Their response time is greatly improved once you have the shithead at gunpoint. He confessed to some 40 or so burglaries. He was known as the pantry burglar because he always stole ladies underwear along with cash and valuables. Showing up for court was hilarious. He pled guilty. Edit to add: I didn't want to scare him off because then I would worry about who he was, what he wanted, would he come back? Now I know his name, that he wanted panties, and he ain't coming back. I never did hear if the panties he stole were dirty or clean. Dude! Nice. Excellent job. But who stores their underwear in the pantry? 
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First, report it again to the sheriff. Once time is a coincidence, twice is deliberate, the third will be a bad time. Second, I would do semi-unreasonable things. 1. Join Nextdoor or whatever local social media sites have the most traffic and post the photos. Do it of a curious nature, rather than revenge nature. 2. Publish the photos in the local paper and feign worry that they are missing or lost hikers. The goal is for someone to let them know they have been made and if anything comes up missing they are the suspects. 3. Take their photos from the camera to a local FedEx or print store and make a foamboard 2'x3' posterboard. Nail it to a stake at the entrance. The other side put a plywood sign stating "We see you." I'd also put a similar sign on the back and sides just so they get the hint. Next weekend I would stay up and "welcome them" from a very safe distance with something loud. |
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I put a powered gate across my driveway about six months ago. I wish I had done it years ago. We don't get many unexpected visitors except during hunting season. Running dogs is legal here and there are hunting leases all around me. Occasionally someone would come up our driveway looking for their dog. Now they'll at least have to walk, which will decrease the likelihood of them coming down the driveway. |
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Quoted: ------- Update ------ ETA: LAST NIGHT ANOTHER CAR CAME DOWN THE DRIVEWAY THIS TIME AT 2:30 AM, ONCE AGAIN ON FRIDAY NIGHT. 99.1% chance it was the same pair but no video cameras went off as they came only halfway down the drive. My home is being stalked. The driveway sensor went off coming and going early this morning. Last night something set the old driveway monitor off for the second time in four years of living with it. Two tones went off - the first one woke the dog again and the second one was heard by my wife after the dog woke us up. This time I didn't get dressed and merely lit the yard up and popped my head out the front door but no cars were visible. I think next Friday I'm going to wake up around midnight and set up an ambush along the driveway. I have a solar-powered G4 telephone service camera arriving next week that I've bought to monitor the end of the drive. I have an old garden hose that I might just run some drywall screws through and lay that across the driveway.  The new longer range Dakota Alert driveway monitor arrived yesterday, got programmed and tested, and will get installed this weekend. Thanks for the update. Interested to see what next Friday night brings. |
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I had a crackhead unsuccessfully try to ram through my gate. Sherrif isn't interested in this kind of stuff as there's not much they can really do, meth heads don't give a fuck about court apprarences and fines. Deputy basically made a note of the incident so he could back me up incase I had to handle it myself (his words). If you have those local small town Karen Facebook groups I wouldn't hesitate to post there. Odds are they have family out there somewhere and word would likely reach them that they're barking up the wrong tree. |
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Quoted: You're going to need hogs or a backhoe soon. You failed to make a lasting first impression, or a second. The best bet is to just kill them with kindness. Click To View Spoiler |
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I just caught that your property was probed a second time. Presumably the same people, but maybe not? How many days between the 2 intrusions? Any video of the new intrusion? What about those commercially available tripwires that set off (harmless) shotgun shells? Not as good as claymores on a perimeter, but would alert all parties. The point is that their entrance into the driveway sets something off to let them know they have been detected. Solar motion lights on branches/posts/sticks near the driveway entrance? A black painted strip of plywood with nails sticking up out of it might be fun. Across the driveway. I don't see how the garden hose would stay in a position to present the points properly, but maybe you know something I don't about how to do that. Edit: Any way to stretch a cable or chain across the driveway firmly affixed to trees on either side? Set it at headlight height. If they are coming in without headlights maybe they'd hit it and damage their car's front. |