Partly just to get a feel on the woodland grapevine for this subject, and also to be of assistance to another forum member whose wood is rumoured to have suffered from unwelcome night time visitors in the past, I just wanted to throw this one open for discussion.
According to this Guardian article from 2010, the problem was 'out of control', steeply increasing, and the police were failing to take any action.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/01/deer-poaching-figures-treble-police
By contrast, this more amusing article suggests Hertfordshire Police respond quickly and take it seriously, even if mistaken.
http://www.hertfordshiremercury.co.uk/News/Courting-couple-mistaken-for-deer-poachers-by-police-in-Cold-Christmas-Lane-20140415120237.htm
What have forum members heard about incidences in your woods or area, is it out of hand? How have the police and courts responded to any cases? Do you feel powerless and its a real threat, or are you confident the law is backing you up fully? What action have you personally taken to counter the issue and what advice do you have for anyone facing this problem?.
The farmer at one end of our lane permits 'lampers' he knows to go after rabbits in his fields, and the chap at the other end has allowed deer control to an experienced marksman. We seem quite a tight little club of land owners with a good feel for whats going on, and there don't seem to be any unwelcome visitors. You do hear stories though; nearby theres a local 'character' who was found guilty of assault, he asked if he could get time off if he informed about an illegal firearm. He then sniched on his mate who he'd leant his gun to for poaching, got his sentence reduced, and his friend went down for quite a while for illegal possession- apparently theres no honour among criminals.
I've a pal who is is a keen hunter, woodland owner and part time gamekeeper, he's had several encounters with poachers or suspected ones. He always calls the police, tells them they're armed, and they respond with blues and twos. I think he rather enjoys it, and sees them as 'quarry'. He's got many an entertaining tale to tell, from poacher confrontations to finding people engaged in rumpy-pumpy or occult ceremonies. When he captured trail camera images of 2 dodgy trepassers he printed a 'wanted' poster and stuck it on his gate. They never came back.
All good stuff to chat about over a pint, do tell.
