A Reddit user said he had recently bought a piece of property and then discovered, through a trail camera, that someone else had already been treating it like hunting ground. According to the post, the camera caught a trespasser on the land, which immediately raised the question of whether this was a one-time mistake or somebody who still thought he had the right to be there. From the way he told it, the property had changed hands, but the person on camera may not have fully accepted that yet.
The poster said he was trying to decide how to handle it before the situation turned into a bigger problem. He was not describing a face-to-face confrontation in the woods. Instead, he had the kind of proof that leaves you standing there wondering what the next move should be. The camera had already shown him that someone was on the land without permission. The question now was whether to leave a note, call the authorities, or wait and see whether the same person came back again.
In the comments, people told him to treat it seriously right away. Several suggested painting the property boundaries with purple paint and marking gates clearly so there would be no excuse later about confusion over where the lines were. Others told him to leave a note explaining that the property had sold and that the old permission, if there ever had been any, did not carry over to the new owner. The general advice was that if the trespasser came back after that, the matter should move straight to law enforcement or the local game warden.
A few people also pointed out that this is exactly how a lot of rural land problems start. Somebody hunted a place for years under a previous owner, then kept coming after the sale as if nothing had changed. The poster seemed to understand that possibility, which was why he was asking for advice before doing anything rash. He had the photos, knew someone had been there, and wanted to make the next step count instead of just chasing his tail around the property.
The story itself was simple. A new landowner checked his trail camera and realized a stranger had already been hunting or scouting the property. Instead of catching the man in person, he caught him through the lens first. That left him in the position a lot of landowners recognize immediately: proof in hand, no direct confrontation yet, and a decision to make about whether the first response should be a warning or a report.
What do you think — if your trail cam caught a trespasser on land you had just bought, would you leave a note first, or go straight to the game warden?
Original Reddit post: Discovered a trespasser on a trail cam. Advice is appreciated.
