Checked my Road floats in the dark in the rain and as It got towards dawn I started for the North Branch to canoe down into the big marsh but then decided instead to work my way towards the "Bait Traps" as my "Little Voice" (Intuition) was sounding off telling me to check them Now !!!
Found fresh truck tire tracks going into the Dead End Road with none coming out.
Pouring rain, early morning (7:25AM) ...who would be down here now doing what ??
Myself and New Wave Dave had taken note ahead of time of the fact that the sounds of a vehicle approaching the Bait Trap culvert could be easily heard coming irregardless of whether we drove Slow or Fast.
So I stood on the throttle, and fishtailed up the very curvy, narrow tree-lined road doing about 50 MPH, and LO and BEHOLD, there was a Silver Silverado parked right directly at the Bait Trap Culvert with a truck cab door JUST THEN closing. I increased throttle and the truck took off up the dead end road with me on his BUMPER.
Where was he going anyways, it was a dead end road
I did my best GEOFF BODINE imitation and put the guy on the shoulder of the road. BLOCKED.
Jumped out and he dropped his window, and I didn't give him a chance to speak; asking Him if he had permission to be on the PRIVATE ROAD.
He looked RATTLED, and stuttered something about why didn't I watch where I was going. LOL
I asked what he was doing parked at the Culvert, and out of the truck, in the rain ?
He said he was looking for his father's eye glasses.
I said, It just so happens that I have traps in that culvert that have been stolen numerous times, and I thought it was suspicious that he was parked there in the pouring rain and out of his pickup at 7:25AM in the morning.
I asked for some identification, and he said he didn't have to show me any, and that I knew who he was.
Turns out MARSHRAT was spot on as he said "it was probably someone who knew me and that I knew".
It was the son of a local neighboring Bad actor who lives right up the road.
I pointed out that he was wet and he was on a PRIVATE ROAD, and near my traps. I looked in the bed of his truck and there were no traps visable. I informed him that he could be in some trouble.
He turned his truck around and took off towards his house.
I stopped briefly at the Bait traps long enough to see that all the Trap stakes at one end of the culvert(opposite the camera) had been pulled out and the 9 gauge wire holding the traps in place had been pulled up out of the water, obviously disturbed.
Me, suffering from lifelong cell phonelessness, took off after the perp, and pulled into New Wave Dave's driveway, got on the phone to the Man. (ECO)
The ECO was there in 15 minutes, coming hot, and proceeded to the Alleged PERP'S home address.
The Alleged Perp had already fled the area, but his father got him on the phone where he denied anything and everything.
After sweating the perp and his father down with news of the Candid Camera,The ECO returned and we went back to the culvert and pulled the Candid Camera so he could check the digital record for incriminating pics.
However, I fear the camera (set up on the east end of the culvert) probably missed taking the incriminating shot as the alleged perp's truck was parked headed north and therefore blocked the view of the culvert's west end, where it was obvious that someone was about to cut some wire and lift out the DUKE 330.
The alleged perp had exited the driver's side door, away from the camera to start work on the closet trap to him. (on the side of the truck away from the camera)
The camera position and angle would make it impossible to capture and record this potentially incriminating event.
We should have shots of the alleged perp's truck at the trap site culvert, anyways. Probably not enough for a Conviction.
If only I'd have been another minute coming down that road HOT !!! DANG !!!
So Then, I spent the rest of the day in the Big marsh, where I am not the only one still harvesting rats as I spotted another trapper's Green flags and feed bed and rat toilet sets.
Caught a few more rats and identified some good beaver sign which I will set on in the coming days.
I'm now home waiting to hear from the MAN (ECO) to learn how the Candid Camera shots shook out.
Stay Tuned.
walleyed