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Thread: Rural folks - School me on homesteading safety

  1. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lowdown3 View Post
    New property owner in a rural area is going to deal with a lot of locals at first-

    1. Curious- "Bubba used to live there, wonder who lives there now? Let's go and see.."
    2. "We always have" types- you will run into them in the woods hunting, fishing or checking their crops. "Bubba always let us back here.."
    I would also get to know your neighbors. Who car or truck is who's, where they live and what they do. I technically live in a subdivision with 30 homes or so, so my situation might differ, but knowing my neighbors is part of my home security. The guy across the street is usually home, and if we have a house fire, I've told my young kids to go there first and if a Prius so much as parks in my driveway he tends to ask me about it later.
    Dr. Carter G. Woodson, “History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.”

  2. #12
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    Fence. Field fence topped with two strands of barb. It ain't cheap but it works. You'll need it for your stock anyway. If you don't want company keep your gates closed. It ain't convenient to get out and open/close the gate. Get used to it or get used to the traffic.

    Dogs. Not socialized city dogs, but dogs that bark at every damn thing. You'd also be supplied how many people are afraid of cows. Goats, too. But goats are more trouble than they are worth IME.

    Motion lights. Cameras if you like. Get to know your place, I "know" right off if something is different. Little things like unusual tracks in the gravel drive where someone turned around. It will build with time till you are almost psychic.

    Know your neighbors. My closest neighbor is 7 miles away but I know what they are up to. When they travel so I can pay more attention, etc. The local people, LEOs (be a good LE partner), and sportsmen can be helpful as well. Responsible hunters and fishermen find you, they get permission to hunt and fish, and they tend to look after your place.

    Just my experience, but it's been good for me.
    Go Ukraine! Piss on the Russian dead.

  3. #13
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    From a homesteader buddy:

    "Don’t do it unless you are young and prepared for an austere lifestyle. To be successful you have to do as much as possible yourself. People that buy their way into the life just waste a shit ton of money and usually quit within a year or two because it is hard.

    If you move to the country and want be a homesteader, you have to live differently than you did before. You can’t just move to the country, buy a dozen laying hens and a couple of dairy goats, and go on your merry way living like you still take up residence in a townhouse 5 minutes from everything. You can’t run to the store every other day, you’ll go broke. You can’t call a repair man every time something breaks. You can’t drive a new car. You can’t buy new clothes. You can’t take a vacation. If you can do all these things, you are not a homesteader but a hobby farmer. Remember, you left Egypt for a reason. Stop looking back, longingly, at the days of slavery. If you try to live the homesteader’s life and continue to spend like a city dweller, you won’t last a season.

    A lot of people with money also bite off more than they can chew when they get started. Often they don’t appreciate the sharp learning curve they are about to encounter and dive in head first. People who have never grown a garden all of the sudden try to grow 90% of their produce the first year. People who have never raised livestock buy several species and begin to run into problems. It is easy to get discouraged and go broke when you bite off more than you can chew. Start with some chickens and a couple varieties of vegetables. Next year you’ll be ready for more.

    This last point ties in with my first one. The people that try and buy their way into the life try and get rich and live a life of luxury like they did in town. I blame it on a lot of unrealistic expectations. A good deal of these expectations come any number of books, articles, and blog posts that tout the selling of high end organic meats and produce as a way to make money. What most people fail to take into consideration is that you need a wealthy, urban market to make any money doing this. Most homesteaders can’t afford land near such a market and most took up homesteading, in part, to escape such areas. If you try to do what people like Joel Salatin (Polyface Farm) do without a wealthy market to sell it to, you will fail. No matter how much you talk up your product, no matter what great a case you make for the superiority of your product, no matter how well you explain that when “true costs” are factored that your product isn’t really expensive, as long as your potential customer can’t afford to keep fuel oil in his furnace and is worried about buying shoes for his children…the argument is purely academic to him. Those who are not too poor to buy your food can grow it themselves. Trying to make a living selling high cost food in rural areas is a dead end game."
    Last edited by Diamondback; 02-25-21 at 17:06.
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  4. #14
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    For cameras in rural areas with cell coverage I have been very happy with Barn Owl. Their cameras are very user friendly and for a cost reference the areas I have with only one camera with 200-250 pics sent average $10.00 a month. Pics or video is received within 5-10 seconds of trigger to phone.

  5. #15
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    These replies are great! Thank you. Definitely keep them coming and I am absorbing it all like a sponge.

    A few updates:

    The idea is to get away from it all. No interest whatsoever in selling ground beef. Frankly, very little in growing crops or raising animals either. A big appeal is a private shooting range and limited amounts of hunting (mostly with a bow).

    Further, no interest in stepping foot off my property line. Not trying to ride dirt bikes through the neighbors land. Conversely, not interested in having others do that to my land either. Solid copy on the neighbors and being friendly, but how do you handle trespassers without a fence? I don’t want to fence the entire property for both cost and game reasons, but I would be pretty heated to find out someone is hunting or 4 wheeling or teenagers drinking on it.

  6. #16
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    Trespassers are given one break with me then the next time I'm not as nice they will eventually stop coming around. Ginsing hunters and coon hunters have been the most persistent offenders in my areas.

  7. #17
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    Euro, it would be a shame to have that land and not have at least a small vegetable garden. Fresh picked tomatoes are head and shoulders above store bought in taste, as are most other garden veggies, and you can get the kind you want. It's really not that much work either. Of course it would need to be fenced also, unless you like the idea of providing a food plot for rabbits.

    As far as fencing affecting game, a 3 foot fence isn't going to bother much of anything except maybe black bears. Deer won't even slow down, they'll just go right over it. And it'll be a great way to keep the coyotes and feral dogs away from the chickens.

    It won't stop raccoons though, and they love chickens too. Experience: Poultry wire or is fine for keeping poultry in, but it doesn't do much to keep varmints out. Reinforcing the bottom 2 feet with an overlay of wire cloth or chain link works for that. Don't forget the top. Keeps the chickens from flying out, keeps the hawks and eagles from flying in.

    Good luck to you.
    Last edited by Rascally; 02-25-21 at 19:08.
    Rascal

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  8. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Eurodriver View Post

    The idea is to get away from it all. No interest whatsoever in selling ground beef. Frankly, very little in growing crops or raising animals either. A big appeal is a private shooting range and limited amounts of hunting (mostly with a bow).

    Further, no interest in stepping foot off my property line.
    Are you truly talking about homesteading (ie living full time there, growing your own food, having a business to buy things you need or bartering for things you can’t make yourself) or just a weekend getaway?

    I ask because the quote above doesn’t seem to jive with what homesteading really means.

  9. #19
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    Laws vary from state to state, but in almost every state fences and signs make a huge legal difference.

    To be honest, in rural America you're less likely to need to defend yourself... but if you do help will take longer to arrive.

    As a sheriff's deputy in a rural mountain county I drove code 90 minutes to get to an in-progress assault. I was backup for the other guy working that day, it took him 30 minutes to get on scene. 45 minute initial response times weren't unusual.

    Perimeter alarms and such are going to be tripped more by wild animals than human intruders.

    Thinking outwards-in:

    Perimeter fencing and signage
    Inner "curtilage" fencing between main house and outbuildings
    Sturdy doors and locks on exterior doorways
    Shutters or other means to secure windows

    Dogs, geese or other sentry animals
    Game cameras hidden/high/securely attached around the curtilage so as to be difficult to steal... thieves will steal or destroy cameras like anything else.

    Long guns placed safely and securely in strategic locations... if they get in they will steal your guns if they find them.

    Carry sidearms with you

    Have a spouse/family/whatever receptive to the idea of family safety and security

    Plan for being cut off for whatever reason from power and supplies... make provision for food, water, heat, etc.

    Plan for extended response times for emergency services... not just law enforcement, but fire, EMS, etc.

    Plan for the world to NOT end as well as for disaster. Be financially stable, social, and active in your community.

    If possible, do all this next door to some Mormons.

    I don’t want to fence the entire property for both cost and game reasons, but I would be pretty heated to find out someone is hunting or 4 wheeling or teenagers drinking on it.
    In Colorado what is called a "legal fence" is inexpensive and easy to erect. Signs are a second option, but the value of signs differs from state to state.

    In Colorado trespassers are required to know where they have permission to be, and where they do not.
    You may not know who's land you're on but you know it isn't yours and you know nobody gave you the OK to be there.

    CRS 18-4-504: (1) A person commits the crime of third degree criminal trespass if such person unlawfully enters or remains in or upon premises of another.

    Summonsing for simple trespass is easy in Colorado.

    Fences make it much more serious.

    CRS 18-4-503: (1) A person commits the crime of second degree criminal trespass if such person:

    (a) Unlawfully enters or remains in or upon the premises of another which are enclosed in a manner designed to exclude intruders or are fenced;


    Entering the dwelling, which includes the curtilage area, is a felony:

    CRS 18-4-502: A person commits the crime of first degree criminal trespass if such person knowingly and unlawfully enters or remains in a dwelling of another or if such person enters any motor vehicle with intent to commit a crime therein

    That's why I recommend the fencing between house and outbuildings.

    The point of all this is: You have to know what you're state's laws are and how to use them to your advantage.

    Other states don't see things the same way, and the value of signs is questionable in such states "I didn't see the sign" is a common excuse.
    Nobody can argue with a fence.

    C.R.S. § 35-46-101(1) defines a “lawful fence” as a “well-constructed three barbed wired fence with a substantial
    post set at a distance of approximately twenty feet apart, and sufficient to turn ordinary horses and cattle, with all
    gates equally as good as the fence...”


    Again, your state may be different.
    Last edited by tanksoldier; 02-25-21 at 19:38.
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  10. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ironman8 View Post
    Are you truly talking about homesteading (ie living full time there, growing your own food, having a business to buy things you need or bartering for things you can’t make yourself) or just a weekend getaway?

    I ask because the quote above doesn’t seem to jive with what homesteading really means.
    I will be living there full time in a house. I’m not going into it assuming I’m going to be growing my own vegetables and living off the land. That may come in time, but I have no idea what I’m doing and I would starve to death.

    Why can’t I live on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere and still get my food from a grocery store?

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