Fish House Secutity? Proven Methods?

[LittleRanger]

I bought a new house and am going to put in a new vented furnace, about $500 from what I can tell. Now I find myself asking the age old question? How to protect what is mine!!! What is the best way to keep your house safe (other than keeping it at home) A solid house......make em work for it? Or maybe a cheap lock and let them in with little effort as to avoid damage to the house? What about an alarm of some sort? Surely there must be some way to protect the house? If you leave it totaly open someone will use your house for a toilet. What about staying in the group vs: separated? House with no windows or boarded up when you leave? Sounds like an invention here somewhere FM'rs..................

[joneshat11]

It's called fish houses on wheels or portables. The only sure fire way is to remove the house on and off the lake as you use it. If you leave your fishhouse on the lake your asking for it. Just my 2 cents!!

[Dan Thiem]

Doesn't Best Buy or someone like that make a cheapass car alarm or something? Maybe only fifty bucks to protect a big investment.

[FISHER ED]

Every time someone brings up a question like this it just makes my blood boil. All I can ask myself is where has our society gone where a guy can't leave a a small wooden shack sit on the ice all winter like you could in the past? I remember setting my spear house out on Dec 1st every year and wouldn't take it off the lake until the regs told me it had to come off. Always had a lock on the door and could leave all my decoys and what not in it without worry. In fact, the only thing I hauled out each trip was my Dad's good spear.

Unfortunately I think JonseHat11 has it right. Get it off the lake when not in use if at all possible.

A cheap battery alarm might work to scare someone away but who's to say they just won't smash that too. Who's going to hear an alarm going off during the dead of winter in the middle of the lake unless someone is fishing in the area?

I wish you, and everyone else the best of luck this season and if someone does get into your shack, I hope they get caught and strung up by the jewel sack! Have a good one.

[abens1078]

what about small security cameras? Like the kind that are about the size of a ball point pen. You may not see the person's face but how many winter coats can a guy have? you would at least be able to see who comes in and out and maybe even establish a pattern.

On the side, we own a little timber ground in NW Iowa and we used to come up with some real rude and obnoxious signs to hang on the trees. Something to the effect of...

Oh, you have decided to trespass....and then we would go on to impune everything from their wife and children to their status as humans. We would leave the signs about 100 yrds into the property so the individual had to be deliberately trespassing in order to see the sign. The signs usually got blown to pieces but they are breaking into your property who cares if they get offended.

[The Grebe]

Here is something else to think about....who is going to intervene, even if they did hear an alarm go off?

Probably not many...a guy fell in some water on a very cold night, up on Red Lake last year and he darned near froze to death before anyone would help him! He asked a number of people for help and they all had an agenda that did'nt include providing assistance to a distressed fellow angler!

About the time someone would come to check, it would be the owner of the shack, fumbling around trying to shut the danged thing off, either that, or one of his friends.

If you did confront someone breaking into the house, what are you gonna do, hit him/them with an ice chisel? Tell them it is naughty and not to do it?

If they are breaking into the house, they probably don't give a hoot about you and would just as soon break your face and in the process, maybe get your wallet!

Say that you make a cell phone call to the fuzz, if the phone even works in the area you are in, chances are, they are not going to drop their donuts and race out to the lake to catch someone pinching jiggle sticks!

Sign of the times, if you have something of value, like a fishhouse and all it's contents and you can't watch over it, for peace of mind, haul it on and off, like stated in an earlier post.

[Dan Thiem]

Grebe-

I just thought that if it was kids breaking in looking for booze and stuff, maybe the loud noise would scare them away. My fish house is on Lake Zumbro and its not a very big lake. There is alot of people that live on the lake and maybe somebody would hollar at them. Or maybe other fishermen on the lake would do something. Maybe not though. If I was out there at night and heard a car alarm going off I would just think some dumba$$ don't know how to work his car alarm.

[Farley]

There is nothing you can do but take it off, I've heard of people ramming the house untill the wall caved in to get in there to steal the tinfoil and the torch. My uncles house got broken into twice last year and once the year before, ours got broken into once we moved away from the pack. You ARE safer in a pack of houses, but the more these ***holes get away whith this stuff , the braver they get.

Grebe-your **** right I'd smack them right accross the face with my ice chisel. I figure the only way they'll wait for the cops to come is if they are unconcious.

[Ears]

Grebe, we would drop our doughnuts to catch someone breaking into an ice house.

[sunnyj]

You could try one of those motiondetector camras they use hunting ie bear baits and deer feeders. Set it up on the outside of the house and if you get lucky you may just get a lic. plat number or registration on a snowmobile and you can turn that into the Cops. You would need to hide it perty good or they'll steal that too. You may want a digital one so it wont freeze on you

That idea is almost crazy enough to work.

[iffwalleyes]

All of these ideas seem crazy. I think the only good way to do it is to take anything with value with you when you leave. Also don't leave a house on the lake if you aren't going to be regularly going out to it. I think that is the biggest issue. I usually am to my house every night or everyother night. I think that a lot of the house that get broke into are probably ones were the person isn't a regular on the ice. I fish out the the Jamestown Res. in ND and there are lots of guys that put house out there that are from Fargo. I know that not many of those houses get used daily more just on the weekends. Well I know there has been problems with break ins out there but they have left me alone so far not to say that won't change some day. There a lots of alarm systems one could try but like mentioned it is doubtful they would do much good.

[abens1078]

No Farley,

They were unconsious when you got there and you called the cops and ambulance to help them out. You were just trying to be a good citizen and help someone who had a bad slip on the ice. I doubt the thug would say, 'I tried to rob him and he wouldn't let me.' You'd probably loose in court though.

Don't we know by now it's better to steal and abuse others than to do anything for ourselves?? It reminds of the thread this summer when that woman got beat up at Valley Fair and no one did a thing. Sorry for the vent folks, good day.

[The Grebe]

Hey EARS, if you are the fuzz, don't take it personally, I'm just funning...I do it all the time...If they can do it on Leno, SNL and all the other mediums, it's cool here to.

Relax, have one with sprinkles on it and enjoy the forum!

As far as the video thing to catch the bad guys, they can't even get that situation down pat in a bank, might be tough out on the ice in the dark and in the dead of winter..."Hummm? nice video cam, into the bag with you!"

Hey Dan, how ya doin, thanks for the invite ( earlier post), but I never get down that far. A normal kid that an alarm would scare off, would'nt be out trashing fish houses anyways.

The low brows that do this stuff don't operate on the same wave lengths as the average person! To much glue sniffing, or not enough nurturing, or something?

[chunkytrout]

This may not be smart. But they got even. Stereo and 2 Two ways stolen from a buddies shack on two occasions. A little solder and a few treble hooks on the back of the chassis of his new stereo and, well a little blood on the floor but he still had the stereo. No problem since. What do they say about the mother of invention?

[Ears]

Oh I know, but I forgot to add, if its a Krispy Kream, I might not put one of those down. Mmmmmmmmmm....Krispy Kream.

[Ronsay]

I remember a friend of mine that had a Ford with nice skirts on the rear fender wells back in the early 60's, he had razor blades tacked on to the release bar up under the skirts to protect against theft. One morning when he went to his car there was a puddle of blood where somebody didn't succeed, that might of kept that low life from stealing for a long time.

Ron

[The Grebe]

Krispy Kremes? Did you say Krispy Kremes? Hey, anybody that can put one of them down after the first bite, is a better man then I'am....easier to move like a cat, when you've got 2 or 3 Krispy Kremes under the belt! Good strategy!

[Rino]

How about making there life a bit more miserable, You could booby trap your house to drop a bucket of used oil, or something like manure etc. (of corse not anything that could land you in jail (right ears)

[huskiesplayer15]

Sorry to say but if they want to get in, they will. Heck some people trash houses just to trash them. Sorry guys for kids my age. we aint all bad.

Best Fishes

Chris

[hawkeye43]

i can get hog manure very easy, that stays with you for weeks trust me.

[LittleRanger]

I think some type of alarm with a light on top the house would work very well. I can see a police cherry type light going off and the alarm. Both made into one rooftop mounted unit. The alarm could be a specific tone that fishing people could reconize. The unit could sell for $99.00. It mounts on the roof, there would be a wireless shut off or some way to disarm,. maybe a keypad on the outside. If they want to get in, at least they have to get by the racket and light? AND then, "Shanty Guard" was born............Improvements?

[76k20]

auto revolving heat sensing pellet gun turret!

[riverrat56]

a trap door in the floor with a spear hole underneath that is activated by them lifting up that expensive combo on the table. or you could just paint it lime green.

[wasssit]

Take whatever actions nessary, this is holy war. Thinking about putting 2 of my pitbulls in the shack?

[beer batter]

Interesting reading about all the gadgets but as some have said, they'll get in if they want to. The gadgets are cool but it won't stop them.

I leave a small hasp lock on my door as a small deterrant for those looking to take a steamer. People won't break into your house to use it as toilet. Leave nothing in your shack of value and leave your windows wide open. People out to steal are there for one of two reasons: items for meth labs (propane tanks), or their own ice fishing gear collection. They're on a mission and won't bother breaking into a shack if it doesn't look like there's anything in it. They will break in if they can't tell what's in it so leave your windows open. Also don't make your shack bolted up tighter than Fort Knox. I did that once and I ended up replacing a door and part of wall because they took it as a challenge I guess.

Just a small deterrant "potty break" lock is all you should have, windows wide open, and leave nothing you care about left behind.