What would you do?

[Plinker300]

More importantly, what should I do??

I went to an outdoor shooting area and was all by myself. I picked up two black garbage bags of trash, and upon doing so, I stumbled across the personal information of someone who appears to have left a lot of the stuff I picked up. There were computer game boxes, a tv box, etc. I Googled the address listed on the paper I found, and it showed a car matching the description on the paper. I believe it looks like a young person who still lives at home.
So what can I (or should I) do with this? Is it reportable somewhere? I feel like knocking on the door and speaking to an adult.. Has anyone ever found personal info while cleaning up a shooting area? What did you do? Thank you for any input. FYI, the bags of trash were disposed of properly...

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[deadeye]

what would be funny would be to spread it on their front lawn. depending on where the area was take it to the forestry service or who ever is in charge of the area and see if they want to pursue it or not. better idea would be to see if they could have come out to visually see it or if taking pictures of it first would have been ok. most likely nothing would come of it anyway as they were not caught in the act and could just say someone else dumped their garbage there.

 

[jbett98]

I called the Multnomah County sheriff when someone dumped a huge trailer load of junk on the property I was care taking.
They were dumb enough to leave their address and when the sheriff showed up at their door, they claimed to have paid someone to haul it away.
He wasn't convinced for one second and made them come back and pick up every piece of it.
Now this was private property, but the sheriff should treat it the same way on public lands.

 

[Plinker300]

I did briefly consider dumping it on the lawn- looks like a nice house in an expensive neighborhood.. but that wouldn't send the right message. It was in the Idaho state forest, so I could probably do some research and find out who to talk to. Maybe there's an office near by? I'm sure nothing official will come of it, but it pissed me off! After shooting at indoor ranges 99% of the time, it was really nice to be outside. If only it would stay nice..

 

[winchester270]

I came upon a couple that I suspected on dumping trash. Also their rear bumper had in paint written
" 911 and Die", I got their license plate # and personal desciption and reported it to the local sheriffs. The sheriff said that if the trash was found they would be arrested.

 

[BDA.45]

I would definitely throw it in their yard! Even better if it's an upscale neighborhood. Only takes a minute to lob it there and slam a sign in the ground letting their neighbors know what they did. I'm all for public humiliation and shame.... F em....

 

[Plinker300]

And I totally get that. But I don't think the people/parents that actually own the house have any idea what a turd their kid is. Assuming that the items weren't stolen from said turd..
I will contact the local PD and see if there is a local State Forest office I can contact.

 

[ron]

I would talk to the parents. Here is a likely scenario. Father gives the son
money to take a load to the dump. Son pockets the money and dumps
trash in the woods.

 

[MedusaOblongata]

If you find a pile of garbage with an envelope with someone's name on it, you should take 27 8x10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining what each one was.

 

[Cogs]

Certainly report it. A call to the County Sheriffs office can help determine what agency manages the land. Photos of the stuff, where you found it, would be appropriate. Dumping it on their lawn would be risky of getting arrested yourself. I wouldn't do it unless the Sheriff was with me. However, after reading others comments about how it could be stolen or could be their kid, you never know the situation till someone knocks on their door. Still, I wouldn't knock on the door alone. I'd let the officer do the knocking.

Would also be a good story to see in the news. It would help spread the message that there are 'eyes' out there and you will be caught. Would also, (should also), shed a good light on how recreational shooters are not putting up with this stuff.

Good thread. Thanks Plinker!

 

[Truenorth]

I would take detailed photos of the scene, before and after cleaning it up.
Show the letter with address in the photos of trash.
If you have a handheld GPS include the coordinates, time and date.
Save the letter of course.
Turn the photos, letter and data over to the Forest Service, Sherriff's dept and State Patrol.

Going to their house is NOT something I would you.
You just never know, could be stolen mail, hidden meth lab, or.....who knows.

Obviously nobody welcomes the accusation of a crime by some random person showing up at their door.
If they have a badge I'll gladly listen and cooperate.
Some yahoo stranger comes up on my porch accusing me of a crime there might be a fight.

Either way I'd let the local authority's know about it. Trash dumping pisses me off to no end.

Good luck, thanks for cleaning up in the woods and sharing your story.

 

[P7M13]

Thanks for cleaning it.
This is an opportunity where you CAN fix stupid. The m-f'er will never learn unless a hammer comes down.
Medusa, you reveal your age!

 

[The Heretic]

Return found property - onto their property.

What could be illegal about that?

Even if stolen, all you are doing is returning it to the owner.

 

[mikemenzie]

If you find a pile of garbage with an envelope with someone's name on it, you should take 27 8x10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back explaining what each one was.

But someone put that envelope at the bottom of that pile!
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!

 

[mikemenzie]

I've heard questions like this before and the main advice i ususlly see that i haven't here is that the more this sort of dumping is reported at shooting sites, the more likely the shooting sites will be shut down. It's a shame, though, because you want it reported so the jack nuts will learn, but you don't want their idiocy to lock up OUR shooting places.

 

[ARKLITE881South]

I was flagging out in the boonies one time, a guy drives by with a flat bed pickup full of junk, and a couple of garbage cans. About 45 min later he came back by, everything but the 2 garbage cans were gone. They were both obviously empty. The very next vehicle though our work site was a state cop. I stopped him and asked when they opened a dump up on such and such a road. He ''perked up'' and said there's no dump on this road. Which we both knew was true. He asked if by chance i got the lic # i replied you bet, and here's a description of the guy. Told him how much time lapsed between me seeing him go by, and when he came back. The cop took off, came back by, said he'd found the dump site. And, he knew the guy as well.

The guy was fined, and had to go pickup trash and garbage all along the road he dumped it off of. And, yes there was some personal evidence / information in the garbage he dumped. So, yes, its a good idea to turn the stuff in, and or, take pictures of it before.

 

[45alive]

I came upon a couple that I suspected on dumping trash. Also their rear bumper had in paint written
" 911 and Die", I got their license plate # and personal desciption and reported it to the local sheriffs. The sheriff said that if the trash was found they would be arrested.

''911 and Die'' ooohhh, I'm SCARED ! What a bunch of IDIOT'S !

 

[aikikenjitsu]

More importantly, what should I do??

I went to an outdoor shooting area and was all by myself. I picked up two black garbage bags of trash, and upon doing so, I stumbled across the personal information of someone who appears to have left a lot of the stuff I picked up. There were computer game boxes, a tv box, etc. I Googled the address listed on the paper I found, and it showed a car matching the description on the paper. I believe it looks like a young person who still lives at home.
So what can I (or should I) do with this? Is it reportable somewhere? I feel like knocking on the door and speaking to an adult.. Has anyone ever found personal info while cleaning up a shooting area? What did you do? Thank you for any input. FYI, the bags of trash were disposed of properly...

Tough call. Maybe take the game box and use it or sell it on E-Bay. If the young guy is trashy, he doesn't deserve his stuff back. Just saying.
Sifu

 

[Plinker300]

Tough call. Maybe take the game box and use it or sell it on E-Bay. If the young guy is trashy, he doesn't deserve his stuff back. Just saying.
Sifu

Sorry,I should have been more clear..it was just the empty cardboard boxes that the games and monitor came in.

Ironically, I went back to the same spot several months later. Overall, it looked pretty good. I did pick up a bag full of stuff. Then I wandered over to a cardboard box about the size of a shoebox that someone had used as a target backstop. Amazon tape all over it. Hmmmm...any chance the guys name and address were still on it? Of course it was. What a dumbass. Not the same guy as before, but still a dumbass. I guess I'll just keep picking up after these fools. I'm gonna need a bigger rig to haul it all!!

 

[BaggerRyder]

I know this is a somewhat old thread but I just encountered the same thing last weekend.

Bunch of trash left up in an area that I have grouse hunted and been shooting in for nearly 20 years. After we were done we filled 2 black garbage bags with the milk jugs, soda cans and cardboard etc that was left up there from previous shooters and one of the boxes had the name and address of the person that the box belonged too.

First passive aggressive thought was to take those bags of garbage to his house and let him know I recovered his stuff and that it was amazing that I found it in the woods where I target practice. His address is about 3 blocks from my office.
Nothing good would come out of it as I believe most people that trash the woods won't learn unless law enforcement cites them. So those bags of trash are in my trash can.