HOA Karen Reported Me for Hunting on My Own Land — The Wildlife Officers Asked Her to Leave
Chapter 5
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Patricia's expression hardened, but she still refused to leave. Instead, she pointed toward the tree line and said there was one more issue the officers had not checked. She claimed I had moved the property markers to create a false boundary.Officer Brooks asked whether she had evidence.Patricia smiled faintly and said, "I have photographs."Patricia pulled a stack of glossy photographs from the folder and spread them across the hood of her vehicle. Each picture showed the old stone marker near the creek, the fence line, and portions of the field where I had been standing that morning.She tapped the first photograph with one finger. "This marker was moved," she said. "It used to be farther east. He changed the boundary so he could claim more land."Officer Brooks studied the photograph without reacting. Officer Carter asked when the picture had been taken. Patricia checked the back of the print and said it was from the previous autumn.I recognized the location, but the image was taken from an angle that made the creek and the fence appear much closer together than they really were."Do you have the original files?" Officer Carter asked.Patricia said the photographs had been sent to her by a neighbor."Which neighbor?" Officer Brooks asked.She gave a name, but then admitted she did not know whether the person had personally taken them.Officer Carter asked if Patricia had compared the marker's location with a licensed survey. Patricia replied that the photographs were proof enough.That was when I remembered the surveyor I had hired two years earlier after repairing the fence. The survey included measurements from the county reference points, the creek, and the original stone marker. I opened the file on my phone and handed it to Officer Carter.The survey showed that the marker had not moved. In fact, the fence had been rebuilt 18 inches inside my property line to avoid disturbing it. The measurements were clear, and the surveyor's license number appeared at the bottom of every page.Officer Carter compared the survey with the county map and then with Patricia's photographs. "The marker is in the same location," she said. "The perspective is different, but the boundary has not changed."Patricia shook her head. "That survey was arranged by him. Of course it supports his story."Officer Brooks explained that a professional survey was not simply a personal statement; it was a documented measurement based on established reference points. He also told her that photographs taken by an unidentified person could not replace official records.Patricia looked frustrated, but she was not finished. She took out her phone and opened the video she had sent to the wildlife department."This shows him aiming toward the neighborhood," she said. "You need to watch it."Officer Carter accepted the phone and played the clip. The video showed me near the field, holding my equipment and looking toward the tree line. From that angle, the homes beyond the trees were not visible. Patricia had stopped recording before I moved into the designated position, and she had started again after I turned away from the neighborhood. The missing portion made the clip appear far more alarming than the full sequence.Officer Brooks asked whether she had submitted the complete recording. Patricia said the shorter version was easier to send."Why did you leave out the beginning?" he asked.