Vehicle break-ins at trailheads
Maybe this has been done before, who knows... But it remains a current and maybe growing (?) problem due to the almost overwhelming prevalence of meth and shit heads in our communities.
This arvo I learnt about a number of vehicles being broken into this morning about 800m from my post box, at the start of walking trails into the Kaimai-Mamaku park. A mix of locals’ and out-of-towners’ vehicles. This reminds me of numerous tales of woe from fellow hunters around the country who have got back to their cars after a few days in the bush to find them damaged, or in some instances stolen.
It’s got to the point where I am looking at buying a shit box car for say 1500 bucks, leaving it unlocked but disabling the motor by removing the rotor arm or coil to dizzy lead or whatever. There is absolutely no way I would leave my Hilux at a public land trailhead. Just never going to happen. To be honest just writing that is quite upsetting. WTF???
Yes I know that’s what insurance is for and that is a fair point, but my vehicle has way too many “expedition” mods from it’s time in Australia, and having it trashed or stolen would be a nightmare. And I think even if you are comfortable relying on your insurance, when you look at your overall loss and the time involved then maybe a $1500 shit box isn’t such a bad idea. I’ve come to think of insurance as covering me in the event of an accident rather than the consequences of break-ins and damage at trailheads.
Oh well. Rant kind of over. The best advice of course is only take with you what you are carrying in your pack and not to leave anything else of the value in the vehicle. This is easier said than done if you are travelling a long way for a hunting trip, say inter-island and camping like I like to do. Find a friendly farmer if you can and park up there, even if it adds a few kms to your walk out. It’s shit that it’s come to this but this is the world we live in these days it seems.
