This is the time of year us outdoor growers begin to worry. It starts when buds begin to form and isn't over until the buds have been harvested. Rippers, both private and gov't, will soon start making their rounds. Private rippers have a reason to wait until Sept.; they want to smoke your pot. The gov't however waits because they want to break grower's hearts. They sometimes find out about a grow in say June, but will wait until Sept. to rip them off. They get off on knowing they maximum fucked over freedom growers. They know that the longer they wait the more it will hurt the growers, that the growers are almost drooling with anticipation at that time. If you get ripped off before budding begins, it doesn't hurt that much; the thieves just got leaf. But if they wait until a week or so before harvest, when the plants are thick with buds (as much as 2 lbs. per plant), that hurts much more, believe me. My paranoia level isn't as high as it used to be when I grew in the mountains outside of L.A. Now my plants are on my own land in N. Calif, very remote. Also, I am in 100% complaince with Prop. 215 (Calif's med-mj provision), so I don't worry about local cops. And since I'm not a public advocate, and have less than 2 dozen plants, I'm not worried about fed. heat. But private rippers are always a worry. Most people out here who want pot, grow it. It's rural, and the cops don't fuck with personal grows, 'script or not. But there are low-life's who would rather steal other people's medicine than grow their own.
I feel for you.! I had a similar incident. I had about 20 plants on the edge of some local woods that were 3 weeks into budding. The friggin farmer decided to let his cattle loose in and around the woods and they ate my plants. I was heart-broken, all that time and energy wasted. I wonder if the cows got high though.?
Is a sad tale but a true one. It happens the world over and that's why I only grow on my own land. In fact, it could even be another grower that stumbled on your crop and not always a seeker. I've come across 2 crops and it's that reason that I stopped using the big outdoors. Sometimes the most obvious place is now the most stealth. All outdoor growers think a good walk will get you a stealth area but what about the obvious? Do you look for MJ on the road edge when driving around?
actually yes i do because i have seen it before on the side of the road so now whenever i drive around i look for it. i love weed so much i would die without it. not that i need it to keep off a life threatening illness. just that i would kill myself if i knew that i was never going to be able to smoke it again.
I had 4 plants in 7-gal. planters that I stuck in a remote location. After a few weeks I noticed someone had picked leaves off them. So I moved them to an even more remote location. After a few more weeks someone found 'em and started picking leaves off them. In desperation, I stuck them in some brush next to the road. They were visible from the road--if you knew exactly where to look on this 20 mile long road up in the mountains. They were in a location that no one expected pot to be--right alongside the road. Rippers would venture deep into the forest but would never have thought of finding them right alongside a road. They remained unmolested and I got 1/2 lb. bud off each one. Hidden in plain sight.
