11.
I’m a married woman who often works alone on my inherited rural property. Everyone knows my family; we’ve had five generations working this land before me. And everyone knows I’m the current owner. I don’t mind visitors in general, but some of them…oof. Shut up and get off my land, dude. I’m trying to work, and you’re wasting daylight here. Shoo. I use several deterrents to discourage visitors when I don’t want them. First one is a fence with a driveway gate that is ALWAYS closed. Not locked, mind you. Just closed. Most people will see the closed gate, honk as a greeting, and keep going because it signals that this isn’t the time to pay a courtesy call. Sure, I’ll allow a car honk as a complete interaction, thanks for passing by.”
“The second deterrent is a big black dog. 120 lbs of him, to be exact. It doesn’t matter that he’s a service dog and about as vicious as a newborn mouse. It doesn’t matter that he associates people with treats, scritches, and love. It doesn’t even matter that he’s so well-trained that he does not even bark, and he’s so pampered that he does not know how to growl properly. People, especially people who have not met my dog, will keep going even if the gate is open, if that see that dog running loose. Those that have met him? Well, they know what he is, and they will pull in to visit.
The third deterrent is simple. I open carry in a shoulder holster. I’ve had strange people pull into the driveway, park at the closed gate, and get out. But when they see me walking up to them with no fear, and with that firearm on my chest and that very big dog bounding at my heels, they usually get back into their vehicle and leave very quickly. I confess to using body language to convey that I’m assertive and a little bit of an ass: head is up, shoulders back, stride purposeful, overall confidence high. Inside, I’m scared witless. But if you don’t know me, what you see is a tall, fit, armed, and seemingly aggressive woman going straight towards you. It can be (and is meant to be) highly disconcerting.
But the one thing I don’t do is wave empty-handed at people as they pass. People take that as an invitation to stop by. Wave with a knife or shovel in hand. That way, what you’re doing looks so much like hard work that these lazybones with leisure time won’t stop by, for fear of the woman asking them to do something manly. No joke. It’s the best deterrent in your arsenal.”