Can I use force to protect my property?

The distinction between property and persons is where people get this badly wrong.

Non-deadly force may be justified to prevent or terminate a trespass or another's unlawful interference with property, where the person reasonably believes it necessary.

Deadly force is a different question entirely. It generally requires a reasonable belief that it's necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm, or the commission of a forcible felony. Property alone doesn't meet that standard.

The overlap that confuses people: a burglary of an occupied dwelling is a forcible felony, and the Castle Doctrine's presumption applies to unlawful forcible entry into a dwelling or occupied vehicle. So the classic home intrusion is covered — not because property is being protected, but because of what the intrusion itself implicates.

Shooting at someone stealing from a yard, driving away in a car, or fleeing with property is a very different situation, and it produces prosecutions.