bad shooting trip

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murdoc rose

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The trip today was 5 of us 2 girls 3 guys one of the guys just bought a new hi point and the girls needed some more practice. I had wanted everyone to come out to my place but plans where changed for convince to shoot at one of the guys parents small farm a good ways out of the city limits. We had permission and found a valley to shoot into with provided a much higher berm than the other suitable spot. We set up and things are going well until we start to hear shouts. Approximately 125 yards away at the fence line a irate man is scream at us that we cant shoot out here and treating to call the sheriff ( he gave us 5 minutes to stop or else he was going to call, not that it would have done him any good). We tried to calmly explain to the man (made even more difficult by the distance) that it was perfectly safe. We sit there a few minutes and discuss it between our selves while he stood at the fence quite. He eventually left and we did too since everyone was firmly out of the mood to continue. Of course no cops ever showed up as I can only assume they told him we were more than with in our rights.

Has anything like this ever happened to someone? We were shooting small pistols and some 12ga bird shot so it couldn't have been too noticeable in a part of town where shooting is common place. Im shocked someone had the guts to even come talk to 5 fairly well armed people.
 
Not enough information to comment properly.


  1. Who gave you permission to shoot there?
  2. Why would the man be screaming at you to stop?
  3. Why did you think it was perfectly safe to continue?

What worries me most is that you think someone should not dare come to talk to "5 fairly well armed people" -- this remark suggests you have an attitude.
 
1. The land owner had given us permission.
2. I wish I knew.
3. We didn't continue shooting but we did stay in our location.

As far as attitude it is true I and the others where not happy about the circumstance but on a personal basis I would never confront an armed person not on my property.
 
date: 05/14/2008
hmmmm looking back i can remeber a simmilary instance on my farm. me and my brother were busting milk jugs in the field infront of our property. we were having a good day of shooting and had ben there for 2 1/2 hours or so and shot around 40 rounds when a black ford came down our gravel road....very.....quickly. this of course pissed me off, i dont like people i dont know on my land. the two men jump out of there truck and said that we needed to stop shooting and get off "there ....... land"! i was well armed as was my brother, we tryed to explaine we owned this property and were well outside of the city limits and will continue to shoot as we please. they treatened to call the county, we called for them and showed them the property lines. the county showed up and all was right in the world! well for us....they were heavly intoxicated1

charges:
trespassing
possession of a firearm under the influence
dui
harassment

and yes we did press charges.
 
The world is full of jerks. If you were absolutely sure that you were safe AND legal, then he had no call to be that way. Let him call. If you are safe and legal the cops will just tell him that you are within your rights. If he had a good reason to ask you to stop he could have been civil about it.

Bullets can and will do weird things. I've seen and heard ricochets from some backstops that didn't look too bad. That being said, I have little respect for people who's first reaction is "I'm calling the cops on you!!!".

Several years ago, I was at an acquaintance's house on New Year's Eve. At midnight, several folks were setting off fireworks (as was half the town- you could see rockets and mortars everywhere, and they're not legal here).

Some jerk comes raoring up in his SUV, blocking our vehicles in the driveway, and jumps out in a fit of rage. He was screaming and cussing at us, saying that fireworks were landing on his house a block away. He threatened to assault us, then call the cops and have us arrested. We were stunned so we really didn't react. He roared off still screaming and cussing.

In retrospect we should have called the cops ourselves. We weren't shooting off big fireworks. I think he was on drugs or something.
 
as is your right to be sceptical.

fact of the matter is that he had been a problem in the past with poching.
 
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Since the local law enforcement never hunted you all down and read you the riot act for whatever illegal act you were supposedly doing, I wouldnt worry about it. If he was just walking there, there's no telling who he was or even if he had any business there himself. Maybe y'all were too close to his meth lab...
 
A deputy came to my house one day after I had been shooting on my own acreage and said that there had been complaints about gunshots.
I asked him if he told the complainant that they could move back to the city where they came from if they didn't like it. He said " Yeah, basically" but they still had to check it out.

Another neighbor threatened to call in on me and I just yelled back " do you want to use my phone? " She just yelled out some obscenities and went back into the house.
 
lwknight

I think this a recurring problem as more "city folk" move out to the less regulated rural countryside, but still believe that restrictive big city ordinances and typical police presence are still in effect. They seem to be unwilling or unable to accept that many residents safely shoot and/or hunt on their own property. The second they hear gunfire, their first impulse is to "call the cops".
 
Were you shooting on to their land?

My question too. If the fence line was only 125 yards away and you could see the neighbor from where you were shooting from, this could a reason for concern. Here in Wisconsin, shooting bullets onto someone else's property can be considered trespassing and is treated as such. Stray bullets can hit pasturing animals or damage trees intended for commercial harvest.....not to mention some folk's attitude on lead contamination. Otherwise if the bullets were stopping in a berm on property you had permission to shoot on, you were shooting in a safe manner and there were no other ordinances or restrictions against shooting by the local authorities, you should have called the police yourself to confirm to the neighbor that what you were doing was legal and safe and that he should go home, get a gun and join you.
 
Just how close to her house were you?
The house on that side is about 100 yards away. The old hag came up to the fence line which was still 50 yards from my house.

I don't shoot anything more than testing a few loads for velocity and SD at my house because the city folk have built sub-divisions all around on what used to be farms. I still have 10 acres here and my 40 acres is 40 miles away.
I try not to be a bad neighbor but will not give up all my country freedom on their account. I was here shooting and raising hogs long before their houses were built.
 
buck460XVR said:
you should have called the police yourself to confirm to the neighbor that what you were doing was legal and safe

WRONG. Do NOT call the police when you have a legal question, call a lawyer. It is a lawyer's business to know the law, it's a police officer's business to enforce what his superiors tell him to enforce. Police aren't experts on every last statute out there. Furthermore, it's well documented that anything you say can and will be used against you (that doesn't just apply when you're being arrested).

Save yourself some potential grief and call a lawyer, or make friends with one :)
 
fortunately i live right next to a shooting range..........everyone round here is used to hearing gun shots all day.
 
You have permission from the land owner and you are legally allowed to shoot in that part of town. My solution? You never heard the guy's hoot n hollerin, due to your great quality hearing protection and all the gunfire. ;)
 
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