How to deal with neighbor who believes trees are adequate backstop

[churchmouse]

As sad as this sounds I would be pilling up Gravel laden dirt on my side of the fence as a backstop to protect my property. If he is dumb enough to ask about it then lite his A$$ up for being an ignorant fool. You can do that from your side of the fence. Make sure you video all encounters and your efforts with the back stop. If it continues to escalate sue his worthless butt off.
You can not fix "STUPID"....it is a genetic affliction with no cure.

 

[mom45]

I have no intention of even trying to talk to this guy. It is hard to reason with stupidity like that. Any communication done will be through the authorities. The only thing I plan to communicate to him is that he absolutely does not have permission to retrieve any deer he shoots that ends up on my property. I hate to see meat wasted, but if he shoots one and it dies two feet from that fence, it will lay there and feed the coyotes before I will allow him on my property to pick it up. He's such a bad shot that anything he manages to hit is going to run a lot farther than that anyway.

 

[churchmouse]

I have no intention of even trying to talk to this guy. It is hard to reason with stupidity like that. Any communication done will be through the authorities. The only thing I plan to communicate to him is that he absolutely does not have permission to retrieve any deer he shoots that ends up on my property. I hate to see meat wasted, but if he shoots one and it dies two feet from that fence, it will lay there and feed the coyotes before I will allow him on my property to pick it up. He's such a bad shot that anything he manages to hit is going to run a lot farther than that anyway.

The property we camp and hunt is owned by a life long friend. He is having close to the same issues with 4 wheeler's and hunting across property lines. Neighbor sets up stands that are close to the line and face into friends property. It has escalated over the last few years into near confrontation. I have ran off the idiot kids on 4 wheeler's and they will flip me off when they are out of reach. My friend and I cornered the idiot father not long ago on my buddy's property and informed him it is going to go into legal channels if the trespassing does not stop.
I think it is going that way very soon. He saw deer entrails from a kill he did not make on his side of the line.
As I said....you can not fix Stupid. Idiot set up a stand on my buddy's property....buddy cut down the tree with the stand on it. Idiot neighbor pitched a fit. Property is well marked and it is obvious what he did. Some folks are not right minded.

 

[JetGirl]

It wouldn't be the first time someone's INGO posts were used against them in court.

That's ^ all I was trying to say. Thank you.

 

[dusterboy49]

First of all, sorry you live next door to "the neighbor from hell'.
He obviously has no brains or sense of responsibility.
Listen to Kirk, contact an attorney and let him/her handle this for you.
Better to take quick and decisive action before you suffer any further property
damage or someone on your property is injured.

 

[Hoosierdood]

You know, at this point I'm not sure I would even contact the sheriff or the DNR. Get an attorney and let them do all the contacting. It would be worth the money to let them deal with it. Something definitely needs to be done and obviously you have exhausted all your resources trying to fix it in a civil way. Let the professionals handle it.

 

[mom45]

We have (at last count) a dozen tree stands that are not ours that face our property on neighboring properties. One (different neighbor) is about 6 feet off of our line and high enough up in the tree that there is no way they are shooting anything on their own property. We have taken stands out of our trees and only returned them when the owner came to us and asked if we knew what happened to their stand. Those individuals were informed that they were only getting it back based on the condition that if we find it on our side again, it will be ours. There are plenty of deer so I don't mind if they take a few but they are all informed that they better call before entering our property so we know they are out there and can track it with them. My husband has MANY stands and isn't going to shoot without knowing what he is shooting at, but accidents can happen and we don't want to be liable for anyone getting hurt on our property. The DNR officer that was here in September asked if that was his tree stand by the targets, and we said it was. I jokingly asked if he thought there was any chance that the deer were passing through this idiots back yard with all of the crap over there...swing sets, targets, lots of people activity. He just shook his head. I told him the same thing-that this guy is not allowed to retrieve deer off of our property anymore. I'm thinking I need to go park my truck back there and sit in it on opening morning next weekend just to watch him and make sure he knows he is being watched.

 

[Sgtusmc]

I coulda swore I somewhat recently read a thread about the cops showing up to stop a guy from shooting on his own property that HAD a PROPER backstop built. The cops showing up was the result of a neighbor complaint. So is it laziness on the LEO's part or double standards or what?


edit: https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...ed-sheriff-dept-tonight-while-i-shooting.html

 

[churchmouse]

I coulda swore I somewhat recently read a thread about the cops showing up to stop a guy from shooting on his own property that HAD a PROPER backstop built. The cops showing up was the result of a neighbor complaint. So is it laziness on the LEO's part or double standards or what?

The law is what the responding LEO feels it should be.

Is the idiot in question related to the local sheriff.......

 

[mom45]

I coulda swore I somewhat recently read a thread about the cops showing up to stop a guy from shooting on his own property that HAD a PROPER backstop built. The cops showing up was the result of a neighbor complaint. So is it laziness on the LEO's part or double standards or what?

Maybe this person lived in a county/town with an ordinance that didn't allow him to shoot where he was?? That's the only thing I can think of. We have no ordinances here that disallow shooting on private property. I just cannot believe that there is no requirement for a backstop. That is just crazy and it is even crazier that someone who target shoots as much as they do thinks it is safe to do so without one!

 

[mom45]

The law is what the responding LEO feels it should be.

Is the idiot in question related to the local sheriff.......

Nope. He's not even a local guy. Moved here a few years ago and that was the start of the problem.

 

[Sgtusmc]

Maybe this person lived in a county/town with an ordinance that didn't allow him to shoot where he was?? That's the only thing I can think of. We have no ordinances here that disallow shooting on private property. I just cannot believe that there is no requirement for a backstop. That is just crazy and it is even crazier that someone who target shoots as much as they do thinks it is safe to do so without one!

It was stated later in that thread that the location was Bedford and that there is no ordinance barring the discharge of firearms on your own property.

 

[cobber]

The law is what the responding LEO feels it should be.

Is the idiot in question related to the local sheriff.......

Until the SHTF...

Kirk's idea is the best, get a GOOD local attorney (not the feller practicing out of his car, or just out of law school). If you talk to a bunch of attorneys, your neighbor won't be able to hire any of them subsequently without your waiver, BTW...

 

[mom45]

It was stated later in that thread that the location was Bedford and that there is no ordinance barring the discharge of firearms on your own property.

Interesting...I have family in that area. Maybe they know something about this one.

 

[mom45]

Until the SHTF...

Kirk's idea is the best, get a GOOD local attorney (not the feller practicing out of his car, or just out of law school). If you talk to a bunch of attorneys, your neighbor won't be able to hire any of them subsequently without your waiver, BTW...

Good point. The attorney I would use is not local, but if I talk to all of the local ones...that screws him for using them. Good point!

 

[cobber]

Good point. The attorney I would use is not local, but if I talk to all of the local ones...that screws him for using them. Good point!

Having an experienced local guy who knows all the players is sometimes worth more than having an out-of-towner who can recite the law verse for verse...

Or they also might NOT work that hard in your interests, because they're too well connected.

Lots of stratgery here...

 

[millsusaf]

That is a tough one. Our lovely society tells us we need to do everything through lawyers and that is by design. 30, 40, 50 75, 100, 200 years ago when the wimpification of America was less or non-existent the answers would likely be different and the use of a lawyer may be unheard of. Who writes laws? That's right, lawyers, they write laws so they can prosecute and defend people to make more money. It would be like a doctor who engineered diseases to get more patients thus making more moeny. That isn't to say we should have a lawless society or that lawyers don't have a part, just that it has gotten WAY out of hand.

Having said that, play the game. It's pretty obvious the local LEO isn't going to help unless someone gets shot and by that time it's too late. IF they can get out there while someone is being shot at they may be able to do something but otherwise it looks like they are a dead end. As others have said, contact a lawyer. They will write a nasty letter on your behalf that from the sounds of it this guy will wipe his butt with and toss in the trash. If he does not have the mental capacity to understand what he is doing is dangerous and wrong I have little hope he will care about a letter from a lawyer but play the game.

From a personal protection view, I would absolutely carry a high powered rifle (something 20+ magazine fed) with you at all times when in the woods and a very loud air horn. Let your neighbor know without a doubt that he does not have permission to shoot into your property, that you and those you allow on the property are being shot at because of his stupidity and that from now on you will give a warning shot with the air horn but that if that isn't heeded you will return fire. On your property or not, you have the right to live, you have the right to protect yourself. If you are in the park and someone starts shooting in your general direction, don't worry about it they are on your property or not, shoot back, someone is trying to kill you. Give them the air horn blast to let them know you are there and if that doesn't stop it, protect your life. I would highly recommend knowing what your target is, you don't want to shoot someone who doesn't deserve it.

This isn't about some trees getting shot, or your property rights being violated, it's about your personal safety! It sucks you are in that situation. Stay safe out there and don't hesitate to protect your life, you only get one.

 

[mom45]

Having an experienced local guy who knows all the players is sometimes worth more than having an out-of-towner who can recite the law verse for verse...

Or they also might NOT work that hard in your interests, because they're too well connected.

Lots of stratgery here...

Most of the local guys are bumbling fools from what I have seen. The one I have in mind is a female attorney (Very sharp) who is a former blackhawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq...tough girl. She helped us out once before with a situation, and handled it like it was her own personal situation. Not cheap, but worth paying for a quality attorney. I'm curious to see how today plays out with getting copies of reports and such. I'll be making some phone calls.

 

[churchmouse]

Most of the local guys are bumbling fools from what I have seen. The one I have in mind is a female attorney (Very sharp) who is a former blackhawk helicopter pilot who served in Iraq...tough girl. She helped us out once before with a situation, and handled it like it was her own personal situation. Not cheap, but worth paying for a quality attorney. I'm curious to see how today plays out with getting copies of reports and such. I'll be making some phone calls.

Our attorney is a woman.
This is from her mouth......What is the difference between a pit-bull and a female.......Lipstick.

 

[giovani]

The OP reminds me of other city folk that move to the country and then whine when they can't have it their way.

if you don't like it move back to the burbs.