Confronted While Shooting, What To Do?

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Apparently deer season had passed? As a courtesy to a fellow hunter I would not shoot adjacent to his land during or just before deer season. But this doesn't not seem to be the case.

Noise is noise - I tolerate barking dogs, loud guitars, and gun fire where I live-because these are a part of living.

I think you handled things well.

Be prepared for what you might say when and if the cops do show up.
 
Yes, permission in writing in case the cops do show up. Then you add a bit more to your case.
 
gunfire sure doesn't scare away the deer or elk on our ranges...it actually attracts some of them...but not during hunting season,lol
He was trespassing,and you should have locked the gate.
Sounds like you handled it well.
 
I would try to avoid shooting there immediately before and during deer season, just out of consideration, if it's a deer hunting area. Hell, go hunting yourself during deer season.

But it's not deer season, nor is it anywhere near deer season, right now.

Besides, deer frequently hang out on the hill above our club's shotgun ranges, while people are shooting. Our range is adjacent to a rock quarry with crushers, and regular blasting.

If the cement plant doesn't scare them away, distant shooting and dynamite going off on the hillsides doesn't seem to, either.
 
Fifteen hundred feet from a house or road is not very far, even with your good backstop to contain the bullets and muffle some of the noise. That is my one reservation; I would rather have at least 1500 yards.Otherwise I think you did mostly OK.

I used to live in a medium-sized town in the California desert that had lots of open desert surrounding it, with hills for a backstop. One day I was shooting pistols in a particular spot, and a middle-aged couple happened by. In a much politer manner than your guy, they claimed to be hiking in the area and that ricochets were going over the top of the hill. :eek: Now, the hill did have a somewhat gradual slope to it, and it was not soft dirt. I smiled and nodded, they left ... and I packed up and found another place to shoot.

Also, when shooting in open areas, you should not have all your firearms unloaded at any one time, if you get my drift.
 
hahahaha.
I would love to take an ak hunting just for that purpose.
Wouldn't even need to take a deer home to feel accomplished.
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Its actually unnerving. You would think you were carrying somebody's scalp or severed head or something.
 
Fifteen hundred feet from a house or road is not very far, even with your good backstop to contain the bullets and muffle some of the noise. That is my one reservation; I would rather have at least 1500 yards.Otherwise I think you did mostly OK.
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WHile you have a point, in some cramped parts of the country, 1500 feet is big country. 1500 yards can be hard to find.

I prefer 1500 yards myself, and in West Texas, this is not a problem. Landowner permission OTOH... everything is privately owned. Fortuantely I have a 3600 acre deer lease available and 2000 acres I can varmint hunt on.
 
I'll give my take as someone who:

- Is a landowner.

- has had to get along with other landowners who have given permission to others to go on their land.

-who HAS confronted people.



Some other landowners have to use our private roads to access their wooded land. Some of these landowners give permission to others to hunt, fish, or whatever on their property.

That is within the rights of the landowners to do so.


The OP mentioned that his father is the Property Manager. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I am not certain that a manager has the authority to issue anyone permission to do anything.

I mean a Bank Manager can't give out $100 bills.

I would get WRITTEN permission from the actual owner, the CEO of the company, or an authorized person on the Corporate Charter. I would keep that with me at all times that I am on the property.

Now, shooting is fine on your property or if you have permission-- as LONG as you are CERTAIN that your bullet does not leave that property. If you shoot into someone else's property, you are gonna have a bad day.

I'll echo the sentiment that I'd not be shooting there during or near Hunting Season. That just isn't cool.



-- John
 
- the guy was bluffing, hoping to pressure you to go away.

- the guy apparently did not have permission to be there, and very quickly you should have made him aware of that. I would also urge you to make this the focal point of the next conversation if he returns. (Why are you here? Please leave.)

- I would document this and let the property manager know what happened. However, spin it in your light. Tell them some kook showed up babbling about scaring away deer and threatening to call the cops. It is better they hear it from you than this guy or his cronies.

- noise doesn't scare away deer necessarily. I was shooting trap and saw a few deer calming grazing within slug distance. They were used to hearing it.
 
I shoot in my backyard almost daily. We have herds of deer around my property, and none of them seem to mind the noise. (However in the fall, they seem to mind it when the guns are pointed at them)

This guy's trying to ruin your fun. Let the property owner know what happened, get their permission in writing, and be prepared to openly tell the nut case he needs to leave before you call the cops on him for tresspassing.
 
No, you were fine. He was the one trespassing, not you. Any cop worth his salt will tell him it's a civil matter. If he thinks he has grounds for a nuisance complaint, he can certainly bring one. Or he can do what a RESPONSIBLE land owner would do and write a letter to the other owner outlining his complaints and suggesting a compromise. Trespassing in an effort to force you into submission was stupid and purile.
 
Ithaca37 said:
Try taking an AK hunting and see the looks of disdain you get from fellow hunters.
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I just paid my license app fees today, and plan to use an AK if I get drawn for Javelina. I was a nerd in high school. I've been fully immunized against dirty looks and name calling. :D
 
You handled it perfectly, save for one oversight. You needed todoubletime it to the nearest police offive, and tell them the whole story. I say this because even if you are not totally in the right (him) if you are there at the popo to make a compliaint, then you are the one trying to ecxplain yourself. It is ALLWAYS best to be the one who lets the police know there is a potential problem or a complaint may be wadged because in the eyes of the police, the first person to call is allways seen as the most reliable.

I had a similar instance happen where a few guys came up and even went so far as to try to diusarm us untill we let them know it was within our right to not let tme do so even if it meant bodily harm. Turns out when we went to the police right afterwords they (the police) even told us that if they had received the complaint from the other party involved thatwe would most likely be arrested, but under the circumstances we were within our rights. It also turned out the guys who tried to disarm us had stolen a bunch of shooters guns.....using the same lame excuse your person did basically.
 
Sniper X said:
I had a similar instance happen where a few guys came up and even went so far as to try to diusarm us ...
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Whoa! :eek: By force? That could get ugly.

No one but a LEO is going to disarm me, even if I am mistakenly somewhere I shouldn't have been. A somewhat moot point, since my new adopted home town just doesn't have a lot of open land close enough, and I shoot only at formal ranges now.
 
I can't see any weapons but tell him when he is about 25' away "that's close enough".
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To me this got things off on a bad note. Your the one armed. He's kind of like a neighbor that you need to work with. If he really decides to come after you, there's probably a lot of ways he could do it. When he identified himself as a hunter, you two are now brothers that need to find a way to work things out.;)
 
hope you don't get your dad in trouble...

property manager and property owner are two different things.

lock the gate behind you and when you leave and the problem will likely end.

You could be kind to Elmer and knock off during deer seasson.....

or, then agian...

you could set up a tree stand of your own.

Private property rights are under fire left and right these days.....

Just ask David Suiter
 
Whoa! By force? That could get ugly.


It almost did. When I told these guys they were not going to disarm us, they got mad and frustrated. And beleive me they looked like Bikers, and really were marching down the hill on our six at a pace with hard loks on thier faces. The one doing all the talking asked "What, are you going to shoot us?" To which I answered, let me put it this way, you are NOT going to take our personally legally owned firearms. He backed off.....As I said, it turns out there were a few complaints that people answering their description had confiscated (read stollen) by the same MO others guns and the rightfull owners had never seen them again. Their excuse was that they were a construction crew working about a mile away and had to "duck" to keep from being shot by our richochets. This was BS because we were shooting in an Arroyo that was about 100ft deep!
 
You were a whole lot more polite than I would have been.

Two operative words. "Permission," and the word "confrontation."

The man's complaint should have been directed at the owner of the property. He's not a sworn officer.

Second word is the word "confront." I am not a mind-reader. Since I knew I had permission and I have no idea whatsoever of what's in his pocket or his demeanor under stress, I would have shifted into condition orange. As as preempt to trouble, I would have demanded ID from him or told him to leave--immediately.

It's nice you gave the idiot a chance and a lot of slack. However, in a very real sense, if the guy had enough cajones to drive all of the way up there he had a real head of steam. You might have been in danger and not even realized it.
 
Seems to me that police are unlikely to drive onto privately owned land to confront people there unless they are violating a law or the owner or property manager complains that they are trespassing.

I'd be especially surprised if the police went onto that land based on a third party's complaint that the people there are scaring deer on his property.

As for the need to have written permission to show the police should they do either of those things, who carries the deed to their own land when they're on it? How would the police know whether he has or hasn't permission to be on that land unless the owner or property manager complain?

I assume that your father wouldn't have given you permission--and a key--to shoot on the land if he wasn't authorized to do so. But you know him better than anyone else here. Don't call the property owner. Tell your father what happened and let him decide what to do. Your duty is to him; it's his duty as property manager is to the owner. You don't have a relationship with the property owner.
 
Wow I have 1 1/4 acre - maybe I can hunt on it if he does it with 2 acres! There's something wrong with that story.
 
lock the gate as you enter !

if someone is in the gate with the car go lock the gate so they cant get out ! call the police

and not said one other thing walked down to his car and got his lic plate gotten on the phone call the cops
 
We shoot in the same area we hunt...never stopped the big bucks from coming before. Maybe he just sucks at hunting.
Also, lock the gate behind you from now on.
 
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