I need some help. We are at wits end. We have a neighbor who has no respect for property boundaries or safety. My husband and I own 90 acres (purchased mainly because hubby likes to deer hunt) that is mostly wooded. We have several neighbors who hunt near the perimeter of our property, target shoot, etc. This is not an issue. However, we have one neighbor who refuses to practice safe habits and has forced us to call the sheriff and dnr for assistance. We knew there was the potential for this to escalate the situation with him since talking with him directly had a similar result. We attempted to have a conversation with him about building a backstop and making sure he was shooting safely. This is not an easy conversation when you are speaking with a man with a gun in one hand and a beer in the other while his toddler age grandchildren walk around in the back yard where he and other semi-drunk people are shooting into a fire ring surrounded by rocks. Since that chat, this neighbor has hung plywood targets in his trees at head/shoulder height...trees are about 8 inches wide and plywood holding the targets extend approximately a foot beyond that on both sides. These pieces of plywood are riddled with holes and at least one tree looks like the back has exploded out of it behind the target from so many bullets going through the whole tree. Beyond these targets to the west is an area that has some medium sized oak trees and many saplings, an overgrown meadow area and then a neighboring home on the other side of our property. This neighbor is also shooting to the north (toward our home) into another wooded area. In both directions, there are MANY trees with ricochet marks, holes and some holes with slugs embedded in them. The damaged trees extend fairly far into our property and the neighbor is well aware that these trees are on our property as the boundary is now clearly marked with a barbed wire fence after several disagreements over the property line. There is a legal survey and pins are all clearly marked and in place.
We had the sheriff's department out in late September after these targets appeared and were told there is no law requiring a backstop. They referred us to the DNR since there is tree damage and destruction of property is something they might be able to help us with. DNR officer came out and said he would talk to them about our concerns with safety and the damage to our trees and ask him to erect a backstop. Nothing has changed. Today, they had friends over and decided it was time to do some target shooting. The neighbor to their west was informed of their target set up yesterday while we helped him track a deer he shot that ran into our woods. When the target shooting began, he was out near his tree stand looking for a lost arrow, and called me in a panic. He was trapped behind a tree with bullets whizzing past him on both sides and didn't know what to do. I gave him the number to the sheriff's department. They were on another call and sent the DNR out. DNR talked to him and said they would talk to the neighbor again. They left and an hour or so later, the shooting resumed. My husband also was out in the woods when the shooting initially started and ran for the house after having a few bullets whiz past him. It should be noted that there was approximately 10 acres of property between him and where they were shooting.
We've been told that until someone gets hurt, there isn't much anyone can do. Is this true? Does it really take someone getting shot to get something done? Should I call the prosecutor and see about destruction of property or criminal recklessness charges or something of that nature? I have a call in to the DNR to get copies of the reports they have on file so far regarding the complaints and am interested to hear what they said to him today. When I tried to get that information today, the officer was not available to take my call.
This situation has gotten beyond ridiculous and is now interfering with everyone's ability to hunt safely or to even just be out enjoying their own property around him. I know firing back is not a good plan, but I'm just about ready!
We had the sheriff's department out in late September after these targets appeared and were told there is no law requiring a backstop. They referred us to the DNR since there is tree damage and destruction of property is something they might be able to help us with. DNR officer came out and said he would talk to them about our concerns with safety and the damage to our trees and ask him to erect a backstop. Nothing has changed. Today, they had friends over and decided it was time to do some target shooting. The neighbor to their west was informed of their target set up yesterday while we helped him track a deer he shot that ran into our woods. When the target shooting began, he was out near his tree stand looking for a lost arrow, and called me in a panic. He was trapped behind a tree with bullets whizzing past him on both sides and didn't know what to do. I gave him the number to the sheriff's department. They were on another call and sent the DNR out. DNR talked to him and said they would talk to the neighbor again. They left and an hour or so later, the shooting resumed. My husband also was out in the woods when the shooting initially started and ran for the house after having a few bullets whiz past him. It should be noted that there was approximately 10 acres of property between him and where they were shooting.
We've been told that until someone gets hurt, there isn't much anyone can do. Is this true? Does it really take someone getting shot to get something done? Should I call the prosecutor and see about destruction of property or criminal recklessness charges or something of that nature? I have a call in to the DNR to get copies of the reports they have on file so far regarding the complaints and am interested to hear what they said to him today. When I tried to get that information today, the officer was not available to take my call.
This situation has gotten beyond ridiculous and is now interfering with everyone's ability to hunt safely or to even just be out enjoying their own property around him. I know firing back is not a good plan, but I'm just about ready!