to think you shouldn't walk around with a rifle near houses?

[suecy]

Our garden is next to a horse field. Yesterday evening DH was in the garden with the kids (7 and 6) when this bloke appears from round the corner and walks right next to our garden down the field. DH says hello, bloke grunts back, turns and walks into the middle of the field and DH notices the rifle he is carrying!

He's dressed in combat gear and crouches down in the middle of the field, loads his gun. DH gets the kids in the house, I lock all the doors and we call 999. Man seems to be very relaxed but slightly wierd, just aiming gun out towards the road.

We get the kids in the car and drive off to friends house in a right state thinking we've just avoided another Raoul Moat, Michael Ryan type scenario.

Ring police 45 mins later to see what's going on to discover the owner of the horse farm has sent a bloke out to shoot rabbits!

AIBU to think:

1. You shouldn't be using rifles to shoot rabbits if your field backs on to houses?
2. If you bloody well are going to you should have the decency to let people know in advance so they don't get freaked out?
3. Even if you don't do that, the bloody bloke, who could clearly see we had kids, should have explained what the f**k he was doing so no one got freaked out?

Or have I over reacted. I am seriously considering ringing farmer and giving him a piece of my mind. For f**ks sake!!

do you mean me or the Op , in my case it was withoput permission i did figure he was shooting rabits but think it was all the horses in field to that made me think not legit

and called on local number not 999 just to mention it as at the time had not met the said farmer with horses have now he came to thank me for reporting and to bring wine were now friends

I think you over reacted. It was undoubtedly a .22 rifle.

People use guns in the countryside. Often rabit shooting is done at night with a .22, telescopic sights and a torch strapped under the barrel.

We live in the country and at weekends we can't hear ourselves think for the noise of guns going off all the time.
Local lads go off into the field with their shotguns most weekends, they are supposed to keep them in a bag, but carrying the gun 'broken' is just as good.
I used to get worried but it's fine now.

We have 3 air rifles and shoot rabbits and rats. We live in the country, but in a row of 3 houses backing onto fields, the garden is large, 1/2 and acre. We do not tell anyone when we are shooting - although we did inform the "next doors" when we first got the air rifles.
We use the air rifles according to the law - and in Scotland, that includes the rule, you must not shoot towards a public road if you are within 50ft of it. If the man the OP was talking about had a rifle (rather than an air rifle), similar rules must apply (but with greater distance as a rifle is much more powerful).

YANBU if this man was shooting towards the road/houses at a distance which could have shot pellets or bullets into your garden or onto the road - he should have been close to the garden boundry and shooting INTO the field, away from the gardens and road, and YANBU to call the police - it sounds like the gun was not being used safely and according to the law. However YABu if you think you should get a knock on the door everytime someone intends to shoot vermin near your house.