Farmer fired shots over my head, what if anything can I do?

[unexpectedplaces]

Can I ask if anyone knows if this is illegal or not in relation to a right of way across a farmers' land?

To explain what happened and give context. I was walking my dog through a field full of sheep and lambs, dog was at my heel the whole time (no issue whatsoever with the livestock) and we were then away from the sheep and heading for a kissing gate which is where the right of way footpath leads. It crosses a small field and ends up in a village, you can also veer to the left of the kissing gate and continue through the same field ending up at the same point near the village.

I elected to take the left hand path which is about 2 feet away from the official path but divided by a hedge because the small field with the footpath was full of sheep and lambs resting by the gate - I didn't want to disturb them.

I was walking into the sunlight so couldn't see properly but could just about make out a figure a short distance away, a shot was fired into the air followed by 3 more as I walked the length of the hedge. I was really quite worried and hurried through the gate at the end whereupon the shots stopped.

I believe that the gun was either a rifle or a shotgun as the report was pretty loud.

I appreciate that I was off the official footpath strictly speaking but was doing so for purely altruistic reasons (of course he didn't know that).

Should I take this further or was the farmer within his rights? I wish he had just approached me and I could have explained what I was doing and why. The whole incident was pretty unnerving if I'm honest.

Have spoken to a couple of locals who say that the farmer is well known for getting irate about people walking off the right of way.

Any advice please gratefully received

Not a lot Calleigh ! At least I didn't run off and not come back, that seems to be the worse a poster can do that or drip feed.

I just thought on page one omg the farmer was incredibly unreasonable and cannot work out how on page ten you were wrong to complain about a gun being shot lol. I realy must rtft later!

It seems to be the ones that involve sheep, dogs, farmers and guns go most astray.

Maybe everyone thinks you're the sheep chasing stick waving kids poster .

Oh god I hope not tomato I was trying to remember what happened to her or if she's still in therapy !

Yes 'graceful' wasn't really the word that sprung to mind at the time!

QuintShhhh - you will, you know, let us all know if you apply for a gun licence, won't you?

I will shoot daily warning shots over West London, and apply to do the dear cull in Richmond Park....

Thank you for your insightful input Collaborate.

I didn't think it particularly insightful. Just pretty darn obvious. Needed saying though, as reading many of the posts it seems to have been adopted by some that the person 1. Had a gun, & 2.Fired it in your direction. I'm not surprised at this. The title of your thread makes that claim loud and clear. Your subsequent posts very honestly back track from that but that seems to have been missed by some.

Forgive me for laughing, OP. This thread can't have been a bundle of joy for you. But it was very entertaining for us

I was being sarcastic Collaborate. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't the tinkly sound of fairy water at Glastonbury that I heard.

Devora glad the thread has been entertaining ! Exasperating is probably the word I would have chosen, some people really will only see what they want to see.

I was walking into the sunlight so couldn't see properly but could just about make out a figure a short distance away, a shot was fired into the air followed by 3 more as I walked the length of the hedge.

I'm really interested why you think he was shooting at you & not just shooting - could you even see which way he was facing?

Hearing shots, near or far, is a part of walking through the fields round here....

Deep breath.

As I went to avoid the resting sheep I moved off the right of way and onto his 'private' land, the shots all 4 of them, lasted the exact amount of time that I walked on the 'private' land, the minute I rejoined the marked footpath they stopped.

I have said a number of times that he could have been shooting at rats or rabbits I don't know but it is a bit of a coincidence esp given what I subsequently discovered re his views on rights of way. Apparently he thinks that it devalues his land to have people walking through it. Fair enough but I still don't think that warrants his actions if that's what they were.

Why doesn't he just stick a sign on the gate saying 'under no circumstances deviate from the path' or I will- shoot yer fecking hat off

Cut and paste as applicable

That's why there are 2 different opinions on this thread. Those that think YABU to assume that he was shooting in your direction, and those that don't. Were he to have been shooting in your direction he'd be committing a crime and I would expect that he'd risk losing his gun license. You'd have had every right to be upset at his actions.

But because of the assumption you made, and which you reported as fact in your thread title. I fall into the first camp. You reply with sarcasm.

I can imagine your discussion with the police.

"I'd like to report a shooting"

"Who was shooting?"

"A farmer"

"Where did he shoot?"

"Over my head"

"What did the gun look like?"

"Don't know. I didn't see a gun. I heard it though".

"Where was the farmer at the time?"

"Some distance from me. Standing in a field. If he had a gun I couldn't say what direction it was pointed"

No offence disclosed.

I'm ok with that though Collaborate I don't want anything by reporting it. All I would like is that if there is history there or something else happens in the future then I have done my bit by bringing it to the attention of the police who could take action if necessary.

Funnily enough when I rang I didn't say that I wanted to report a shooting, I just asked for their advice. Not heard back yet as obviously it's not a matter of life or death!

Was he shooting at you though - I cannot see any evidence that he was. You said he fired into the air. He is probably allowed to shoot on his land.

Why would you not have dog on a lead in a field full of livestock? Why would you walk on someone else's land?

Police might tell him to be a bit more careful - or they may caution him - depends what the circumstances are. But If I were you I'd keep to the right of way and keep the dog on a lead at all times. Not nice to be frightened though.

Sorry - just realised I am a very slow typist.

Ignore my post

Orange were you replying in response to page 1! .

I've done that before and realised that things had moved on a bit over the subsequent 12 pages

Incidentally, how on earth do you get your dog to walk to heel so well? My 6mth old lab is quite good at walking to heel, but I cease to be the focus of her attention in the vicinity of other dogs, so would stand no chance with sheep I fear.
Reminds me of the film Up, where the highly trained villain's dogs revert to type whenever they see a squirrel.

Ah well when he was a baby he would have been the same. I kept him on a very long 10 metre lead and every time he hared off after something I would just stand on the lead to pull him up short and command him to wait and come back. It really did work after a few go's and I would bring him back and reward him.

It helps a lot though that I live in such a rural area so he was exposed to horses, cattle, sheep etc right from an early age. He honestly doesn't even look at them when we go through a field. I watch him like a hawk though and call him to heel the whole time as never complacent. He's 3 years old now though so a bit calmer and was always a very obedient dog from the start.

If I wouldn't totally out me I would post some pictures of him lying by my side whilst I took photos of the lambs recently.

Squirrels are of course another matter entirely !

Sorry if this has already been asked, but did you actually see the shotgun?

Any chance there could have been some gas-fired crow scarers around? Farmers round here use them a lot, and they do sound as though someone is firing at you. It can feel as though you're on a battlefield and we had to ask a local farmer to move one of them (actually controlled by a kind of 'timed' lighted fuse, not gas) away from a footpath because it was terrifying to walk past it and not know whether or not you were going to have what sounded like a canon go off in your face.

I saw the chap and then the 'shot'. It's very livestock orientated around there though, no crops to scare the darn crows from really. Also crow scarers tend to go off once usually every I don't know say 5/10 minutes. This was 4 bangs in fairly quick succession.

Who knows though, I'm beginning to think that I just imagined the whole thing a bit like Bobby in Dallas !

I used to have a farmer neighbour like this OP. I know the type. Very poor social skills, finds other people irritating and has a God complex. Never had to go out into the real world to find a job but inherited the badly run farm from his parents. He used to stand outside my bedroom window at weekends "shooting rabbits". Nowhere else on his land, never did it during the week when he thought I'd be at work. He threatened to shoot a workman who was working on my house, in the presence of witnesses. They both went to the police. Police refused to act.

It happened at a time when there were a few instances of men going mad on shooting rampages, killing innocent people, and I could just see him as being the type. No way should he have been allowed to retain his firearms license. Fortunately, the dementia got to him first.

But yes, I do know the type.

TheChandler that sounds awful . Dementia and shot-guns aren't great companions either.

AnUtterIdiot yes I've decided to always keep on a long lead from now on to avoid any future possible dispute and as you say no point in who's right or wrong if one's beloved pet has been shot dead.