Shotgun pellets landing in yard.

[jd6420s]

Hello. The field opposite my house was being combined yesterday and the local gamekeeper and his friends decided to shoot some pigeons whilst it was being done. The field is surrounded on 3 sides by housing and land they do not own. I was in the yard and got hit by one pellet on the head and the other shotgun pellets hit the car and the tractor. I was furious and went round to tell them to stop. They denied this could have happened because they were 200 yards away from the house and pellets can't travel that far. The wind was also blowing quite strongly towards my house as well. The farm manager was also unsympathetic and denied that pellets can travel that far.
I am still unhappy by their response and wonder what else I can do. Would the police get involved? The pellet didn't break any skin but it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience.

 

[Tomr10]

Can you collect them as evidence

 

[Goweresque]

Tell them to read this:

https://www.shootinguk.co.uk/answers/how-far-do-shotgun-pellets-travel-17600#targetText=Journee's formula is a good,(normally about 29°).

Or indeed this:

https://basc.org.uk/blog/press-releases/scotlandnews/how-far-does-gunshot-travel/

Neither can be considered anti-shooting bodies.

 

[David.]

Projectiles should not stray beyond the land over which you have permission to shoot. End of.
Shotgun pellets fired into the air are quite capable of carrying for 200m.
If you really, really want to escalate, and it would be quite a hostile response, have a quiet word with the local firearms enquiry officer.

 

[Cowcalf]

lead is quite valuable at the moment

 

[jd6420s]

I was most upset really with their attitude that I was making it up and that the pellets can't possibly travel 200 yards. I'm sure if I asked them to stand 200 yards away so I could fire a shotgun at them they wouldn't be too keen. To be shooting in that particular field with the housing and bridleway in close proximity is really quite arrogant and anti social. I was really hoping for an apology (even if they didn't mean it) and not shoot in that field again, or at least shoot in the direction of other land that they actually own and away from the housing.

 

[steveR]

Unacceptable attitude from the shooters and the farm manager in my opinion...

Quiet word with local firearms officer if repeated I would say...

 

[NEmesis]

Part and parcel of living in the countrysideI would say....the pellets did not do any damage or harm other than to your self importance/outrage.
Sorry one off event, get a life and keep out of any hard rain or hail stones.
Don’t waste police time, you had your rant.

 

[Netherfield]

Part and parcel of living in the countrysideI would say....the pellets did not do any damage or harm other than to your self importance/outrage.
Sorry one off event, get a life and keep out of any hard rain or hail stones.
Don’t waste police time, you had your rant.

Rain and Hail are produced by nature, shotgun pellets are not.

 

[Dry Rot]

I suppose a prill of fertiliser could do some damage if it caught you in the eye.

To be realistic, if you took it to court, you'd need to prove it happened and prove damage. But he would be laughed at and sent on his way long before then.

If farmers are to grow food, it needs to be protected from vermin. If you eat food, these small inconveniences are part of life.

So, the OP decides to trespass on land he does not own and have an aggressive face-to-face unprovoked altercation with his neighbour's employees. Is that really the responsible reaction? Best pay a solicitor and listen to advice that will probably amount to exactly the same thing.

 

[jd6420s]

The field in question was grassland and was converted to arable last year. Before this there was no shooting on it. It is right on the urban fringe. On one side is a town with a population of 4000 and to the rear is an A road with housing alongside it in a linear pattern To the front only 100 metres away is a bridleway used regularly by the people of this town and the other side of this is my land. My house is 200 metres away.
I don't think shooting in that field is a sensible thing to do and they don't seem to realise or accept that pellets can stray onto neighbouring properties or people just walking their dogs. People who shoot guns have to be responsible. To tell people to "get a life " isn't exactly the right way to go to promote shooting in a positive light.

 

[som farmer]

one would hope, whatever their answer, on reflection they would take the point made. Totally agree it shouldn't happen, also pleased it was you, rather than the town, one could imagine armed police swarming all over if it had been! In truth there is nothing else you can do, and I don't like to see different parts of the 'rural' communities at odds, we have to stand together.

 

[Pie face]

Part and parcel of living in the countrysideI would say....the pellets did not do any damage or harm other than to your self importance/outrage.
Sorry one off event, get a life and keep out of any hard rain or hail stones.
Don’t waste police time, you had your rant.

What a ridiculous statement - would it be OK for a baby to take a face full of "part of the countryside" pellets? It's attitudes like yours that are going to cost decent shooters their sport.

 

[Dry Rot]

What a ridiculous statement - would it be OK for a baby to take a face full of "part of the countryside" pellets? It's attitudes like yours that are going to cost decent shooters their sport.

Well, he's got a point. Would facing the shooters away from the houses, so their backs are to them, have helped? Or would there then be complaints about the noise? If people want to eat, crops need to be protected from vermin. Does the OP, who appears to be a farmer with a grudge, restrict fertiliser applications because of the dangers from prilled fertiliser giving a baby "a face full"? Which, incidentally, will be travelling horizontally and with much more force than a single pellet at extreme of range that will be falling vertically? Do we have a legitimate complaint when the OP's car goes through a puddle and makes a splash?

These are just questions, so don't shoot me (either horizontally or vertically), but the opening post does make me wonder. Why this particular complaint? And why specifically gamekeepers?

I actually had a similar incident when I was 18, so about 60 years ago. Again, it was the farming neighbour who was known to be a bit of a hot head and he was "defending" a female house holder. I made a point of going to see the woman and explained that lead shot falling vertically really was harmless and to demonstrate my point I threw a pinch of pellets up onto her corrugated iron garage roof. She got the point immediately and we parted as the best of friends.

 

[MRT]

Its amazing how far they will travel if fired up in a strong wind, I was working in the middle of the farm I grew up on, some lads were decoying pigeons right at the far end of the farm and shot was landing on the rooves of they yard regularly through the day. Therefore anyone who has ever fired a gun will have had shot land off the property, chances are, and it is harmless. Horizontally is a different matter.

 

[Pie face]

Well, he's got a point. Would facing the shooters away from the houses, so their backs are to them, have helped? Or would there then be complaints about the noise? If people want to eat, crops need to be protected from vermin. Does the OP, who appears to be a farmer with a grudge, restrict fertiliser applications because of the dangers from prilled fertiliser giving a baby "a face full"? Which, incidentally, will be travelling horizontally and with much more force than a single pellet at extreme of range that will be falling vertically? Do we have a legitimate complaint when the OP's car goes through a puddle and makes a splash?

These are just questions, so don't shoot me (either horizontally or vertically), but the opening post does make me wonder. Why this particular complaint? And why specifically gamekeepers?

I actually had a similar incident when I was 18, so about 60 years ago. Again, it was the farming neighbour who was known to be a bit of a hot head and he was "defending" a female house holder. I made a point of going to see the woman and explained that lead shot falling vertically really was harmless and to demonstrate my point I threw a pinch of pellets up onto her corrugated iron garage roof. She got the point immediately and we parted as the best of friends.

Comparing it to prilled fert is stupid, the fert starts off at 3 ft off the ground and in my case spreads 12m each side so unless your spreading in a hurricane that's it. I have one residential garden against my boundary and I treat it basically like a ditch so 6m off and yes I take account of wind. Would I shoot towards my neighbours house never, will he ever have shot landing on his property or family from me - never. The trouble with the op is that whilst the shooters may have been a gathering of local village idiots and may not have forseen the consequences of their actions, once it was made clear to them what had happend they should have apologised and said they would be more carefull next time - end of matter. As it is the I wouldn't blame the op if he went to the police at the very least it records it and it may make the idiots think and prevent them doing something more dangerous in the future in the meantime let's just hope they don't own centre fire rifles!

 

[jd6420s]

I don't have a grudge with this gamekeeper and wasn't looking for an excuse to have an argument with him. It was when I told him that the pellets had hit me and my property. He denied it and told me I was lying and that pellets cannot travel that far. It is that attitude which I take exception too. These pellets had gone over my front lawn and could easily have hit my children who were playing on it. The conversation would have been very different if that had happened. I like to think the message has got through and he thinks a bit more about other people in the future.

 

[Dry Rot]

Comparing it to prilled fert is stupid, the fert starts off at 3 ft off the ground and in my case spreads 12m each side so unless your spreading in a hurricane that's it. I have one residential garden against my boundary and I treat it basically like a ditch so 6m off and yes I take account of wind. Would I shoot towards my neighbours house never, will he ever have shot landing on his property or family from me - never. The trouble with the op is that whilst the shooters may have been a gathering of local village idiots and may not have forseen the consequences of their actions, once it was made clear to them what had happend they should have apologised and said they would be more carefull next time - end of matter. As it is the I wouldn't blame the op if he went to the police at the very least it records it and it may make the idiots think and prevent them doing something more dangerous in the future in the meantime let's just hope they don't own centre fire rifles!

Not sure I like being called stupid for asking a question, but that reflects on the poster who made the comment!

I remember an example of velocity and mass producing force from my school days showing how a soft object could be fired through a wooden board if it was going fast enough. A shotgun pellet descending solely due to the force of gravity is indeed no worse than a hail stone of the same weight falling from the same height and if you know different, kindly produce your maths, then we will see who the fool is.

 

[Pie face]

Not sure I like being called stupid for asking a question, but that reflects on the poster who made the comment!

I remember an example of velocity and mass producing force from my school days showing how a soft object could be fired through a wooden board if it was going fast enough. A shotgun pellet descending solely due to the force of gravity is indeed no worse than a hail stone of the same weight falling from the same height and if you know different, kindly produce your maths, then we will see who the fool is.

Let's just agree then that shotguns and fert spreaders can both be dangerous in the wrong hands.

 

[Dry Rot]

I don't have a grudge with this gamekeeper and wasn't looking for an excuse to have an argument with him. It was when I told him that the pellets had hit me and my property. He denied it and told me I was lying and that pellets cannot travel that far. It is that attitude which I take exception too. These pellets had gone over my front lawn and could easily have hit my children who were playing on it. The conversation would have been very different if that had happened. I like to think the message has got through and he thinks a bit more about other people in the future.

As my previous post, please show me the maths that proves a shot gun pellet falling vertically delivers a greater force than a hail stone of similar weight falling from a far greater height, bearing in mind that there will usually be a lot more hail stones than shot.

Pigeons are usually up in the air and I don't believe shotgun pellets can travel horizontally for 200 yards -- but I am ready to be proved wrong. What goes up will eventually begin to fall due to gravity, but that (and wind resistance) is the only force involved.

I would suggest that you did the wrong thing by seeking a confrontation. If there really was any danger, the correct procedure is to report it to the police who will have their own experts to work out the maths and decide what to do next. That course has the advantage that your complaint would also be anonymous.