We have a special law inforecment unit, for such goings on, not sure if you do? ASSUME you do and they have been notified?
Thats going to be a hard NUT to crack.

i am so sorry to hear that. i hope your animals are all ok. if it is a high powered rifle i would be especially scared. what if they were aming for an animal and got the owner instead. do you know how far those guns shoot?

as far as a special unit to handle things like that, if your lucky. i work for a sheriff's dept and we don't have anything special to handle stuff like this, just beat cops.

best of luck and stay safe.

amanda

No around here you can never get police when you need them.You have to wait for state police ,the next town is pretty large they only have 1 police.dont make sense.They say out county is growing fast.
Yes I know how far the rifles shoot we have a neighbor about a 1/2 mile up the road that was taeget practicing.Towards our home.One afternoon we almost got shot twice.Husband went up caught them shooting told him bullets are hitting our home,we almost got shot.He didnt realize the bullets were getting away.did it stop him ..no I was home one afternoon one hit our standing seam roof.I called police,he said that guys a 1/2 mile up the road those bullets couldnt reach your house.
Just 2 weeks after a woman was shot at a family reunion sitting in a chair thjat was a mile away .I told the cop you mark my word anybody gets shot down here after we warned him and told police someone will pay dearly.I had bullet holes in roof,in my new screens in my screened in patio.You could see where it entered and left.

Boy, doesn't that make you want to bring all your animals as close to home as you can. I think people doing that kind of stuff ought to be put away and the key tossed into a lake. It is just a hop, skip, and a jump to hurting people from there.

If your local police and state police are not responding, go over their heads and call your attorney general. Sometimes a call to the local media helps. I guess we are very fortunate to get decent law enforcement. Earlier this year, there was a bit on a local news station about a local farmer having several of his cows killed. One cow had her teets removed. Is that sick or what?

I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, that's terrible. We've had a firebug at work here and a man had to be taken to the hospital when he collapsed fighting a fire. Even when crimes are directed at property rather than people, people still get hurt.

Our sheriff's department hasn't been out here once despite dozens of fires, descriptions of the vehicles, and armed vigilantes patrolling the roads or laying in wait in the woods. It's a recipe for disaster, but there's just not enough money for law enforcement in rural areas, particularly with the very serious meth problem that's grown up here over the years. Meth is destroying the peace in rural areas and it wouldn't surprise me if your shootings were drug-related.

DPallas - you make a very good point about the meth problems taking time from local law enforcement. They are on restricted budgets and have to "pick and choose". It affects a lot of things. My brother-in-law is a volunteer fireman. He said they were told that if a vacant house was on fire, that they are not to enter because many of these houses now contain meth labs and it is extremely dangerous.

What the hell is wrong with people!? I would be cracking heads with a bat if something like that was happening over here. The day after a couple moved in across the street, they had a party and I heard a few gunshots and laughter..I called the police right away. Nipped that right in the bud. I do not tolerate people playing with guns. They are for protection and hunting food (legally). NOTHING else. Want to target practice? Go to a damned shooting range. Idiots. I'm starting to think less and less of people everyday.

We have a neighbor that is just outside city limits, Our house is just inside city limits ( our farm is just outside) and he was going through this thing where he had people over his house every weekend and they shot skeet all day long!! Yeah, I know that usually skeet is shot with shot guns, but they were shooting down a sendera (sp?) Which leads directly to our farm where we keep our cow. Worried me. We called sherriff's office about the noise and they said that he is out of city limits they can't do anything. I say but the noise carries over and is noise pollution. Sounded like they were standing in our yard, it was soooo loud! The constibal talked to them and asked them to be more considerate so they stopped for around an hour but they said they were on their own property and had the right to shoot on their property. Well finally the guy was running for school board and a teacher friend brought his name up and said what a good guy he was. I said I am not that impressed because he shoots all day long every weekend and doesn't even consider all the folks in town who are going insane listening to the gunfire. I mean it was UNBELIEVABLE just how much ammo he had to be going through and how loud and monotenous it was. Well the teacher said, well I guess he can do what he wants on his own property. I said it is not about that. It is about consideration for other people who are bothered by it. When you have everyone mad and you are running for office, see how far it will go. I said he has a hundred acres, why can't he shoot in the back 40? I suggested that she have them over to her land to shoot and see if she wants to listen to it every day. She let it go with me. She or her husband must have said something because he has not shot again close to the house, but they have shot in the back forty and it is much more tolerable.

I MEAN, I AM THE LAST PERSON WHO WANTS SOMEONE TELLING ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN NOT DO ON MY OWN PROPERTY, I think those rights are practically sacred. But people have to have consideration. It is about being a good neighbor.

My husband was really ticked because our little 9.32 acres tends to get wild hogs and deer on it, but when someone is shooting all the time it scares them away. Our property is surrounded by large ranches and their land. My husband bow hunts. We can't afford expensive hunting leases, so it is all we have. Just about the only meat we eat is what he can kill hunting, because of personal choice and financial reasons. Part of the reason that he uses a bow is because it is quiet, doesn't disturb the animals or the neighbors.

something for everyone to remember. if you do not have adiquate police officers in your area it is probably not the police officers fault.it is a budget thing. we have one county police officer out for the whole county all night long. no state police after 10pm and maybe one town officer. it's a buget issue.the only thing that is going to change this for our community is to have someone get hurt or tons of people complaining about it.i know this because my husband is that police officer out all night by hiself.his nearest back up is asleep in bed. so when someone calls because their neighbors are skeet shooting and we have another call about some drunk beating up his wife, the other things have to wait. it's awful.our county officers also make so little money that most, including my husband have to work a part time job to make ends meet.

so complain, complain, complain (sp) but not to the officers. call the people who hold the purse strings and the news media.

amanda

We had a firebug last year He burnt many many old barns.I was so afraid hed get our old 1700 barn.He ruined tractors ,machinery,killed animals....It was a fireman.He would come back to help fight the fire.Hes in jail now.about 25 years old.

Hi
I feel so sad to read these terrible things. I come to the Farm Forum to read about what I think is a better place than the 'burbs where I am. We have issues like loud car alarms, overdevelopment, traffic, etc. Our little borough is going through some not so nice changes. I feel for all of you good folks out there and hearing about some maniacs (yes, that's what they are) with shooting and drugs just makes my blood run cold. I'll keep praying for you all.
Pat

PDallas, have you always lived in missouri? if so, do you remember a few years back when we had "cults" practicing "black magic", and killing cows/calves, taking their hearts, teats, and organs to use in their sessions. least thats what our sherrifs dept said. i dont think they ever caught anyone, but it pops up again every few years.
then, you have the spotlighters--claiming their aiming at deer, if they get caught shooting a cow( arent both illegal?)
then-you have our neighbors--shooting at 11 at night--tells game warden, and is believed! that he's target practicing!and the others that are selling and using drugs!!
we have to shut all our animals in the pasture by the house at night! Isnt that pitiful????

Lesli89 you're so right about private property rights and being a considerate neighbor. It's exactly this sort of dispute that leads to too many laws, ordinances, and restrictions on private property rights. As much as some people believe they can be as annoying as they want on their own land, they can't if they create a public nuisance by letting their activities spill over the fencelines. If the jerk isn't more considerate, someday he won't even be able to shoot on his back 40 anymore, and neither will you.

bulldinkie, people suspect a firefighter here, too. I saw the two vehicles involved in burning this place Monday night, and one had flashing lights and a siren. The patrols seem to have scared him off, which is too bad, because we really wanted to catch him and prosecute.

mulchwoman, rural crime is still preferable to suburban or urban crime, IMO. It's less frequent and at least we're allowed to defend ourselves without being sued or prosecuted for it.

ceresone, I grew up on the seashore north of Boston and later went to college, lived, and worked in the city itself. I moved to the Ozarks in 1990 at the age of 33; the culture shock still hasn't completely worn off. I lived in Salem, Mass. for a few years too, it's a hub of witchcraft activity, schooling, and shopping. Maiming animals was never a part of their rituals, and the 'new agers' were always about the most peaceful and harmless people I ever met. Coincidentally, my next-door neighbor goes to some sort of annual gathering for wiccans, and you couldn't ask for a better neighbor. He'd no more cut the teats off a cow than .... I don't know what. Heck, when his dog hurt one of my goats he was in tears.

I hear about cult activity harming animals a lot and I always suspect law enforcement and others are wrong about the source. The people doing it are just nuts. Within the past couple weeks someone found a dead cat in a refrigerator in their home, and nearby a pile of dead domestic animals was found. People started whispering about 'black magic', but there's not a shred of evidence to back it up. Drugs, alcohol, or sociopathy are simpler explanations.

Yes, we have spotlighters, roadside hunters, poachers, trespassers, and just-plain thieves who'll butcher a sheep, goat, or calf right where they shot it.

I had a guy I actually know come to the door, well before deer season opened, and claim he was quail hunting (with a 30.06?!) and he thinks he may have accidentally knicked a buck that then jumped my fence and ran into my pasture, could he go look for the poor little injured beast? He must think I'm deaf, I knew it must be right behind the house. His problem was that it was a trophy-sized buck too big to drag a half-mile. What an idiot - it never occured to him that if he shot a buck it might drop in its tracks? Since he's absolutely incorrigible, I let him load it up rather than risk the lives of my livestock, and he came back later with some nice venison steaks. I've told him a dozen times that if he wants to hunt, just tell me so I can lock up the stock- but he won't- he'd rather be sneaky.

Yup, I've seen that drug-induced midnight target practice too, accompanied by cases of beer and revving truck engines making 'donuts' in the road. The people I'm thinking of used to have contests to see who could chop down a tree with a gun the fastest. Thank goodness the guy was such a loser that he managed to burn down his own house, then moved away.

I do keep the livestock locked up under a high-intensity sodium vapor security light every night, and 24 hours a day during deer season. It's the only reasonable thing to do.

I think getting the media involved is a good idea. On our local news we have a guy called "Ken on your side." He investigates all sorts of things. That is sick behanvoir to say the least. Does sound likes drugs and/or teenagers acting up. Clearly shows a lack of respect.Maybe a hidden camera could capture the bad behavior or a license plate. Although this would be expensive and time consuming.
I would try and pen the animals close to home at night and entice them in with food. I am sorry about the losses in your area.

Somebody was shooting horses with a .22 in our area a few summers back. Killed some, wounded others. I stopped keeping my animals in the front pastures after reading about it. The cops eventually caught the sickos who were doing it (a couple of bored, angry young guys, if I'm remembering correctly).

Boy, they wouldn't be "bored, angry..." if I ever caught anyone doing this to our livestock. They'd be begging the authorities to lock their little useless backsides up by the time I got done with them, and that's BEFORE I turned them over to hot tempered DH and two very very large DS's!!!! GRRRRR - Ellen