Shooting over my property

RedDragonJack

Hi, I moved to Abbeyleix in Laois with my parents a year ago and we have been having problems with some of our neigbours who shoot shotguns very clost to our property and over it.

One neighbour in particular at the front of our house shoots in his back garden and has hit our telephone line on one occasions causing problems with our phone and internet connection. We didn't know this until we called out an eircom technician and when he went up the pole he saw the bullet holes in the wire and cartridges near told us about it.

I think there is more than one of them though 'cause they seem to meet up in a feild facing the back of our house and shoot out their quite regularly. Apart from the regular loud bangs coming from there, on a couple of occasions their pellets, or whatevers in their cartridges, have fallen on our cars, shed and yard. You can hear the bang and a short while later the sound of the pellets raining down on the roof of the shed. I've even been in the shed when this has happened.

Anyway, my parents are concerned but don't say anything to any of them for fear of upsetting our relationship with them or something because we are new here.

It doesn't bother me that much as i'm 23 and moving out of the house soon. But what annoys me is my parents just letting them get away with this and these people thinking they can do what the hell they want cause they've been living here all there lifes.

Thanks for reading, I'd appreciate any advice anyone can give about what to do.

4gun

why not be civil and call over to them and just ask them just to mind what direction they shoot at, shooters are not supposed to shoot in the direction of houses or roadways, explain your case,
although i once gave a shooter a boll**ing for shooting over my house from a neighbours field on the opposite side of the road ....heard a bang!bang! shot rained down an my car.... i was certain i was hit even went down holding my chest:D 'twas more out of embarrasment rof my own actions than what the shooter did:D
ask them nicely you'll probably get a positive responce

deerhunter1

4gun wrote: »

why not be civil and call over to them and just ask them just to mind what direction they shoot at, shooters are not supposed to shoot in the direction of houses or roadways, explain your case,
although i once gave a shooter a boll**ing for shooting over my house from a neighbours field on the opposite side of the road ....heard a bang!bang! shot rained down an my car.... i was certain i was hit even went down holding my chest:D 'twas more out of embarrasment rof my own actions than what the shooter did:D
ask them nicely you'll probably get a positive responce

and if that does not work notify the local gardai a licence is granted on the conditions that you are not a threat or a concern to the public, or public safety, send them a note through your solicitor but get it on record. Do not let this go because when you move it is unfair that your parents have to deal with it, do it for them so that they can live peacefully. Good luck let us know how you got on

Sparks

I'm a little surprised shooters would be that uncivil - a word with them is definitely in order.

The phone line problem is a bit more worrying - spent and falling shotgun pellets shouldn't have enough kinetic energy to damage phone lines like that.

kowloon

Maybe they were shooting directly at something like a Woodpigeon perched on the line itself.

chem

Yep, a quite civil word with one of them face to face , should to it. Best of luck. But going to the gardai or solicitor should only be used if the problem keeps up after the chat with one of them. It might not be intended to rain pellets down on your property.

Just my two cents worth.

jwshooter

you presume they shot your phone lines as you did not see them ,presumptions are the mother of all **** ups.

also was it bullet holes or pellets.

falling shot could still have enough energy to burst a balloon, there fore blind some one .

get one of your parents to have a word with them.

Sparks

A falling pellet won't go through the insulation on a phone wire jw.

CCCP^

Call over to their house and see what happens. I'll be watching the headlines. Good luck!

RedDragonJack

To be honest I can't see myself confronting them 'cause i'm a shy person and hardly know them. I'll pass the advice onto my parents though, thanks guys.

Oh, about the telephone wire. I'm pretty sure it was them that shot it 'cause the tech that put up the poles and wire in our lane a month before was the same one that came out to repair it, and he told us it had been shot at with a shotgun, those were the exact words he used. We share a private lane with the neighbour i suspect of shooting it so who else could've shot it?

civdef

This in the town itself or a bit more rural?

jwshooter

Sparks wrote: »

A falling pellet won't go through the insulation on a phone wire jw.

i never said falling pellets will penetrate any thing other than a balloon or a eye ball.

the OP did not state whether the phone line was damaged on the gable of the house or along the road .that's why i made no reference to it .

<snip>

EPointer=Birdss

Maybe the tech did it for a call out charge!:D

In all fairness though thats out of order in anyones books!
Quite word first & if it persists time for the cameras to gather evidence!
To JWs point what if there shooting & you happen to look up? There goes an eye! Be very unlucky but why should you have to even think about such a thing! Landing on your car & roof!:mad:

My concern is that if someone is stupid enough to shoot a line & so close to houses that they may not have they grey matter to see the logic in your arguement! Explore the peaceful route 1st though...

Sparks

jwshooter wrote: »

i never said falling pellets will penetrate any thing other than a balloon or a eye ball.

Correct, but the OP said the technician reported holes in the wire itself:

he saw the bullet holes in the wire

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

Correct, but the OP said the technician reported holes in the wire itself:

You're arguing at cross purposes. JW was just saying that the OP didn't know it was the neighbours that shot the wire, not whether falling shot was capable of damaging telephone wire.

I also suggest talking. There's nothing to get backs up quicker than going to the authorities first.

There's always the possibility that they are doing this on purpose for whatever warped reason, so make sure you have a few photos or other evidence to take to the Gardai should the situation not resolve itself.

I find it hard to believe that people could be either that inaccurate or that stupid (although I'm continually proved otherwise ).

Cass

Sparks wrote: »

The phone line problem is a bit more worrying - spent and falling shotgun pellets shouldn't have enough kinetic energy to damage phone lines like that.

Anyone consider they may have shot them out of badness. Used to shoot (years ago) with a few friends who brought friends at times. The friends of the friends (confused yet) thought it funny to shoot isolated street lamps and anything else for that matter. Needless to say i stopped shooting with them and informed the other lads that the doughnuts were not welcome back on club land. (Game club)

The club has too good a relationship with land owners to shoot from roads, at signs, lamps, telegraph poles, etc. I know if someone had approached me with a complaint, right or wrong, a meeting of members would be called and warnings about behaviour and safety issued.

jwshooter

Sparks wrote: »

Correct, but the OP said the technician reported holes in the wire itself:

he never said the holes on the wire were on his property, turns out they were not.

jwshooter

rrpc wrote: »

You're arguing at cross purposes. JW was just saying that the OP didn't know it was the neighbours that shot the wire, not whether falling shot was capable of damaging telephone wire.

I also suggest talking. There's nothing to get backs up quicker than going to the authorities first.

There's always the possibility that they are doing this on purpose for whatever warped reason, so make sure you have a few photos or other evidence to take to the Gardai should the situation not resolve itself.

I find it hard to believe that people could be either that inaccurate or that stupid (although I'm continually proved otherwise ).

im not arguing at all .its best to stick to the facts.

shannonpowerlab

Well, either way it is disturbing and dissapointing to see how lack of consideration by a few can ruin our hobby quite easily.

rrpc

jwshooter wrote: »

im not arguing at all .its best to stick to the facts.

Now you're arguing with me when I never said you were arguing

Sparks was arguing at cross purposes, you were making a statement.

Now we're all agreed I'm sure.

jwshooter

rrpc wrote: »

Now you're arguing with me when I never said you were arguing

Sparks was arguing at cross purposes, you were making a statement.

Now we're all agreed I'm sure.

yes agreed ,that sparks was arguing for the sake of it

johngalway

Crows, magpies, or pigeons on the line I'm sure that's what put the pellets in the line.

Worst thing to go doing is writing solicitors letters or alerting the cops. Why? Because your parents have to live there.

A much better idea is the casual approach, ask about their shooting, are ye getting much, what do ye like to shoot, get talking. Ask if it's them shooting near ye, not in a way that is accusing them of anything, just out of interest.

I would carefully and very tactfully bring up how the technician had said shotgun pellets were taking out ye're phone line.

The hint might be enough, as a start.

But don't go the heavy hand on them, worst idea ever.

4gun

Then again if the chap is ignorant enough to shoot directly at phone lines then he'll most likely get all thick and defensive and deny the whole thing when asked to pe a bit more careful where he aims his shotgun and won't like being "told what to do by a blow in"

johngalway

Maybe...

But, I'd rather than myself than him opening a letter from a solicitor or opening the front door to a couple of cops.

Which grudge will last longer with worse consequences, a friendly word, or red tape officialdom?

Got to remember that neither the solicitor, nor the Gardai have to live next door to these people.

rrpc

jwshooter wrote: »

yes agreed ,that sparks was arguing for the sake of it

To be fair to Sparks, he doesn't argue for the sake of it, he argues because he thinks he's right.

jwshooter wrote:

he never said the holes on the wire were on his property, turns out they were not.

He never said that they weren't either. He said the technician was the same one who put up the poles in the lane, not that the damaged wires were in the lane.

Poles aren't in the middle of lanes anyway. I have about ten poles of varying sorts around my property (along the road, but that part of the road is my property).

jwshooter

rrpc wrote: »

To be fair to Sparks, he doesn't argue for the sake of it, he argues because he thinks he's right.


He never said that they weren't either. He said the technician was the same one who put up the poles in the lane, not that the damaged wires were in the lane.

Poles aren't in the middle of lanes anyway. I have about ten poles of varying sorts around my property (along the road, but that part of the road is my property).

thats why i said presumptions are ........

also the guy that digs the holes and puts up the poles is not a technician.

rrpc

jwshooter wrote: »

thats why i said presumptions are ........

also the guy that digs the holes and puts up the poles is not a technician.

Isn't everyone a technician or an engineer these days?

I think the last guy I saw putting up a pole near me, was a Pole

Sparks

jwshooter wrote: »

also the guy that digs the holes and puts up the poles is not a technician.

Someone should tell my father so, he did that job for twenty years for the P&T and then Telecom Eireann and was always called a technician (until he became an engineer anyway).

rrpc wrote: »

Isn't everyone a technician or an engineer these days?

No, they just call themselves that because the word 'engineer' isn't as legally protected here as it is in, say, Canada (here they legally protect the titles 'Chartered Engineer' and 'European Engineer' instead).

pullandbang

Jeeeeez! Talk about a thread going off in a tangent!

To the OP, I think johngalway gave the best advice - a little bit of civility on the initial approach and you'll probably find it'll sort itself out. The shooters mightn't realise the harm they are doing and the vast majority of shooters are decent folk who will desist once they are made aware.

johngalway wrote: »

Crows, magpies, or pigeons on the line I'm sure that's what put the pellets in the line.

Worst thing to go doing is writing solicitors letters or alerting the cops. Why? Because your parents have to live there.

A much better idea is the casual approach, ask about their shooting, are ye getting much, what do ye like to shoot, get talking. Ask if it's them shooting near ye, not in a way that is accusing them of anything, just out of interest.

I would carefully and very tactfully bring up how the technician had said shotgun pellets were taking out ye're phone line.

The hint might be enough, as a start.

But don't go the heavy hand on them, worst idea ever.