Posted on 05/08/2005 8:13:31 PM PDT by satchmodog9
Ohio dairy farmer Frank Sutliff was grinding cattle feed when he saw them again: all-terrain vehicles shredding his alfalfa fields.
ADVERTISEMENT
When he shouted to the riders over the engine whine that they were trespassing, they smashed him over the head, he said.
"I went down, and they just started in on me hit me, kicked me, broke my leg," said Sutliff, 46. "I crawled into the truck, drove back to the house and dialed 911."
One man paid a $100 trespassing fine. Another spent five days in jail. All denied wrongdoing.
Across rural America, angry skirmishes are increasingly common between property owners and off-roaders squaring off over dwindling open space.
Long accustomed to battling environmentalists for access to public lands, off-roaders now find themselves at odds with farmers, ranchers and a flood of new residents moving to the country for peace and quiet.
As Bob Buster, a county supervisor in Riverside, Calif., put it, "You have these two clashing visions of the countryside."
Nationally, millions of acres have been developed in recent decades. At the same time, use of off-highway vehicles a catch-all term for four-wheelers, dirt bikes and dune buggies has exploded, up 700% to 36 million users since 1976. Off-road motorized sports are now a $4.8-billion industry. According to buyer surveys by manufacturers, 68% of owners of all-terrain vehicles, or ATVs, ride on private land.
(Excerpt) Read more at story.news.yahoo.com ...
They're getting there somehow. Somewhere out in the woods there is a beautiful, new 4x4 pick-up truck with leather seats, CD player, rhino liner and the cutest little alloy wheels you ever saw. The damn thing probably costs more than a fair-sized farm.
They mess your friend's property up. It would be a shame is somebody messed their property up...
22's are relatively quiet and smokeless. A good scope will put a round into a tire (@ 90 degree angle).
Two or three tires and you'll be free of 'em ...
or will have started a war.
I have news for these bozos...if the property is owned, it is not "open". Without permission, anyone destroying or damaging other people's property while tresspassing should be treated for the criminal they are. Most people in states like Idaho, Wyoming, etc. where I live understand this...but sometimes we get out of staters or recent move ins who do not and they have to be schooled.
These people in this story are lucky the farmer didn't go back to his truck and get a rifle and settle the thing. IMHO, he was well within his rights to do so.
"Next moron on my property gets a firearm dischrged in his general direction."
No. Razor wire at neck height. Much quieter.
LOL! Now that is just INSPIRED!
The Second Amendment...
America's Original Homeland Security!
"So...what should my FRIEND do?"
Has your friend heard of the "three S's"?
The severed head will sit there as a warning to others.
Check your local laws..
If you post your property properly you may be legally justified in using firepower against trespassers..
But you DO have to "post" your property.. (Fair Warning to Trespassers)
I believe you are able to specifically state in your warning that "trespassers will be shot" and be within your legal limits..
But, like I said, check your local laws first..
And maybe check with a lawyer..
Laws change, and it's been a few years..
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.