Well, it would be one thing if he thought they were geese and he was shooting at them. Instead, the farmer states that he shot in the general direction - violating one of the prime rules of firing a gun that you know where your bullet is going to go.
where these guys trespassing on his property? I mean he was shooting into one of his fields... How would he know that there would be people there? especially if they were hidden in a duck decoy.