“Terrorists target civilians “
There were civilian tories targeted by mobs, but not the military.
Early IRA attacks were limited to the gov, but they failed miserably in allowing things to spill into the civilian realm, such as pub bombings. They also went after those who they considered to be informants. Note there were civilian militias on the loyalist side in Ireland too.
Other attacks were bombs at gov buildings, with notice called in, to clear civilians and hit the RUC who would show up to deal with it. The biggest screw up in that type of attack was the Omagh bombing in the late 90s.
Regardless, I only bring up the IRA as an example of separating “forces” as a mode of defense. I’m not saying the ranchers should use ALL IRA tactics.
This is using modern thinking to apply to the past where people did not think the same. Not worth doing.