Lease incident

Back before Christmas my teenage son went to fill feeders and got his truck stuck in a field. He ran into a real marshy area unknowingly coupled with a learning lesson. Anyways, we left truck in the field overnight until next day so we could work in the daylight. Go next day and get it out with tractor, all good I assume. He drives back to gate and it’s overheating. Kill it and I pop the hood I notice the neck for the oil cap is broke off and the metal is sheared off as well. Go on to find holes in heater hoses to the firewall. It’s pouring coolant. I’m scratching my head as to how in the world this happens. Anyways, get it repaired and back on road. My son goes to wash the mud off the truck and he comes home and says I guess when all that happened it busted a hole in my fender and dented my hood. I go out to look and plain as day it’s a damn bullet hole. Somebody shot his truck that night it was in the field. You can track the bullet all the way through and where it ricocheted into the hood but didn’t go out. Now I’m pissed! It could not have been shot from the road, it had to be on the property or neighboring property due to the angle of the truck and the hole. Should I cut my losses and move on from this place? Call GW or other law? I don’t want my family to be around anyone like that who could actually shoot a vehicle.

I can understand the anger. I would be fighting mad. Probably easier to either move on or just forget it. Do you not know the other lessee’s?

Tell the landowner. See what he says. Sounds like pretty trashy folks there somewhere.

I would think it's trespassers/poachers before I thought it was fellow leasers. Talk to the land owner first. Notify sheriff's office second. Talk to fellow leasers and see if you can smell fish. The truck is not game, why call the game warden?

Some landowners take big time offense to ruts and stuck trucks.

Honestly that is the first thought that went through my head.

I concur.

But putting a bullet through a truck? Doesn't get much more low rent than that.

Call to landowner would be a good idea.

I guess you know the landowner and probably have a feel of whether he is good people or not. If he is a good man I would talk to him first, if not call the local Sheriff.
Do not let A holes like that get away with BS like that!!

Think I'd be 100% absolutely sure of it being a gunshot before mentioning to either law enforcement or landowner. Accusations of that nature are pretty significant.

'Not rocket science to figure out a bullet hole.

Strange story.....Why would you just let it go?

Landowner is golden. He helped get us out that day. I have not told him yet.

Wow, some your responses are interesting lol. If a few ruts merit a bullet to the engine block then I should have been dead a long time ago. The teenage driver learned a lesson, like we all have before.

What could come from it though? I doubt an investigation will be opened for this. But who knows?

The part that pisses me off is my son sat in the truck in the dark while waiting on me to arrive. That damn bullet could have killed him if he had been in it at the time.

Somebody committed a crime against you

You have to decide if you want to go through the process and prosecute. If not let it go. If so, lots of evidence has been moved around. I’m not sure what level of service you would get from an investigation.

^^Little to none, as there’s no evidence the truck was shot in that pasture other than the truck owners word.

Sucks for your boy jskin! Some poor hearted folks walk around with us! Likely a poacher or neighboring kid. Talk to the land owner though, you may find info with that conversation.

I would put money on the neighbors,

and no I wouldn't leave because of it but I'd be watching them extra close from now on. Tell the LO about this, and ask him to contact the neighbor (if they get along). May just be some stupid kids.

Call the sheriff dept and the game warden. The game warden most likley allready knows a likley suspect. Dont forget to have your son to fix those ruts either.

X 2

Were you with your son at your lease at the time he went to check feeders and got stuck? Does the damage appear to fall in line with a bullet that had traveled some distance from a neighboring property, or did it appear to look more like what you would expect from a shot made at close range? I'm no ballistic expert but all the damage you describe seems more like what you might expect from a shot made at close range. A single bullet (you mentioned just one bullet hole) that passed through the fender, rubber hoses (two sides each), taking off a piece of an aluminum valve cover (oil cap hole) and then through the firewall, correct? You stated it could not have been shot from a nearby road and a chance hit from a neighboring property seems less likely, especially when you consider the energy it would have lost to make the distance. You also mentioned the landowner is "golden" and not someone to do such a thing. IF you can determine the shot was likely made at close range, the list of potential suspects gets much smaller.

Was probably a 30-30….those kill anything…..

Could the bullet have been accidentally fired from inside the truck, through the firewall in reverse path as described?

I’d be real sure of the facts from my son before I started looking elsewhere.

Bullet did not go through the firewall. It went into the front passenger fender and into the engine.

And those that have questioned, it is a bullet hole. And I trust in my sons story. No need to question my sons integrity and honesty. Yes he got stuck, shame on him for that.

Why don't you use Google Earth or something similar and post a sat photo of where the truck was and where the property lines are? Sounds to me like a punk/idiot neighbor took a pot shot. I doubt it was a trespasser if the truck was only there overnight.

My only other thought, does the truck have a loud motor/exhaust, and was your son ragging it trying to get it out of the mud? If somebody lived nearby and got annoyed by the noise, that might make them mad enough to take a shot.

Since you said the landowner is a good guy then that is my first and probably only call at this time since there is probably not any evidence to be able to follow.
Letting the landowner know it happened is the way to go so that he can keep his eyes open and nose to the ground for any other BS that may be going on from neighbors because is sure sounds like that is the likely place this came from.

Damn, that really stinks and it is just too bad whoever did it will not have to pay for it and I mean both monetarily and in hand cuffs as well!

Red is truck, facing county road to left, about 3-400 yards to road
Blue is our property boundary
Yellow is path of bullet

Is it possible that you have the trajectory off by about 5 degrees, and it came from that turbine access road? Some oil file workers (not all, but some) can be some real douchebags. I would assume that the same would extend to turbine workers. Doesn't look like that far of a shot from there.

I agree. Purposely firing a shot into a vehicle seems far more like an act made for personal and/or sinister reasons than something done by a local idiot just wanting to act like a fool.

Place next door doesn't look to have that much cover but definitely has residents. I wonder if they tried to lease the place you are on at some point, or just got mad that you are hunting there. I would ask the landowner what he knows about your neighbors. Since the truck was there just a short time, that really points to someone that was typically in close proximity, such as the neighbor, and not a random trespasser or turbine worker. The only other possibility, that you ruled out, is that your son got frustrated enough by his predicament to shoot his own truck.

I would also engage the sheriff even though you've moved the truck. He might have information about this happening to other people or know something about the neighbor.


I'm sorry this happened to you. My first thought was 'How did the idiot know there wasn't anybody in the truck?" Could have been a couple of kids making out and a huge tragedy could have happened. Somebody needs their arse beat at a minimum, or some prosecution and restitution.

Depending on what you find out I might be looking for another lease.

+1

They can also decide it's time to make changes once they become aware of certain events. Because of potential liabilities, landowners are often far less tolerant of drama than the deer hunters who lease their property. This might even include getting out of the deer lease business in order to avoid the headaches that can go with it. We should never forget that not everyone has a fancy about deer and antlers. In fact, most folks don't.

Most land owners hate drama when it comes to dealing with hunters, and one reason a landowner would rather have a lease boss to deal with instead of a group.
If the landowner finds out, don't be shocked if he suddenly decides to get out of the deer lease business!
Someone could have been killed, and whoever did the shooting is still out there walking around!

I don't think anyone is trying to question your son's integrity, except from the standpoint of exhausting any and all options for the source of the issue. I assume none of us know him personally.

My wife is an assistant principal. What parents think they know and what the truth is are often quite different. Even the best kids are still kids.

Best of luck trying to sort through all of it - sounds like a crummy situation.

For those questioning the bullet direction, can you post a pic of the bullet hole in the truck fender? It will show if from inside the truck or from outside.

Thankfully your son was not hurt, that is most important.

Long story short, I'm getting off that place, especially if I've got my son hunting with me. No way I'm letting him out there anymore with idiots who are willing to shoot a truck not knowing if anyone might be in it or not and more to the point, do they care or not if anyone is in it? I ain't getting killed over a deer and I'm damn sure not letting any family member get killed either. Sorry about the situation you find yourself in and I know finding a deer lease isn't easy and going thru the hassle of moving certainly sucks.

pretty much

Do the neighbors on the property where the bullet came from hunt? Could it be possible that they were out hunting when your son got stuck, and all the commotion that came along with it ruined an evening in the woods for them? Not saying that would justify shooting your truck, but is a scenario that I wouldn't dismiss.

The bullet came from somewhere, and struck a valuable object on the property you lease. I think the landowner would want to know this occurred on their property no matter their response. If they respect you, and you respect them, then it's your duty to inform them regardless of the outcome. I would revisit the scene and map it all out best I could and get the local sheriff dept involved. When/if they start questioning neighbors about the incident, you never know who might go off on a rant and incriminate themselves. And, if a bullet traveled across a fence/property line, then a game warden might have some say in the matter as well. I wouldn't let this go if it were me or if it happened on my land. Likely not much will come of it all, but something might, and at least there would be a record of it on file in case any future issues arose.

I'll throw this out too, family had some guys up for a night hog hunt. Inexperienced night hunters using thermal.
They got turned around on a sounder and fired at them.
Hit the Sheriff's deputy's truck that rents a house edge of the pasture.
Didn't know it until the next morning when she went out to go to work.

^Most sensible response in this thread^. Only thing I can add to his post is keeping the landowner in the loop.
No way I would allow my son back out there which means I would relinquish the lease unless the shooter is apprehended. Even then I would need to know my kids are not going to be in danger before I considered staying.

Thank goodness your son was not harmed, and yes teenagers do dumb stuff.

You should let the land owner know. It is something he should made aware of. If he is a good man he would be trying to find out the source. It might be him getting shot at next time.

Pretty good sign you are not welcomed there.

jskin, what did you end up doing?

I’ll bet the neighbors are hog hunters or recreational shooters who often let their bullets cross out of their property. That has gotten out of control everywhere.

While I'd be just as pissed about it, I don't see any significant value in calling law enforcement. Unless someone confesses to doing it, prosecuting that case would be (99.9999%) impossible. I'd probably talk with the landowner and/or the neighbors and see where that goes, but I'd otherwise just move on.

Yup, I would talk to land owner and ask him if he's aware of any incident like this in the past. Ask him about the neighbors and learn about their behaviors.

i agree with this...game wardens and deputies that work that area likely already have a suspect(s) and if they are good at what they do then they will likely get a confession in the form of "it was an accident" in hopes of downplaying the incident.

In the 1980s my Jeep was shot while I was driving down a farm road north of Dallas. I was coming home from a dove hunt and it was dark. The area I was passing through was in the middle of nowhere around fields and without any visible houses. Thought I hit something and pulled over. Heard a tire hissing, so hauled *** to a gas station to plug the tire. We pulled out a bullet. I did a police report and the final response I got back was that it was probably a stray bullet and it happens. They told me no other vehicles were shot at that night. I too suspected it was just bad luck with a stray bullet. I know it's a long shot (pun intended), but unsafe shooters and stray bullets do happen.