Asked Neighbor to stop shooting.....now what?

Ok, my property is long and skinny,and touches the National Forest. I have 9 "Ga. lower income/ no income, neighbors on one side. I have fenced and cleared some of land and other sections are semi-wooded/brush on slopes. I early on realised they thought my property was a place to throw their trash,gray water etc. I have tried to nicely, but assertively asked people to stop. I try not to escalate or cause harm (don't call the cops for scrabbles like they seem too) . I am not a hang over the fence person, but occasionally talk to one or two that are nearest. Thank goodness the Meth dealers got caught next door when we first moved i, (renters).. ( odd thing is the neighbors on the other side of my property all have/professional job , I get to be buffer.) So I was out opening a pasture and shots rang out over my property iwas pretty sure near dusk. I know that a new neighbor moved someone/family? or renters on the last home he'd been trying to sell. I'd talked to him one day in a friendly fashion, and mentioned that we had horses and property and didn't want anyone shooting on our property, (which is posted on the fence) .
Anyway I started talking outloud like I was on my cell phone and yelled at my horses to get away. I was pretty sure it was them. I have heard shooting several times at dusk,. So I decided to go try to talk to them, giving them the benefit of the doubt. ( I realise these people may have issues and may not think rationally, but I wanted to talk first, not call the law. I went up and parked leaving truck running on the road and walked up, asking small child where mommy or daddy were. A young man or two came out , and I told them I knew that they shot, and were they shooting or was it someone else? I explained quietly that my propety ran along the whole road, and that I was out opening a pasture when shots were shot. I said I often worked out on my property late , and I had horses and there were neighbors houses and I didn't want anyone shooting onto my property, Well, it almost went ok, but there was a bit of confusion as to where my property was, and it soon came to ," I can shoot guns on my property any where I want. " He admitted to shooting on the easement" which I told him was my property. I had to do some diffusing work, then a woman comes out agitated (maybe drinking?) , saying" I heard about you!"( geez. ) She accused me of yelling at the kids at he bus stop. (long story short. Teens and a child were chucking concrete chunks at stop sign and phone terminal next to my house, I asked them to stop, told them those things cost like 125$ of taxpayer money." The girl told me to shut up old lady", said they could do what they wanted, they were bored, and began "F- ing " me. I actually chuckled as they flung 'fingers" at me, but I calmly suggested they do something constructive with their time. Like , get a job, start a business, read a book (got in trouble here, I did say "if you can" , I guess I was a bit irritated about the" F-ng". But was dumb of me ) The girl was the 'ring leader " and was just spoiling for a fight, real attitude, tried to escalate it. When she began to say things like "you better watch out, you don'[t know what my brother can do to you" , I pulled out my phone and called the law, they disappeared , by the time he came , I talked with him and he drove up the road looking for them, (they hid). ... Anyway this lady said her son wasn't doing anything wrong ... and acted like she was trying to "'dress me down". to get off her property, go read a book"??? Anyway I calmly said," They 're lying, I did not yell at them , I only asked them to stop vandlizing the signs. She started raising her voice saying, 'she could shoot anywhere she wanted to on her property". I said "you can't shoot within 500 feet of someones house" At this point I was trying to talk to 2-3 people with 2 subjects going on,It was no longer going reasonably.. She was clearly emotional and told me "I had to listen to her as I was on her property". I quietly said, "No, I don't, I'm leaving, I only came up her to ask you not to shoot over my property as they were houses, people and animals down there.. I walked to my truck and actually backed all the way down the road as, I'd have had to pull into their drive to turn around.
Got home, husband asked why there was another shot? i said, I didn't hear anything over the diesal , maybe it was at me or because "they could". He said I should have called the sheriff, waited for them and then gone up there, told him I wanted to try and just ask as a neighbor and give them a chance to cooperate.(he did know I was going up there). Decided not to call sheriff last night.
So now, I think I may need to go talk and file a report or complaint so there is a paper trail if it continues. Or if I get shot . There are several things that they were doing, that qualify as Reckless Conduct or Criminal negligence. For the record I have guns and a permit, but I don't shoot on my property as it is risky.Btw we found bullet hole in our hayring 2 years ago and think one of our horses who died was shot by arrow or gun, puncture wound ^" deep under his winter blanket. So I am not happy about anyone shooting on /over my property. I had another neighbor baiting deer or squirrels 3 years ago and another had a blind facing our woods. I talked to both families saying if they knew who was putting feed out to stop as no hunting or shooting was allowed on our property.(about the time I put the field fence up, replacing the old barb wire).

Best to file with the police.Maybe set up some cams.Sounds like you have some NFH,and it will likely get worse before better.I would not recommend talking to them.Best wishes.

i concur - file police report, put up game cam, and maybe get some bullet-proof vests! Clearly talking to them isn't going to work, unfortunately.

So, are these folks owners or renters? Because if they are renting, you can get the owner's name and address from the county assessor's office and write them a letter, sent certified, telling them about the situation. i can't imagine an owner wanting renters shooting guns willy nilly on their property.

Sounds like they have the mentality of a 2 year old. Talking will NOT work. Best to ignore them whenever possible.
But I can put a bet on it that they probably should not be in possession of firearms.
I wouldn't leave the house without my S & W. Good luck. Let us know what happens.

Went to sheriffs office and they sent me to the judge, he listened to me and handed me a warrant form, but I didn't know the name, just where they lived. He had me meet the deputy for our area, I showed him the page I wrote about the incident right after it happened. He went to get their name and talk with them, came back and said the guy had barrels set up to shoot into, but they had just moved there recently . He told the guy he may end up in court and the guy said ok, if he had too. He asked if I wanted to have them charged. I said I rather not, I meant them no harm, wasn't trying to take their right to shoot away, I just did not want them to shoot into my property. I mentioned the woman (girlfriend ) made things go downhill fast, so I left. Told the deputy , I knew I took a risk going to them, but was trying to go as a neighbor and just ask them first, not go calling the police. I mentioned I had a 4 foot field fence around the property and had told them , they were shooting into my property, it was possible the man thought it was ok as it was "into a hole in those trees", (it's just that that hole and trees are ours.) The deputy asked me who lived up the other road and how far the houses were. So he said he'd go talk to him again, it may not do any good, but he'd suggest they put up a backstop too. He took notes about the fence and neighbors and asked where my property lay and ended. So I assume he was going to clarify to the [people where my property was and not shoot there and mention neighbors. He said if another incident "don't go up there" again. I said "oh,No, I know better than that. I told him I didn't want to start a feud or anything and mentioned the incident with the kids , and the woman being hostile. but I wasn't going to roll over or stop working on my property out of fear.I just wanted to work my farm and live in peace and not be shot over.
I am going to set up my trail cam in the area for a while and I tend to carry my .38 if working out a long time (we actually have a prison 2 hills over and there was a escape twice 2 years ago.) Did I mention I told him about a horse we had that died from a puncture wound , most likely from a bullet or arrow the vet said,And 2 weeks ago my other sons neutered cat was shot, he lived, but it was right thru the chest.. Most of the people own their trailers , 2 of the 3 rentals were sold and the people in them aren't too bad. But is there a high percentage of lawbreakeing going on? Probably, but most likely as a result of ingnorance or desperation, they tend to use the police for neighbor squabbles.But it's not nearly as bad as the city ..still some fear of God N the Law in them . Most likely to do sneaky stuff....

You might be interested in our story since you are also in GA:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/685001/happy-4th-of-july-to-us-dodging-bullets-in-georgia/10

you are being too nice.

One thing officers complain is that people who call them out to deal with the problem steps down and not do a thing. They get annoyed. "Why are you calling me out and then decide you are not going to press charges or actually doing something about it?" They are not there to listen to your complaints. They want to solve problems!! Next time you call out the sheriff's dept. you need to follow through! This way neighbor knows you mean business. And the deputies feel like they are getting things solved instead of wild goose chase.

You can't be nice to some people. You are not nice to mean junkyard dogs are you? So why are you being so polite and nice to bunch of hooligans.

Follow through with the police report and be prepared to show up in court next time you call the police. Police will back you up.

Idiots with guns is never going to go nicely. They give the rest of us a bad name. I would not back down, and yes make a paper trail.

I had somewhat of the same thing happen down here in middle Georgia. A neighbor moved into a rental mobile home the next property from me. I heard him shooting in the late evening. One night the wife came in from walking our dog out in the field and asked me what a bullet sounded like. I explained the sound to her and she said she just had one go over her head. So I did what you did, I drive over to the trailer to talk to the boy. Or should I say punk. He and a girl were outside shooting into a pile of dirt about a foot high. I told him what happened and that that couldn't continue with that practice. We exchanged a few ideas and I just told him my wife was in our field every evening with our dog and that if she happened to get a bullet, or my dog I would not be a happy camper and he would pay the price. Then I went to our sheriff the next day. He told me I was the fourth complaint and they would have a talk with him again. And that if I heard a shot again to call and that would be his last one. I've heard no more shots.

So the law is certainly the correct way to go and then to the courts. The sad part with today's folks are most like that are dopers, and self is all they want to satisfy. I call it what we bred from the 60's.

Wow, that is some story. I don't know why you wouldn't let the law take care of it, you don't want any thing to escalate, but it sure sounds like it already has. Let's see, they killed your horse, your cat, and sent bullets flying while you were out there, and have already threatened and assaulted you personally. What more provocation do you need to file charges? Death of you or family member or friend? I'm thinking you're running out of options and the law can come up with numerous charges starting with unlawful discharge of a firearm - go for the felonies before something worse happens...they already said - you don't know what they can do that is a threat, assault. Plain and simple. It also sounds like you are too close - bullets can travel through walls you should know. You've managed to make me fear for your life...I don't know why you aren't. Please take care of it now.