The problem of illegal deer hunters on a property near Yackandandah had already gone too far when they shot at the front gate and rammed it with a car.
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Jan Palmer and partner Jenny Bleakley have become increasingly frustrated by hunters who show no respect for their private land.
The illegal shooting had been going on for months, but it was a difficult task for police to catch offenders in the act.
When one offender was finally arrested and taken to Wodonga court last week, the magistrate handed down a punishment of a six-month good behaviour bond, with the condition to donate $400 to the SES.
Ms Palmer labelled that an insult to both diligent police work and responsible community members.
“This activity indicates a total disregard for farmers’ private property rights,” she said.
“I feel that unless we, and others, stand up for our rights as property owners, illegal shooting will become silently accepted.”
The illegal shooter was caught on July 13 when the couple heard gunshots and called triple-0.
“From having a peaceful, safe, isolated lifestyle, at the top of the valley, my sanctuary has now been violated,” Ms Bleakley said in her victim impact statement.
“In the back of my mind throughout this episode, there has been a fear for my own safety and that of my partner.”
It was three days after the offender’s arrest that the gate at the property was rammed off its hinges and a shot fired.
Ms Palmer said she was not against hunting and had a firearms licence herself, but wanted people to understand the threat to property owners, stock and water systems.
“You can see them climbing over our hills for days on end,” she said.
“There’s beer cans everywhere so they’ve obviously been drinking at the same time.”
Carcasses had also been left in paddocks after hunters had taken the deer heads.
Ms Palmer said she and her partner felt like “sitting ducks”, but her warning against soft sentencing was also about the bigger picture.
“If these sentences keep being handed out, or non-sentences, then I think that police are going to start putting people off investigating because the effort isn’t worth the outcome,” Ms Palmer said.
“The penalty for illegal shooting was woefully inadequate and not an effective deterrent.
“I'm concerned that there will eventually be a shooting fatality if farmers become so frustrated that they take the law into their own hands.”
The couple has installed a security camera at the property.