Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

My pops and I decided to head over to our place in Iowa to check out how our clover, corn, and soybeans are coming in. After checking a few plots, we crossed our creek and came around this little bend and up into our main cornfield. I was shocked to see a big bull standing in the middle of the field. I looked to my right, and about crapped when i saw another dozen or so cows and calves standing next to the creek bottom in the field. We hurried and got behind them so they couldn't run farther into our property. As I drove up towards the building we have with a phone, we saw our corn. About 10 acres of it completely destroyed by the cows. They had just absolutely thrashed it. We will not for sure get a crop. My dad and I both were just fuming, but he had the good sense to be kind on the phone to the people who had their cows in there. Some older lady that farms next to us owns the cows. We decided to go down to the cattle and kind of run them towards their home. I took the .22-250 i had in the back of the truck, put in 3 rounds, and headed down to the creek bottom where they were at. Another great sight there, they had everything torn up and pounded down. They were all standing in the creek, so i shot a round off into the ground. A few of the cows and calves took off, but a bull and some cows stayed. i shot another round, they didnt move. just mooed at me. Shot #3 went under the bull and into the creek. He just stood there. By then, i saw his massive cojones and decided that it probably wasn'ta great idea to stay there. Even a dirt clod to the head wouldn't make him move.

The cows have defintely been there for 2-3 weeks. they had been out and another neighbor told us, but they were supposed to have been retrieved and the fence fixed.The lady said her fence is good, and ours is bad, so a logging crew will be over making fence next week or week after. We fixed her fence last year when she purposely let her cows in because they had no food in her pasture. It's sickening that people like this can claim ignorance and let their cattle destroy other people's property. Hopefully, we'll get some reimbursement to buy some more stuff to put out for the deer. We were really relying on our corn to hold deer through the winter. That corn wasn't cheap either, it was ROUND UP ready corn.right about now, i'd really like to take a hand pump full of Atrazene and spray 10 acres of her corn or just mow it off like her cattle did to ours. It's been decided in our family that next time cattle get out, the rifle is going to come out and it's gonna be shoot and shut up.

slayer

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

You might also want to look into the stray livestock rules for Iowa , maybe you'd get some beef as compensation . I would have demanded reparations personally , at least replacement costs for the seed and fertilizer . I would also have a lawyer notify her that she needed to mend her fence , that way if it came to litigation you could prove that she was aware of the problem. Sometimes you just have to be the bad guy whether you like it or not .

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

If her fence was good the cows wouldn't have been out. Turn it into your insurance. They will make her insurance pay if she has any... which she should. We have had cows get into the boss's crops and that is what hedid.

You do not " have " to fence your property unless you have livestock. Her cows are her responsibility period!!! Not yours!!! Can you file property damages with your sheriff's department?? The more proof you get the better. Havinglegal documented complaints should help your cause now and in the future.

Try taking her to small claims court. Get pictures and witnessesto prove the damage.Unless she demandsshe wants a court by jury which I thinks she can, it is a cheap way ( no lawyers ) of suing her and not losing money in the process sinceyou will only get a fewthousand dollars out of it no matterwhat. You should have a good case.

I would not recommend shooting her cows or threating her in any way. That will not help your cause and do more harm then good. Do everything legal and you should still be able toshow her that she will pay for any damages now or the next time. I bet she or the other neighbors will try much harder in the future to make sure their cows stay in. Plus check them more often to make sure theystay in where they belong.

Tim

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Think I would have some beef in the freezer

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

think of all the steaks that 22-250 could got you.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

The only thing keeping us from doing anything yet is to see where the damage in the fence is at. Last year, when somebody let the cattle in, it was in her fence. See, the law states that when you face your neighbor, you have respsonsiblity for everythingn to your right, and they take everything to their right. Basically, with her, she has two 40's to keep up, and we have two 40's to keep the fence good on. I've walked ours before, and i know it probably isn't damaged. Her part is in terrible shape, and is mended everywhere. You touch the fence and it falls over. In Wisconsin, if the fence is bad, a town board can force the landowner to build a new one orthe town boardwill have a person do it and send the bill to the landowner. We're checking the laws in iowa to see if this works.If the hole is in our fence, I guess we'll have to take responsibility for it and it's our fault. If its her fault, and she won't give reimbursement(as she probably won't), I'm going to find some Atrazene and make it right.

I really don't understand why we should have to keep the cattle out of our land, as it should be the farmer keeping the cattle in his/her land. The people that own the cows are said to be very lazy,and if it can't be reached by ATV, they won't do it. You'd think with the price of cattle these days one would try to keep track of their cows?I'm really like the shoot and shut up method if it happens again. The cost of round up ready corn and round up isn't cheap either..

I tell you what, I about darn near messed up my drawers when i saw that it was a bull standing there. I had shot the 3 rounds i had in the gun when i saw his cojones hanging there...Needless to say, i didn't waste anytime getting back to the truck. Swatting him with a .22-250 would probably do little more than seriously aggravate him. Then again, he ain't a cape buffalo..just a dumb old cow..

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

That depends on where they live and what the law is there.

Your statement is not always true. Not even in Indiana, not even from one county to another, it is different.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

There's no if's about it, here. HER livestock caused damage any monetary loss to YOU.

You didn't mention taking any pictures or calling LE to verify the stock was indeed there and the loses were "real". These two facts are gonna keep rearing their ugly heads.

Also the "shoot & shut up" decision.......................................... ...........bad choice.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Don't know about your state but in ours they are trespassing and it is the owner of the cattles responsibility to keep them off your property. Two choices, under the law you can confenscate the animals and file charges against the owner. The owner will have to pay all expenses for damages and your costs to maintain the animals until the court date. Or you could just drop them!Had cattle on my property three different times, and complainedto the owner each time. The third time I told them I was going to shoot them. They sold all their cattle within two weeks of that conversation. This year I see them putting up a brand new fence!!

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

i would have to agree. I woulda put a 22-250 in the ear and had steaks for me and everyone i knew, then claim i didnt know WTF they were talkin about. =)

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Jack Ryan

I have heard of stupid laws but that takes the cake. What happens if someone's cows got into a pile of wheat inthe neighbor'squonset... foundered and some die with such a law. Would the nieghbor be liable if they said his side of the fence was the problem for the cows getting out yet he had no livestock??

Tim

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

I won't pretend to know the laws every where.

I've learned just enough lately to know how much I didn't know about the laws just here in Indiana. Here's a few things most people don't expect but there are a lot of pages in the Indiana code concerning fences and live stock.

If an animal gets killed on the railroad. The railroad is responsible. No other way around it. Don't matter about the fence or the animal. Dog, cat or cow they have to pay up. All you have to do is ask for it. Part of the railroad agreement makes them responsible for a fence to keep animals off.

In some counties, even in Indiana, you can free range cattle across a county road if you own both sides. With the proper signs up the drivers are responsible not to hit the cattle. It has to do with the population of the county and the fact the county never bought the right away for the road. It doesn't apply to state highways.

I think everywhere in Indiana, if you put up a fence on the property line you only have to fence and maintane the fence on your half. You can make your neighbor take care of his half or call the county assesor and they will do it or have it done and add it to his taxes.

If your cattle get out and destroy crops you can be held liable but I'm not so sure if your neighbors crops were destroyed because he didn't maintane his half of the fence. Most often they don't maintane the fence because they want to feed their own cows on your crops.

I know I've seen enough, with a couple of guys I work with in court cases in the last year, to know if you are going to run cattle you better know the local laws.

It's not always what you would expect.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

My father had a neighbor's bull that kept coming through the fence to breed his cows.(Santa Gertrudis bull on purebred Angus cows).

After a couple episodes. he drove the bull to the house and penned him in an escape-proof pen. The neighbor had to pay damages(reduced value of crossbred versus purebred calves) and also daily feed bill and upkeep on the bull while my dad had him.

Don't know if you have a way to round up and pen the cattle, but that would send a message that was clear to the owner. They could not legally come over and reclaim them without your OK.
You can corral and pen any livestock on your property.

I think you can post a notice in the paper and if nobody claims them, you can sell them.

I would never consider shooting one. Two wrongs don't make it right.

Better call a lawyer and take it to small claims court. You would have to prove damages and they would likely be based upon past crop production. Pix should show the damages.

Good luck.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

that sucks

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

My brother had cattle get into his corn feild 2 years back.
He called the sherif and the owner of the cows.
The sherif took a report and my brother told the cows owner call your insurance company ( sherif agreed)
It is the cows owners job to properly fence in any livestock ( Ohio )
A threat of a law suit got a GOOD and quick settelment.
2 months later the cows were in the corn again ,this time the owner got a court date for distruction of privat property and a check from the insurance co.

It's not your job the keep the fence up . IMO
I would sue.

Johnch

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Slayer,

That's bs. I think I'd be trading corn for veal. If she's not so concerned about her cows do you really think she'd miss a couple or three.

The other option is .......










Crop circles :D

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

That really does suck and I would have called the sheriff to come take a report and then I would have filed a claim with the insurance company. If it happned again I would shoot a couple and take my money out in beef.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Her Fence? Your Fence? I had the same problem a few years back. Different rules in different states, however, in my situation. The requirement is for the "farmer" to fence the cows out of his cultivated crop, not the "Rancher" to fence/keep the cows on his/her side of the fence.So I maintain the fence and the section that they seem to like to pass through the mostI electrify from time to time. No problem now. As the saying goes a good fence makes good neighbors.:eek:

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Exactly.

In Indiana at least, the first place to start is to learn the rule in your township. You need to know if you are in a "fence in" or "fence out" township. The norm is to fence in but some in Indiana are "fence out" . There may also be fence association rules that give the right to let cows run if they are not fenced out. You need to know those kind of things before you buy the ground.

There is ground out there that wouldn't be a bargain if it came free and covered with dollar bills.

If you don't live near the ground you are hunting and the rule requires each landowner to keep up their part of the fence, a farmer who lives there could really make it a nightmare. Make him mad and the cows could just happen to tear down YOUR HALF of the fence once a week or so.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

If you have a game camera, you might want to put it close to your fence . . . and see what it sees.

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Yea and his cows and his horses and his dogs could all start dying off mysteriously. I would HATE to get involved in anything like that but I think I could explain to the farmer that I could be as hard headed or mean and nasty as he wanted to be. That's a two way streeet!

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Out comes the .30-06...

RE: Food plots destroyed..literally..
 

Yep, I hear ya guys.

The big difference is, I've heard all that when it was actually happening and from people who meant it and were doing it. Not speculating about it behind a keyboard.

If you want to be the smart one in one of those situations, you better be the one who knows the law going in. Not the one who learns the law as it gets done to him.

It's no different than knowing the rules for deer hunting before you head out to hunt. Read the rules, know the rules, follow the rules and everybody gets along.

Or you can buy your property and go on what uncle Roger's wife hairdresser up in Minisoda did back when his mother got trampled by a loose cow in the Chicago fire.

The dogs all die first and it ends up with "out comes the 30-06".