All I was packing with me was my little Fox .410 SXS shotgun for ruffies. Didn't have the range to return fire, even if I wanted to. The two idiots in question were on the ridge above me, in relatively heavy mixed juniper & spruce with thickets of alder, wild cherry and other mast type shrubs.
After I called out to them to make sure they knew I was in the area, the idiots thought it would be funny to hold high and trigger a couple of more shells. I wasn't too worried about the shotgun, but a .22 would smart, even at that range. I heard the pellets and a couple of .22 bullets zipping through the alder leaves in my general vicinity. If anyone has accidentally traded pellets with a hunting buddy, you know the pellets make a distinctive sound when they cut through the alder leaves.
As for the RCMP, our nearest detachment is in Harbour Grace, about a 35minute drive to my home community. They'd then have to travel another 10 km or so on a woods access road that isn't maintained by the Dept. of Highways anymore. There's no signage, so try describing how to physically get there to some Mountie from the mainland that was born in the heart of Toronto????
Most local residents have completely given up on our local RCMP as they consistently fail to show up when requested, or if they do show up, its hours later, if not days. I'm not making this up. My cousin owned a local bar where I worked security for him. I'd break up assaults on patrons or staff, by coked up arseholes staying in the local provincial park who would refuse to leave, I'd toss 'em and then they'd start beating the crap out of cars in the parking lot, throwing rocks or beer bottles, etc...call the cops requesting assistance, they'd show up 4-5 hours later. Got to the point where we stopped calling them as there was no point. Had several rashes of cabin/cottage break-ins, with the same individuals sighted in the vicinity on multiple occasions. Winesses gave statements to the RCMP...a half-assed investigation later and nothing done until some locals got together and, as my grandfather used to say, read to them from "The Book" and let 'em know that if another cabin was hit, they would live to regret it....Funny....didn't have another break-in for several years, and it wasn't them, as they had moved to the mainland! I can give you reams of similar stories...basically most residents are taking care of things themselves.
When the RCMP does become involved, they typically send the absolute worst choices for the required response. For instance, a friend of my mothers who lived alone recently passed away from a massive heartattack. Her son found her the next day, face down in the living room, only half dressed. RCMP was called, it took them 4.5 hours to respond to the call, who should show up but two rookies just out of Depot. They then had to call their Sgt., who took another 3 hours to respond. Here you had the guys mother, exposed to the world for most of a day, while the cops on scene couldn't investigate themselves out of a wet paperbag. At the same time, the local ambulance was tied up for the same length of time, as the attendants weren't permitted to move the body, nor were they permitted to leave the site after a call was made.
Or, just a couple of days ago, my buddy who works night security at the local liquor store stopped a drunken idiot from breaking in. He'd already broken a window, when he was stopped. RCMP was called. An hour later two cars showed up with 3 rookie female officers, the biggest of which weighed 110lbs and topped out at 5'2". The Drunk/Crook was 6'4", 230lbs and built like a brick s**thouse. If it wasn't for my buddy, they would never have gotten the guy into cuffs, let alone a squad car without shooting him.
Its this kind of crap that has given most rural residents in my area the clear message that we're on our own. Its sad and unfortunate, but the facts speak for themselves. At the same time, it seems the local RCMP has all the time in the world to charge local hunters with unsafe storage of their moose gun, or seize firearms when a registration certificate cannot immediately be produced.
As for filing a complaint and possibly encountering later delays in buying firearms/transferring them into my name, it isn't a joke. Anytime a complaint is taken involving firearms, the file data is entered into the Police Information Retreival System (PIRS) records and sent to FIP or Firearms Interest Police. Often due to data entry errors made by the investigating officer on scene, victims and witnesses names are incorrectly coded into the system and as a result, their names are flagged in the FIP. This causes future firearms purchases/transfers to be flagged, causing delays and often requiring manual CFO apporval, even for simple non-restricted transfers. The end result is you get screwed twice over for doing the "right thing."
I looked at everything closely, and decided it would be more hassle to seek "justice" than to simply move on and keep my eye out for the asshats in question so that I could have a private word with them at a later date.
X2.
