Saskatchewan farmer fed up with trespassing snowmobilers confronts a pair with his shotgun

I confess I kind of like Deryl Ring. For one thing, his Facebook page shows he owns a bullmastiff and we've had three of the big, loveable brutes.

For another, he's not afraid to stand up for himself.

But my admiration pretty much stops there. Because Mr. Ring decided the way to confront a couple of snowmobilers who apparently trespassed on his land was to force them to stop at gunpoint, then slap one of them around.

Ring, a Saskatchewan alpaca farmer, is the star of a video shown by CBC News. It was shot by a helmet-mounted camera worn by one of the offending snowmobilers.

Jeff Smerechanski said he and his camera-toting companion inadvertently turned into Ring's property south of Saskatoon last month.

"I got to this one spot and got stuck, got off my sled to start digging myself out," he told CBC News. "I turned around and realized there's a house there and I am on some guy's yard."

[ Related: Landowners near Saskatoon fed up with snowmobilers ]

Then, as he and his friend made their way out of the area, they found a truck blocking their path and man standing in front of it. It was Ring.

"I saw that he had a gun in his hand, and not some hunting shotgun. It looked like some kind of combat shotgun and he was kicking my friend's sled," Smerechanski told CBC News.

The video shows Ring kicking the front of the snowmobile. At that point, Smerechanski comes into the shot.

"I got off my sled and in a fairly aggressive tone, said 'what the F are you doing?'" he said. "At that point, he slaps me in the side of the head. He was very, very upset and you couldn't even reason with him."

The pair of snowmobilers apologized for trespassing and the video ends as they do a U-turn around Ring's truck. Ring told CBC News he actually drove onto a neighbour's property to confront the snowmobilers. He said snowmobilers have been trespassing on his land for years, ignoring signs that it was private property and tearing through fences. He even suspects snowmobilers of running over and killing his cat.

"I was really, really upset. Especially when they asked what they did wrong," said Ring. "Well, it is a no-brainer to me. You were on private property. That's what they did wrong."

Ring admitted he over-reacted but never intended to shoot the men. Other landowners have rallied to support Ring. John Hanbridge, who's lived on a Saskatoon-area farm for 30 years, said snowmobilers ignore his no-tresspassing signs and barb-wire fencing, causing damage.

"Sometimes, if you've got a fall seeded crop and they go over it, it damages it severely and that can be very expensive," he told CBC News.

Handbridge's stories aren't uncommon among local farmers, CBC News said.

Trespassing is not condoned, Saskatchewan Snowmobile Association president Chris Brewer said. But making that point with a shotgun is an over-reaction.

"I was taken aback . . . the landowner, I personally think he has taken this a little too far," Brewer told CBC News. "He could have waved them down and talked with them before you're gun wielding and kicking and hitting people."

[ Related: Quebec snowmobiler dies after driving under a moose ]

The RCMP said that snowmobilers can't be charged with trespassing if it's rural property that isn't properly posted.

"Post your land properly at all four corners," Const. Todd Kaufmann told CBC News. "As well, if there are current tracks where snowmobilers are going onto the land, post it there so that snowmobilers coming in can see that it's posted."

As for Ring, the snowmobilers reported the confrontation to the RCMP, which has forwarded the file to prosecutors to determine if he will be charged.

It also appears from the video Ring's short, pistol-grip shotgun may be problematic. It could perhaps be considered prohibited under the Firearms Act if it violates overall length restrictions.

Certainly Ring was within his rights to confront trespassers but doing it with a gun in his hands escalated the situation from serious to potentially deadly. Leave the gun in the truck.

"I think, what would have happened if someone who was more of a hot head, had been in that situation? How could that have ended?" Smerechanski said.

"You know, with him and his shotgun, would someone have tried to take the gun away from him, or struck him back? This story could have ended a lot worse."