Delwyn Jansen was walking across his yard when he heard the first two shots.
Bang. Bang.
A few seconds later came two more shots, these ones much closer. The third shot missed Jansen to his right; the fourth whizzed by him on the left and barely missed a fuel tank on his farm east of LeRoy.
The fifth and sixth shots were quiet and further away. The seventh hit a tree.
"It sounded like when a tree branch snaps in the cold," Jansen said.
It was around quarter to six on Nov. 22 and getting dark - the sun had set about an hour ago - and all Jansen could see were red taillights on the road. That was the only clue as to what was going on.
The eighth and final shot came about 30 seconds later and a half-mile down the road. He can't say for sure, but Jansen thinks that was the shooter getting rid of the last bullet in his clip.
The mystery of those eight shots was solved the next day when a neighbour found a deer that had been shot not far from Jansen's yard. It seemed that someone had shot at the deer, probably from the road and maybe out the window of their car.
If true, there were many problems, not the least of which was the fact that, no matter where those eight shots came from, it's obvious that people live in the area. There are sheds and granaries and signs of life all around. The deer was the target and that's all that mattered.
"Society gives people a responsibility when they hunt and the right to carry a gun, but you totally destroy that trust when you do stuff like this," Jansen said.
Potential violations from this incident, according to hunting regulations in Saskatchewan, included shooting across or along a road; hunting within 500 metres of a building without consent of the owner; and hunting more than a half-hour after sunset.
Soon after the incident, Jansen got in touch with the Saskatchewan Association of Conservation Officers to see what could be done. He found out these sorts of incidents weren't as uncommon as you might think.
"The officer I spoke to said it was their second report of a shooting that day alone," Jansen said.
It also wasn't the first time Jansen's property has been the target, whether intentional or not, of hunter's bullets. There have been shots to the house, a broken window and even his granaries have been the victims of rogue bullets.
Hunting is a popular pastime in Saskatchewan but it comes with obvious dangers. In September a man was killed on the Star Blanket First Nation, northeast of Regina, after being mistaken for an elk by other hunters. In October 2012 a man was accidentally killed by his father on a hunting trip east of Prince Albert.
Safety is an essential component of hunting, according to Lou Pascal, the secretary of the Humboldt Wildlife Federation, a local organization dedicated to, among other things, gun safety. In January the Saskatchewan Association for Firearm Education (SAFE) will be holding a course in the area on gun safety. It is a mandatory course for all first-time hunters and the goal is to avoid incidents like the one that happened to Jansen.
"Ninety-nine per cent of kids that have talked to me liked the course," Pascal said. "We're now even starting to see parents coming in with their children."
Even though he is a strong advocate for gun safety, Pascal knows safety depends on the person holding the gun.
"If people don't know the meaning of safety, there's not much you can do about it," he said.
Jansen doesn't think the shooter thought he was a deer or that he was intentionally shot at, as he wasn't visible from where the shots came from. Instead, he thinks whoever took the shots was just being reckless. Worst of all, he said, the deer wasn't even taken.
"They were shooting at a deer and they didn't care what was behind it at all."
