It's not surprising that some farmers take the law into their own hands when it comes to poachers.
Police are duty-bound to say "don't take the law into your own hands" when a gun is involved.
But the frustration of farmers who boxed in a suspected sheep thief at the weekend is understandable.
The rural grapevine swung into action on Saturday when two men were spotted with a dead sheep.
Let's assume they didn't have permission to take it, in the dark.
Stupidly, the two men had placed themselves in a situation where they were on a road that could be boxed in at each end.
And so that's what happened - farmers blocked each end of the road.
One of the two men ran off, as good mates do, leaving the remaining man sitting awkwardly in a ute with a dead sheep for company.
Doesn't look good, does it?
The farmers involved made a decision based on gut instinct and frustration. Were they reckless? The man who ran away had a gun, presumably for disposing of the sheep. As police have warned, it is a situation that could turn ugly.
Farming's tough - sheep are valuable and the gun disappeared with the coward who ran off.
Farmers are practical people - faced with the option of noting down the registration number and calling police, they chose to deal with the incident at a safe distance - who can blame them?
If you think there's nothing to do in Northland - think again.