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[elkslayer338]

Some of my best camp stories have revolved around items I have found
on the trail and in the bush. Some I have been able to return and have had gear returned to me by other hunters. The laundry list of gear includes,Knives,compasses,flashlights,more Knives,all manner of camp equipment as far as that goes partial camps strewn down the trail,more knives,boots,hats,a back pack that had been out for a year"no ID" it was tore up but contained A set of Nikon binoculars,two nice compasses,GPS garmon" I put new batts in and it still worked but had no ID logged into it". When you find these items on the trail its one thing but when your of
in the deep country it makes you think what the hell happened here.


My most memorable find is a Buck 119 Knife
While on a trophy mule deer hunt near bonderant Wyoming, some 13 miles from the trail head I shot my 5x5 33" but after I was done dressing him out there was a reflection of metal some ten feet away. Sure enough
it was a Buck 119 in good condition . I wrapped it between two sticks and
duct taped it together and headed back to camp to relish in my new find
and share the story with guys. well I put it away in my bag so when I got out I could get a sheath for it.You see from that hunt I went directly to my family Elk hunt in Colorado. so on the way i stopped at a army surplus store in glenwood springs and picked up a temporary sheath until I could order one from Buck knives . Bad idea some five miles from camp it slipped out of the cheap *** sheath and when i got back to camp I realized what happened so after all the guys had there turns joking about it. I set of on foot to re trace my steps and hope I might get lucky and find it again. Well turns out that it broke out Ware I loaded up the horses but I found it. Returning to camp victorious we all had a good laugh about it . Now the story is not over yet for you see dad and I stop at the Cabellas Sydney Nebraska store on our way home every year. While we where there it dawned on us to check the bargain cave to see if they had any buck 119 knives returned broken that still had a sheath. You know what they did so went to check out . It was at that point that the cashier inquired why I was buying a broken knife. So I told her the story she inturn informed us that Buck knives had a Both set up on the other end of the store and that they may have a new sheath or send me one. Well on this new intel dad and I went to the both and you know what?... the guy sitting there was none other than Chuck Buck Himself and he was signing knives He took the time to here the story of the knife that I found in Wyoming lost in Colorado only to find it again, and on this he told me to go get it ,so I did He engraved GOOD FIND STEW CHUCK BUCK and good hunting on the other side.
I take that knife on every trip it has a luck
about it .
note Chuck sent me a new 119 sheath for it too what a great guy .

< Message edited by elkslayer338 -- 11/26/2006 2:18:43 AM >

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[Hiker]

Good story, I like Buck Knives too. :thumbsup1: Congratulations on your 33" Mulie.

[Byrdofprey]

Ive found a few minor items like knives and such. But last year my buddy was pheasant hunting and after the hunt he accidently left his brand new moded 870 express shotgun leaning against the fence. His dad had just bought it for him for his birthday. About an hour down the road he realized what he had done and turned. Well we got there and the gun was gone. Someone got really lucky. He had to go out and buy the exact gun.

[elkslayer338]

That sucks! your bud better quit smoking Bud! LoL
you know I think Iam going to mark all my gear, engrave it or somthing to that effect. I would get a bigger kick out of finding some ones gear and being able to return it then keeping it .

[Serious Hunter]

This summer we found tattered remains of in a sense a whole camp ... sleeping bag, pad, various pots and pans, inflatable rubber raft, gas stove stuff, BOOTS, socks, etc. Kind of had us miffed as to what, why. Perhaps the person was injured and carried out, or decided to go out VERY light, on his own. (It would not have been a nice place to walk out of barefoot.)

I decided to help myself to the pad. Much of the other stuff had been chewed on by creatures and weather. My kids had fun in the rubber raft, while it slowly leaked of air.

Other than that - mostly knives, a duck call or two. But now that you raise the subject - I'll keep my eyes open - would be nice to come back with an extra knife or pair of binos.

[elkslayer338]

Strange when you come into a seen like that , gives me the chills I have had bad horse wrecks after horse wreck to the point you just want to leave it all.
Some people don't realize the hard ship of the trail, if you don't love pain
and hardship you will crumble out their. sounds like thats what happend
if it was just an injury some body would have come back for the gear.

[Romey]

I know approx.where there is a brand new Remington BDL in Wyoming just laying alongside a Mnt, Wasnt mine, was soomeones who wouldnt listen. :roll:

[SoCoKHntr]

Reading this thread reminded me of two losses as opposed to finds. The first occurred one late summer elk scout hike. We were headed up a steep ridge which had a zig zag trail, but instead of using the trail our friend and guide (who for some reason hates trails) said he knew a shortcut a little farther down the ridge.

We left when still dark and up the ridge steep ridge we go. Initially there were still plenty of aspens and pines which we could grab as it was very steep. Well we got halfway up, no more trees, and daylight started to break. We could now see we were in a rock chute that was only getting steeper, but looking upwards still looked doable. The higher we went the more of a near vertical slope it became with nothing but slick rock shale for grip or footing. I finally got to a point where near panic almost set in and I had to force myself to keep moving up for if I would have stopped for too long I might have become immobilized.

I was literally teeth climbing trying to seal myself to that slope. Well, I made it finally but realized at the top that my wallet which had been in back pocket was gone complete with credit cards and sixty dollars cash. There was no way in hell I was going back down nor was I ever going to attempt that climb again from the bottom. To this day we call it the sixty dollar chute and unless some mountain lion ate it should still be there. I always secure my wallet in a safer place now even if I think the trail will be mellow.

The other incident was a father and son from Texas camped in the same area we were for elk hunting. From camp it's a wilderness area foot or horseback only. My and my dad were on foot and the other guys had one pack horse. We had spotted some elk that morning about six miles from camp in some meadows at the base of a mountain and hiked to them for an evening hunt. While setting up the Texas guys passed us on the trail and were heading further up the trail onto the mountain. Well, we heard three shots right before we left back to camp and right before dark and knew they ran into the elk.

Well, next morning we get up late as we were packing up camp that day and saw the Texas guys getting their gear together as well and I see the head of a smallish five point bull in their camp. The father comes over and gives us the details. They had run into the elk coming out of the timber and he blasts the bull poorly with a hip shot but finally gets him down after two more shots. It's just getting dark and they play hell the next four or five hours getting it squared away and quartered.

They don't have enough space on the one horse with all the gear they took with them and decide to just leave it and this included what he said was a pretty high dollar spotting scope, pack gear, and other equipment. They leave the seven or eight miles back to camp in the dark and nearly dump the horse in a steep little canyon that needs to be crossed on the way back. All in all he says it was "pure hell" and they are heading back to Texas that morning and he aint going back for the three to four hundred dollars worth of gear they left up on the trail. Well, I'm sure someone found that gear by now as many horseman hunt that area and it was two years ago.

Kind a long winded, but I felt like sharing those experiences.

[Ex-Toyman]

I haven't found anything while hunting...yet. A few years ago I was fishing in southern Idaho when I though I snagged on a rock or something on the bottom. Only thing was that line would still reel in, but there was also weight on it, but no fight. When I eventually pulled my line out of the water, I had landed a Leatherman Wave. Best catch I had all year. :thumbsup1: In fact, it was about the only catch I had all year.

[Alamosa]

I found a knife lost by a hunter there a few years before of me.

I found an arrowhead lost by a hunter who was there hundreds of years before of me.

[atomikall]

I found plenty of knives just no good ones and a couple other camping items a few axes some other stuff but I forget what guess it wasnt all that important but a couple years back my uncle was driving home from the hunting camp and he found 2 brand new shotguns on the middle of the trail a 410 and a 12 guage we still talk about that story every year he was just driving came around a corner and there they were laying on the road. All we can think is that 2 bird hunters must have stopped at thier truck and sat on the tail gate or something leaned thier guns on it and forgot about them while they were talking about thier hunt. We never could find the owners he still has the shotguns and uses them he even tryed to see if they were registered but they werent I felt sorry for those 2 guys but that was kinda stupid to forget your guns on your tail gate or in the back for that matter,few scratches on em but besides that they are nice.

[jasonkdailey]

Ex-Toyman wrote: I haven't found anything while hunting...yet. A few years ago I was fishing in southern Idaho when I though I snagged on a rock or something on the bottom. Only thing was that line would still reel in, but there was also weight on it, but no fight. When I eventually pulled my line out of the water, I had landed a Leatherman Wave. Best catch I had all year. :thumbsup1: In fact, it was about the only catch I had all year.

Damn good catch. Feel bad for the guy who lost it, but a good gain for you. I would be lost without mine.

[Bull Buster]

I found a little draw in Colorado a few years back that has been good to other hunters to. it is tainted with empty brass. It looks like a small arms fight broke out there. I have found everything from a 243 to 45-70.

[GUTPYLZ]

Two years ago on my Muzzle Loader hunt in Southern Nevada I came upon gear in the trail with a mans lunch new flashlight and other misc. I looked down off the trail and a 4 wheeler was upside down about 6 feet off a steeeep ledge. I knew for sure I was going to find someone dead or hurt. After I looked around a good while I realized I better look for foot prints on the trail. That was a good sight to see. I sure hope he was OK. I drove down the trail for awhile, but it looked like he made it out.

[scotty828]

A few years ago while my cousin and I were on a deer hunt in Colorado we found an ID on the ground while we were walking a ridge line. The problem is the ID was a females and it was a student card from the University of Southern Utah. The picture was faded but you could read her name. We maked it on our GPS and while in town the next day we turned it over to the Marshals office along with the GPS location. The day we broke camp the Marshals showed up and took both of our information but was unable to give us any info. I asked them to keep me posted, which they didn't. I still think about that and wonder what if anything happened