What have you found when hunting

[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,f lashlights, 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 ass 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 off on foot to re-trace my steps and hope I might get lucky and find it again. Well, turns out that it broke out where 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 Cabela's Sydney Nebraska store on our way home every year. While we were their 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 booth 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 booth and you know what?... the guy sitting their was none other than Chuck Buck himself and he was signing knives. He took the time to hear 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. What a great guy!
http://www.myhuntandfishspace.com/elkslayer/

[Tennessee Elkman]

That's a great story! You must hunt lots of public land to find all those goodies! I've never found much but I've lost enough arrows out of my quiver to open a bow shop!

[skeet]

Have found 2 guns..and a lot of broken junk. First gun was a Savage 342 in 22 hornet. No scope but had a loaded mag in it. Kept that gun for a lotta years. 2nd gun was a Browning Auto 5. Went to a blind we hadn't hunted in quite a while and there it was laying on the seat in it's case. Actually found out who it belonged to(one of our previous parties). Got the guys number and called collect. Had to tell the operator my name for his acceptance. Heard the guy on the other end say Carl who?? Just told the operator to tell him Browning Auto and he was reeeaaalll quick accepting the charges! He got his gun back. I also found a small day pack on the side of the road one time after dark going home. Had a pair of Eddie Bauer goose down mittens and a Canon AE1 camera in it...with a box of 3" mag shells. No name or anything. Still have the mittens

[Montana Cowboy]

Howdy All
I found a pair of field glasses and a knife. Glasses were not in good shap as they had been out in the weather for what looked like quite awhile. The knife was in nice shape. Would return them if I could find out who they belong to.
I always check around a gut pile as this seems to be where folks tend to forget things. Again ,I would return the items I find if I could track down the owner. I thought of just leaving the item there thinking they will come back but then another hunter will come along and probably take them.
Found a wallet this year hunting in Ohio. Was able to return it to the owner. MC

[Duffy]

My finds have never been as noteworthy as those posted so far, but I have found unfired shotgun shells, a fanny pack (empty), a pocket knife (which I subsequently lost), and an axe (which I cleaned up and still use).

[skeet]

I found an ax one time too. It was in a stump buried so far that I couldn't get it out. Looked like somone had buried it in the stump with a sledge hammer Course I'm just a wimp anyway!!

[Duffy]

The one I found was on public land, but only a stone's throw from its border with private woods, but nowhere near a house, barn, or other building. The axe was partially buried in sandy gravel and stones in a dry creek bed. Maybe a private land owner was gathering wood near there at one point some time before, and accidentally left it. I always wonder about potential stories like that!

[Riposte1]

One find that comes to mind was that i was hunting in central Kentucky a long time ago and found the frizzen from a flint lock.

Now this was a long time before muzzle loaders had made any sort of comeback nor were there any special seasons (kentucky did have a Pioneer Weapons Area but that was a long way away).

It looks really old so I naturally leaped to the conclusing that Daniel Boone must have lost it on one of his long hunts

Riposte

[grayghost]

I've never found anything noteworthy but my eyes are always on the ground. Over the years I've found a number of arrowheads (flint) and ancient stone tools. Even picked up a few in Africa. Once while hunting Antelope on private property in WY., I came across two aqua beer bottles out on the prairie. They originally would have had paper lables on them. When I returned home I took them to a friend who is a known bottle collector/expert. Turns out they were early beer bottles from the time of the old west. He dated them from around 1880. I've also found some beautiful agates and while in the bush of Zimbabwe three weeks ago, I found a real nice Impala skull with perfect horns still attached. It was from a Leopard kill.

[Bullbuster]

elkslayer338 that was a great story i have never really found anything. But i have lost some things in the bush a knife a shell holder with 10 shells in it and so on.