Did you forget your rifle in the Mendocino NF?

[j3h8]

It Ca so the weapon should be registered correct?
One phone call and they should know who the owner is.

Rifles/shotguns are only registered since the last 10 years or so. I know people with many that are not registered.

 

[CMF]

Who walks off without their rifle?

It happens more than you think. My father-in-law left his gun and case on the four-wheeler rack while leaving a WMA one night, and it slid off onto the road. A guy picked it up and contacted the area manager, and my fil contacted the manager the next morning and was able to link up and get it.
I started off to the deer stand one morning with one of my kids and got halfway there before we realized we left the gun in the truck.

 

[hunterjmj]

A good friend of mine left a Winchester leaned up against a tree when he was about 14. His Dad had him sit in against a tree for the morning and to walk the ridge out to the road around noon. Well, he walked out to the road where his dad picked him up but his rifle wasn't with him. He said they searched for hours and couldn't find the rifle. My friend is 56 now and never did find the rifle.

 

[CorbLand]

It happens more than you think. My father-in-law left his gun and case on the four-wheeler rack while leaving a WMA one night, and it slid off onto the road. A guy picked it up and contacted the area manager, and my fil contacted the manager the next morning and was able to link up and get it.
I started off to the deer stand one morning with one of my kids and got halfway there before we realized we left the gun in the truck.

Your leaving it in the pickup reminded me of an old duck hunting buddy.

Him and another kid get up early, like 330am, to be to a blind that had tons of ducks hitting. Perfect duck weather. Windy, cold, sleet. They took a canoe to get to it. Paddled across the river a couple times to get decoys, fresh brush, etc to the blind. Get everything setup, get a heater going and took a nap before legal shooting light. 10 minutes before legal, the kid starts looking around and goes “where’s my gun?” Yea, it was still at home.

 

[mighteywhitehunter]

Dang it, I hate it when this happens! Getting old sucks.

 

[Boarmaster]

Who walks off without their rifle? Keep us posted if there is more to the story....

I'm going to guess here that its not some full bore custom with a NF scope....

Probably a Big 5 bottom of the line Savage or equal.

At least two guys I know did. One shot a deer and set his gun against a tree. Field dressed the deer hooked up to it and dragged it a mile to the truck and started celebrating. About three hours later one of the other guys we were hunting with came walking out of the woods with it. I am covinced the guy who left the rifle up in the woods would not have even noticed until the next morning when he got to the woods to hunt.
Another guy was done hunting and leaned his rifle up against a tree at his truck to finish loading up and heading three hours home. He didnt remember what happened to his rifle until days after he got home.
Lost that one.

 

[Dos Perros]

One time we were getting done bird hunting in the evening, sun already down and getting dark as we approached the truck. Then another truck was coming down the road and in the rush to get dogs corralled up my buddy set his shotgun down in the ditch and forgot about it. We got a couple hours down the road before he remembered and we turned back and found it right there.

 

[doc holiday13]

almost lost my gun last year while coon hunting. I set the gun down against a tree to go pee. As I was peeing the dog started barking up a nearby tree and after peeing I walked over to him before realizing i set teh gun down. Black stock gun on a moonless night can be hard to find.

 

[Amos Keeto]

Fecal matter occurs.

 

[EastHumboldt]

I used to pack horses into the Ruby Mountains in NV. I didn’t have enough horses to ride and pack, so they carried camp and I walked with a light day pack and a rifle, leading the two horses. About 20 years ago I took my (now ex) girlfriend hunting with me. We had a great time until the walk out. It was snowing hard, the horses were acting up, and on top of that we’d got into a fight ( probably about where the relationship was going IIRC). So I was pretty distracted, and when I stopped to adjust the pack on one of the horses, i leaned my rifle against a tree off the trail a few feet.

45 minutes later, When we got back to the truck, I realized my mistake. I unloaded the packs, loaded the horses, and left her sitting in the truck while I literally almost ran back up the trail. There was about four inches of fresh snow by this time. Fortunately I have an almost photographic memory for topography and terrain and I walked right up to my now snow covered gun. Waiting in the truck for over an hour did not improve her mood, and covering the same piece of ground three times didn’t improve mine. The fight continued most of the way home until angry silence set in.

We broke up not long after. I still have that old rifle though, and have not left one in the woods since. To be fair to her she was a really good woman, and I had commitment issues at the time.

 

[weekender7]

Well, this gun is mine. Was bowhunting hogs, have .22 mag with me for coyotes. Killed the hog, laid the gun down while packing everything up. Two hour drive home and went to unload the truck. Two hour drive back to get the dang gun.