What’s the coolest thing you found in the back country

Thought of a couple more, I found a shrine of some sort somebody constructed at least 6 or 7 miles from the trailhead and way off trail. It was above a lake in the Eagle's Nest Wilderness area. There was a gallon sized plastic ziplock filled with letters and pics and stuff, I didn't go through it. There was also a few ceramic images of Mary and some other trinkets. I didn't take any pics because it was before cell phones and it didn't feel right to take pics anyways.

A friend of mine found an old saddle bag that had been there for years in New Mexico. There was a moth eaten coat and a few other things that were dry rotted. But there was a 32 pistol in them as well. He took the pistol and when he got back to the truck he put it in a big ziplock and poured motor oil on it. When he got home he cleaned it up and it's actually serviceable.

Also found a "tipi structure" made from dead trees a few miles from any trail in Northern Utah. Figured that one was either hippies of bigfoot......hahaha
 
I'll add my second one to this thread which just happened this week. I had a late season elk tag in Colorado, while out hunting one day we happened across a mountain lion track. Stopped to take a couple of pictures, thought it was neat as I've only come across that a couple times before. We hiked awhile longer, eventually looping around above where we saw the track. We spotted an odd marking in the snow that looked like someone had dragged a log across the mining road we were on. We followed it a bit each direction to try and figure it out - it was a cat kill where it had dragged the deer down into the pines below. Figured it out from the tufts of deer fur and cat tracks. Pretty cool, never seen that before.
 
Pretty lame finds here. Out coon hunting found a cheap S/S machete with no handle, and another time an old coricidin type bottle in a glass dump pile for that Duane allman slide guitar sound. I use that.
 
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Last season I found a couple interesting things while hunting. The first experience was during general elk season here in Montana. I was hiking back to my truck and decided I would still-hunt my way through a smallish patch of timber to see if I could luck into some bedded elk. I found a campsite that looked fairly recent with a hole full of beer cans and other trash. It looked like a spot the locals had frequented pretty often. Not more than 15 yards from the camp I saw a skull protruding from the ground. At first glance I sort of assumed it was just the domestic bovine variety but upon further inspection I could tell that it was worth excavating. I dug it out and quickly realized this was no ordinary skull. I've always dreamt about uncovering a bison skull. Such a neat remnant of the west. Given its proximity to the camp, I'm sure a lot of people have walked right past it over the years and never realized its significance.

The other "find" happened during bird season last month. I was walking to my truck and found a cabelas duffle bag by the side of the road. In hindsight I should have used better judgement but I was in a rush to get home and didn't want my dog to get into it so I threw it in the bed of my truck and drove home. I put it in my garage, planning on going through it in hopes of finding information that might identify the owner. The holidays came and went and I all but had forgotten about it. One day a couple weeks ago I remembered it and started to go through it. I soon realized this wasn't a good thing to have in my possession. The bag contained all kinds of sketchy stuff! A passport, checkbook, credit cards, 9mm magazines and at least one round of ammunition. None of this would have spooked me that much on its own but then I found some what appeared to be used syringes and a sock filled with some kind of substance wrapped in electrical tape. I got the impression this bag belonged to a tweaker who must have gotten paranoid and hucked it out the window. I called the cops and had them come pick it up. I can't help but be curious as to what came of it and in hindsight feel foolish for throwing it in my truck without inspecting it. Glad I didn't get pulled over on my way home!
 

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Great thread with interesting stories. It's been 2 1/2 years since the last post. So I guess this was the "most interesting thread" I've found on here. To the top for some more stories.
 
Found a wing or stab off what was probably a Cessna wrapped in a cargo net. I figure it fell off of a helicopter trying to recover the wreckage. I wrestled that net off and packed it out.
 
Lotsa old cans and wine bottles from shepherds.

Rock that was inscribed on that dated 1915 up on a peak

And then this last year - looked like a big Dino tooth but prob just a rock

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Found an old Leatherman in the middle of nowhere, SE MT. Guessing a kill site that was forgotten. Was turkey hunting in MO near one of the old nuclear sites and came upon a few old bunkers, WAY off the beaten trail. Concrete walls 3 feet thick and solid steel doors 3-4" thick.
 
Hard to think, stumbled on an abandoned trappers cabin in Alaska in the mid 90’s that was a long-ass way from anywhere. Sign over the door said “mad trappers”. Didnt look like it had been used in a while though, and there were trees growing out of the sod roof. Wish I had a picture.

Maybe the coolest I have pictures handy, these were both found on state land in Vermont, miles from the nearest road and over a mile from the nearest trail, on very steep forested hillsides. The area was logged so my guess is both of these (found half a mile apart but not together) are from horse logging at some point. The saw blade is still out there as far as I know.IMG_1819.jpegIMG_1818.jpeg
 
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