What's the craziest/coolest thing you've found in the wild?

[SaskHunter]

I've found old cars/trucks/washers/stoves/fridges in the middle of nowhere with no roads leading to them. I've found a lot of old homesteads and barns. Coolest I've found was very large old kiln. The odd knives and tools as well.

I have also found a lot of unexploded ordnances, mind you I'm an EOD Tech but I've found them outside of work while hunting or hiking...

 

[glass eye]

I have also found a lot of unexploded ordnances, mind you I'm an EOD Tech but I've found them outside of work while hunting or hiking...

I live near a bombing range ( Chocolate Mountains in SoCal ) and there are scrappers that go in there collecting scrap metals and they will carry out bombs. One guy was killed when he was hitting it with a hammer. Another guy was killed when he began cutting it up with a torch. Probably more stories like that but those are the ones that I know of in recent years.

 

[SaskHunter]

I live near a bombing range ( Chocolate Mountains in SoCal ) and there are scrappers that go in there collecting scrap metals and they will carry out bombs. One guy was killed when he was hitting it with a hammer. Another guy was killed when he began cutting it up with a torch. Probably more stories like that but those are the ones that I know of in recent years.

These things happen more than we like. I took part in a very large range clearance that all began when a civilian was killed by throwing a dud into a fire, I've also collected hundreds of items from people's homes and properties...

 

[MJE2083]

One time while fishing I found an old graveyard up in the mountains. Most of the headstones were just large flat rocks stuck into the earth.
Last year I found a small bag buried under a pile of leaves. Inside was several camera cards, a trail cam card reader, and a bunch of old corroded batteries. No pictures on any of the cards.
Also last year I found an old set of hand forged logging chains, I wish I would have taken them but I left them in the woods that day and I haven't been able to find them since.

 

[ZBB]

A wrecked airplane, several abandoned mine shafts, a very rusty old revolver of some sort. Don't have pictures of any of the above, but did find this old car in the creek fishing a few weeks ago. About a mile from the road. Obviously been there awhile.View attachment 115590

This reminds me of an old mine shaft I found when I was a kid as well. A couple buddies and I would go throw rocks down in to it. Then we had the idea to repel down into it without any climbing experience. We had a couple old ropes that we tied together, then we tied a cinder block on the end just to make sure the ropes were long enough. They weren’t and it was hard enough trying to pull the cinder block up so we could recover the ropes so our parents wouldn’t find out what we did. We decided not to go down the hole. Growing up in a small town you need to make your own adventures I guess haha.

 

[rwc101]

I found where a family had buried several generations of their dogs.

 

[antlerradar]

In 92 I found a old leather money bag in the mountains of Idaho. Had 11 dollars & change and a pack of cigarettes in the bag. None of the coins were minted later than the mid 70's.


One time I found a helium balloon in a tree with a note attached. I figure the note would be a general note asking for a reply if you found the balloon. Instead the note was written by a young brother and sister writing to their recently departed grandfather.

 

[PrairieHunter]

An arrowhead in NW Nebraska, thinking about the likely Sioux who made/used it really makes it mean something to me. Keep it in the safe.

 

[tarheel]

Found this in Sloan's Lake Park in Denver back in the early 70's. Have never seen one quite like it or been able to determine it's age but it was completely buried in the soil near a tree with just a tip protruding. It is fairly narrow and won't fit on a modern boot so it could have been for a youth or lady; would love to know it's history.

I realize this isn't in the wilds but the park could get wild at times.

 

[ND_Hooligan]

Several years ago I was hunting a forested mountainside in Utah and came across a door that appeared to be from a cessna type aircraft. Have no idea how it ended up there and can't imagine a door just falling off of an airplane. I searched the area for other plane wreckage but the only thing there was the door. Still can't figure that one out.

 

[2rocky]

This Discovery of a Sheepeater Camp would have been cool to stumble upon.

 

[tarheel]

Several years ago I was hunting a forested mountainside in Utah and came across a door that appeared to be from a cessna type aircraft. Have no idea how it ended up there and can't imagine a door just falling off of an airplane. I searched the area for other plane wreckage but the only thing there was the door. Still can't figure that one out.

A friend and I were taxiing out of the ramp onto the taxiway prior to take off in his Piper when a hinge pin fell out and the door dropped part way onto the top of the wing. Had it done that in the air it would have most likely ripped it the rest of the way off and I would have had a breezy ride back to the field. Or, it could have damaged the tailfeathers badly enough that we would have become statistics. Believe it or not we parked the aircraft and walked the ramp until I found the pin, about the size of an inch long ten penny nail, put it back in and went flying. Point being, parts do come off of aircraft in flight.

 

[elkduds]

A crashed single engine airplane, north of Gunnison CO on the south slope of Red Mountain. Heard later that the pilot survived, was rumored to have crashed while spotting elk. Late 1980s.

 

[JDH]

Found an old cemetery in the woods. It was on a bit of a hill so i really wasn't expecting it. There were a couple of newer monuments there as well as some old ones from the 1800s. I saw one of the newer ones first and thought it was some kind of monument or survey marker. Started looking around and found 8-10 other stones. I didn't get too close to some of them, as a few of them had depressions in the dirt like they were starting to cave in.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Although I suspect this was done by the Forest Service, it might of had something to do with the Area 51 raid that was to take place soon after we spotted this

 

[ND_Hooligan]

A friend and I were taxiing out of the ramp onto the taxiway prior to take off in his Piper when a hinge pin fell out and the door dropped part way onto the top of the wing. Had it done that in the air it would have most likely ripped it the rest of the way off and I would have had a breezy ride back to the field. Or, it could have damaged the tailfeathers badly enough that we would have become statistics. Believe it or not we parked the aircraft and walked the ramp until I found the pin, about the size of an inch long ten penny nail, put it back in and went flying. Point being, parts do come off of aircraft in flight.

Yeah maybe it shouldn't have surprised me quite as much as it did. I was a sheet metal mechanic on f-16 airplanes stationed in Utah at the time and had to fix multiple items that made me scratch my head. Did that gig for many years. Glad you were able to get stopped and have a happy ending.

 

[manitou1]

What is a sheepeater camp?

 

[RockinU]

What is a sheepeater camp?

Legend of the Sheepeater Indian Tribe in Yellowstone

Yellowstone was the permanent home of one Native American tribe, but racism bred untrue rumors and tales.

www.yellowstonepark.com

 

[Straight Arrow]

What is a sheepeater camp?

North of Obsidian Cliffs in Yellowstone is the Sheepeater Cliff, which is named after this sub-tribe of Shoshone native Americans. There are still sites believed to have been inhabited by these people. I have hiked to a wickiup which is thought to have been constructed by either the Sheepeaters or the Crow Indians. There is also a primitive camping site with old teepee poles still there, where the Sheepeaters may have stashed poles before crossing the high mountains hunting or migrating. These sites are pretty cool to see. I am pleased that they are not featured on YNP maps and brochures, as they likely would be trashed, desecrated, or otherwise damaged by the throngs of seemingly unaware nimrods traipsing through the Park.

 

[antlerradar]

I find where people have recently carved there names over ancient rock art far to often. Desecration is a problem in less visited places like in SE Montana. I can't help but think it would be much worse in Yellowstone.