What’s the worst item you’ve lost?

I lost the Gerber Big Hunter Knife my dad gave me when I was 12 just a few years ago. I went back several time to look but no luck. It is still out by Wild Hog Butte on the Custer.
 
I haven't lost much hunting, but fishing on the other hand I had a rough day once. I caught a near state record fish while I was wadefishing. I was so overwhelmedI d while I was taking pictures I dropped my fishing rod in the water and didn't realize it until I was walking back to the truck. Even though it was in knee deep water, it was so murky I coudlnt feel bottom and drug my feet in a zig zag pattern for hours looking Later that day I went to take the fish to the taxidermist and couldn't find my camera when I got to the taxidermy shop, I left it on the hood of the truck as a left the fishing spot and had to go back there to get it.
 
I'm pretty good at losing things while hunting. I have to tether everything to myself these days, and I still manage to lose things. These are the 3 worst:

1.) Vortex Viper HD 10x42. I was standing next to the truck watching my wife stalk a pronghorn, alternating between binos and scope. I had unclipped my binos tether to make this easier, opting to set them on the hood of the truck. During the excitement of her getting one, I threw the scope back in the case and grabbed my pack to come help. No idea where the binos went. Drove over a metal pole on the way out and lost taillights. Drove back the 4 hours 3 days later but could not find the binos.

2.) Practicing shooting my wife's muzzleloader at a BLM range the night before an archery hunt. All her muzzy loading gear was in a fancy pack. Drove off without it. Oh yeah, her very nice rangefinder, knife and tags were all in that pack, too.

3.) I bought a Remington 770 cheap from a friend getting out of hunting. Lost the bolt while climbing through brush. Sent it in for repair and they wanted to charge me 3x what I paid for it originally. Told them to recycle that garbage.
 
Late to the party but I have to say that losing stuff is something I try extra hard to avoid because I tend to buy quality gear in the hope it will last. Still, I lost a Glock 27, a Winchester .30-06, and a Surefire Aviator.

The one that really bites is the Aviator, my first high tech flashlight. I don't know how it could have come out of my tight pack pouch velcro'd in place but I think it happened in a dense and steep copse of buck brush deep in the forest. I spent five days retracing my route to no avail. Didn't kill an elk that year either but I replaced the Aviator a month later. I wonder now that a forest fire has burned away the trees and shrubs if I'll find that Surefire someday.

I carried the G27 doing back country bird count transects and realized a mile up the trail that the pistol was gone. I panicked all the way back to the truck where I found it on the floor. I'd shouldered my pack but forgot to holster the Glock.

My trusty Winchester 54 dropped a bull at dusk on a mountain side and I struggled over three hours in the dark to field dress him in a tangle of shrubs. Once done I shouldered the rifle and made my way up the mountain to my horse. When I got there the rifle was gone. It took another hour with a waning flashlight and headlamp to find the rifle neatly slung to an oak branch where I'd clawed my way through a dense tangle. The time I lost looking for it left me without a light for the two hour ride back to camp.

Lessons learned, costly at the time but cheap enough on reflection.
 
haven't lost anything but did once find a semi auto shotgun some dope drove off and left.

went to sherrifs office with it and they tracked him down and we got it back to him . he was one happy camper
 
Lost my wedding ring in a river while on a float trip with my wife 6 weeks after the wedding. At the time my wife and I thought it was a really bad omen. Still married to the same gal now going on 30 years later though. Also lost a really nice light spinning rod/reel combo on the same canoe crash that the wedding ring got lost....didn't realize it until we were a few miles down the river though.
 
Lost my outdoor edge knife two days ago and was really bummed. On the way out my wife and I stopped at one of the glassing points we were at in the morning. While I combed some sagebrush further down the ridge where I had previously hiked, my wife decided to circle a nearby bush and found it! As with so many other things in life, I owe her.
 
I'm mourning the loss of an Onx chip. Dropped right at my feet but couldn't find it in the tall grass.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
114,041
Messages
2,042,113
Members
36,440
Latest member
Dfoos93
Back
Top