I'm An Idiot!!

[Colberjs]

About a week ago I went to my gun safe for something and noticed my Ruger 10/22 was missing. I was in a hurry and forgot about it until today. I've searched everywhere I could've possibly left it. It was nowhere.

The last time I remember having it was when I went and pulled stands off of public land at the end of January. My son went with me and we took it in the hopes we could score a couple squirrels. We didn't see any but I did take a few shots at stumps etc. I'm almost positive that I put it in the back seat of the truck when I left. But I can't remember absolutely. I went back out there today and it wasn't there. So I'm not sure if I left it leaned against a tree and somebody found it or if somebody took it out of my truck.

I feel like a complete moron.

Have any of you guys ever done something like this?

 

[Steelhead]

Who hasn't?

 

[VAspeedgoat]

Not with a gun yet, but many knives and fishing poles have made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

[Colberjs]

I guess I should be thankful it was a $200 10/22 with a cheap scope and not $1000+ elk rifle/scope.

 

[fishing4sanity]

Any local forums where you could post up a missing gun report? It'd be a long shot, but I remember a guy here in Washington doing something similar, then posting it on a local forum and someone else was looking to return the same gun to the owner.

Your misfortune reminds me of a father-and-son deer hunt I went on a few years back. After getting to the hunt location and getting ready to hike in, I asked my son where his rifle was. He responded, "I don't know? You said you were getting it out of the safe.":W: I had an archery tag that year and so the one and only gun for the hunt was safe and warm ....... back home. He still likes to bring that one up on occasion. I guess lost in the safe though is better than lost in the woods. Sorry for your loss, hope you find it!

 

[Canoe Country]

The very first deer I shot with a bow I was about 23, I was so pumped when I got down from the stand and saw great blood, I stopped, went out to my truck which was only a 10 minute walk, by the time I got there it was getting dark, I laid my bow on the ground, packed my gear in the back of my blazer, drove off to my buddies house, pulled him off the couch, went back, and followed the deer for a mile when the blood trail dried up... My gut was turning so bad, I couldn't figure out what went wrong, it looked like a great shot. As we walked back out to the vehicle I put our flashlights into the back of the vehicle and noticed my bow case was empty, I looked down and noticed my bow under the back tire.... I left it there when I left the first time and parked in use same spot. Fortunately, it was muddy enough that the bow sunk into the mud. The sights were junk but I brought the bow into where I shot league after cleaning it and everything checked out good.

We all do stupid things in our life.

 

[Colberjs]

The very first deer I shot with a bow I was about 23, I was so pumped when I got down from the stand and saw great blood, I stopped, went out to my truck which was only a 10 minute walk, by the time I got there it was getting dark, I laid my bow on the ground, packed my gear in the back of my blazer, drove off to my buddies house, pulled him off the couch, went back, and followed the deer for a mile when the blood trail dried up... My gut was turning so bad, I couldn't figure out what went wrong, it looked like a great shot. As we walked back out to the vehicle I put our flashlights into the back of the vehicle and noticed my bow case was empty, I looked down and noticed my bow under the back tire.... I left it there when I left the first time and parked in use same spot. Fortunately, it was muddy enough that the bow sunk into the mud. The sights were junk but I brought the bow into where I shot league after cleaning it and everything checked out good.

We all do stupid things in our life.

I actually almost drove off with my bow laying on the ground also this year. I happened to turn around for some reason and saw it laying there. That was a bad feeling.

 

[Gunner46]

Climbing down from a tree stand, I had my .357 ( that I had taken along just in case I got a nice calm, close in shot at a whitetail) fall out of my back pack. Took me a week to figure it out.

I called the landowner and he was nice enough to go out to the tree for me. He found it laying right there at the base of the tree.

I got it back in a couple of weeks......after he had played with it to the tune of 2 boxes of shells. Not gonna complain, because he found some factory loads that I have used ever since.

 

[Art Vandeley]

The first time I killed a public land Tom by myself, I had a similar thing happen. I was driving back to town, pretty happy with myself, when I decided to try and get a look of the bird in the bed of my truck. Quickly glancing back I couldn't see anything due to the toolbox, but I luckily realized my gun wasn't in the backseat like it should be. That's when I realized I had left it leaning against a stump where I killed the bird. An hour and half later I had my gun back.... It happens

 

[Marshian]

I shot an antelope a good two miles from my truck and strapped my rifle to the game cart for the brutal walk out. The rifle bounced free and I didn't realize that till the following morning at home. The gps paid for itself four times over since the tracking feature let me trace my steps backwards. It layed In the middle of a vast field and I never would've found it otherwise. The fact that I only realized this the following morning makes me very sympathetic to your predicament

 

[billy-bob8]

I was out scouting for the upcoming archery elk season and if im going cross country checking waterholes, glassing, ect. I always carry a sidearm. I got back to my quad and unstraped the gun from my hip and placed it still in the holster, into the saddle bags.
You can see where this is going, back at camp couldn't find it. Same thing, did I put it in my pack, are my campmates messing with me, after retracing my route I found it in the middle of the road around 3 miles from camp.
I cant believe that no one had been down that road in the hour or so It took to get back.
Don't ask me about the elk tags I left in the safe and discovered I had done so the night before the opener. 11 hour truck ride.

 

[Gr8bawana]

Oh man that sucks.

 

[deer_shooter]

A couple years ago I was hunting in Colorado for antelope. Towards the end of a long day I sat along a fence row for the last half hour or so about a mile and a half from my truck. As the day ended, I made the trek back after having put in 6 or 8 miles chasing goats. When I got to the truck, I discoverd my rangefinder gone. Then I remembered I was messing with it and instead of putting it away, I set it on top of my pack and it must have slid off. It was a long walk by flashlight but I found it.

 

[Rooster52]

A few years ago a friend found a Savage rifle in the road in a case. We figured someone put it on top of there car and drove off and forgot it. We posted in local news paper for two weeks for it's owner but never got a reply.

 

[devon deer]

Count yourself lucky, do that in the UK and you open up a whole world of pain, like the police confiscating all your guns for being an idiot!
I kid you not!
Cheers
Richard
ps hope you find your gun

 

[1_pointer]

When I was 16 I left my Dad's slug gun on the trunk of the car when I left to go home. Went back the next day to look for it and never did find it. That was a hard one to own up to...

 

[noharleyyet]

A Socko Finnlight caught in the automatic garage door mid jamb bracket will prohibit the twin doors from closing all the way.

...that's all I'm sayin'

 

[antler1]

During my elk guiding days, one of the things I had to watch is the client did not leave his rifle behind after a calling or glassing session. Happened several times. Luckily we found all the rifles. Same for bows.

 

[smarandr]

Perhaps 132 years from now there will be another news item like this:
http://www.winchesterguns.com/library/articles/detail.asp?id=652

 

[Southwind]

I have never done it with a rifle but tree stand hunting with my bow I have left more than once hanging on the bow hook. I can't count how many times I have climbed down only to climb back up after it. Never lost one though.

I think I would contact the area game officer or public land superintendent and see if someone by chance turned it in.

One last story, I had a pair on binoculars come up missing that I always kept in my truck. I looked high and low and went back through every scenario to where I was convinced the guy at the garage I had work done had taken it. I thought many times about confronting him but had no evidence just thought it was him by process of elimination.

I sucked it up bought another pair. Three years later I was in my daughters closet doing something and found them in a shoe box. No idea how they got there but I am sure it was me and somehow they got shuffled to her closet. My wife does not let anything sit out for more than 24 hours before it's put somewhere and typically it's my stuff.

Then I felt bad for even thinking the mechanic had stolen form me.

Hope you find it but if not, welcome to the club of human beings.