# My bow was stolen today



## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

This is definitely a first for me. Me and my son are hunting a friends place. 4500 acres of basically unhunted land (although a few people sporadically hunt it). So we get out last night for the first sit and all of us see deer. I had the biggest buck I’ve ever seen in the woods 20 yards behind me with no shot. I’m thinking “sweet! Tomorrow we’re gonna kill something.” So, knowing I’m going to hunt the same stand I left my bow in the tree. At the camp house we made a plan to get into the woods about 9 and hunt all day because it has been blistering cold here. 13 degrees with a 16mph wind. This morning we got up, ate some cinnamon rolls and headed to the woods. Everyone got to their stands and when I got to mine, I was shocked. My bow was gone. I looked all over thinking that maybe it just blew down. Nope...somebody stole it. Now remember...we are on 4500 acres of private land and I’m way in the middle of it. After we called the land owner and talked to the ranch hand with no luck, I figured I would never see it again. Oh well...I guess I’ll use my buddy’s bow (which happens to be 3” too short for me.) Shockingly, while eating lunch at the truck a guy pulls up and says he found a bow in a tree. Supposedly, he was going to hunt the stand and saw someone forgot their bow. Yeah, right. Never mind that I left an arrow nocked! Honestly, I know he was lying through his teeth, but I got my bow back so I didn’t really care. Sat the rest of the afternoon and saw a crazy amount of deer but nothing I am looking for...now that I’ve seen mister big boy. So...stay tuned. Tomorrow cometh early.


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## blufire42 (Oct 28, 2015)

That's crazy... Glad you got your bow back, and good luck on the deer! 

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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

He brought it back, I'd have to give him the benefit of a doubt.


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## boomshakalaka (Dec 4, 2012)

So some random guy "found" your bow in a stand between sun down and sun set? On private land? I'm guessing they knew who he was?


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

ChileRelleno said:


> He brought it back, I'd have to give him the benefit of a doubt.


Ordinarily, yes. But here’s the thing. He said he was going to hunt there. Why didn’t he stay? Why grab the bow and leave? And who “forgets” their nocked bow in a tree, along with other things left there? He knew exactly what he was doing. Also, I think he was there to rifle hunt, which is not in season. I suspect he started thinking that the owner knows who is on the property and this guy was on the short list of possible thieves. Either way, I got my bow back so it’s a dropped issue. I thought for sure I’d have to find $700 for a new rig. I’m thankful. I should mention, last year this same guy gave my friend problems over hunting the land. That’s why we figured it was him.


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## ChileRelleno (Jul 7, 2012)

jspooney said:


> Ordinarily, yes. But here’s the thing. He said he was going to hunt there. Why didn’t he stay? Why grab the bow and leave? And who “forgets” their nocked bow in a tree, along with other things left there? He knew exactly what he was doing. Also, I think he was there to rifle hunt, which is not in season. I suspect he started thinking that the owner knows who is on the property and this guy was on the short list of possible thieves. Either way, I got my bow back so it’s a dropped issue. I thought for sure I’d have to find $700 for a new rig. I’m thankful. I should mention, last year this same guy gave my friend problems over hunting the land. That’s why we figured it was him.


Well then...
4500 acres?
Shoot, shovel and shut up.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

Who leaves their bow in a tree overnight?

If by chance I found a bow in a tree, I would be looking for the hunter that fell out of the tree.

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## Murphy's Law (Sep 27, 2007)

Either way, glad to hear you got your bow back and looking forward to a trophy kill story 

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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> Who leaves their bow in a tree overnight?
> 
> If by chance I found a bow in a tree, I would be looking for the hunter that fell out of the tree.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


We do all the time in Colorado. It makes a difference when hiking out. You don’t expect thieves on private land.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

Did he adjust your sight for you?

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## OHenry (Apr 28, 2011)

I’d be sick. Glad you got it back.


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## Emerald Ghost (Mar 11, 2008)

Only You Jeff.

You were very fortunate to get it back.


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## H2OMARK (Oct 2, 2007)

If you had my luck, you would have seen the biggest buck of your life walking back in with nothing but your imaginary bow to shoot it with.


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## fla_scout (Sep 28, 2007)

Private land or not I’m not leaving anything of value in the stand overnight. That’s just asking for trouble. Glad you got your bow back.


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## 192 (Oct 1, 2007)

Leaving a bow with a nocked arrow in a tree. Brilliant.


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## K-Bill (May 14, 2009)

I had a buddy do this one time. said when he got in the stand the next morning the condensation had frozen over the cams and he couldn't draw his bow back until an hour after daylight.


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## welldoya (Oct 5, 2007)

K-Bill said:


> I had a buddy do this one time. said when he got in the stand the next morning the condensation had frozen over the cams and he couldn't draw his bow back until an hour after daylight.


That's what I was thinking. I wouldn't want to subject my bow or broadheads to the moisture.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

Glad you got it back, I too have left mine hanging while hunting private property, and Eglin a time or two too. 
Should have beat his ass, then apologized saying it's a good thing he wasn't a thief, you normally break their fingers too.


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

I was thinking about this. If I came across this situation. I'd take the bow too. I'd take it to a group of local hunters (of a club if one exists) Hey, anyone know whos bow this is? It was left in a tree, anyone know who the owner is? Did he get down from the tree and get turned around and lost? could be an older person, fell and broke a leg somewhere close the tree? should we go looking for someone? thinking outloud... yeah, its raining outside...


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## MikeH (Jul 14, 2009)

Realtor said:


> I was thinking about this. If I came across this situation. I'd take the bow too. I'd take it to a group of local hunters (of a club if one exists) Hey, anyone know whos bow this is? It was left in a tree, anyone know who the owner is? Did he get down from the tree and get turned around and lost? could be an older person, fell and broke a leg somewhere close the tree? should we go looking for someone? thinking outloud... yeah, its raining outside...


I agree with this. It would scare me more than anything thinking somebody was lost/hurt. I can tell you right now if anybody ever finds a Tikka .270wsm in a tree please come looking for me. I am either dead or crawling around somewhere.


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

I wouldn't leave mine in the tree ever. Have you ever seen what them bushy tailed tree devils will do to stands? Last thing I want to do is draw back on a gnawed string.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

I've read it all.... dang. Just dang.

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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

Are you sure you are the only one with permission to be there? Something just doesn't seem right for a person to seek you out and let you know they found a bow etc...

If I was on private property that I had permission to hunt and I see a bow, gun, or something like that, I'd probably grab it also to try and find the owner that possibly left it there. I've found a gun in Blackwater where someone leaned it against a tree and drove off. Found the owner later! I didn't want someone else finding it that was not so honest etc...

But to say that you got your bow stolen when it was returned to you seems just a little off.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

I was trying to simply share an experience. Thought y'all might enjoy it. I know more about this situation than I wrote. Facts...the bow was stolen...then returned. Believe what makes you happy.


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

I'm shocked at the apparent lack of communication between people hunting that land... why would someone knowingly or unknowingly be walking around the area you are hunting on 4500 acres? The owner clearly needs to get all of his guests on the same page.

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## Catchemall (May 8, 2018)

Outside9 said:


> Who leaves their bow in a tree overnight?


Yeah, I do it regularly too, especially when stands are miles from camp. Crazy to carry it out and back if you don't have to. Muzzleloader as well. Bag it up, tape it up, put on a new primer in the morning and it has never failed to fire.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

Catchemall said:


> Yeah, I do it regularly too, especially when stands are miles from camp. Crazy to carry it out and back if you don't have to. Muzzleloader as well. Bag it up, tape it up, put on a new primer in the morning and it has never failed to fire.


I guess I worry the unexpected would happen if I left it somewhere miles away. 

Some emergency and need to leave in the middle of the night night or just anything and need to figure out how to get it back.

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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

I'd be worried about a squirrel chewing my bow up... yall braver than me. 

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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

jspooney said:


> I was trying to simply share an experience. Thought y'all might enjoy it. I know more about this situation than I wrote. Facts...the bow was stolen...then returned. Believe what makes you happy.


I'm not sure that you can say "Facts...the bow was stolen..."

You believe that he took it with bad intentions, but if I walked upon it, I would've grabbed it too. I never can imagine a scenario where someone would leave a $700+ bow in a tree and I hunt with one other person. 

Just saying that it's not "fact", but opinion.


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## auburn17 (Oct 29, 2008)

A buddy of mine left his bow in the tree after a morning hunt during the rut a few years ago. He had a stud 9 point on camera and was going to sit all day. He sat until lunch and climbed down to eat and was going to climb right back up, so left his bow in the stand.

On his walk to the truck to eat the 9 point he was hunting was in the middle of road and started side stepping him coming right at him bristled up like he wanted to fight.


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## Telum Pisces (Sep 27, 2007)

jspooney said:


> I was trying to simply share an experience. Thought y'all might enjoy it. I know more about this situation than I wrote. Facts...the bow was stolen...then returned. Believe what makes you happy.


Did the person that did the stealing, hand it back to you? Or was it a kid that grabbed it and a parent that handed it back after they found their kid stole it? A lot is left out in the typed words on a screen. Open to a lot of interpretation. But usually, a "stolen" bow is not simply returned to you the same day. If it was taken and returned by the same person, guilt has a way of getting to people sometimes.

But again, I've seen a rifle out in Blackwater leaning against a tree! Would you just leave it there for some teenager to find it??? Or would you take it and attempt to find the owner? Lots of situations left unsaid in typed words.


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## btfl (Dec 2, 2010)

Bow stolen or not, whatever. I can't get past leaving my bow in a tree overnight. Too many unknowns could happen.


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Meanwhile, we just recovered our 14 point shot this morning. What a stud. 3 more bucks to go.


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## IM4MOPAR (Mar 10, 2011)

where are you hunting?


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

IM4MOPAR said:


> where are you hunting?


South Dakota


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## IM4MOPAR (Mar 10, 2011)

you're north of me a little ways, worked up that way last year, a lil' bit N of Brookings and east of Watertown. It was pretty country. good luck!!


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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

IM4MOPAR said:


> you're north of me a little ways, worked up that way last year, a lil' bit N of Brookings and east of Watertown. It was pretty country. good luck!!


Thanks. Best bow hunt we've ever been on so far. We're in Highmore.


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## Walton County (Aug 23, 2016)

I stumbled across a ground blind deep in the choctawhatchee river(public land) that had a Beretta and a muzzleloader sitting in the corner. 
I was probably 17-18 years old and it wierded me out. I booked it out of there and about the time I got within 100yds of my boat I could hear another boat coming in wide open. I got to my boat as soon as he was pulling up and I said, "I saw your spot, and am backing out, I didn't want to mess you up.". He said he went to eat and was coming back in. 
That has been 15 years or so and I still think it's crazy. If I can't pack out what I brought in, I need to remove something else. Gun/bow wont be the item I leave.


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## CurDog (Nov 14, 2010)

^^^ Exactly ^^^ the right thing to have done. 
Back in school (eons ago), we would put money in a clear zip bag and leave it laying by a tree on the school grounds. The 1st person who picked it up and walked away with it, we'd beat the holy hell out of them. We did it for fun, but it probably re-instilled in their mind not to touch stuff that wasn't theirs. 
On private property, even public property, it should be left alone. If it's not yours, keep your dk beaters off it. Someone may be waiting to beat your ass for taking it? 
If you're worried the guy fell or somehow hurt himself or got lost, why take their bow? Just look for the guy, and leave his stuff alone, it's not yours. He may have left to eat or take a dump somewhere. Even if he forgot where he left it, that's his problem. If it's verified he was hurt and left it, then go back, get it, and take it to him or his relative, or tell them where it is. js


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## Brandon_SPC2 (Aug 4, 2016)

I would've been that guy searching the dang woods looking for someone that fell out of their stand. Got hurt really bad and tried to make it back to their vehicle because I have never known someone to leave a gun or bow in the stand.


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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

jspooney said:


> Meanwhile, we just recovered our 14 point shot this morning. What a stud. 3 more bucks to go.


Explain "Our" and let's see a photo.

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## jspooney (Oct 2, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> jspooney said:
> 
> 
> > Meanwhile, we just recovered our 14 point shot this morning. What a stud. 3 more bucks to go.
> ...


Nah, too many wanna be detectives. I'm not sure I want to defend how many points, what constitutes a stud, and why it was recovered so late at night. I'll show you the pictures later. "Our" means our hunting party.


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## Splittine (Nov 24, 2007)

Classic


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Blackwater monster....


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

14 point is a stud anywhere. I want to see the pics! I don't care if it's dark.


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## Tail Chaser (Jun 22, 2008)

just photoshop out the ear tags and high fence and it should all be good :thumbup:


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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

I aint afraid to post the buck we killed last season.









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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

Only half the size of yours. It's a stud cause in "our book" it is. I aint gonna defend how many points it has. 7. Cause it just has 7. All over 1 inch long. While we drug it out we did leave a man in the woods but with a weapon in his hand. Not in a tree. People can try and detect where it was killed. In da woods thats where. All anybody cares about is the dead animal 

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## Outside9 (Apr 30, 2008)

I'm shocked y'all let that dangerous looking guy holding the antlers have a loaded gun.

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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

Outside9 said:


> I'm shocked y'all let that dangerous looking guy holding the antlers have a loaded gun.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


That night was something else. Heck last season with "our group" was some of the most fun I've had in years. If we ever shared all the texts we sent and the tailgate conversations we coulda wrote a children's book. I don't believe any of us will ever forget it. Jason. Where's Jason. Crap we lost him 

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## 192 (Oct 1, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> I'm shocked y'all let that dangerous looking guy holding the antlers have a loaded gun.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk


He is fine with weapons but can’t park for shit.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

Outside9 said:


> I'm shocked y'all let that dangerous looking guy holding the antlers have a loaded gun.
> 
> Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk





Heck they took all the bullets outta my gun!!!:001_huh:


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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

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## K-Bill (May 14, 2009)

lettheairout said:


> That night was something else. Heck last season with "our group" was some of the most fun I've had in years. If we ever shared all the texts we sent and the tailgate conversations we coulda wrote a children's book. I don't believe any of us will ever forget it. Jason. Where's Jason. Crap we lost him
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


yeah yall look like you're really enjoying yourselves in that pic! haha. I woulda ruined it cause I'd be grinning like a waterhead while yall are all serious-looking.


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## lettheairout (Mar 11, 2008)

K-Bill said:


> yeah yall look like you're really enjoying yourselves in that pic! haha. I woulda ruined it cause I'd be grinning like a waterhead while yall are all serious-looking.


Haha. We was excited. But just drug that mule a looooooong ways. Up hill and it was hot. Exhausted. We hunted hard for a few days straight. 

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## K-Bill (May 14, 2009)

lettheairout said:


> Haha. We was excited. But just drug that mule a looooooong ways. Up hill and it was hot. Exhausted. We hunted hard for a few days straight.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk


I love it! I remember being fired up for Jason, and all yall, when that got posted up last season.


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## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

lettheairout said:


> Haha. We was excited. But just drug that mule a looooooong ways. Up hill and it was hot. Exhausted. We hunted hard for a few days straight.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk



Yepper, was thankful fer our group!!! I'd probably still be out there dragging and probably lost!!!!!! hahaha


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## Justin37Hunt (Feb 20, 2014)

John B. said:


> I'm shocked at the apparent lack of communication between people hunting that land... why would someone knowingly or unknowingly be walking around the area you are hunting on 4500 acres? The owner clearly needs to get all of his guests on the same page.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


That’s what I was thinking. If I’m the only one supposed to be hunting it, why is this guy walking around. If I’m not the only one hunting it and the stand isn’t mine, I’m not leaving my bow in it. 

I think if I found the bow in the tree I would probably pull it down and take it to the landowner, afraid someone had fallen out and crawled off or got lost scouting and couldn’t find their way back.


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

I just want to see the dead buck pictures already!


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

Finally!


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## John B. (Oct 2, 2007)

I count 12.... knew it was BS...

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