Found**** hunting rifle

[robodad]

[kellama2001]

This is sooo awesome! Nice to hear about good, decent people and happy endings! 

[Dick in the Dirt]

This is the story told by his daughter on facebook:


There are still good, honest people out there.

My dad left and went hunting in Winthrop last week, he brought his rifle with him that he always brings. The rifle my Grandpa bought in 1960 that my Dad shot his first deer with when he was just a boy in 1968. My Grandpa gave him the rifle in 1986 and my Dad has used it ever since when he goes hunting every year... well this year he cut his trip short. He was up in the mountains talking to some other hunters and ended up leaving his rifle behind, went back to see if it was still there and it wasn't. Due to the sentimental value this rifle holds my dad decided to come home because he was so upset, he doesn't have many things left behind from his Dad and this was one of the things that meant a lot to him. My mom posted on Facebook about it and the guy that found the gun posted on a lost and found sight for Washington hunters, someone saw both posts and sent my mom’s post to the guy who found my dads gun! His name is Josh Allen from Tumwater and we are so thankful he found it and made sure to get it back to the rightful owner. It's more then just a rifle to my Dad, it's something that couldn't be replaced, the memories it holds were heartbreaking to think about loosing to the point my Dad didn't want to do what he loves anymore, he didn't want to hunt again. THANK YOU JOSH, you are a Hero in our families eyes.

A job well done Josh, Pm me next time your in the Valley. Beer on me.

[archer0135]

I'll be there in a couple weeks for my late season Chewuch whitetail tag

[mkcj]

What a great ending to a post!

[Angry Perch]

I just forgot about all of the nonsense going on in the world for a minute. How incredibly refreshing it is to see humans being human.

[builtfordtough]

My best friends dad left his shotgun against his truck 35 years ago at stillwater release site. Got home and realized what had happened. Raced back to find the gun gone.

Fast forward 20 years later. He's working on a house very near the release site and starts to BS with the owner. Start talking and bout hunting and then how he lost a gun way back when.

Homeowner says wait here for a sec. Comes back out and says Im Pretty sure this is your gun.  His dad had found the gun and gave it to him for a Christmas present.

He still owns the gun and Ive been trying to buy it for 15 years 

[DOUBLELUNG]

Right on.  Made my day reading this!

[NOCK NOCK]

What an awesome story. 

30ish years ago I took a guy I worked with deer hunting, dropped him off on a ridge up Preston creek(Entiat valley)
We cut a really fresh large track crossing the road which he wanted to trail. The arrangement was we would pick him up on the valley road in 4 hours. I thoroughly explained to him that when dropping off into the valley, he could not go south (lots of rocks/cliffs) so veer to the north while descending.

He was 2 hours late to the rendezvous point, and when we finally found him his head was hanging low and he entered the truck without a rifle in hand. We all thought he was playing a joke on us, so we drove off.
A mile or two down the road I stopped and said that's enough, we're all tired and ready to get home, lets go get your gun. He was adamant that his gun was gone and to keep driving home, so we did. 

On the drive home we finally got the story out of him. Turns out he did indeed go the wrong direction and got into some really nasty rocks. Evidently he got to a point where he slid/jumped/dropped off a rock face and could not get back up it. At that point he was committed to going down and it just got worse from there. He came to a spot where he needed to scoot across a skinny ledge, and said he was scared for his life, and that he felt the rifle was impeding him,  so he just set it against the rocks and continued to work his way down the rocks/cliffs.

We repeatedly tried to get him to go back up there with us to retrieve his rifle (with ropes and climbing gear) but he was having none of it, said it was the scariest situation he had ever been in, and was never going back.

I still wonder about that rifle, was it ever found, or is it still up there? 

[Skillet]

Well done man.

It's what you do when nobody is looking - that's what determines what kind of man you are.

Good on ya-

 

[archer0135]

Thanks everyone!!!!! Being able to return that rifle to its owner is something I will never forget, it was a 1000 times better than finding it to begin with.

[huntnphool]

Well done Josh.

[Calvin Rayborn]

Today I was able to hand him rifle back

Little late on the reply but you rock man! Nice pic!

[bearhunter99]

Well done!    It's good to see stories like this in a world that doesn't have many of them!

[JJB11B]

Great job archer, now if Huntinman can get just as lucky.
Haven't lost a gun, but I did take my son hunting once and left the rifle at home - he still likes to remind me of that from time to time.

Dad?