HELP Please! Pack Stolen
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
Left a pack in a pretty nasty canyon as a "lifeline." 3 guys in a fairly new charcoal gray GMC 2500 diesel burner 4 door with a white 16' roundnose, slat side bumper pull stock trailer with a grey and a paint horse. If you know anybody that was in CO on a mzzldr tag that fits this description please contact me! Smbdy knows these people & we need to make them famous! I have a $2,000 reward for the conviction of said person(s). Thank you!
From: Franklin
17-Sep-18
Colorado is a big state.
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
Yes sir. They could be from anywhere. I can give any details needed. Description remains the same. Somebody will read the description and it will "ring a bell." Hopefully! CO & sheriff's department are on it as well.
From: W
17-Sep-18
Maybe they just found a pack and didn’t steal it?
From: stick n string
17-Sep-18
“Maybe they just found a pack and didnt steal it?”
Really?
SMH....
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
If you take something that isn't yours it's considered stealing.
From: BagginBigguns
17-Sep-18
I think, if I was going to do something like you did, I'd leave a clear note on the pack to inform anyone who stumbles on it that it's not a lost pack, but rather a cache of equipment. Then at least the guy who takes it knows, if he swipes it, he's not just claiming abandoned gear.
I hope you recover your stuff!
From: Zbone
17-Sep-18
Maybe I'm not understanding, but if you have this much detail, why not yell and try to stop them?
And what was in a survival pack to be worth at least $2000 also confuses me...
From: md5252
17-Sep-18
Some gaps in the story here...
A few more details/facts and an area would probably help
From: APauls
17-Sep-18
Yes it is sad in today's day and age some people seem to think if it isn't tied and locked down that it is just "finders keepers” - have to agree with stick n string, but how did we (as society) get to this mentality? A new pack with stuff in it, obviously a person is going to come back for it.
On the other hand, you have to know you are taking a risk leaving something behind like that. I think twice any time I tie a trail camera to a tree never-mind leaving a pack in the bush. Feel bad for you pop-r really hope you get it back.
From: Ucsdryder
17-Sep-18
Pop r what general area. Feel free to pm me.
From: Shawn
17-Sep-18
Tough situation. I agree with leaving a note saying this is not a lost pack but a survival in case of an emergency..maybe your name and number to.. then if they still take it well..unfortunately selfishness has become a huge part of our culture and nowadays it's all about me myself and I.. hope you recover it. Good luck!
From: jdee
17-Sep-18
If I find a new F 350 with a Powerstroke diesel sitting on an old dirt road with no one around can I just think...... hey I found a truck...cool think I’ll take it ?
Good luck pop r hope you get it back.
From: LINK
17-Sep-18
I’ve found stuff in the mountains. I once found a nice jacket, had it not been rotted should I have assumed someone was coming back for it or hauled it out of the woods? Personally I wouldn’t leave anything cached anywhere that I wasn’t prepared to lose. Just my 2 cents.
From: SBH
17-Sep-18
Hope you find em Pop r. That is truly a bummer. We cache stuff from time to time too so I can relate.
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
I agree s note would've been best. I just NEVER dreamed anybody would take the stuff. It wasn't worth but about $750 I'd guess but I want whoever did it to understand. Had it been a cold year or an emergency happened it could've been a life or death matter. Can't imagine the mentality to just take it. I didn't know that had taken it until the day after they left.
From: BIG BEAR
17-Sep-18
Maybe they thought someone inadvertently left it and are posting it on line looking to return it to the owner..... ???
From: skookumjt
17-Sep-18
How do you know they took it? I wouldn't leave anything that could be mistaken as lost or intentionally left behind without leaving a note to make it clear why it was just sitting out in the middle of nowhere.
The pack may indeed have been taken out of greed but it also could have been picked up by someone who thinks they are helping.
From: jdee
17-Sep-18
I was riding in the wilderness last year and saw something blue under some big fallen ponderosa pine trees so I rode over to check it out. It turned out to be a camp all stashed away ....big tent, chairs, water , canvas bags full of something . I knew it wasn’t mine and wouldn’t want anyone to mess with it of it was so I left it alone and rode off. That’s probably rare because here in NM we have some of the best thieves in the country.
From: flybyjohn
17-Sep-18
I'll be the bad guy here. There are things in the woods that look like somebody is coming back for them and certain things that don't. A truck at a trial head, of course, a camp all set up, certainly, a game camera, you know it, but a single back pack in the bottom of a nasty canyon that looks like it has been there a while with nobody around. That right there gives me several ideas. First is that someone dropped the pack to follow some elk and forgot where they dropped the pack. I've done that several times. Finally found it but sure was worried I never would. Second, someone said to themselves I am in a deep hellish canyon and there's no way I'm packing out this pack. I'm leaving it here and I'll get a new one when I get back home. I figure there are enough hunters out there that spend thousands of dollars on an elk hunt that a back pack is nothing in regards to the whole picture. Third, maybe it was tied on to a pack horse and fell off along the way. 4th, maybe a bear found it and ripped it up a bit or took off with it and it is still sitting out there in the woods somewhere. Bears sure like messing with my cameras and even my bear spray that I dropped in the woods. I found my bear spray a few hundred yards from where I dropped it and it was all chewed up. Fifth, maybe these guys with the horse trailer didn't take it at all. Maybe it was someone, or something else. You didn't see the guys with the pack did you?
The one thing that I would not have thought of is that someone would leave a $750.00 pack all by itself unattended in the bottom of a deep dark canyon just for an emergency. Who does that with something with that kind of value. That is not a risk I would take.
Ok enough bad guy. Sure it sucks to have stuff taken when it probably should not have been. I stash stuff all the time in the woods. My tree stand has been in the woods for nearly ten years laying at the base of several trees covered with some brush. I put it up here and there but hate to hike it all the way out and in again every year. If it gets stolen, I take that chance. I'll leave game bags stashed in plastic bags buried between some rocks and cover it with brush. No sense of packing them around when I can just hike a mile to get them. Point is, I always hide them and cover them up so that nobody can see them. For one, it keeps people from seeing them and two if someone does find them, they know very well that they were intended to be a stash and were not just accidentally dropped or lost.
From: TreeWalker
17-Sep-18
Unattended gear is a leap of faith. An active camp can get pilfered. Items along a trail are similar to items along a roadway. Not expected, a riddle, a mystery. Abandoned by an out of shape hunter? Fell off a horse? Fell off a truck? Tossed by a slob? I have encountered a lot of stuff on public lands and roads without names and not carefully placed. I have stashed water ahead of hunts and had good luck but not perfect results. I would never jettison valuable items except if I was injured or an emergency exit situation. Not that trusting of people. A note on the items would be useful if are leaving things along a trail though if are relying on an item to not be disturbed by critter or man and actually still be there when the emergency arises then are braver than me. I would carry a PLB or satellite phone for emergencies.
From: stealthycat
17-Sep-18
last year I "found" what looked to be a stash of some kind ... there was no pack, some nice clothes, food, rangfinder etc ..... a bear had found it before me, but the rangefinder worked, the clothes were high quality and I laid them out on rocks to dry and thought yeah, I'll pack all that trash out etc too on my way back to camp ... I figured the stuff had been there several weeks
as odd as it sounds that very day someone walked to same tracks i did, and they packed all that up and it was gone when I got back there hours later
owners? someone else? no idea
leaving stuff is always risky - hope you get your stuff back
From: md5252
17-Sep-18
How do you know that those guys took the bag?
Also, I’d give a description of the bag and contents too if it was me. The more info the better (which is lacking here imo). Good luck
From: South Farm
17-Sep-18
You'd pay $2 grand to get back $750?? C'mon, tell us, what's really in the bag because that's fuzzy math!:)
From: flybyjohn
17-Sep-18
The $2000.00 is for the conviction of the said persons. Now no law enforcement is going to convict somebody for finding a backpack in the middle of the woods with nobody around so there won't be any reward. Now if someone found that pack that reads this forum decides to contact the owner, they might get a reward, but then again if I was being accused of stealing it, I might get worried and just keep the bag.
From: Franklin
17-Sep-18
I think it`s "harvest time" in Colorado....isn`t it?
From: flybyjohn
17-Sep-18
"If you take something that isn't yours it's considered stealing. "
I found a 20.00 bill in the gutter on the side of the street once, I will admit that I did indeed steal it and I put it in my pocket. I knew it wasn't mine at the time but I assumed that there would be nobody coming back looking for it. A local sheriff once told me that possession is 9/10ths of the law. That was when my bicycle was stolen.
From: Buyse
17-Sep-18
First let me start off by saying I hope you get your stuff back. I do have to ask though. If your stuff was in a deep nasty canyon, why do you think the truck had anything to do with taking your stuff? I'm assuming there wasn't a road through said canyon? Maybe I'm missing something. Just curious...
From: TD
17-Sep-18
Exactly HOW do you know those folks in the truck took it? Because "they were the only ones around"? There's likely 3 or 4 times the number of folks in that area than you think there are. It's CO public land I'd imagine.
Sucks to have your stuff taken. (seriously doubt even if found they could prosecute for theft. They found it, didn't break into camp or vehicle to steal it). Hope you get your stuff back.
What sucks WAY worse is to be accused of doing something you didn't do. Did you SEE them take it or were they just the "only folks around"?
From: Hh76
17-Sep-18
I "found" a nice over/under on the side of a trail one year. I left it sitting there, not knowing who'd be coming back for it. Got out to the road and there was a hunter standing next to his truck. I mentioned the gun, and he said (somewhat jokingly) "I wish you would have picked it up, it would have saved me a trip". Turns out he left it there so he could drag out some other gear without it getting in the way.
Just an example of how every situation is different, and you can't blame someone for picking up a pack that they may have thought was left on accident.
From: Irishman
17-Sep-18
Anytime you leave anything out in the woods, you have to realize that there is a possibility that it will get stolen/found/picked up by someone else. You don't leave anything that you aren't willing to lose. I left my camper for a few days one time, and came back to find the window broken in, the generator stolen from inside and other stuff like my tree-stand stolen. Another time I left my camper and went to town one evening and came back the next morning to find the battery was stolen, and someone was parked sleeping in a car beside my camper, but he knew nothing (Of course, I know that the meth head, scumbag took my battery, but I couldn't prove it or search his vehicle). Bottom line is that you are taking a risk anytime you leave anything unattended.
From: Irishman
17-Sep-18
I've also found some weird stashes while hunting. Last year I found what appears to be the equipment from someone's meth production operation. It was 5 miles up a gated road (that you haven't been able to drive on for 20+ years, with trees growing in the road, and brush so thick you couldn't walk on it), and about 50 miles from civilization. When I was hunting up there last year, I didn't know which to worry about most - the grizzly bears in the area or the owners of the equipment returning. I attached a photo of some of the stashed equipment. Everything was painted camo.
From: 3arrows
17-Sep-18
Never ASS U ME
From: W
17-Sep-18
I found a pair of jeans, dingo boots, and a check stub at my parking area just off the highway. Seemed odd. I went hunting. At dark, I came out and my buddy dropped by on his way out of the woods. It was his birthday, the boots fit him, and he was happy. Something still seemed strange. A sheriffs investigator was a fellow club member and we told him. He went and got the check stub. Turns out, the person the check was written to, was a suspect in a murder. I probably missed bumping into him by no more than a few hours. Yikes. My buddy had to turn in the boots as evidence. Haha.
From: splitlimb13
17-Sep-18
Jdee , if I found an f-350 Powerstroke I'd leave it on the side of the road haha. ....it's probably there cuz it broke down haha
From: Tracker
17-Sep-18
This is the second thread I have seen accusing someone of stealing something without the poster saying "I saw them take it". Being in the area is not a crime. Years ago I found a shotgun lying along side the road near where we duck hunted. I turned it into the sheriffs office and 6 months later no-one claimed it.
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
I didn't see them take it and if I'm wrong I accept that and will duly apologize but I'm not. They were camped about a quarter from me on top edge of said canyon. They were the only ones I know of in the area. There were a few people pull up to the top of said canyon that immediately turned around and left as it's at a dead end road. They were the only horses in the area. It would be possible to ride over from another canyon bit is very unlikely & the CO officer didn't think was even feasibly possible. Whoever took the pack was on horses as they left tracks. The people loaded their camp Thursday morning and drove within 45 yds of me standing in front of my camp in full orange. If they had my pack trying to help then would've been the time to say so but they didn't say a word & drove by. I noticed it gone the next morning.
From: Pop-r
17-Sep-18
And it has NOTHING to do with the math. Some people aren't capable of understanding such I suppose.
From: fubar racin
17-Sep-18
Forgot my bino harness on a rock this year came back to it literally 15 min later and it was gone. I learned my lesson found stolen whatever I won’t leave gear alone again for sure
From: mn_archer
17-Sep-18
Pop-
I see your reward is based on a conviction. These people likely didnt break any laws by taking your pack- therefore no conviction.
In many areas items left on public property become public property. Its dumb, I agree, I just don't see a court seeing this as unlawful
From: Firsty
17-Sep-18
So you apparently didn't have it hid very good? I've stashed stuff and have had a hard time finding it and I'm the one who put it there! Sorry for your loss of course ,but just saying.
From: Shawn
17-Sep-18
What would old frozen Hatchet Jack say when you took his Hawkens? OH wait he left a note, that would of been the smart thing to do or not leave it in the first place. Hard to speculate what really happened! Shawn
From: Mule Power
17-Sep-18
It’s 2018 man. The only thing that funds a cache I left are the chipmunks. Out of sight out of mind.
From: TreeWalker
17-Sep-18
Unattended gear is a leap of faith. An active camp can get pilfered. Items along a trail are similar to items along a roadway. Not expected, a riddle, a mystery. Abandoned by an out of shape hunter? Fell off a horse? Fell off a truck? Tossed by a slob? I have encountered a lot of stuff on public lands and roads without names and not carefully placed. I have stashed water ahead of hunts and had good luck but not perfect results. I would never jettison valuable items except if I was injured or an emergency exit situation. Not that trusting of people. A note on the items would be useful if are leaving things along a trail though if are relying on an item to not be disturbed by critter or man and actually still be there when the emergency arises then are braver than me. I would carry a PLB or satellite phone for emergencies.
From: bad karma
17-Sep-18
Where's the intent to steal? They'll say it was abandoned, and nobody will even charge them. I think your $2000 is safe.
From: mn_archer
18-Sep-18
100 percent agree Kevin. His $2,000 is a hell of a lot safer than his pack was
From: Bowriter
18-Sep-18
Here, feel free to use this note:
Hey, this is mine and you, right now, are in my crosshairs. Go ahead, make my weekend. I'm sighting in this new rifle.
From: mn_archer
18-Sep-18
Chill kill- your plan would be to sue them in a CIVIL court and because of their CRIMINAL actions resulting in an estimated $750 loss you are hoping to be awarded a truck, trailer, and horses. again, by a civil court? Do I have that right?
You should know, that's not how any of this works.
As Kevin stated above a pack was left deep on the forest. How do you know the intentions of those who recovered it were anything less than pure?
From: BIG BEAR
18-Sep-18
Nobody is scoring anything in civil court on this........ Nor would anyone be prosecuted......
From: Scar Finga
18-Sep-18
I have found all kinds of stuff out in the middle of nowhere! If you don't want it taken, don't leave it behind or put a note on it, chain it to a tree or whatever. My buddy lost a very expensive pistol on a hunt. reported it missing, not stolen. Finding something and picking it up is not a crime... period! I would have asked a nearby camper or hunter if it was theirs, but if they said no, I would probably take it and let the police know I have it someone wanted to claim it.
