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Wanted to share a couple cool traps that were found while shed hunting. A few years back while shed hunting I took a little rest on a log, as I tilted my head back and sipped on my water bottle my eyes caught something strange hanging about 12 ft up in a Norway pine. It ended up being a Victor trap with a 1968-69 tag on it. Took me awhile but I got it down. This week while visiting a friend I noticed a trap in the back of the bed of his truck, he asked if I wanted it. While he was shed hunting along one of the local trout streams he found it. He told me the streams flooded real good this spring you could see how high the water line got, he said the trap was wrapped up high off the ground in some brush. The trap is a Blake & Lamb #4 Get this....The trap tag is for the years Wisconsin 1938-1939. I am surprised at how good of shape they are in. Victor trap is on the left and Blake & Lamb is on the right. What is some of your interesting finds while hunting, scouting adventures?
I have found "lost" arrows on my property. One I did not recognize & don't know who owned it, and the other was one of mine from years & years earlier.
I've also found (no surprise to this) dead deer, skeletons of deer, and deer bones from years & years earlier carried by a predator from who knows where? Once found a raccoon skull,...no bones, just the skull.
My most unusual find happened back in the early seventies when I was hunting with a friend on his spot in the Adams-Friendship area. I was still hunting through an area when I came across a semi-hollow tree stump about 7 - 9 feet high. What I found unusual was that the stump was smoldering, smoking, and inside you could see charred wood. Nothing around it was on fire and there was no sign of a campfire anywhere nearby. No sign of any human or fire activity in the area! WTH? How could this be? A stump on fire in the middle of the woods and nothing around it showing any signs of being burnt. Never have been able to figure this out? Anyone have any ideas?
Stump on fire, that is strange. I also found a trap that was grown into a tree but the land owner wouldn't give me it and I don't blame him. That would have been cool to have next to a raccoon mount.
Those traps are really cool finds.
The stump fire can come from the stump composting. If conditions are right compost can generate enough heat to catch fire. My only explanation....
The stump may have had a lightning strike. Conditions have to be dry though for that to happen; we usually have enough rain with lightning but not always. Composting is another possibility.
Remember if found on Federal property, some finds must be left there. I have found horseshoes, chains, a coffee pot, a twenty dollar bill ( I kept) but the others had to be left as they were from old historical logging camps. I know of a local that found an old lever action rifle estimated from the late 1800s but the Feds got wind of it and he had to turn it over to them. It is now locked in a vault at the GLVC in Ashland.
While trout fishing last Friday,found a Timex Expedition in the ditch covered with mud and sand. Just a couple minutes off, still ticking.
More spooky than interesting found a cross bow bolt through a small tree I sit on the ground in front of just a few inches higher than my head would be last year, hunt private land no one claimed it when brought up I'm pretty sure it was none of those guys
One year a friend of mine was bow hunting his very remote big woods property when he had two Cadaver Dogs and a team of law enforcement officers walk under his tree stand...he talked with them for a bit...they were going on a tip about a body buried out there some where in the area.
Always enjoy finding items that belonged to past hunters
Tomas , 15 years ago I was hunting a huge plains in Alberta when a fog moved in with 30 ft visibilty & the Sun was going down .
I fired up the compass on the Timex , turn a 360 to tune it & walked blindly ( depending on the Timex )out of a very dangerous situation .
Some of my collection . lots of miles .
This year while looking for elk sheds I found a pile of deer hair with a tracking collar in the middle of it. I called up the number on the collar and found out the doe was collared in 2011 about 1 miles away. They said she was mature when collared which just means she wasn't a yearling. She was probably 10-11 years old. Not many of them make it that long.
Ruger, you must walk with your eyes on the ground all the time.
found a acoustic guitar someone had left at a trail head. I left a note with my contact info in case anyone came back for it but never heard anything back.
Found a tree that had grown through and old steel wheel. By the size of the tree it must've been many, many years ago.
Legend has it a young man left his bike leaning against this tree, life happened and he was never able to return.
This is in the north west.
Trees do not grow 'up'. That could have happened but the bike would have had to have been hung up that high and probably nailed into the tree .
July 1984 2 of us were crawling in a small saddle to peak into a valley known for P&Y Lopes . I noticed the ground was black with chips & chunks of Absidian. We had found a arrowhead factory .
When The Piuates found a field of Absidian they would setup camp & make arrowheads & other tools for a week . Thry had hi standards , we picked up a bunch of heads & knives that they considered rejects .
1982 . Stalking a Mulie in Northern CA. Got bagged & was headed back to the truck . looked down & found this Iron ring .
Local expert told me it was from a covered wagon in the Gold rush era & I found it on the remnants of same trail the Donner Party used on their illfated trip .
Never will know if it was from the Donner party .
Any idea what part of the wagon this would be from?
Assuming it is relatively small in size, my guess would be some type of rope tie down loop.
I found a moose shed once while dumping fish guts on a fishing trip in Canada. Surprised me because I never have much luck finding deer sheds
Cool stuff. My favorites are the wheel and the bike so far.
We found this car more than 1/2 mile from any road/trail.
The ring is 2 in. in dia..
An old timer took me up the Mtn across from the saddle the wagon trains used . I could see nothing until the sun went down behind the saddle . Then You could see the slight indentations in the sand & the different elevation of the Sage brush .
I learned to find old trails all over the Mtns . I would look at them & wonder how tough it must have been . Wow .
