The world we live in

[craiger40]

last weekend a fellow hunter and friend was robbed on his way back to Texas from Kansas. my friend was on his way back from a week long deer hunt in Kansas he stopped for lunch a hundred miles or so from his house. while he was in the restaurant ordering his food some punks were stealing his four wheeler, trailer and stealing his pistol and rifle from his truck. These punks pretty much took all his essential hunting equipment which makes me think they were hunters. I really couldnt imagine hunters doing such a thing to another hunter. The bad thing is neither his home owners insurance or his car insurance feels is should pay for the lost property. He said he wasn't in the restaurant more than ten minutes while they did all this and no one seems to have noticed all this going on. People just remember there is nothing in this world that is impossible or unbelievable people will do anything so remember to keep a close eye on your belongings and pray to god we find away to change the ways of this world.

 

[Divernhunter]

That would not have to be a hunter as all of those items can be sold easy to make money for drugs or whatever.

 

[Guest]

Tell your friend to get his insurance agent to wake up. The contents of his vehicle are covered under homeowners, but are subject to the deductible. His trailer should be covered on his vehicle policy or on a separate policy, and his 4-wheeler should have it's own policy. If he doesn't have these coverages, and was never offered them (and turned them down) he needs a new agent - one who has your buddy's best interests at heart.

And, he needs to be sure he files all the police reports, as there's a decent chance some of that stuff may turn up at some point, and he can at least press charges on the dirtbags. I hope they wreck the 4-wheeler and get seriously injured...

 

[DrMike]

Craiger40,

The guys who did this were not hunters--they were thieves.

 

[6mm Remington]

You can lock it down, chain it up, and secure it in so many ways, yet they manage to find a way to cut locks, break chains, etc. Locking vehicles and securing things with hitch locks and other things keeps the honest folks honest, and DO PREVENT a lot of thefts, but ifsomeone wants it badly enough, they will most likely take it, or figure out a way to take it. It is amazing though that something like this can and does happen in broad daylight with other people around. That in itself is sometimes what does make it easy, because under such conditions, most folks think the activity they are seeing is legitimate.
Here's a couple of hints. We all should have a list of our firearms with serial numbers, scope serial numbers, and make and model and caliber description on a sheet of paper someplace (Fire Proof safe) as well as photographs of each firearm. The owner should have a couple of copies as well as providing his INSURANCE AGENT a copy so he can keep it in HIS FILE with your policy. PIctures too. Other items in our homes such as electronics, I-pods, computers, and things such as that with serial numbers SHOULD be recorded as well. Yes I know it's kind of a pain in the neck, but should you lose one of those precious rifles you have, it could mean getting it recovered/returned or not!!

 

[JD338]

Sorry to hear about your friends loss. I hope they catch the thieves and hang them. Lets hope the items are recovered soon.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

I hate thieves.

I worry a bit about this kind of thing when I'm traveling to various hunting and fishing spots. Really worry about it when I park my truck and walk off into the wilderness for a few hours or a few days of hunting or fishing or just backpacking...

We do the best we can, always be aware there are real bad guys out there who will take anything they can, anytime they can.

The good thing about this particular theft is that many of the items taken have serial numbers, VIN numbers etc... Might lead to an arrest down the road.

Sorry this happened to you. It can happen to pretty much any of us... Hard to be vigilant 24/7...

Guy

 

[Bruce Mc]

It amazes me how many people have guns stolen from their vehicles and either don't report them or they don't know the serial numbers. Some don't even know the make or model. It is kinda "grandpas old 30-30" or something similar. One guy even remarked that he didn't keep the serial number because he knew Wal-Mart would have a record of it if he needed it. 6mm has it right, record all serial numbers and take photos. That includes scopes, binoculars, range finders, spotting scopes, etc.

 

[Charlie-NY]

It amazes me how many people have guns stolen from their vehicles and either don't report them or they don't know the serial numbers. Some don't even know the make or model. It is kinda "grandpas old 30-30" or something similar. One guy even remarked that he didn't keep the serial number because he knew Wal-Mart would have a record of it if he needed it. 6mm has it right, record all serial numbers and take photos. That includes scopes, binoculars, range finders, spotting scopes, etc.

Here is what I did and it didn't take all that long:

I looked at each of my firearms, one by one, and typed the make, model, serial number and accessories (scope etc.) on a piece of paper using the largest font that would fit on the 8.5"x11" paper. Then I laid the firearm on a plain backround with the descriptive paper near it and took a digital photo. I did this with each rifle, pistol and shotgun. Saved them all to a file and made a CD which is kept in my safe.

In the event of a loss I can easily & accurately describe my firearms and prove that I actually owned them at the time. It is very easy to update this file as firearms come & go or equipment changed.

 

[Bruce Mc]

Its also very easy to write over a digital photo with the serial number make and model.

 

[JD338]

Charlie-NY and Bruce Mc,

Good idea fellas!
I had my Minalta Z5 digital camera stolen this past summer at my wife's family reunion by a POS nephew. MI State Police are involved but until the camera surfaces, no luck. I despise thieves.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

I despise thieves.

+1

 

[Bruce Mc]

I like putting thieves in jail. In Texas we have a third times the charm law for theft. Third or more is enhanced to a felony no matter the amount. A career thief can be sentenced to five years in the slammer for stealing a can of beer or a pack of gum. You just gotta love Texas justice. Sure puts petty shoplifting in its place.

 

[Divernhunter]

I have done the photo with #'s thing before. I now have more firearms and found that Brownels has a personal firearms record that is real good. It has places for all info and a photo plus a place to put manuals/reciepts etc. Then each one goes into a 3-ring binder. If you do the list or photo or CD thing you should put a copy of it into an envelope and mail it to yourself. Then do not open it. If you have a loss then you have proof of ownership before the date due to the postmark. This was suggested by the NRA years ago. Had I done it and kept it up to date I would have saved myself alot of trouble when going thru my divorce. Had to pay her for guns I owned in grammer school because I did not have a purchase reciept for gift from my parents. It is not only helpfull when you get robbed but also when the court and an ex wants to rob you.

 

[C.Smith]

I like putting thieves in jail. In Texas we have a third times the charm law for theft. Third or more is enhanced to a felony no matter the amount. A career thief can be sentenced to five years in the slammer for stealing a can of beer or a pack of gum. You just gotta love Texas justice. Sure puts petty shoplifting in its place.

I wish Washington had that law, that would be great, not sure it would help much. They just raised the Felony level amount in the state because the courts were so overwhelmed. As stated earlier I hate thieves too.

Corey

 

[jtoews80]

That would suck to loose a 4 wheeler, rifle and pistol. Hopefully, he gets them back. May the thief's road be rocky and full of thorns for his trouble.

I'm always paranoid about that sort of thing happening. I had a lock punched out of my car door a couple years back when I bought a CZ550. It was in the trunk and I suspect that I was seen and followed leaving the sporting goods store. They were not able to get the door open, but it was a near thing.

Since then, if I go into the city to buy a gun it's the last stop for the day. As well, I try to park as close as possible at sporting goods shops to avoid attention loading firearms into my vehicle. If I have to stop again I try not to leave my vehicle unattended and or park in the safest place possible.

In Canada we have a Registry, all guns sold since 96 have been added to it.
Of course, it doesn't work all that well to begin with as gun people tend to buy sell and trade alot and it's a big job to keep up with. Plus, the costs of operating this database is huge.

It also increases the value of unregistered guns to some people and that incourages theft and smuggling. A local merchant had an R-15 stolen this summer and someone tried to steal a handgun from another shop as well.

We were told that stolen AR's go for as much as $3500-$4000 and any unregistered handgun for $750-$1000. Seems that the registry has been counterproductive.

The long gun registry looks to be on it's way out, but I think we may be stuck with it on our handguns and AR's

JT.

 

[257 Ackley]

It's amazing for me to see how different it is in the metro area I live in compared to the small town I grew up in when it comes to locking things up. I wouldn't ever leave my car or house unlocked here. When back home for deer hunting or fishing, my brothers never seem to worry about locking vehicles. We had a problem one year with a vehicle being broken into north of Mobridge, SD when we were p-dog shooting, but that was not from hunters.

Glad to hear that the registry of long guns may be changing in Canada. The guy I rent from is Canadian and he is constantly complaining about how dumb that law is. Now we just have to figure out a way to reduce the amount of duty that is paid every time you cross the border into Ontario. :x . Can't believe all the fees I have to pay whenever we hunt and fish there, let alone the price of BEER!! And don't even consider bringing potatos across the border :lol:

 

[DrMike]

Not to hijack the thread, but under the Free Trade Agreement, Americans coming into Canada should not be paying duty, especially when they are coming to hunt.

There are some excellent thoughts on this thread. I'll be updating my information, which has been neglected during the past year. Thanks for all the ideas.

 

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Charlie-NY and Bruce Mc,

I despise thieves.

JD338

So does God!