Most tragic story of destroyed gun

mlf3882

New member
So was looking at recent posts for most favorite guns to hunt with and one person mentioned what happened when he forgot to put his gun away after the hunt. That got me thinking of us trying to top the other's story of most tragic way they lost a gun i.e. destroyed, broken, damaged.

Mine- Hunting in SD last year, put gun on top of my brother's topper to deal with injured dog. Remember what I did about 10 miles away from where we hunted. We turned back, my hope was that the gun slid off of the top into snow, my fear was we passed another truck on two track just before turning onto the highway. Found the gun...on the highway and it evidently was ran over by semi, based on the damage...MASSIVE! Receiver crushed, barrel bent, forearm shattered, bolt lever driven into the pavement.

The gun was a Browning B2000 20ga (Belgium) that was my grandpas, did about $1200 worth of revamp, got stock bent for me (left-handed) and put Briley choke tubes in it... :(
 
I did the same thing when getting the cooler out to get some lunch and mine was in the case(soft) and didn't remember until I got home and couldn't find it. I called the local sheriff dept where I figure it may of fell off and they sent a deputy to check my track to the highway as it was 3 hours from my home.. They never found it, but I know someone did!! I do have insurance on all my guns thank goodness that covers stupidity!! Costs me 1.00 per hundred, so a 900 dollar gun costs me 9 bucks a year for that one gun. It does add up with a few guns, but well worth it when you need it. Still can't believe I did that..:(
 
bad luck #2,
yep im the dope who left my citori on my front hood to watch it tumble in the rear view mirror thru the gravel... it now sports a new stock and forend to match refinish!
I have 2 stories to tell:

app. 10 years ago on a mid Montana public land hunt I had taken a RARE early limit on sunday, so went back to the truck. Took pictures with the pups, the limit, and my little benelli 20 gauge auto... after the pictures loaded the dogs, and grabbed a quick lunch... yep your right didn't load the gun, as I drove away never crossed my mind. I remembered the next morning as I was taking my nephew out on a private access hunt Monday afternoon. Called the local sheriff to see if he could find the gun at the access point? NOPE he said gone. I ran an ad in the Great falls paper for a reward... no response ever!

The worst story DID not happen to me, a person in my home town was floating a local river for ducks in the fall, and rolled his canoe in the river. he lost his shotguns - rifles in the rollover... he got out safely but couldn't retrieve his guns too deep!!!!
so he claimed the guns on his homeowners insurance... later he hired a scuba diver to retrieve them. His diver got tangled up in limbs in the river and drowned... he had not included the insurance in the attempted recovery... he go in deep water himself again, thru insurance fraud...
 
This type of mishap is not isolated to just we ordinary guys. Some of you might be familiar with the story of how Nash Buckingham lost "Bo Whoop", his Burt Becker built super Fox. Upon coming out of the marsh he was duck hunting in, he was approached by two game wardens who checked his party's licenses. When the wardens realized that it was Nash Buckingham that they were checking they asked if they could see Bo Whoop. While talking one of the wardens laid the Fox on the back fender of the car Nash was traveling in. When the group left, yes, Nash forgot to pack Bo Whoop. He too posted a reward in various papers to no avail. Bo Whoop was lost and remained so for nearly 58 years. It finally surfaced and sold in 2010 at a Julia's auction after being restored. Bo Whoop sold for $175,000.
 
Glad I'm not the only one in this boat!

Had my gun leaned up against the truck after hunting a spot and grabbing a snack and chit chatting with others members of my hunting group back in 2014. It hit me about a 1/2 mile down the road. Thought it be be minimal, if any damage. I was wrong, when I returned to a bent barrel. The gun tipped over and landed under the truck as I pulled out. Ran it over myself with the back tire of the truck. Lesson learned, I will always case my gun and put it away upon returning to the truck before I do anything!!!
 
A senior moment: left the gun propped on the passenger side. rear of the truck.

Was alone and drove off to another hunting site. Ready to go...opened the back truck gate and... no gun.

Fortunately the gun was still there, buried a bit in the snow, but OK. It's a 20 ga., with lots of alterations, which I didn't want to perform again on a new gun.
 
My own story. Emphasizes why you should never do work on your morning off. Got back to the car after a few hours of pheasant hunting. Hung my browning BPS in a short tree to put the dog away. Phone rang and I made the mistake of answering. Sat down in the front seat to sort through some paper work, and about 30 minutes later we finished our conversation. Promptly put the phone down and drove away. The bright side is it got me into sxs and o/u. I now have a Citori Superlight Feather 20 gauge. Fits great, and I really shoot it well.
 
Not a tragic story, but could have been. After returning from a day of rabbit hunting several yrs. ago, my hunting buddy and I were unloading our dogs and gear in the driveway at his house. I had leaned my left handed Rem. 870 20 ga. (very rare) in it's case against the right rear of his truck while I loaded my dogs and hunting clothes in to my truck. I took off for home. When I got home and started unloading the dogs and gear I noticed the gun was not there. I ran in the house and called my buddy to tell him what I had done and asked him if he had moved his truck. He said yea, and I ran over the gun. I almost cried. I asked him how bad it was damaged and he started laughing. He said no, it's fine, I saw it leaned against the truck after you left. I could have killed him for scaring me like that! Needless to say, I didn't make that mistake again!
 
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