That sinking feeling...

I'm glad you all found your stuff. The general rule-of-thumb is if you set something down in the bush and walk away 100',you'll never see your gear again when you go back to get it. It's happened to me a couple of times and it can make you NUTS!! You swear on a whole stack of bibles that you went back to the identical spot,but,nope,it's gone. I still have a rifle I found leaning against a tree exactly where the owner left it and in really good condition considering it had been there likely for,at least, a couple of years,maybe longer. It cleaned up beautifully with a lot of work. We never found the owner.

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Had a gps unit fall out of a pocket and didn't notice until I got back to the vehicle, although tried to retrace my route couldn't find it. A year later almost to the day hunting the same spot looked down ant there it was- dead with no recovery- but found.

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I once found a buddy's GPS that he'd dropped the year before. It too could not be resuscitated.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

I'm glad you all found your stuff. The general rule-of-thumb is if you set something down in the bush and walk away 100',you'll never see your gear again when you go back to get it. It's happened to me a couple of times and it can make you NUTS!! You swear on a whole stack of bibles that you went back to the identical spot,but,nope,it's gone. I still have a rifle I found leaning against a tree exactly where the owner left it and in really good condition considering it had been there likely for,at least, a couple of years,maybe longer. It cleaned up beautifully with a lot of work. We never found the owner.

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A found rifle! You win!

Lucky you.
As far as knives, I have enough of them not to bring one in the bush that means something to me. I keep those for for once the game is hanging in the garage.

When I started hunting as a teenager me and my father were shotgun hunting for deer in the Ganaraska forest one day and my dad shot a buck.
We both leaned our shotguns against the same tree and proceeded to gut the deer then dragged it back to our vehicle and left to go home.
My routine after a hunt the next day was to clean the guns we used so you can imagine what my father said when i asked him Sunday morning where he left the shotguns back to the Gany in a snow storm and there they were where we left them, needless to say that never happened again.

My brother once lost a grohman belt knife. Retraced his steps but no luck. A week later was walking his Brittany and she starts acting like she's sniffed out a bird. She had found his knife

WOW!!! Keep the stories coming guys!
It warms my heart to hear about all the successful finds. Happy for you all indeed.
As for myself, I am bothered forever when I lose something in the woods. Be it a lens cap, or even an ear plug!
I have found lost arrows three years later and I know how good it can feel. :)