There is a thief in our midst !!!!!!!!!!

I have to report an incident that happened last week. Now before you continue reading, know that when you are through, your faith and trust in outdoorsman will have greatly deteriorated.
I walked out to my duck blind last Saturday looking forward to a great hunt. When I reached the blind, I was shocked to realize that my 2 bags of decoys were gone. My blind is in the Tiffany bottoms between Nelson and Pepin. My family has hunted this pond for nearly 60 years. This pond is about 3/4 mile walk and we have always, and I mean always, left our decoys there the entire season. We put a note on them reading “These decoys belong to so and so and you are welcome to use them. Please return them when you are through” I can’t count the number of times that they have been used by others. Often there is a note of “Thank you” written on the back of our note. But this day, they were not returned.
I have often wondered if leaving them out there was a mistake. But when I see them being returned and notes of thank you written back to me, I think,”What do I have to worry about. These are fellow hunters. We have a common goal here. They always return them.”
The money lost here wasn’t a large sum. The decoys were not the top brand or quality. They were not in a fancy bag or did not have the best paint jobs. But they were mine.
My trust in outdoorsmen and overall the human race has been diminished significantly. I will replace my decoys and I will replace my bags. I will replace the strings and I will replace my weights. I will NOT replace the trust I once had for the hunters that walk the same path as me. I will NOT replace the small glimmer of faith that there is a group of people in this world that share my values.
Now I know some of you are reading this and thinking to yourself,”Listen to this guy. He is “crying” about decoys that were left on public property and is wondering why they were stolen. What did he think was going to happen? What an idiot!!”
If you are thinking along those lines, I warn you to think about who you are defending.

I agree mustbefishing, When someone puts normal trust into something like you did it only tells you that there are a few people around that think the opposite that you and we all do. I remember years ago you could leave your boat tied up anywhere and it would be there the next day. I’ve since lost a jon boat plus motor trusting. I now trust a little more closer to me than complete trust. Its too bad that this happens but there are still alot of guys that are completely trustworthy. A long tradition of trust is harmed and its hard to put trust back in full force again. I trust still but with a little more caution. Something simple like earning and knowing trust dosen’t come in some people. Its too bad it comes to this but for the other unlucky honest hunters it does, but for all those years of useage by honest hunters and thier returning them it shows theres alot more honest ones by far than not. I feel the same.

I agree mustbefishing, When someone puts normal trust into something like you did it only tells you that there are a few people around that think the opposite that you and we all do. I remember years ago you could leave your boat tied up anywhere and it would be there the next day. I’ve since lost a jon boat plus motor trusting. I now trust a little more closer to me than complete trust. Its too bad that this happens but there are still alot of guys that are completely trustworthy. A long tradition of trust is harmed and its hard to put trust back in full force again. I trust still but with a little more caution. Something simple like earning and knowing trust dosen’t come in some people. Its too bad it comes to this but for the other unlucky honest hunters it does, but for all those years of useage by honest hunters and thier returning them it shows theres alot more honest ones by far than not. I feel the same.

That sounds like a great loss, I once had my gas tank stolen out of my boat , and a week later someone returned it, they must have felt bad. I almost lost faith, I’m not one too take all my gear out of my boat when I plan to go out the next morning. I guess we can not always assume everyone is like us. I did not know that a person can erect a permanent blind , I always wanted to do that on the river, but when the floods come don’t they just wash out or get destroyed.? Tim

That sounds like a great loss, I once had my gas tank stolen out of my boat , and a week later someone returned it, they must have felt bad. I almost lost faith, I’m not one too take all my gear out of my boat when I plan to go out the next morning. I guess we can not always assume everyone is like us. I did not know that a person can erect a permanent blind , I always wanted to do that on the river, but when the floods come don’t they just wash out or get destroyed.? Tim

mustbefishing, I share your grief ‘ but one thing we must all remember is there are low -life born every day well actually not born , just raised that way. Hairjig

mustbefishing, I share your grief ‘ but one thing we must all remember is there are low -life born every day well actually not born , just raised that way. Hairjig

I admire that you have made it this long with the trusting attitude. Unfortunately, I lost my trusting attitude after getting several items stolen out of my boat many years ago, most people are trusting, but the few that are not seem to have the control

I admire that you have made it this long with the trusting attitude. Unfortunately, I lost my trusting attitude after getting several items stolen out of my boat many years ago, most people are trusting, but the few that are not seem to have the control

MBF, so far all you have lost is some decoys if you give up the thought that integrity and values are part of what we are as sportsmen you will have lost a lot more. The next time you come down to hunt stop in Alma and call me at 608-685-4842. I have a doz dekes you can have. They should be repainted but should work for many years yet. Keep the faith.

MBF, so far all you have lost is some decoys if you give up the thought that integrity and values are part of what we are as sportsmen you will have lost a lot more. The next time you come down to hunt stop in Alma and call me at 608-685-4842. I have a doz dekes you can have. They should be repainted but should work for many years yet. Keep the faith.

Sorry to hear MBF. I am sorry to hear about it, and also sorry to say I am not surprised.

If I got to a spot and there was a bag of decoys that said “use me please” on a note, the LAST thing I would think of doing is taking them!! I wish EVERY blind had a bag of dekes in it!

Sorry to hear MBF. I am sorry to hear about it, and also sorry to say I am not surprised.

If I got to a spot and there was a bag of decoys that said “use me please” on a note, the LAST thing I would think of doing is taking them!! I wish EVERY blind had a bag of dekes in it!

MBF; I hear you and it sucks. I even had the screw-in steps taken from a deer stand before. They left the stand, but must of really wanted those $2 steps in a bad way. Who cares about the $10 loss, I was more bent out of shape as to how I couldn’t get to my deer stand.

Yep, this was private property too.

As stated earlier, they are low-lifes, not the sportsman that you talk to here.

MBF; I hear you and it sucks. I even had the screw-in steps taken from a deer stand before. They left the stand, but must of really wanted those $2 steps in a bad way. Who cares about the $10 loss, I was more bent out of shape as to how I couldn’t get to my deer stand.

Yep, this was private property too.

As stated earlier, they are low-lifes, not the sportsman that you talk to here.

MBF,Sorry to hear this happened to you.I’v never understood why someone would steal stuff .You put your trust in fellow hunters and look what happens-very sad.I had a half dozen stolen a few years back and was very mad at that also.
A big thanks goes to Randy for his offer of giving his decoys to you.
Ryan Hale

MBF,Sorry to hear this happened to you.I’v never understood why someone would steal stuff .You put your trust in fellow hunters and look what happens-very sad.I had a half dozen stolen a few years back and was very mad at that also.
A big thanks goes to Randy for his offer of giving his decoys to you.
Ryan Hale

I can share your feelings about our fellow man, but this story still makes me think that maybe it’s not evil, just stupidity. Last year my brother in-law and I had our stuff stolen out of his ice house. I was extremely peeved off. I know exactly what you mean when you feel that you lose faith in your fellow man. The worst was explaining to my 6 yr old that his ice fishing pole had been stolen. That is something I didn’t enjoy.
Now, to further make you wonder about our fellow man, the kid who broke into the shack came back onto the ice, as I was leaving. He got stuck with his little 4×2 Toyota PU and asked me if I could help pull him out. As I circled around his truck to line up, I noticed MY brand new ice fishing pole with a blaze orange tip, and a newly added line bobber with a neon green eye. Now how many of those combos do you see. After an interesting conversation with him, we did end up getting all of our stuff back, but not our trust. I told him if I got everything back in a hour I wouldn’t turn him in. I only gave his name to the police when our cabin got broken into this past summer. I don’t know if he was connected to it, but I’m not going to take anymore chances.
This year, putting everything into the trailer when I leave the ice, and keeping little of value at the cabin.
I still trust most people, just not as much.
Steve

I can share your feelings about our fellow man, but this story still makes me think that maybe it’s not evil, just stupidity. Last year my brother in-law and I had our stuff stolen out of his ice house. I was extremely peeved off. I know exactly what you mean when you feel that you lose faith in your fellow man. The worst was explaining to my 6 yr old that his ice fishing pole had been stolen. That is something I didn’t enjoy.
Now, to further make you wonder about our fellow man, the kid who broke into the shack came back onto the ice, as I was leaving. He got stuck with his little 4×2 Toyota PU and asked me if I could help pull him out. As I circled around his truck to line up, I noticed MY brand new ice fishing pole with a blaze orange tip, and a newly added line bobber with a neon green eye. Now how many of those combos do you see. After an interesting conversation with him, we did end up getting all of our stuff back, but not our trust. I told him if I got everything back in a hour I wouldn’t turn him in. I only gave his name to the police when our cabin got broken into this past summer. I don’t know if he was connected to it, but I’m not going to take anymore chances.
This year, putting everything into the trailer when I leave the ice, and keeping little of value at the cabin.
I still trust most people, just not as much.
Steve

MBF, I hear you.

All I’m going to say is, Don’t let one page out of 21900 pages make it a bad book.

MBF, I hear you.

All I’m going to say is, Don’t let one page out of 21900 pages make it a bad book.

Man there is nothing I hate more than a thief …I once had my entire entertainment system stolen out of my dorm room when i was in college….T.V/VCR/RECEIVER/SPEAKERS/MORE SPEAKERS/PLAYSTATION/MOVIES/PHONE..you get the idea….I would hate to see what happened if I caught someone in the act.

Man there is nothing I hate more than a thief …I once had my entire entertainment system stolen out of my dorm room when i was in college….T.V/VCR/RECEIVER/SPEAKERS/MORE SPEAKERS/PLAYSTATION/MOVIES/PHONE..you get the idea….I would hate to see what happened if I caught someone in the act.