I would have never guessed it.
 

Figured I would post this under hunting as it has to do with an old hunting partner and some hunting gear as well that old partner is a member here but I’m not sure his user name.

So let’s let the story begin. After archery season a buddy / hunting partner of mine calls me up and he is a talker so on and on he went how busy he has been and how his wife divorced him and how he had to sell all his hunting stuff. Well in the end he wanted me to lend him some hunting stuff as he is broke and needs meat for himself this winter. On the day he called he started asking for a spair rifle with a scope my Swarovski EL range , Swarovski spotter / tripod, Leica rangefinder and my magnetic Speed chronograph. As long as I have known him he has always wanted to use the best gear but when your borrowing things you should apreasiate if somody can help in any way. Well I want to keen on lending him my daughters rifle as it a very nice and pricy setup, that she has never even shot yet, as well he is very hard on gear and most things he uses look like he’ll in a short time. So I told him I could lend my Leica rangefinder and that would work for both ranging and spotting. He presited on that he needed my Binos as well, but he could live without the spotter and tripod. Let me say he phoned and text almost daily until I final agreed to lend him some stuff. So he found a rifle and that made me more at ease because he wouldn’t need my daughters. Although now he needed a scope as well as rangefinder and chronograph. I hade a couple scopes but he insisted it must have 1/4 Moa turrets well the only extra I hade with that was a new in box nightforce 3.5-15x50 nsx moar that just had a new set of NF rings as well as a nightforce ringtop level with sniper design co-sign indicators attached. Well like a idiot I lent him the scope the Leica rangefinder and my magneto speed. He needed it in an urgent matter but wanted me to pay shipping. That wansnt going to happen to I had my lovely neighbours that travel to Medicine Hat all the time hand deliver it to him. So hunting season goes on he shoots an antelope and deer season comes and goes and I hear nothing. I text him in November after season hey man season is over I need my stuff. No answer, few days later says he was busy didn’t get around to getting it packed up. December comes and goes he is still to busy. January comes at this point I am getting quite annoyed but I was traveling past his place and was willing to pick it up. Traveld past to get to sask no answer to my calls, get to sask he calls says if I get around to getting the stuff from storage he will have it for me when I go back. On my way back I call hey I’m three hours away I would like my stuff, no answer later that night he texts sorry I forgot all about it. At this point I am very frustrated I call his parents and Stur things up on that end a bit he answers my call after his dad talked to him. Anoghther hour long bla bla bla call on how busy he is how he is broke how he hasn’t had time. February same story. Now March he has block my calls won’t answer my texts. Call his mom she puts up a wall and makes all the same excuses for him but said she would call him and get back to me. 24 hours later still no reply from his parents I call them back she goes on this huge rant about how she didn’t like my tone on the last call and hangs up on me. Well now I am here today it a few days after that call to his parents with no answer what so ever from anybody. Check his Facebook he has been out at the tigers game in Med hat he has been out driving the new truck he bought. At this point I have no idea what to do there are a few options but what the hell does I guy do? I know he is in here I know guys he hunted with this season are on here. Has anyone ever had anything like this happen? I can’t afford to have $4000 of gear disappear.

Theft
 

Happened to me once and i just let the police knio and they valled and voila, my gear showed back up! Sucks to have to do that, the other option is start calling his work and ket them know why you are looking for him.

Theft
 

Sorry about the poor spelling

Go see a lawyer. The first visit is usually free and he will advise you what the best way to proceed is. Maybe something like that would fall under the criminal code of Canada and the Police could help but it may require a civil suit. I wouldn’t let it go.

I am sorry to hear about all that , and looks like you are a good person who is willing to help to your friend.
But unfortunately there are people who don't think like you at all....lol.
For that reason there is always a spare rifle for a friend ,but its called a "loaner" .
Decent , not expensive peace of equipment that shoots straight, and that is what I would give to my friend for a hunting trip or a season .
S12

Drop the guys name, tell us who he is... He's obviously a POS thief, who was never really your friend.
And your best bet is to call the Police, and gather witness statements & receipts...

Remember Shakespeare, "neither a borrower nor lender be." I'd never lend out spequipment like that. Go see him personally, and don't leave until you've got the stuff, if he hasn't got it anymore talk to the cops.

I hope you have receipts and other proof of ownership or you could be in tough to recover your gear.

If you do have all the paperwork get the police involved. The guy isn't a friend you need anyways.

Name of this awesome fella so we don't buy anything off him.
Unless he already sold your stuff:(

^This right here is an indication of what your gear was used like. If you knew he was/is hard on gear in the first place, it's an automatic NO.

Can't change the past, like others stated look into lawyers / LE. But definitely don't expect your gear to come back functional - if it's not already damaged, it will be once he receives a call from LE.

And whatever you do, hang up when he calls again. If it was me, I'd rather be out a few bucks (Ok, thousands) and have piece of mind about MY stuff than to be going anywhere near that gong-show again. I don't care what type of person he is outside of hunting; he could be the best brother-in-law for example, doesn't matter... He won't get the message...

J.

Drive down on the weekend and park in his driveway at about 6 am. Ring the doorbell until he answers. Tell him you ain't moving your car until he gives you your gear back.

That sucks. Can I borrow your spotting scope?

Well I have all of the original boxes and packages from the gear except the magneto-speed, I sent that in it’s box. I would love to travel to his place and set up shop, but I have two kids and when I’m not workin I usually have them as one isn’t in school yet. Also since I lent out the gear he has moved twice around Medicine Hat so it will take some investigation work to find him.

What a horrible thing to have happen.

Too soon? :eek:

Bahahaha! I was about to ask it...

To the OP, sorry to hear about the predicament you are in. I always hate hearing when crappy stuff like this happen to good people. It may all work out in the end but what a hassle...

Remember
 

" No good deed , goes unpunished "

I have hunted with people that right off the bat I knew
that they were humanly questionable. They didn't
let me down ! Live and learn !
At this point take legal action !

It's unfortunate, but your bad judgement in lending him your gear, may end up being an expensive lesson. I would contact the police, and if he still has your property, they may be able to convince him to return it. If he has sold It, or if he claims that he no longer has It, or perhaps even that he never borrowed It, you might end up having to hire a lawyer, and having to prove that you actually owned the gear and that you lent it to him.

I think I'd have a hard time not stepping on his fingers while he's picking his chicklets off the floor. Good luck getting your stuff back.

he has probably sold your gear and used the cash for the downstroke on the new truck as for calling the fuzz they will say you loaned it to him and did not specify a return date rotsa ruck

This! Would love if you would provide the name of this POS so the rest of us don't ever deal with him.

Report it to the police, tell them you want to press theft charges but also inquire about fraud charges as you now have reason to believe he fraudulently obtained your property in order to sell it. Generally the more charges you request to laid the more seriously the police will take it. Also tell them you know he has moved twice since the incident occurred and you believe him to be a flight risk. Generally this will make it a "hold warrant" rather than him get released with a promise to appear. If he happens to be driving at the time, his truck could be impounded as well. If you can prove he sold the items lets say to pay for his truck, you may be to get a lean put on his truck and have it impounded as evidence until the trial is complete. If you have, serial numbers, pictures and receipts for your gear take a copy of those as well. Make a list of the times and dates you tried to contact him. Also send him an email so you have a copy of the request in writing.

Too bad its less than $5000 dollars worth of stuff or they would really go after him.
I'm sorry to say this but you said you saw signs he would treat your gear badly, to me that's a huge red flag and there is no way I would be lending anyone like that anything expensive.

Get in touch with a GOOD buddy, tell him what you need back on a list even empty boxes in hand, send buddy to Friends place park at 6 am, when he answers tell him you bought the gear and your here to pick it up, send me a pm if you wish by cousin is Edmonton city police, big guy, well very big, his stance is commanding

Yup, should have done this after the first delay. Guy sounds like a real tool and obviously not a friend.

Hope you get your stuff back.

Wouldn't worry about salvaging that friendship.

File a police report, keep all of your texts and any written communication to prove he has possession of those items.

(And just a gentle note, paragraphs are a wonderful thing in helping people read and understand what is posted.)

Keep us posted on how this plays out!

Go to the police...but you may be in for a long ride. I had this happen once to a very good friend of mine who loaned a bunch of high price photo gear to a 'friend'. It was sold and used to pay bills (or in your case help buy a nice new truck).
It went to court, but the guy was 'broke' and my friend never recouped his entire loss.
I was given a very good piece of advice when I was younger...never loan anything you can't afford to lose. Even to a truly good friend because you never know when they will hit a bad patch in their life and can't afford to replace something they damage.
Living my life this way has saved a couple of friendships over the years.

Medicine Hat is a very very small community... If you feel comfortable passing his name around, I am fairly certain you will get your gear back.

Nothing worse than a thief...

Police ??
 

People want to send police to retrieve borrowed stuff and when some B+E is happening at your shop. You call the police but they can not come for 4 hours because they are trying to deal with this chicken-poop stuff. Then the police will be blamed for not responding as fast as you like. :snapoutofit:

So today I have talked to the court house and the RCMP. To file this it’s going to cost me probably $500 in total and I also will need to serve him papers so travel and acomadtions in Medicine Hat will also add up. So in the end it will probably be around $1000 out of my pocket to get the $4000 worth of stuff. To me this is worth it. Problem is he is going to be hard to locate as I can’t sit around for days waiting in Medicine Hat to hopfuly see him. So I will leave this post up for 24hours in hope he replies to me. After the 24 hours is up I will post a picture of him his name and his vehicle. I know that guys on here know him and could probably help me locate him.

I'm not sure why you would have to pay to file criminal charges. To me that seems a little strange. Perhaps you should contact Ken07AOVette as he has a little more experience on the legal aspects than I do.
Does he have Facebook? Its pretty easy to track someone on there if they post often, especially if they don't update the privacy settings. If you post his picture and name on social media with a small reward ($250 or so) people will start looking for him, for you. Just don't post that you will offer a reward for the return of the goods no questions asked, as its actually illegal to do so according to CC section 143. Make it clear you are looking for information leading to a location or arrest. Of course he may see the add and really go into hiding but in my experience this is rare before you get usable intel.

What would Clint Eastwood do??