Finders not keepers: Warden Young links hunter with lost gear
January 27, 2013
By: Joanne M. Haas/Bureau of Law Enforcement
Warden says phone number solved mystery
Warden Mike Young says the case of the lost hunting equipment all came down to one phone number and doing the right thing.
It all started late last year as Young was driving down a dark Outagamie County road at the end of his work day. “I came around the corner and saw a guy pulled off the side. And that catches my attention.”
Young turns on his emergency lights and sees what turns out to be a Good Samaritan in action. “There was stuff all over the road.”
It became apparent quickly that what was all over the road was a hunter’s entire stash of equipment – from expensive clothing to tree stand. Young put the equipment in his truck, and ran the hunting tag on the DNR computer systems.
“A lot of people don’t put their phone numbers down when they buy tags. But this guy did -- and that’s how I was able to contact him immediately that night,” Young said. “He was new to the area and down in Appleton. He was pretty elated to get the stuff.”
Warden Mike Young with Phil Hietpas of Little Chute and Ben Ziegler of Appleton on the last day of the 2012 gun-deer season. Ben got a doe and Phil a deer during bow season. The hunter told Young the equipment must have slid out from the back of the pick-up truck during the drive back to Appleton. “He came out that same night to get it and said he wanted to hunt the following morning.”
Warden Mike Young with Phil Hietpas of Little Chute and Ben Ziegler of Appleton on the last day of the 2012 gun-deer season. Ben got a doe and Phil a deer during bow season.
Young says the moral of the story is to put your phone number on the DNR forms and there are people who will help you.
“The guy who was picking up the stuff was trying to help. He was a Good Samaritan. I just helped him,” Young said.