Suggested new section - stolen archery kit

[markinengland]

A club here in the UK has been devastated by thieves who broke into the storage area and stole the majority of their 3D targets.

Sadly it must be "archers" involved as only archers would know where the club is, what is there etc. Sadly it must alos be "archers" who buy the stolen kit. Sadly this is really hitting and hurting genuine archers and clubs and may well kill file darchery here.

I would like to suggest a special area where those who have archery kit stolen and post details so that we can all look out for these things on Ebay and elsewhere and cut across national boundaries and across different shooting societies.

Moderators please move if you think it needs it but please consider this issue as a serious one.

The following items were stolen from UK National Field Archery Club Company of 60;


Large Targets   
Reinhart   Rising Boar   l   Used
Reinhart   leopard / stump   l   Used
Reinhart   cougar    l   Used
Reinhart   browsing buck   l   New

Medium Targets   
Reinhart   Cinnamon bear   m   Used
Reinhart   Bowhunter Buck   m   Used
Reinhart   Bowhunter Buck   m   Used
Eleven    WhiteSpot Pig   m   New
Reinhart   Peccary    s   New
Reinhart   Baboon    m   New
Reinhart   Snarling Fox   m   New
Reinhart   Coyote    m   old
Reinhart   peccary    s   Used

Small Targets   
Reinhart   skunk    s   Used
Reinhart   green frog   s   Used
Reinhart   mini bear   s   Used
Artefact   Large Owl/Stump   s   Used
Reinhart   Raccoon    s   New
Artefact   Chipmunk w Log   s   poor

[lesken2011]

Gosh, Mark. So sorry to hear about that. That's a shame that someone would do that to you guys. I agree. Maybe we do need someplace to post lost/stolen items.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Thats a truck load. Amazing guts to hang around that long and load that much up. Stupid to.

[okie64]

I will definitely keep my eyes out for any of yalls stuff. I have absolutely zero respect for thieves. My house was broken into last year and it really left a bad taste in my mouth.

[johnston]

We have had two local clubs shut down in the last 10 years due to stolen targets.
Damn shame.

Lane

[dbb]

Get some local paper to do a article about "club may have to close,youth have nothing to but hang on the streets etc.Just to let the public know.
A haul like that isnt something someone hider under the bed in the boyroom.
Someone must have seen or will see something like that.

And if they get caught,have the judge sentence them to be running targets and shot blunts on them!

/Mikael

[coaster500]

I'm sorry to hear that....  seems to me that it's happening more and more these days...  No tolerance for thieves "Zero" !!!

I'm glad our local 3d range is next to the highway !!

[LivingElemental]

Sorry to hear that, man. I'll keep a weather eye out when Im dealing on ebay.

[dwardo]

Would wonder how there is a market for stolen stuff of this nature? kin ejits.

Will certainly keep my eyes out.

[mullet]

That sucks! But I don't think it will be bought outside the UK, least not from someone in the States. A new McKenzie could be bought here after paying from one and the shipping and customs.

 I would put a notice out to other Clubs to see if they have been approached about buying them.

[JW_Halverson]

Absolutely contact all clubs throughout the country.  And if possible start asking archers to keep an ear out at the local pub. 

Around here we have a saying that the game warderns will swear is a inviolable truth..."More cases are solved in the bar than in the field". 

Guys like that just can't help but think they are so much smarter than the rest of us and they will eventually brag to someone.  Someone once posted a good curse on here once, "I pray their butt-hole grows shut and a new one develops on their forehead".  For that matter, I believe it was over a theft in that situation, too.

[bobnewboy]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the support - it was the club that I belong to - The Company of Sixty - which was hit.  I think that Mark and I realise it is unlikely for the stolen 3Ds to get over to your side of the pond, but it is more useful that the other UK members (and hopefully PA subscribers like we are!) of this web-board get to hear about the theft via this great web site to which we all enjoy reading and contributing to.

We (my club) lease our woods (approx 120 acres) from The Crown Estate here in Surrey, south eastern England.   Recently our woods have been fairly heavily logged  (still going on to some degree), and it is thought that the constant entry and exit of heavy vehicles and equipment from the usually nondescript entrance-way to the Co60's woods may have attracted some unwelcome attention.  It may be that those who stole our stuff were likely to be after forestry equipment rather than the 3Ds, but then they took whatever they could get. We had a couple of trainer bows and some returned 'lost' arrows taken too, so it may be that the perps have given them to some er, undeserving people.

The 3Ds have been stored on non-shoot days in a very secure reinforced shipping container on-site for around a year now. It is difficult to see how that could be practically improved upon when people use industrial grade equipment and the relative remoteness of the woods to break into the storage. The 3Ds were branded as well, and there isnt a lot more that could be done in an unpowered woodland setting.

We still have some 3Ds to use, and so I guess we are lucky in the end.  Its just going to take a bit of time to build back up to where we were.  The course needs to be relaid anyway due to the logging 

[JW_Halverson]

Doesn't sound like a "crime of opportunity" like picking a yard gnome out of someone's garden.  These people planned, equipped themselves, and executed an intentional crime.  If you are going to that kind of effort, develop a business plan and be legitimate!

[Thesquirrelslinger]

I frequently leave my target out, and my backyard is a major shortcut in my neighborhood.
I recall I left arrows out once, and somebody tried to swipe one. I caught them shooting it a few days later.
It is pretty funny to watch a teenager try to shoot a cane arrow intended for a 50 pound bow weighing well over 900 grains(the thing had a steel rod point, 1/4 inch diam, 6 inches long) off of a 20 pound genisis compound bow. I think it broke his bow.
Anyway, I watched him, then walked up to him, took the arrow back, and walked off.
I am probably the only person who makes bamboo arrows with steel points within a 10 mile radius that uses 2 fletchings instead of 3 and paints the nocks neon green.
-Squirrel

[ncpat]

What a bummer. I cannot tell you how much I hate thieves. In fact, a thief would make an excellent target himself. Paint rings on the back of his shirt & give him a 1 minute head start in a fenced wooded area.