I can’t believe this would ever happen. I thought all people who enjoy the outdoors to be good, kind, honest people. I was having a great time on Strawberry Saturday the19th of January (even though one of my snowmobiles would not start). Fishing was good. The weather could not have been any better. As the day was coming to an end, one of my friends took the time to take some of us back to our trucks on his snowmobile. He wasn’t worried about leaving his gas powered ice auger, fishing poles and ice shack on the lake because there had always seemed to be a universal, outdoorsman’s code of ethics.
Once he had us all back to our trucks we talked for a few minutes and then he went on his way back to retrieve his gear. When he got there, everything was gone. His gas powered ice auger, fishing poles and his ice shack.
I could not believe that someone would take a fellow outdoorsman’s gear. We all work damn hard for what we have and to have someone come by and take over a $1000.00 worth of gear that does not belong to them is very sad.
The ice shack is very large and it is purple. It is the only one I have ever seen out ice fishing.
I will think twice before I ever leave my stuff to go help someone.
First of all I would like to welcome you to BFT Utah. Second, all I can say is WOW, you have got to be kidding me, is there any way he went back to the wrong spot[unsure]? If not all I can say is, whoever took your friends stuff is an unbelievable low life 
and other words that I can’t use here. What is the world coming to[:(]. WH2
[:(]That just makes me sick to my stomach! What part of strawberry were you on? Where were you parked? I myself have never seen a purple ice shelter before. Should stick out like a sore thumb. Lets keep our eyes open. Did he have any Identifying #'s or labels on anything?
Unfreakin’ believable.
All you guys who hit the 'Berry (and other lakes for that matter), be on the lookout for that purple tent.
What’s sad is that the thieves felt like they HAD to do it.
That is unbeliveable. Try to help someone and get robbed.
there are quite afew people with purple ice huts they are made by otter and are the pro series i have 2 friends that have them and they are quite spendy
We have been going to the same place for the last 3 years so it would be hard for him not to go back to the same place.
parked in the main marina parking lot and road snowmobiles over to east port bay where Bryabts fork comes into the lake.
Keep an eye on the KSL.com classifieds, you never know if the thieves will try to sell your gear.
That is mind numbing to me. I hope that you are able to track some of it down.
That has nothing to do with ethics – the person or persons who took that gear are thieves and I hope that they get what is coming to them. Sure sorry for your friend. That is not only a large financial loss, but I’m sure that he invested substantial time and effort in accumulating all of his gear.
I have no tolerance for thieves. I hope I never catch one in the act because I don’t want to go to jail for busting a guy up…
I’ve left my gear out there like that before thinking it would be safe and never thought twice about it. I guess I’m not going to do that again.
Down on our mountain that we hunt, it is not uncommon for us and others to leave our trailers on the mountain for months at a time. We are not stupid and so we don’t leave anything of any real value there, but we do leave fuel, food, water, extra clothes, blankets, etc. Things that a guy might need when he has just travelled 5 hours through a snow storm to get to (which we have done before). We always assume there is that “unwritten law” and we have never had any problem with thieves on that mountain, nor have we ever talked with anyone who has ever had a problem.
Nothing would make me more mad than to travel all that way and get to my trailer depending on it and all of my belongings to be there, and then to find it broken into, broken up and pillaged…
Like I said, I have no tolerance for thieves of any kind.
To think that someone would actually do that is unreal. I can’t even imagine the shock of coming back to your spot and having everything gone. My only question is, someone with a snowmible stole it, was he able to follow the tracks?
Yeah it had to be someone with a snowmobile that is the only what they could have moved it so fast. No he could not track them.
This story makes me sick. There is an unwritten code of conduct that the manority of fisherman follow but there are a few . . .
Not only did those who did this shatter that code, but what they did was completely and seriously illegal. What gets me, is these people were probably out ice-fishing too and should understand how expensive and sometimes sentimental ones fishing gear should be. I’m sure these guys are breaking lots of other rules like fishing without a license, keeping every fish at the berry regardless of size and using illegal methods to catch fish (live bait or more than 2 poles).
I for one will keep my eyes open for a purple tent!!
Can you please give us more info regarding the tent and other items so we can accurately identify these items if we run into them?
Any chance that someone packed them up and returned them to the marina?
Being my first post, I would like to say to BFT and any other people that enjoy outdoor activities is to watch your fishing, hunting and camping equipment out on the field. Knowing justaguyinutah for many years and learning that this has happened to him and his friends pisses me off to no end. These low life maggots need to know that this will not be tolerated by people that work hard for what they have got. ( I would try to stuff a body down an 8 inch hole and do quite well on doing it. ) We need to communicate to other fellow anglers to watch out for other peoples equipment at all times. We also need to inform local law enforcment and the Game Wardens on what is happening. I can’t imagine what I would do if I returned to my ice fishing location and found all of my equipment gone! I would hate to imagine what I would do if I caught someone stealing my hard earned equipment. I don’t think that this person can file an insurance claim to replace his equipment. I know that we can’t depend on Law Enforcement to solve this problem. We need to be aware of our surroundings and report anything suspicious to the proper people. This should be a good reminder to all people to take pictures and record all serial numbers on their equipment. I hope this problem is solved soon and this person gets his stuff back.
My homeowners insurance mwould have covered my loss of a power auger, sled, fish finder and sled, if I hadn’t located it.
Give the insurance company a call.
You will have a deductable to deal with but the rest should be covered.
That said, I hope that someone catched the dirtbag and you get the stuff back!
thats just wrong! man i would kill if some lowlife did that to me.. then again that’s just another reason i dont fish the berry. i have found fishing at the most popelure lake in the state (in my eye’s way over rated) will atract low life’s with no good on there minds. along with the other lowlifes that just trash the place.
stick to the out of the way places you’ll be much happy’er in the long run.
to bad that happened. hope they catch the skum that did such a thing..
If someone can post a phone # to call, I’ll bet there will be a lot of calls if anyone spots a purple ice shack. Maybe the lowlife SOB will get what is coming to them. If there are any more specific identifying features to the shack, I know I’ll do all I can to detain them if I spot the thing.
I agree that it is lowlife scum, etc., that did it BUT, as Petty said, there are others out there with purple ice huts and power augers. You can’t equate them with those perps. Be very careful if you wear the vigilante mantle; don’t act without thinking first.
Just curious… I know Petty said that the brand was Otter. I know that I will be on the lookout when I’m ice fishing this year, so I just wanted to know what to look for. Is this the Shack…
Man this makes me mad