Hunting Jacket and $1,700 Returned to Minnesota Man after Four Years
OutdoorHub Reporters 10.22.13
Owen Schipnewski’s 2009 goose hunting trip with his teenage son turned out to be a bit more expensive than he bargained for when he lost his favorite hunting jacket. Schipnewski, who runs an auto shop in Clara City, Minnesota, had been hunting with the same Cabela’s jacket for the last 25 years. Perhaps more importantly, the hunter had kept roughly $1,700 in a wallet that he stuffed into the jacket. Now four years later, Schipnewski received a call earlier this month telling him that the jacket was found, with all the money still in his wallet.
“There are a lot of good people in this world, that’s for sure,” Schipnewski told WCCO.
The call came from Trent Jorgenson, who found the jacket not long after it was lost. Schipnewski had thrown the jacket into the back of his pickup truck before he and his son went hunting at the Lac qui Parle Wildlife Management Area (WMA). By the time they finished, Schipnewski had completely forgotten about the jacket. It was only when he and his son returned home that he discovered the jacket was missing—along with $1,700 and change. Also gone was his driver’s license, credit cards, and a few shotgun shells.
Schipnewski painstakingly retraced his steps, but the jacket could have blown out at any point in the journey. After placing a few calls to businesses near the WMA, Schipnewski figured he had seen the last of his favorite hunting jacket and went home.
According to the West Central Tribune, Jorgenson found it not far from a local bait and tackle shop while returning from a hunt with friends. He took it home and upon a cursory inspection found only the shotgun shells. Jorgenson thought nothing of the jacket and threw it into the depths of his garage. Although Jorgenson never used the jacket, he never got around to throwing it out, and even boxed it up for two moves to new homes. Jorgenson never gave another thought about the jacket until earlier this month when friends invited him to go hunting. As only an occasional hunter, Jorgenson lacked a camouflage jacket and decided to dig out Schipnewski’s old favorite. Jorgenson and his wife gave the jacket another check before it went into the washing machine, and he was glad they did. The second inspection revealed around $1,700 in $20 and $100 bills.
It was a call that Schipnewski never thought he would get. He drove to Jorgenson’s family farm earlier this month to retrieve his lost items and even offered Jorgenson a generous finder’s fee, but was turned down. Jorgenson said he was more than happy to do the right thing.
“I felt good about it,’’ said Jorgenson. “Made my day probably as much as his.’’
Jorgenson got more of a reward than just thanks—Schipnewski insisted on paying for his next hunting jacket.
