So sorry this happened to you. Shitty feeling.
Hopefully you can make the best of it and do another hunt, ship horns home and have capes from your first hunt and horns from second. And a story to tell! Best of all is you can go back to Africa
I had my lake house burglarized. Had not been there for a few days, but after a long day, got there about midnight or later. I was groggy, opened the garage door before turning the corner. Got pulled in and was swearing as the kids had friends over the weekend before... Cabinet doors were all hanging open.. Then I got out and smelled gas, shit they tipped the lawn mower gas over inside the garage... It is detached so flipped on the yard light and stepped out, boxes of stuff setting on the lawn, another gas can... Darn kids!
Unlocked and walked in, stepped into the bedroom and the door to the deck was open... And had been pried open. So pulled my gun (yes permit to carry), flipped on lights and cleared the house and then called 911.
Stupid thing to do. I was so short on sleep I was not thinking clearly and adrenaline was way up all of a sudden and I wanted to catch the bastards! I often wonder if I would have shot some stupid kids if they had not skedaddled.
We all talk big about it, but not so sure it would have been worth shooting someone. I still carry, but if it happens again I'll try to remember that I carry for defense of life and limb of myself and loved ones. Not items.
But damn it makes you feel violated!
The rest of the story was kind of amusing... Deputies arrive about 45 minutes later. Dispatcher calls, asks me some questions to be clear it is me, tells me to go outside, unarmed and talk to the deputies. Great guys, I explain I carry and they nod approval. Tell me I should not have cleared house myself, they are correct. But then they go into search mode, couple fish houses and bushes, garage, guest room.... Second look through the house.
One is in full tack gear with an AR, he is the one who goes at doors, the other guy is off to the side with his pistol and big flashlight... You can see the disappointment when they open a door and nobody there... Hours and days of boredom to get the chance to do this
We come to tall cabinets in the garage. They ask if there are shelves and it does not register with me... So they do the whole tactical thing.... Oh, shelves means nobody is standing in there hiding... They explain the often search closets and first find shaking knees
In the end I found nothing missing... I must have startled them when opening the garage door and they dropped everything and ran. Never touched the musky lures or TV's. They had fireworks, gas, and a pellet gun. Not real scholars.
Neighbors house had pry marks on the door but had a stronger lock than mine.... Those deputies patrolled the area for a long time... It was winter in MN so hopefully the robbers were freezing in the woods all night
