I won a gun once. A taxidermist was having a contest; if you brought a head in he would score it B&C and the best score won a free mount. If you brought in a head for measuring he would let you by a ticket on a Rem. model 700 in 30/06 for each head. I shot a moose a white-tail and a pronghorn that fall and though I had no expectation of getting the free mount I brought them all in and spent $15.00 on three tickets on the rifle.
About that time I had fallen in love with a Rem. 7600 pump in .35 whelen that Rem. had just brought out. So as soon as I found out I won the 30/06 I was on the phone to a sporting goods store that agreed to trade me straight accross. Then a buddy at work stopped in my office and said he always wanted a 700 in 30/06 and would I sell it to him. He said he was strapped for cash till after Christmas and I agreed to sell it to him for the price of the 7600 I wanted.

Turns out he was in on a conspericy with my wife. She had gotten him to buy the 7600 for me for Christmas and she knew I' d try to trade off the 700 and had got him to make me keep it till I had unwrapped the Remington box under the tree.

I later sold the 700 to a friend of my brother' s for $500.00.

Robin