Today I had origionally intended to hit a new farm, but I got up alittle late, so I headed over to a friend's house instead. I had hunted her yard before a couple times; the first produced big: three indians, a buffalo, and a merc. The second time was nearly a total bust; I only found a couple wheats and a british large cent (1944). So naturally after that last failure I had little hope of finding anything this time. As if to confirm this, immediately after starting up my detector I started getting this aweful interference, so I had to turn my sensitivity down a notch, (normally this would be ok, but the ground was getting pretty dry and there wasn't much trash here, so it would only hurt my depth).

Despite this, I give it a shot and for the first 20 minutes or so I didn't get even a single signal (aside from a couple clippings of copper wire). Then as I round by the front of the yard I finally get a signal, albeit a very weak one. I cut the plug and at first I got nothing in either the hole or the plug. I then stirred up the soil abit and pulled some out and check it. I get a strong lower 60's signal in the dirt and right in there I pull out a nice 1891 indian. I check the hole again and get a second, stronger signal in there (mid 80's). Thinking it is an early wheat, I dig some more dirt out and in it I find a 1917 Buffalo nickel of all things, (how it registered so high is beyond me; I was so puzzled that I spent the next couple minutes scouring the hole for any more signals, none of which came). The buffalo was apparently associated with the indian since the indian was well worn but the nickel was in nearly perfect shape. It has been a long time since I've found such a nice buffalo, and one that old is always a treat! With my spirits raised by those two awesome finds I proceeded with the rest of the yard; I wasn't even going to let the mosquitos stop me now, (and in this yard, they were absolutely horrible; the big black kind). For the next 15 minutes or so, I heard nothing, but then I got a nice clean hit as I crossed the yard perpendicular to my normal path (that trick works more often than you'd think; you can almost double your take on some yards by just taking the time to try searching at a different angle). This one came up a nice wheat, and nearby I got a couple more, all of which were right in the path that I had covered earlier. Eventually I found a 1936 mercury dime and a few more wheats, as well as a couple of interesting nick-nacks (the neatest was the remains to an old carpenters ruler; the wood had all rotted away leaving only the hinge). In all, I found a total of one indian, one buffalo, a merc, and 3 wheats, making this one of my best return hunts ever!

Kevin "dingo" Martin

• Re: Awesome repeat search... surf swinger 15:50:23 8/20/98 (0)