You can't find it if you don't dig it

[dirtlooter]

I have an older friend, well, older than me for sure, that loves to metal detect. I will call him Bill. Bill is a big guy, 6 ft 5" and he is feeling it when he gets down and up from digging. He is a loner and has hunted most of my locations pretty hard before me, keying in on the higher clad and silver. So I feel pretty good when I am able to find something he has missed. When we do see each other, he complains about not finding anything gold or deeper silver. I keep telling him that he will have to hunt those nickle signals and those pesky pull tabs and pull rings for the gold. He always shakes his head no, the gold isn't worth digging all those holes for. From a health issue of his big frame digging so much, I can understand why he only cherry picks. I had someone much younger than me follow me around as I hunted a spot. He was really interested in metal detecting until he realized how much trash I was digging. He wanted to know why I dug it at all, he had a friend that had a detector that told him exactly what he was digging before he dug. So I asked him if he ever went with this guy as he hunted. No, was the answer but he had seen the detector and it cost over a hundred dollars. I smiled as I dug yet another pull tab and put it in my trash bag. He wasn't interested in the historic value of anything or how cool something was, just getting rich quick. To him, the old marble that I found was just a stupid old marble. obviously his values were different from my own. He finally left me to my swinging as I cleared out the trash. Of course when I am looking down at that pull tab that is really a shiny gold ring, my heart races again. Dig safe my detecting friends

 

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[hvacker]

If your lucky, you'll get old some day. If you do you might be surprised how much initiative it takes
to go to your knees and then back up for a probable pull tab.
We have people in a rock club here and while a rocker can find most anything in this state, some
hunters are content to just hang. They have had there day.
I don't MD for what I call junk. Pull tabs, clad, someones ring etc. If someone finds fun in all that, fine.
I'll let others clean up the landscape. Just me...

 

[dirtlooter]

oh I have known the feeling of every hole being a challenge for twenty years plus. motorcycle wrecks, botched operations, ruptured brain aneurysm, heart attack, grand mau strokes, numerous strokes that I still deal with and a deteriorated lower back that is made worse by my crippled right foot. I hunt for an hour or so and then have to rest for twenty to thirty minutes. I keep doing it because of the thrill of the hunt, the hunt for silver and gold as well as the history hidden in the ground. I am not quitting something I love to do, I just have to change my ways at how I do it. Life is what we make it to be, so I try to ignore the negative in my life and focus on the positive. yeah, the limitations keep increasing but life goes on. The macular degeneration in my right eye drives me nuts but I can still see. Having said all of that, I am a very blessed man with a wife that is my best friend and does just about everything with me. This getting old(er) means that you gotta be tough. I have to use my shovel to get up from every hole I dig but at least I am able to do it. as a disabled vet, I ain't giving up yet. and thanks for the view.

 

[Kurios1]

I guess I am old school in my values kinda' like you old friend. Being curious by nature and never knowing for certain that my machine is telling me exactly what is making all that racket under my coil I tend to try and dig most signals above iron. I dig a lot of iron though in fields or spots I hunt a lot to clear the area for future hunting. I can't relate to folks getting into treasure hunting for $$$. I suppose if I lived on a beach and gold & silver was readily available that might be different. Being from the heartland and enjoying history as I do I even enjoy a lot of my old iron relics. I do hate aluminum though. Foil & can slaw just plain sucks. LOL ! I'll keep digging it though until I too need a shovel or cane to get me back up from recovering yet another pull tab. Ya'll be blessed my friend.

 

[dirtlooter]

yes, there is a mutual dislike for the can slaw etc. over the years I have dug enough bad signals that have turned into the good stuff that it is hard for me to just pass it all. one time I had dug probably 15 of these cable connectors and was totally tired of them. it was about 94 degrees and I was hot and thirsty and was headed back to the truck. I always swing all the way back to the truck out of habit when I hit another signal that just had to be another connector. I started to pass it up but decided what the heck and dug it. instead of a connector, I was staring at a beautiful amethyst silver ring. I am in the very rocky lower western edge of Arkansas where we had a smattering of civil war activities scattered around. I have always been amazed at how much stuff people lost over the years and are still losing. I too try to dig mainly non iron signals but do otherwise in some locations. I often wonder the story behind what I have found and the old relics are just awesome finds. I have been crippled up for years but I refuse to let it get me totally down. I have worked with the special needs kids at the local school (wife special needs teacher) and like to prove to them that they two can do lots of things in spite of their challenges. I consider every morning that I wake up in the same bed that I went to sleep in a good day indeed (have awaken in a different one, not a good thing). Thank you for your kind words and be blessed as well

 

[SusanMN]

The way I look at it's a hobby, not an occupation. So dig it all, or cherry pick as it suits your mood or ability. So long as it gives you more enjoyment than aggravation, then go with what feels right.