packerbacker
Gold Member
Went camping just out of Hornbrook, CA this weekend. My son and I messed around camp with a metal detector for a while but found the area too trashy so we put it up. We had been noticed because, about 2 hours later, 3 girls/young women came into our camp and said they had seen us detecting and asked if it worked in water. We explained that it would but in water that wasn't up to the box.
One of the girls, as she was getting off their ski boat, had dropped her boyfriend's keys into the water. They were the keys to his truck, boat and boat trailer.
I figured my son had used a detector a few times and finding the keys wouln't take an expert anyway. I told him the machine (MXT) would scream and he'd have to raise the loop when he found them. The guy and 2 girls got in the water with my son. As he swept they would check under the detector when he got signals. It just didn't work and finally the guy gave up. He had to drive to Grants Pass, OR to see if there was a spare set of keys for the truck and boat as they didn't belong to him.
My son and I went back to our camp while the boyfriend took one of the girl's cars and headed to Grants Pass, about 80 miles away.
I told my son that, if the keys were dropped where they said they were, it shouldn't have been so hard to find them. I proved the point by dropping our keys on the ground, closing my eyes and locating them in about 15 seconds.
My son finally talked me into going back with him to give it another try. This time it was me with the detector and him in the water. We searched for almost an hour in the area they thought they had been dropped in but, nothing. Finally, as it was about to get dark, my son said he had gotten a strong signal in an area but they didn't find anything so we gave that area a try. I got a "Raise the loop" scream out of the MXT. I told my son to wait, I found the signal again and instantly turned the machine off but I left the loop flat on the bottom. My son reached down and, as he felt into the hole in the loop, there they were, the keys.
When the group there realized we had found them a big cheer went up. The girlfriend came over to us and, with tears in her eyes, said the whole world went into slow motion as the keys slipped from her hands and into the water. She was going to leave the area to call her boyfriend as her cell phone didn't work there. My son told her she could use the Onstar from his pickup because he was getting service. We could hear him when she told him the keys were found by the 2 guys with the metal detector. He said that was the "Best news he had ever heard". There weren't any spare keys and he would have had to pay a locksmith about $500 to come out to the lake on a Sunday to make him keys for the truck, he would have had to cut the lock on the trailer and had a key made for the boat at a later date.
We were in bed when he returned and we left early the next morning without seeing him. A couple from their camp came by just as we were leaving and told us we should see him before we left because they knew he would want to thank us. I told them to tell him they saw us and, just before we left, we gave them a silver bullet.
One of the girls, as she was getting off their ski boat, had dropped her boyfriend's keys into the water. They were the keys to his truck, boat and boat trailer.
I figured my son had used a detector a few times and finding the keys wouln't take an expert anyway. I told him the machine (MXT) would scream and he'd have to raise the loop when he found them. The guy and 2 girls got in the water with my son. As he swept they would check under the detector when he got signals. It just didn't work and finally the guy gave up. He had to drive to Grants Pass, OR to see if there was a spare set of keys for the truck and boat as they didn't belong to him.
My son and I went back to our camp while the boyfriend took one of the girl's cars and headed to Grants Pass, about 80 miles away.
I told my son that, if the keys were dropped where they said they were, it shouldn't have been so hard to find them. I proved the point by dropping our keys on the ground, closing my eyes and locating them in about 15 seconds.
My son finally talked me into going back with him to give it another try. This time it was me with the detector and him in the water. We searched for almost an hour in the area they thought they had been dropped in but, nothing. Finally, as it was about to get dark, my son said he had gotten a strong signal in an area but they didn't find anything so we gave that area a try. I got a "Raise the loop" scream out of the MXT. I told my son to wait, I found the signal again and instantly turned the machine off but I left the loop flat on the bottom. My son reached down and, as he felt into the hole in the loop, there they were, the keys.
When the group there realized we had found them a big cheer went up. The girlfriend came over to us and, with tears in her eyes, said the whole world went into slow motion as the keys slipped from her hands and into the water. She was going to leave the area to call her boyfriend as her cell phone didn't work there. My son told her she could use the Onstar from his pickup because he was getting service. We could hear him when she told him the keys were found by the 2 guys with the metal detector. He said that was the "Best news he had ever heard". There weren't any spare keys and he would have had to pay a locksmith about $500 to come out to the lake on a Sunday to make him keys for the truck, he would have had to cut the lock on the trailer and had a key made for the boat at a later date.
We were in bed when he returned and we left early the next morning without seeing him. A couple from their camp came by just as we were leaving and told us we should see him before we left because they knew he would want to thank us. I told them to tell him they saw us and, just before we left, we gave them a silver bullet.
Yeah scuffler, we were almost into Oregon on this last trip near Hornbrook. I don't know much about Oregon. I went to Ashland once but it wasn't to hunt.
