A Hard Lesson But a Lesson Well Learned.....

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
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Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
So I've had my eye on a beautiful hunting site for a few weeks; a beautiful Victorian mansion recently vacated and up for sale. My uncle's best friend actually owned it for many years but after he died it went up for sale. That was back in the 80's.

So anyway, I drove by a few times and decided now was my chance to get on that property to hunt. I wrote down the realtor's number but "never got around" to calling after a few weeks of rain and being really busy at work. I fully intended to "get around to it".

I decided that if I saw anyone there I would just stop in and ask because the people have been coming and going a bit. So, one morning I saw a few vehicles in the driveway and a lady on the porch so I stopped in. She wasn't the owner. She was a lady from TX interested in the place. A few days later the same thing happened. Then the next day I saw a pickup in the driveway so I stopped in yet again.

I got out of my car and walked across the property looking for someone to ask permission from. I popped around the back of the house and much to my horror and utter regret there was a guy swinging an Ace 350 in MY spot. I couldn't believe it. We talked for a while and I told him my story. He was cool enough but didn't invite me to hunt nor did I ask.

I asked if he was having any luck and he told me he found a BEAUTIFUL 1943 silver half dollar. I REALLY couldn't freakin' believe it. I actually felt kinda' sick. Now he had MY silver and he didn't even grow up here or know a thing about this area (this is what I was thinking even though he just beat me to it because he didn't procrastinate like I did). He also found a few nice old Merc's, assorted wheaties, an old silver plate spoon in really nice shape and a Confederate CW button. I KNEW it was a killer site and I let it just slip right through my fingers for no good reason.

Needless to say I left feeling a wee bit aggravated and more than a little mad at MYSELF. Understand that I'm not mad at the guy at all. He was perfectly cool and pretty happy (obviously). This is the very first (and hopefully last) time I've had any direct competition in my own neighborhood so this is brand new to me.

The moral of this story is, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE; EVER. If you do you may suffer the same humiliation and self flagellation that I did. I promise you it is very unpleasant. When I think of the numerous opportunities I had to get on that site and wasted I just can't stand thinking about it.

So I DID learn my lesson and today I took my own advice. There's another old house up for sale across the street on the same road. It's actually going to be torn down in a few months and a new house is being built on the lot. There are also three other lots that look very promising given the location. I called the realtor this morning and he told me he'll contact the owners and to call him tomorrow. Then I went to another spot; an old neighborhood schoolhouse that closed down in 1969. Both me and my Dad went there. That gives you an idea how old it is.

There's a church there now and there's an older guy who seeds the field and takes a bunch of kids detecting on Sundays. They were out today so I pulled in, walked over and introduced myself. I got wide open permission any time I want except during services in about 4 minutes. I will NEVER, EVER hesitate to ask again. If I ever do I'll force myself to visualize that big silver that should have EASILY been mine.

I told the guy I'll donate a bunch of junk jewelry and foreign coins he can use for the kids. I'm also going to offer to help with the kids if he ever needs it because there were about 20 of them today (and ONE pinpointer). That's quite a few kids for one person and they were really keeping him hopping. They were using various Bounty Hunter detectors he got on the cheap and he had a Tesoro Compadre, a Cortes and a Garrett Pro Pointer. He definitely knows what he's doing.

I hunted the site for about an hour this afternoon after everyone left and before the rain came. I found a 1946 wheatie, a 1943 War nick' and an undated Buffalo in pretty decent shape in my short hunt. Not a bad start on new site at all. It's probably not as good as the other site but oh well. I'll just have to settle for the crumbs this time (GRRRRRRRRRRR.....)

But, from now on I will NEVER hesitate to try and get permission on a potential site. My new motto is "ask and you shall receive" (because it's SO true) and I intend to seek, find and knock on every door that presents itself until they open.

I suggest to everyone to learn from my mistake. In this hobby procrastination can cost you. It's even worse when you actually know about the treasure you could have easily had. And no one can beat you up more than you can beat yourself up; believe me.

On the upside, the true beauty of the hard lessons is that they're the ones we NEVER, EVER forget; even if we want to.
And if you snooze, you truly WILL LOSE, so please don't snooze; even if you're tired.

I guess that's about it. I feel better now.....

Thanks for looking and HH.....
 

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enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
6,384
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North Carolina
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What do you mean when you say you found a 1943 V nickel?
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
What do you mean when you say you found a 1943 V nickel?

Sorry, I meant to say War Nickel. I'm pretty tired at the moment. Thanks for pointing it out.
I already edited it.
 

Honest Samuel

Banned
Sep 23, 2015
8,814
4,969
Connecticut
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Minelab
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His detector is a low price detector. Good back and find out what he left behind. Good hunting and good luck.
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Imagine the story from the guy with the Ace350. Sorry it didn't work out...

Man I didn't even think of that.
He probably went home and told everybody about the lazy fool he ran into who could have had all of his treasure had that lazy fool not been lazy and foolish.

But seriously he was cool. He actually took one of my business cards and suggested a possible future Hunt. he's not from my area and may have some nice spots I'm not aware of. You never know.

I also thought of this; when I get permission across the street maybe I can make an offer for him to come into my site in exchange for a crack at his. It's always possible. Plus I believe my Omega may be able to sniff out a few things his 350 may not. We'll see....
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting

relic nut

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Nov 29, 2014
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Things happen for a reason. If this had not happened you may not have met the man helping the kids. You have to find the good in the bad.
If you can be part of getting 20 kids out of the house and involved in a great hobby, thats better than any amount of silver.

HH, Relic Nut
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
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Granite, Maryland
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Teknetics Delta 4000,
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Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
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Metal Detecting
Things happen for a reason. If this had not happened you may not have met the man helping the kids. You have to find the good in the bad.
If you can be part of getting 20 kids out of the house and involved in a great hobby, thats better than any amount of silver.

HH, Relic Nut

You're so right. I KNOW that things happen for a reason and that things align and work out in strange ways as we go through life. Sometimes it's so bizarre it's just unbelievable.

I've also been thinking about those kids. I have a few old BH detectors I'll probably never use again so I'm thinking about donating one or two if they need them. Nothing wrong with turning on more kids to a great hobby that beats the hell out of playing video games or staring into a screen while the world passes by.
 

enamel7

Gold Member
Apr 16, 2005
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I also noticed that in your story you never mentioned if he actually asked permission. Are you sure he had it?
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
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Granite, Maryland
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Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I also noticed that in your story you never mentioned if he actually asked permission. Are you sure he had it?

Yeah he got permission just a few days before I ran into him. At least that's what he said and the way he came off I have no reason to doubt him.
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
********UPDATE********

I posted about this in another thread but the guy actually LIED about having permission. How stupid was I not to pick up on it??


I actually met the owner while she was cleaning out the house for the last time. She told me she never spoke to the guy and never gave him permission.
Luckily, she gave ME permission but unluckily, I had very little time before the new owners moved in.

I was able hunt the place but not very thoroughly and AFTER it had already been cherry picked. I posted about it in this thread:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/t...button-silver-jewelry-swastika-coin-more.html

At least I didn't walk away completely empty handed.....
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

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Jun 20, 2014
3,164
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Granite, Maryland
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Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I called it!!!!!

INDEED you did!!
I can usually pick up on a liar but this guy was pretty good. In hindsight though, I do recall him avoiding giving his name when I introduced myself. It went right over my head at the time.
Things always appear more clearly when you're looking back.....
 

LRP1980

Jr. Member
Jun 11, 2016
24
19
New Brighton, PA
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Bounty Hunter LRP
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Yeah I hate when people don't play by the rules. Lots of low life's out there ruin it for us honest players by just sneaking on with a detector and causing problems for the rest of us. I saw a house torn down and some guy with an ace and on a bike detecting one day. I had thought about calling the realtor and when I did I learned nobody else called. They didn't care, but they were mad about the trespasser.
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
He probably also lied about the coins he found.

I hope so.
The thought of him walking away with that big silver still makes my stomach hurt......
 

whammy

Sr. Member
Oct 23, 2012
495
390
Conquest New York
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I'm in the same boat right now. Just down the street is a house built in the early 1800s. I spoke to the owner and he gave me permission to detect the property, 30 acres, but wanted to be there when I detect the house area. This was last year. A couple days ago my wife informed me she had seen a fella detecting the house and property. I have been trying to call the owner ever since to see if he gave the guy permission. The owner's mother had lived there for over 90 years, and had passed just recently, so nobody lives in the house at this time, and it's on a rural road way out in the country. So far I have respected the owners wish and not detected there, but it sure is tempting due to the other fella being there.
 

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Garrett424

Garrett424

Silver Member
Jun 20, 2014
3,164
2,284
Granite, Maryland
Detector(s) used
Teknetics Omega 8000
Teknetics Delta 4000,
Deteknix XPointer,
Fiskar's Big Grip Digger & my old Army Trench shovel for the tough jobs
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'm in the same boat right now. Just down the street is a house built in the early 1800s. I spoke to the owner and he gave me permission to detect the property, 30 acres, but wanted to be there when I detect the house area. This was last year. A couple days ago my wife informed me she had seen a fella detecting the house and property. I have been trying to call the owner ever since to see if he gave the guy permission. The owner's mother had lived there for over 90 years, and had passed just recently, so nobody lives in the house at this time, and it's on a rural road way out in the country. So far I have respected the owners wish and not detected there, but it sure is tempting due to the other fella being there.

That sucks.
You could always approach the guy if you see him again and feel him out but I would focus more on contacting the owner before the guy cherry picks the place. Hopefully he has a crummy detector and doesn't use it very well right??

It's definitely a terrible feeling when you see someone hunting a spot you've been trying to get into. I wish you the best of luck and hope you can get in there and find something good.
 

soopacee

Full Member
Apr 27, 2008
178
61
Pottsville, PA
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You guys make people with Aces sound like real jerks 😪
 

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