What are you in it for ?

[northeast hunter]

I see people like big treasure you know buried gold bars,coins,etc but that thought never goes through my mind at all.I am in metal detecting for the old lost coin or ring or even that nice old relic and it is very satisfying.
Was just wondering why you all got in to this addictive hobby.
May you all find what you are looking for.H H

 

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[Mighty AP]

Same here NE hunter, Im just lookin for old coins, rings, relics etc. Dont get me wrong, Id love to unearth a box of gold but Im not actively seeking it nor do I think much about it. Mainly, I want old coins to give my father, who has collected since he was a child. When I was growing up in a very small town in northern California, there was only one man who had a detector. He had hunted the local park to death & was asking people to hunt their yards, my dad told him yes. I followed him around the whole time (probably drove him nuts) & watched him pull coins out of the dirt & was absolutely fascinated by it all! Ive wanted a metal detector ever since, it just took 30+ years to finaly take that first step! Im not looking back til Im too old to get down on my knees anymore. (figure I got 5 good years til then! lol)

 

[northeast hunter]

You give your coins to your farther what a good son.I cant even part with the old nuts i find.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

My dad always took us girls on treasure hunting expeditions, whether it was in the mountains or looking through old teardowns or log houses.He just lived for adventure and was shadowed every where by us girls. He always had us finding money or crazy stuff. He told us if we lifted a cat in the air by its tail a silver dime would fall out of its mouth....trust me ...no cat was safe around us six girls. When I was fifteen he took me to the top of Canada to a deserted Mining Island where we camped for ten days and explored every old building on the island. It was the trip of a lifetime. He had an old metal detector and I was hooked for life. He always told mom, every time things got tight ...."Pack up the girls and the horses... , we're moving to the mountains to pan for gold " and it was a running joke for our entire llives.
Dad would seed arrowheads and coins for us girls so we would always find something. Christmas ,we always recieved books on treasure hunting or pirates.
He was a history buff and I am pretty sure thats where I got it. We would spend hours talking history and books and pouring over maps.
I lost my dad a few years ago in a freak accident and everytime I hunt now ,I think about him and how he would enjoy the girls and my finds.I cant really say I am in it for him, but I am definately in it because of him and enjoy every minute of it ...from the research to the preservation and history of our finds.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Here are my reasons from the most important to the least.

1. To touch the past. I don't really know why, but for some reason the past fascinates me.

2. Exercise

3. Get my mind off troubles

4. To bore the heck out of anyone who is foolish enough to ask about the story behind the find.

 

[backitup83]

Ive always liked this kind of stuff. When I was growing up I read every swashbuckling book I could get my hands on, then Civil War books. Ive always been interested in panning for gold so when I think about it. This is the closest to be being a Treasure Hunter as I can get and maintain a job and family and life as I have adjusted to. I like hunting parks,schools,fields, the dry part of the beach and my back yard. Mostly I like to hunt anywhere I can. I like the reading part also,looking up places to go and in general I just like it all. Some day I hope to be as smart as Gypsy, and I don't say that lightly either.
Mike

 

[Jeffro]

I'm just in it for the babes and notoriety.....












Now that we're all done laughing........

I got interested in mining first, through my folks and the GPAA. Metal detecting was kindof a spinoff. Something I didn't have to travel a hundred miles to get to a good spot. I would like to find a big'un, but I haven't yet actively searched for a specific cache per se....

My son has been out there with me since the day he was old enough to leave the house, literally! At three, he would clear my sluice for me while I dredged, and at five he was moving rocks with me.

I guess for me, its about teaching values to my son. Respecting nature and people, a good work ethic, right from wrong, and how to take of yourself and others. All this wrapped up in gold mining, camping, and MDing. Here, he's helping hang claim signs.

 

[northeast hunter]

WOW.Great story's people keep'em coming.

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

History, (research); the hunt; an artifact
here and there; that's all that matters.

and

You never know what you may find

all have a good un...........

 

[Mighty AP]

North East Hunter said...........
You give your coins to your father what a good son.I cant even part with the old nuts i find.

I have an evil agenda. You see by contributing to his collection I am solidifying my claim to it. I figure I will get every coin I give him plus the coins he has collected since he was kid after his eventual departure from this earth. I figure I can wait another 30 years or so, & by giving them to him to hold for me I wont be buying 40 oz bottles of Schlitz malt liquor with valuable old coins. lol Also, by taking an intrest in his collection & by contributing to it I hope to be knocking my younger brother & sister out of contention for it! And this is my perfectly evil plan! Damn, I should be a congressman or a lawyer!

And Jeffro, cute kid........I think you are doin ok, teaching him all the things that should be important to parents but unfortunately, in this day & age, sometimes are not.

 

[Sandman]

Gypsyheart, that is a wonderful story about your father. You were indeed lucky.

Myself, I enjoy the adventure and the excitement of wondering what will I uncover next. After it's dropped in the goodie pouch, I am off on a search for the next beep. I must bore the heck out of dates. Yeah I still date, but I forget why..............

Sandman

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I just like finding stuff. Knowing that there are interesting and sometimes valuable items right under everyone's feet, and that a metal detector allows you to peer into this realm of the lost, is something that makes me want to be part of it. The thrill of the hunt and the rush of a good find.

HH!
TBGO

 

[gollum]

Big Money and a little ego, I think!

I like the thought of a big payday after months and years of library and internet research, trekking out in the desert, following rock carvings and monuments put there 250 years ago to guide whoever followed to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The ego part for me is to be able to figure out what codes they used, and break them!

The whole process is an adventure that's hard to describe to people who don't understand it. Even without the big payout, the rush you get when you finally decipher a clue you've been working on for a long time, or the first time you see a sign that is enormous, and the thought of how much work went into it. It's pretty amazing.

Mike

 

[catlord17]

Gosh, my reasons seem so simple.

I do it because I enjoy the simple pleasure of finding coins in the ground. There's not really a reason per se... it's just nice to be by myself, and disconnect from the world for a little while. It's fun to think I know what I've found, but never be absolutely sure. The thrill of the surprise... I mainly do coinshooting, and old coins aren't even what I'm looking for, because despite the fact that I live - literally - on the Treasure Coast of Florida, my luck finding things more valuable than a quarter is atrocious. I had the best detector on the market, interviewed with all the old salts who know where to go and had found countless gold and silver coins, hunting the same spots they hunt... knowing the beach, and when and where... spend days and weeks and months hunting myself senseless... and what do I find? I find that if I hand my detector to my (then) girlfriend's 9 year old daughter when my arm is about to fall off after swinging the damned thing for hours, she finds gold within minutes. Meanwhile, I find... jack. That was eight years ago. Since then, I gave up worrying about finding anything "worthwhile". Now it's about the pleasure of doing it, and the little thrill I get from discovering what I have found. Even if it is usually a penny, nickel, dime or quarter. After all... if it's not fun, what are you doing it for?

 

[EDDE]

FOR THE CHICKS, THAT FLOCK TO ME LIKE THE SWALLOWS OF CAPISTRANO
for the gold and silver also....

 

[jeff of pa]

The Adventure,

whether it be in the Books used for Research, The Computer research,
Questioning People, the on Scene Research or the Actual Hunt.

It all gets My Blood Flowing.

 

[willie d]

FOR THE CHICKS, THAT FLOCK TO ME LIKE THE SWALLOWS OF CAPISTRANO
for the gold and silver also.... Yep, chicks love the big coil I do it for the peace and quiet and the solitude. I like being outdoors and the thrill of the hunt.

 

[grizzly bare]

I got into this insanity because my doctor told me to exercise or plan on a short life. I move very slowly (I pretend it's to slow sweep the area, but I'm just fat) but I KEEP MOVING. I've lost a few pounds (NOT ENOUGH) and have found some acceptable keepers. Totally addicted now. I love the research and the anticipation of THE BIG ONE keeps me out there swinging. My next goals are to find enough to pay for another detector and lose 25 more pounds. (Texas in July should help with that!)

grizzly bare

 

[PBK]

From the time I was old enough to follow my dad around, we were always hunting, fishing, hiking, caving, rockhounding, and following old trails just to see where they'd take us. Then sometime in the 1960's my brother-in-law started metal detecting, and of course we had to try that, too. At first it was only a new version of the same game— prowling around back in the hills, discovering and exploring forgotten places and things— but soon I was drawn into researching a few of our finds, and that was really my downfall. The next thing I knew, I was buying obscure, out-of-print books that I couldn't afford, mining information from all sorts of unlikely sources, corresponding with experts on everything from circus giants' rings to six-lever railroad locks, and learning firsthand what any cat could have told me about the consequences of uncontrolled curiosity. Then came the internet, and you can guess the rest.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

I started thinking about Jeffros and Pauls Posts....and I guess it is true that I want to give my children the best the world has to offer....They have learned so much through treasure hunting , from the history ,to research,to enjoying outdoors, to the great people we have met ,to nature and adventure. I wanted my kids to have a healthy normal fearless life and not be stuck in front of a GameBoy or tv set all day. I wanted to give them what I had and not make them afraid to just "get out and live" . I wanted them to read and explore and to think for themselves. Our dinner conversations are like a party and full of crazy talk and laughter. I am trying hard to raise them to be self sufficient,strong young women who arent afraid to enjoy life. I dont want anything to hold them back and Treasure hunting has opened an exciting avenue for them to explore.When Cheyenne asked if I could pleeeease get her the collectors edition of Treasure Island for her birthday this year...it actually made me cry.... When I was growing up we were allowed to roam at will and spend hours off on adventures....I wanted my girls to have that freedom also...but things have changed so much and I have alot of fears for them because of the creeps out there. I didnt want them to grow up afraid of everything,so I had to make sure they used common sense and were well prepared for what the world can throw at them. Kind of got off track here....but guess the bottom line is alot of us do it not only because we enjoy it ,but for our kids also.