Events that near ruined your detecting day?

[Iron Patch]

I have a few.


Quite a few years back I had just received my brand new Shadow X-5. I had started the hunt with it, but during our first little break back at the car I decided to switch to my Minelab. The problem was I left the Shadow sitting on the car for several hours and it was out of our sight, and where anyone could have grabbed it and walked away. Lucky for me they didn't.

Another was I had a guest coming to hunt and it was about an hour before he arrived so I put the dish washer on, then sat down to have lunch. About 15 minutes later I see water coming out of the kitchen and rush in to realize the hot water line had let go and water was everywhere. It was a pain to clean up but thank God I didn't run the washer just before I walked out the door because at the rate it was flowing damage would have easily been in the thousands.

The last that comes to mind is my bud the Cladman just arrived to go digging. I grabbed my stuff and for some stupid reason put my back out just bending over to pick up my shovel. I could hardly walk upright, but there's not much that will stop me from going detecting. We were't sure where to go so decide on part of a field we hadn't done before and go figure, what do I dig that I have to carry back to the car... a 12lb French cannon ball. Claddy had probably just missed it so regardless of what it felt like dragging that back to the car in my pouch, I wasn't going to ask him to do it.

A forth thing that actually did ruin my day was stepping on my coil and breaking it. But if that's as bad as it gets I'll take it. Oh yeah, on one of our last hunts for 09 Ironhorse totally forgot to get gas and we were in the middle of nowhere when I pointed to the gauge and said "GAS!" I can't write what he said, and we had no idea how far we could get, or how much gas was left, it was on empty and flashing. Turns out we made it the 5-6 miles but I bet we were damn close to running out. It wasn't the best day for finds, but wasn't so bad after dodging that bullet.

 

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[Don in SJ]

Some good ones IP, I have been thinking if I have any happenings like that and so far a blank, but there is one that I remember.

A lot of my sites include a nice brisk 15-20 minute walk just to get to the site and it was at one of these sites that one day I hoofed it pretty quickly, got to the site, turned on the XS and NOTHING. Gee, I should have noticed the detector was lighter, but no detector will turn on without any batteries installed!

There are also a few times where the digger was left in the truck, but usually continued hunting anyway......

Don

 

[RPG]

Last year I went to the old fairgrounds which is in a very sketchy part of town. I usually go on cold days because most sketchy people don't like the cold. This particular day I was about 30 min. into the hunt when I saw this car turn into the parking lot and wheel up to my truck. A guy got out of the car, looked into my truck, tried both doors and jumped back into the car and sped away. Lucky I locked my doors.

Needless to say, I went home.

 

[Iron Patch]

Last year I went to the old fairgrounds which is in a very sketchy part of town. I usually go on cold days because most sketchy people don't like the cold. This particular day I was about 30 min. into the hunt when I saw this car turn into the parking lot and wheel up to my truck. A guy got out of the car, looked into my truck, tried both doors and jumped back into the car and sped away. Lucky I locked my doors.

Needless to say, I went home.

You made me think of another one. It has to be at least 8 years ago that I was detecting a park and one of those type of "fellows" was cutting through and eyeing the bag I had left by a tree, and was at least a 100 feet from where I was standing. He kept looking over at me, so I knew it was on his mind to grab it and run. Just as he got to it I looked right at him and shook my head no. At that point he probably realized I was only around age 30 and 3 times his size, and a bag wasn't worth his life had I caught him. As he was probably thinking that, my dilemma was deciding whether to drop the detector and give chase for the min. loss of what was in the bag, or just shake my head and hope to catch up with him a little later.

 

[oldhermit34]

Once drove to a tot lot early in the morning to detect, got there and there was a bank robbery going on. LEFT QUICKELY

 

[Mark S.]

That robbery one made me recall one from way back. About 1977. I was on active duty in San Diego. No vehicle. I would ride the bus to the beach to hunt. Carried the detector in a green carry bag. After detecting I was sitting on a bus stop bench in front of a gas station after dark one evening. A police car came ripping into the station with lights on. Didn't pay much attention until I saw two cops standing in front of me with hands on their guns. Wanted to know what I was doing and what was in the bag. Showed them the detector and told them I was just waiting for the bus. Asked for ID and called it in.

While I was sitting there the gas station was robbed at gunpoint right behind me! Didn't hear or see a thing. The guy was wearing the same color windbreaker that I was and was carrying a green bag! That explained the two cops boxing me in and ready to draw.

 

[birdman]

Hunting in the rain one time on an awesome site and the bag I had covering my machine leaked and stopped working.Now I always have a back up machine.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I drove halfway to the beach (30 miles) and realized I had left my beach scoop at home...Real hard to hunt waist deep with no scoop.. I had to return to get it.....I now carry a scoop in my van at all times.....

Another time I drove 60 miles to Daytona Beach for the Great southern Beach Shootout, paid my $200 entry fee, then realized I left my competition beach detector sitting on my front porch. I had an Excal and Sovereign with me that I was going to use to beach hunt at night, but not my Fisher 1235X with the frequency shifter that I use for competition hunts..........I had to drive home get the 1235 and drive back, I made it back just in time for the first seeded hunt....

Another time I found after arriving at Daytona Beach that I had lost my harness with bungee, I though "how big a difference can it really make?" After hunting for 2 hours, I put my detector in my van and walked around the beach strip till I found a bungee I could jury rig to use. (It made a big difference) Next time I went to Kellyco I bought 2 harnesses, and I now carry a back up detector and a backup of every accessory when I go hunting....

 

[sniffer]

last summer I went to my hunt site, drove over the berm and almost drove into the river.
it had rained about 3 inches, 50 miles north of me the day before and over night the river rose about
12 ft. I almost left a load right there, I definitely had to swallow

 

[tmanfromtexas]

GOIO, McNickel, Treasurefiend and I had met in Gary Indiana to do some hunting at an old school. It had been a producing site so we invited a TF to join us. He drove down from the north side of Chicago. We got to the site and it appeared some kind of gathering was going to happen so we moved to another old school down the road. We start hunting when a cop shows up. She said we couldnt hunt the schools or the parks in Gary. I tried to reason with her but she wasnt having anything to do with it. The funny thing was I knew her ex husband as he lives in the same park I do. I tried the name dropping but it didnt work.

Another time, I was stepping down out of my 5th wheel. I stepped on an icy step and fell onto the steps. I was black and blue from my shoulder to my butt but I went hunting anyway. I couldnt hardly get out of bed the next day but the hunting was good. LOL

The last time was when we were hunting in Chicago when a couple of guys came up to GOIO and me saying we were hunting in their front yard, we were hunting in a public park. We argued with them but we were starting to get out numbered 10-1 so we decided to get gone.

Not to bad I guess, 3 not so good hunting days out of 130 last year. SMAN...

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Once a hunting buddy was killing me with a streak of five or six unanswered trade tokens that he had found. He called me "wheaty boy" until I caught up, and that took like a year to do. Every detecting day was ruined as I was exposed to shame and mockery unbroken like wind over a vast plain.

Wheaty boy!