Ever have an embarrassing moment in this hobby?

[WHADIFIND]

I had one of those non-stellar days today. Not "bad", just not stellar. I did however turn up an old war nickel in pretty good shape. Unfortunately, I managed to scratch it right across the face. (rookie mistake).

I moved on and was semi-gridding the place. On the way back to the car, I turned up another war nickel. About the same shape, was right on top, and when I looked a little closer, it had a scratch also. Hmmmmm, interesting. Right across the face too! Almost exactly where I....................wait a minute!!! I checked my found pouch. No nickel. I had just found the same one, TWICE!!! oH! HOW embarrassing!!!! LOL

Thought if anyone else out there had done this, they would now not feel so bad.

HH!

 

[lab rat]

One time I was getting ready to detect and getting the equipment out of my garage. I leaned the scoop against the front of my jeep (where I knew I wouldn't forget it) and I brought the detector to the back and put it in. Then something had to be hauled out to the trash, and my scoop was in the way, so I grabbed it, went to the bin, leaving the scoop next to the -passenger- side of my vehicle. Of course I went around the other way when I went to get in the jeep and go. I was mad when I got to the beach and realized my scoop wasn't there! Had to dig targets with my hands, or a plastic butter dish I found, and didn't stay doing that very long. Its too time consuming, and sharp objects like glass, nails, fish hooks, etc. are always on my mind. So I got home and started looking for my scoop. I finally found it-- someone had thrown it in the dumpster after I had run over it, crushing the basket! Took a half hour of swinging a 3 lb. sledge over a steel pipe to bend it back into shape, and after that it basically fell apart after a few months of easy use.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Tried to explain to a panicky neighborhood person I was NOT looking for radiation!

Also, I'm sure I mentioned awhile back about falling in a hole I had just dug in the sand.

I actually told that to a bunch of bothersome kids one time. I was in the water and they just kept asking what I was doing. So, one time I just said looking for radiation. They ALL cleared out!! LOL

 

[IAsoldier]

I forgot my digging tool so I used my kitchen spoon to dig aka small one.

 

[IAMZIM]

Ok, will try to keep this as PG-13 as I can. I was out in the sagebrush this late summer and had just found two tokens in about 3 feet apart, when I get another strong signal that sounds just like the first two. I get really excited, drop down on my knees and start furiously digging my hole, and.....another token!!! I am sitting there on my knees admiring my third token, when I feel this weird itchy crawly feeling, then horrible biting/burning pain in my tender parts and lower body. If you have seen the new version of "Land of the Lost", there is a part where "Chaka" gives "Dr. Rick Marshall" a nice melon to eat, and as he is thanking Chaka, who had just cracked it open for him, he is quickly covered with spiders that have crawled from the fruit, and pretty much covered him before he realizes what is really happening. Well....In a very simular fashion, I look down to see my lower body, (and very quickly my mid-section) swarming with ants. So I hop up and kind of start running(as they are biting me) and I think I was screaming a little... and I start tearing my pants off and beating them on the ground to get them off my pant while hopping up and down trying my best to shake them off. As the whole episode seems to come to a thankfull end, I look up and see a man and two women, one adult and one a teen I beleive sitting on their four wheelers staring at me like I am fresh out of a mental institution. (no offense to any of you who may acctually have recently come out of a mental institution.) Yeah, so It's hard to act cool after something like that happens!!! LOL! So now I REALLY watch for ant hills when Im out in the "bush"!

Oh yeah, and I hate digging up a bunch of cat poop when I dig a target in the volley ball courts, not fun.

 

[cherrypicked]

Not while detecting but last week at Goodwill everyone was scrambling for bins. It's very competitive here which in all honesty is part of the fun. For some reason a random man walks up to me and starts making casual conversation about what I had in my cart, the weather, etc. I'm pretty shy so I would smile and nod while I continued looking. I bent down to search the lower bin and right when he's mid sentence I go to stand up and whack! Something was sticking out of the top bin and I smacked my face right into it. The dude just stopped talking and walked away. At the time I was very embarrassed but now I can laugh about it since I have a tendency to be accident prone and am pretty used to embarrassing myself in public.

 

[WHADIFIND]

Loneliness is all it's cracked up to be! That and winter doldrums brought me back to this thread. Wow! Was I ever glad I did! I found so many funny stories that I hadn't seen yet! Brightened my day considerably! Thanks to all the posters who shared their stories!

As I read, it reminded me of yet another embarrassing day. I was detecting on a particularly cold day on an old ski/sledding slope. There was a light coating of snow but the ground wasn't frozen and I had found quite a few nice finds. The snow was very crusty though from the overnight freeze. Had to crunch through the top now and then.

I was almost to the pinnacle of the slope and was getting ready to start back down. I knelt to dig a target and when I got up I nudged my machine. Before I could grab it, it took off! I just looked at it incredulously as it slid like a toboggan, ALL the way down the ski slope!!! It was a very long walk back down to the detector. LOL !!

I found that it was always best to make sure equipment couldn't slide,roll, fall back down any hill I was on!

Thanks again folks, for all the wonderful stories! It helped me over some of these doldrums.

 

[WolfmoonX]

Surely I can't be the ONLY person who has done this...

I'll keep this simple.

I was detecting a wooded area that used to have a train station nearby. Walking along, I was getting this broken tone every few feet. After messing with the XLT for what seemed like a good 30 mins, I realized that it was detecting the steel in my steel toed boots as I was walking. Yeah....I'm THAT guy!

 

[wayne91101]

I put on my gloves and was picking up hands full of dirt and kept getting signals when i ran it across my coil, Then used my pin pointer and no signal WHAT THE H*LL was going on my detector was hitting on a good target and it was deep. I tried this for about 10 minutes it was hot and I was sweating like crazy, So I sat down pulled my glove off my right hand grabbed my water bottle took me a couple of swigs and put it down. As I was putting my glove back on my right hand I then realized why I was getting signals while using my left hand and not with the pin pointer. YEP my wedding ring!!! I sat there and laughed at my self for about 10 minutes and I finally found the target after I got finished laughing, It was a mercury dime so I guess I'm glad I kept on trying to find what I thought I had found 20-30 times before. It was still in the hole just inches down!! after the day was done I did end up with 3 mercs 1 buff and 7 wheats and a funny memory I will never forget!!

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Haha,

Some funny stories, great thread idea. The one from Casper-2, the police are the ones that should be embarrassed. Haha !! I've been embarrassed many times. One time I was detecting and trying to show off my machine to a bunch of friends and family. My aunt had secretly placed her gold ring on the ground. I went over it many times and she called me out on it... "How come your machine won't find my ring" I had no idea about discrimination at the time so... I could not give her a strait answer in front of many family and friends. I was very embarrassed. Another time I was hunting for about an hour, not finding anything. Getting upset that I can't find anything. Only to discovery I had hunted an entire field never to have turned ON my machine... Haha !!

Keep @ It and HH !!

 

[Pointman]

Recently, I hunted a new place and found quit a few coins on top of the ground because they were clearing the land. I told my buddy after the hunt that I probably had at least $3 worth of quarters and more in dimes because they were all over the place on top of the ground. He said that he didn't see any coins on top of the ground. I got home and had barely $2 worth of quarters. I then realized that every time I leaned down that the coins kept falling out of my pouch and I was picking the same ones up each time. At least I had an excuse because it was a new pouch.

 

[Silverseeker]

I have an embarrassing moment every time I hunt empty lots in town and a dog starts barking. Not long after, all the dogs in the neighborhood are barking and everyone's watching me out their window. Embarrassing? yes... but it still doesn't stop me. lol

 

[Pointman]

I have an embarrassing moment every time I hunt empty lots in town and a dog starts barking. Not long after, all the dogs in the neighborhood are barking and everyone's watching me out their window. Embarrassing? yes... but it still doesn't stop me. lol

Yesterday I was hunting barely a foot off a busy street and contemplated that you lose two things when you really start to metal detect seriously.

That is your modesty in public due to all the equipment and clunky headphones attached to your head and being sensitive to people harassing you.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

True Pointman, very true.

When I first got my metal beach scoop I was out swinging the detector on the beach and every once in a while I would get a signal to my left at the end of the swing but when I turned and went over that spot, nothing! I was beginning to think something was wrong with the detector loose coil wire or something.
Nope! Wasn't the detector it was the operator!
I was swinging with my right hand, and the scoop was in my left so each time the coil got close enough to the scoop it sounded off! I was detecting my own scoop!!!! At lest that one stayed between me and the detector!
Now I hold the scoop behind my back when detecting the beach, and the M6 laughs because it knows why!!!

 

[WHADIFIND]

True Pointman, very true.

When I first got my metal beach scoop I was out swinging the detector on the beach and every once in a while I would get a signal to my left at the end of the swing but when I turned and went over that spot, nothing! I was beginning to think something was wrong with the detector loose coil wire or something.
Nope! Wasn't the detector it was the operator!
I was swinging with my right hand, and the scoop was in my left so each time the coil got close enough to the scoop it sounded off! I was detecting my own scoop!!!! At lest that one stayed between me and the detector!
Now I hold the scoop behind my back when detecting the beach, and the M6 laughs because it knows why!!!

Yep, Pointman has it nailed. But, there is one that still bothers me. When I'm detecting near a road, all those ****** who honk their horn and yell boom baby! I wonder how many are fellow detectorists. Anyway, with my headphones on it makes it easy to just play ignorance and never recognize/acknowledge their existence.

About your scoop detecting? I've done that too. I was impressed at just how far away the scoop could be and still be picked up! At least you didn't keep turning in circles, trying to catch up with the target. (Hint? I've created a hook that hangs behind me and I just hang the scoop on that during normal swinging. Easier than trying to walk up steps and chew gum. LOL )

 

[Pointman]

My detector will false on the extreme right or left of the swing because I will lift the coil up slightly. I started using a Pro-swing harness and the falsing has stopped because it forces you to swing parallel to the ground due to the bungee cord.

 

[WHADIFIND]

All the confab over one newbie's post has reminded me of a story that fits the theme of this long standing post. Since people seem so desperate to have something to read/respond to this winter, I thought I'd pop this one back up to the top. At least there's a purpose to this one. I get frustrated watching people who wholeheartedly and vehemently disagree with a trick post and what do they do? Respond to it, popping it up top for yet another response and pop. I watch some people post really nice stuff and get 1 maybe 2 responses. But, get played by one poster and it gets 3-4-5 PAGES of responses!?!?!

Sorry, here I am responding to that post, in another post ! LOL BUT, at least I didn't pop that one back up top again! LOL LOL

Too late to make it short but here's the story it reminded me about:

A MOST embarrassing moment for me.

I was feeling like exploring and so found myself hacking through some VERY thick woods. It was winter but these woods were still very tangled! I hacked, swing a couple inches, hacked some more, swung and inch, etc. Longer story shortened; suffice it to say that I was getting my "explorer" fix satisfied but was very quickly running out of steam. I found a few things which fueled my desire. A penny here and there, a clad quarter, etc. But, then, I got an early wheat cent, then a large cent!!! I was ECSTATIC!! If I could have moved I would have done a happy dance!!

I moved another foot up and got another deep hit! I knelt down, pushing some brambles, sticks, bushes and rocks out of the way. Just before I plunged my digger I noticed that one of the rocks had markings. I read, "Here Lies Ezekiel, faithful husband and father...." YIKES!!!!

I was SOOOOOO shocked!!! AND felt very, very sorry for what I had done!!

Nobody was there to see it but me. I may have even let out a girly sort of yelp! Thankfully not loud enough for anyone to hear.

I took that large cent and the couple other things I found and buried them at least a foot deep. Said a prayer and left.
I notified a friend who knew an Archy and left it at that, but I'll tell you, I STILL blush when I realized what I'd done. Even though it was by mistake, it still "haunts" me.

Thought you'd enjoy my discomfort. LOL

And now, you guys have something else to read until Spring gets here by popping this back up top. LOL

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I was hunting with my brother and his 5 yo son. I had a good hit and he was digging. Suddenly I lean down to see an amazing silver colored wedding band glinting in the hole. Even the 5 yo was excited and I checked and it was platinum! I looked at my brother who had a devious look on his face...HEY! This is your wedding band! He started cracking up...damn, he really had me for a few seconds there! I rechecked the hole and eventually pulled out a ptab.

I gotta watch out for his slight of hand! Yah, you got me.

 

[T.C.]

LMAO!!!

 

[ga/digger]

We were digging a site near a free way that saw civil war action. One of my first signals was deep do I started digging and digging and digging. Everyone had moved off and left me but I was not going to give up on the target. I had visions of cannon balls. At about 2 feet I hit flat metal. I enlarged the holes and am thinking ok brilliant you are digging up a man hole cover. It was round and when I finally got my fingers under it I pulled it up and over. It said "STOP" on it. It was a cast iron stop sign with raised letters haha. I still have it in the basement ,,, everyone got a real big laugh.
Every time I get a new detector I practice in my yard and I always dig up my sewer line up front in the same place at the lead flange

it said stop....... so you did

 

[ggossage]

Just remembered one of my most embarrassing hunts. A very good friend invited me up to his place to hunt a field that he had permission. He'd gone on and on about how wonderful this place must've been before it got hunted out. He said he'd gotten in at the end of the finds and they pretty well dried up shortly after he got there. But, it was a beautiful old farmhouse and relics still showed from time to time. Civil war bullets, buttons, gun parts, etc. My friend is no slouch when it comes to this hobby. He has some high tech toys and he knows his stuff! My old Groundhog paled in comparison. Still, it sounded like a nice way to spend some time with an old friend. When I got there he showed me some of his almost professional grid work. Some he even had posts in the ground with tape and everything. He said he was playing archeologist that day. Anyway, we started our hunting, (I stayed outside his markers of course). He told me not to bother in the spot I was in as I was checking something that I thought I heard. I told him it sounded good. He said he'd done a full on grid along the house. Nothing there but nails. He showed me on his machine how my signal, although not completely iron, was probably a nail. I said there's one way to find out. We dug and about 10 inches down, one of the prettiest old large cents I ever found. Now, I know it's too late to make the long story short, but that wasn't the only find of the day. We were both laughing at the end but I could tell my friend was very ashamed that I found all that, where he'd swore was played out. I was extremely embarrassed. Had fun though! Just goes to show ya, LEARN your machine!!! HH!

This is a valuable story because it probably happens all the time...meaning, one person's machine will read differently than another's...that's due in part to the machine, the settings of the machine and/or the person listening behind the machine. Never ever assume that just because you or your hunting partner covered an area that it is devoid of valuables. I ate my words one day when my buddy found his one and only V nickel because he was determined to find something I missed...the force was strong in him AFTER I had said, "I covered that spot well, I guarantee you won't find anything there." The V was buried in a sea of nails and I had missed it.