I feel for you NH. A promise is a promise, I to have lost friends because of the fever, at least 8. Gold fever can destroy any friendship. Seen it happen just over a few flakes of gold. I am going threw the same situation over here In Washington state, I shared info to 3 guys on where to mine with certain promises last year, 2 of them kept there promise but one didn't, I toil with what I should do with him and the guy he shared the info with, it is hard when they post videos here on the Tn of them mining that special place " Honey Hole " they call it. Good luck
Ed, I dont want you to read this in a confrontational tone. But I want to set the record straight. You seem like a decent dude and I like you. You are a wealth of knowledge and I hope one day I can dig with you. I wish I could have been digging back in the day with you. It feels like I am just out picking up the scraps of what you guys in the 90's and early 00's.
Your "secret" was always safe. I've told you and he has told you that I was digging that river long before we met. I knew of that spot long before I ever sunk shovel 1 in the dirt with him. As a matter of fact, it was the second place I ever dug for gold in 2012 if I remember correctly back when I had a crappy little stream sluice that wouldnt catch a cold in the water. I have called that spot my "honey hole" since the first time I went there. It was the first time I ever found gold.
The first time we went to that spot together, it was my idea, I was excited to be digging with someone for the first time. I was still learning and it was the only place I actually got gold from. The individual you are referencing had nothing to do with it. It wasnt until the day was over that he mentioned someone had taken him there before.
The spot you are referencing, the "honey hole" is one of the most well known "secrets" in the area. I found it by accident after a long day of failure working that side of the river. In the local prospecting community it has a lot of different names. Its like saying "the secret ingredient of beer is......hops". EVERYONE that is serious about prospecting knows that spot. The only thing that keeps people away is the work it takes to get to that spot or the risk you have to take coming in the other way.
And concerning the videos I post here, I look at prospecting a little different than some. I want to get people out there digging. The more people I get out there and can put gold in their pan, the more people WE have to fight the eco nazi's. I will take anyone out and show them how to look, find and dig that shiny stuff up. I want to share this hobby. Now even I have a couple spots I dont like to film at. I have first hand seen the repercussions of my videos. One of the spots I have dug was moved in on and made a mess of. I sat there and got mad and frustrated and then I remembered that every place I dig is accessible to anyone. I dont have a claim on any of my dig spots, I dont own any rights to the land. That gold belongs to anyone that is willing to get out there and dig for it.
It honestly bothers my buddy that you are mad at him about something he had no control over. He didnt say "let me show you this hot spot". It was me saying "hey I found gold over here, lets go dig there". If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I am the one with the fever. I am the one that wants to go out and move yards of dirt in a day. And I am the one that wants to share my silly adventures with everyone.
So please, stop being mad at him over any of this. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. I am the one filming, I am the one that wants to get out there and move mountains of dirt and find piles of gold. He just wants to be out there having fun.
In conclusion, I hold no ill will towards you and neither does he, but it bothers him that you are mad at him for things he didnt do. The prospecting community here is a very small one, there are no secrets here. Unless you have a claim, its anyones gold. Like I said, I'm not trying to be confrontational, I just want the record straight.
Bronze
AKA- SluiceGoose