Papa Bear
Bronze Member
my first .69 caliber minie ball.....
I think this should be called "Adventures in Tick-ville"
So at 1:30 in the morning on Saturday CWDigger, NCJim, and myself were off out of state to a CW camp site. I had looked at a map the day before and had an idea of the shortest route which had us taking a side road long before we would ever be close to Fredericksburg, VA. CWDigger had his Mom's GPS and swore by it. My internal odometer was starting to feel off when I saw a road sign stating 22 miles to Fredericksburg and then I saw that the GPS said 40 miles to the next turn to the right. WHAT!!! I had CWDigger pull off the road and explained the issue. Even though he disagreed with me, he relented and after we had doubled back 8 miles, we were on the right road. Apparently the route we were supposed to take had a toll and the GPS was set to avoid tolls.......Anyway, soon after taking the correct route, CWDigger admitted that I was correct......(Of course I was.....I read maps!!).
Anyway we got there about 7am and hiked into the area. After a quick area brief it was off to detecting. I trudged around scanning slowly and carefully. I fond one button back about 7 inches down and not much else at first. I also found some old glass and a broken file while out and about. NCJim started digging a raised mound under a tree and started finding some things. Near them was another raised mound covered in brambles. I stuck my coil in there and got a faint but steady signal. After cutting away the foliage I started digging and 10 inches down I pulled out my first .69 cal minie ball!!!
Anyway the day toiled on and we eventually went to a hill that the troops had apparently used as the backdrop while shooting their muskets. Talk about not being able to swing a dead cat....... I had a great time as half of my round ball came from a 1 meter square area.
At the end of the day we headed back to NC. Tired, dirty, sweaty, and absolutely ticked out.
Yes, the ticks. We knew that they would be present and as such some preparations were made. I had my snake boots on and light tan pants (tucked inside) and a light tan t-shirt tucked into my belted pants. I also made sure that I was doused liberally in bug juice. It was amazing. Yo would get a signal, flick a tick off your pants, dig the hole, flick a tick off your glove, finds the target, flick a tick off your arm. It was continuous. Poor NCJim got the worst of it. When we got back to the truck and did the tick-check on each other, he had then under his shirt, under his t-shirt, on his socks. We drove to a McD's to get a bit to eat and were picking them off him in the restaurant. Back out at the truck we found two more on his pants. He found two on the back of the drivers seat. We liberally sprayed the seats of the truck (not my truck) and got back.
I showered and checked again but I was hosting no tick parties. On Sunday we contacted NCJim and he stated that his wife had found two more on his back last night.
I even rechecked once back on base. I am tick free.
Obviously the .69 cal minie ball was the hi-light for me.
I think this should be called "Adventures in Tick-ville"
So at 1:30 in the morning on Saturday CWDigger, NCJim, and myself were off out of state to a CW camp site. I had looked at a map the day before and had an idea of the shortest route which had us taking a side road long before we would ever be close to Fredericksburg, VA. CWDigger had his Mom's GPS and swore by it. My internal odometer was starting to feel off when I saw a road sign stating 22 miles to Fredericksburg and then I saw that the GPS said 40 miles to the next turn to the right. WHAT!!! I had CWDigger pull off the road and explained the issue. Even though he disagreed with me, he relented and after we had doubled back 8 miles, we were on the right road. Apparently the route we were supposed to take had a toll and the GPS was set to avoid tolls.......Anyway, soon after taking the correct route, CWDigger admitted that I was correct......(Of course I was.....I read maps!!).
Anyway we got there about 7am and hiked into the area. After a quick area brief it was off to detecting. I trudged around scanning slowly and carefully. I fond one button back about 7 inches down and not much else at first. I also found some old glass and a broken file while out and about. NCJim started digging a raised mound under a tree and started finding some things. Near them was another raised mound covered in brambles. I stuck my coil in there and got a faint but steady signal. After cutting away the foliage I started digging and 10 inches down I pulled out my first .69 cal minie ball!!!
Anyway the day toiled on and we eventually went to a hill that the troops had apparently used as the backdrop while shooting their muskets. Talk about not being able to swing a dead cat....... I had a great time as half of my round ball came from a 1 meter square area.
At the end of the day we headed back to NC. Tired, dirty, sweaty, and absolutely ticked out.
Yes, the ticks. We knew that they would be present and as such some preparations were made. I had my snake boots on and light tan pants (tucked inside) and a light tan t-shirt tucked into my belted pants. I also made sure that I was doused liberally in bug juice. It was amazing. Yo would get a signal, flick a tick off your pants, dig the hole, flick a tick off your glove, finds the target, flick a tick off your arm. It was continuous. Poor NCJim got the worst of it. When we got back to the truck and did the tick-check on each other, he had then under his shirt, under his t-shirt, on his socks. We drove to a McD's to get a bit to eat and were picking them off him in the restaurant. Back out at the truck we found two more on his pants. He found two on the back of the drivers seat. We liberally sprayed the seats of the truck (not my truck) and got back.
I showered and checked again but I was hosting no tick parties. On Sunday we contacted NCJim and he stated that his wife had found two more on his back last night.
I even rechecked once back on base. I am tick free.
Obviously the .69 cal minie ball was the hi-light for me.
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