Loose Lips...A Cautionary Tale

[Hutch in PA]

I need to do a little venting. Over the weekend, I ran into one of my best buddies at a local watering hole. He was in there with another guy I know. After a few cocktails, the subject turned to artifacts. I made the mistake a few years ago of telling my showing my buddy the results I was getting from a local field. Granted, the place is no secret...people have been hunting it for years BUT I had never encountered anyone else in there. Soon enough, I started seeing other footprints. Then one day I ran into my friend. Turns out he had developed a 'sudden interest' in arrowheads. Well...alright, room enough for both of us. It's not my property and I can't control who goes in there. But wouldn't you know it, HIS FRIEND was now telling ME what a wonderful spot that is, and started showing pics on his phone. He provided great detail on the specific areas where he finds things. What a coincidence, they are the same exact spots I ran my lips about.

Repeat after me: Word travels fast. People are greedy. In my case, I have nobody to blame but myself.

Unless you want others in your honey holes, keep your lips shut. He's still a good friend, and will remain so. He just won't be getting any details from me in the future.

 

[ivan salis]

then for sure do not tell him where you got that deer at (or else you might go deer hunting one morning and find him sitting in yer stand hunting from it )-- some folks have no interest "until" they find out that indain artifacts can be worth "money" -- then suddenly they are "very interested' indeed. -- never ever give up the location to a "gold mine" or tell your freinds in high school about the gal that "puts out" for you. -- some life lessons are learned the hard way -- lol

 

[flintchasr]

Sorry to hear about your spot. I too have made the same mistake except I was the only one that had permission to the field and the land owner was nice enough to let me take a friend with me and the next thing you know my so called friend was sneaking into the field and taking people with him. Needless to say he got caught and now I can't hunt the field either. Its just better sometimes to keep your spots to yourself!!!

Flintchasr

 

[flintmel]

Ditto on that, I met an old fellow years ago that expressed interest, I made the mistake of mentioning a spot and all I ever found there after that was his tracks! He was retired and went there everytime it rained or so it seemed.

 

[Hutch in PA]

Ivan Salis...I had a good laugh over your response (re: the girl that 'puts out'...hell, I married her!). Believe it or not, I left out the part about 'the deer in the pic', only because it was off topic and I didn't want to get myself even more cranked up. The buddy I referenced was kind enough to help me get that buck out of the woods last New Year's Eve. So he knew exactly where I got it. During the same conversation over the weekend, HIS FRIEND mentioned that he spent a lot of time 'driving the dirt road' where I got mine last year, and saw some real whoppers. Around here, 'driving the dirt road' is code for 'roadhunting'. The scum even went so far as to ask permission to hunt on the property (but was denied, hahahaha!). I swear, I will never, ever make this mistake again.

 

[joshuaream]

Yes, it's a lesson many of us learned the hard way.

When I was a 9 or 10 years old I used to hunt a local farm, and after finding several very nice pieces and showing the farmer them, one of his nephews took an interest and decided to hunt the farm by himself. I learned not to pull out the wow pieces if someone asked me how I was doing, no one gets too excited by a pocketful of brokens and scrapers.

A couple of years back, I went to see a collection that was for sale and took a local dealer with me since we were thinking about splitting it. We drove within a couple hours of a desert site I only visit once a year, so I decided to swing through and walk the site. He started hunting the site a couple times a year and eventually started offering to sell me stuff from the site.

We eventually worked our issues out, but I had to make his life unpleasant for a while.

 

[ivan salis]

well dang he told about yer deer hunting spot and your indain arrowhead feild too ? --geez oh petes --you gotta tell him --hoss this information ain't fer sharing with others --its tween just the two of us , ahright.

good thing he didn't know you in high school , lol. because if your gal found out you told "others" about her , she mighta dropped you fast. women can be a bit picky about that. -- lol--especailly after a bunch of horny guys come after her like a bucka bucks after a doe in heat.

as my grandpappy used to say --

iffn you want to keep sumpin fer yer self . keep it to yer self.
and
the only way two folks will keep a secert is iffn one of em is dead. -- (simply put folks tend to blab . especially if they drink , drinkers tend to love to boast and brag and tell stories - its the nature of the beast)

 

[Neanderthal]

Sucks when it happens, I've been in the same boat a time or three - I'll spare you my horror stories. Sharing videos and "hunting spot" information online will often come back to bite you in the arse as well.

 

[Hutch in PA]

You guys are dredging up all of my horror stories. Neanderthal, I posted 3 videos to YouTube when I first got started (didn't mark them as private). The title said something like: MyCounty, PA Arrowhead Hunt. In one of the videos, you could see in the background a house across the river. Some yahoo posted a comment saying: Glad to see you're having luck at ActualName farm. I'll have to check that place out!

I couldn't believe he figured it out from the video, but sure enough. Never saw anyone in there though. Lesson #3, don't post to YouTube public, and if you do, don't show anything but dirt.

I think I'm starting to sound paranoid.

 

[ivan salis]

when there are really folks are out there trying to "get" your spots--its not being paranoid-- its being careful

 

[Rege-PA]

Many years ago when I first became interested in artifacts I found several sites my self, one day I met another hunter on one of my sites, an older gent and he had been hunting it for years. We started comparing notes and soon became hunting buddies. He told me of many many more sites and I learned a lot from him and his collection, years later he passed on. Recently a younger hunter came by interested in hunting arrowheads, I told him of my sites and gave him topos with camps marked, many were from the old timer. We will hunt some of these spots together. I was glad to find someone who would share in my knowledge as I did from another. I realized many years ago that I could not hunt all of these spots and that I could not find every arrow head. I wish him well and hope he carries on where we left off.

 

[Hutch in PA]

Rege...I hear you. Mentoring is a key part of this hobby. I posted about a guy I met last summer (in one of 'my' fields) and we've stayed in contact. We're planning to spend time together this spring. Difference with this situation is my buddy was sneaky about it, then didn't have the sense to keep a good thing to himself. Big difference, IMO.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Rege...I hear you. Mentoring is a key part of this hobby. I posted about a guy I met last summer (in one of 'my' fields) and we've stayed in contact. We're planning to spend time together this spring. Difference with this situation is my buddy was sneaky about it, then didn't have the sense to keep a good thing to himself. Big difference, IMO.

Hey Hutch! Welcome to the club buddy! We have all been a good intentioned blabber mouth at some point in our lives. I'll show you the secret handshake later!

 

[old digger]

Mum's the word! I bet your next honey hole will be a secret. Also check your rear-view mirror. Old digger.

 

[jpitt1970]

I had only been living here, in Alabama for a few months and started finding some sites on my own. I was walking a field early one morning and ran into a guy as I was walking out. I tried to strike up a conversation and compare finds, but he was really short and seemed quite annoyed that I was on "his site"....so I turned and left. Well a few months later, I start talking to a guy that just started working at my company and found that we shared a common interest in artifact hunting, so we went on a few hunts together..after about the 2nd or 3rd time, he told me that he was the jerk that I ran into months earlier..Now we are best friends and hunt every Sunday we can together.

 

[ivan salis]

bumping into another hunter on 'open land" is one thing * but having what you "think" is a good freind blab all about the "secert spot" you told him in confidance to others is a altogether differant matter * --

if one "shares" a secret bit of info with another person , one had better stress at the time of sharing in plan terms that one expects it to stay between just you two , and that you'ld be pissed if it gets shared --or else it is liable to get "shared" cuz folks tend to be blabby by nature as a rule --and if a otherwize "good freind" has a big mouth and you know it or find out the hard way --well sorry hoss --there are some folks that you can not share "secert" info with -- and thats just life.

 

[shopdog]

I TOO HAVE HAD THIS HAPPEN WITH A BUDDY NOW WHEN HE ASK I TELL HIM TO GO TO PLACES THAT HAVE NOTHING BUT PEBBLES AND BRIERS MAYBE HE WILL CATCH ON ONE DAY.

 

[k1lla77]

i would get both of them cut off from the spot, unless they could produce a spot in exchange.

 

[flintmel]

no one person can find every point, but usually its like a chain letter and before you know it, you're sharing with many not just another! I had a killer spot years ago and a person saw me and invited himself, his buddies and his dog. The owner had greenhouses but after this clown's dog ran thru the greenhouses, no one was allowed.

 

[JOHUNT]

Hutch, I too have been there and that's one mistake that I avoid at all costs nowadays! By the way, I noticed your avatar and that's a dandy buck! Is that an old caplock? I tried them No.11 percussion caps and it felt like the stone age compared to the 209 primers. Well anyways, you're totally right about zipping the lips, and who could blame ya'