My heart skipped a beat

[Darshevo]

Today I had the great luck of selling a sewing machine to a fellow on Craigslist. He was from Walla Walla which is 160 miles away. We met in a small farm town called Colfax to make the exchange. I decided before I left this morning I was going to take the back roads home and mark with my GPS any interesting places to hunt for a future full day trip back down that way. I decided to check out a natural area known as the Steptoe Butte on my way and after enjoying the views of the rolling farmland I made my way back down the winding road. About 1/2 way down my excitement got the better of me and I parked the truck, pulled out the uMax and took off on a little walk. In a way it was nice to be in an area that isn't totally trashed out and not get much for signals. Because I am still really green to detecting I am always in all metal mode. I got a couple faint beeps which turned out to be a piece of bailing wire that was broken in half. I wandered around the area more or less in a grid format and decided to check out an area by some bushes before I headed out. When I got to the area I immediately got a really strong signal. I started digging and let me tell you, that Tesoro has some depth to it. Even at about 1/2 way on the sensitivity I was easily 5 inches down when I came to a good sized rock. I excavated the hole some more to help get it out, and before pulling it made sure I was still over the target. After breaking my probe (actually one of those tools with the v nose on it for taking out dandelions or other weeds) I manage to get an edge of the rock and between my thin garden shovel and a bit of grip I pulled it free. Still NOTHING to see, but still getting a signal in the hole. I dug in one more time with my small garden shovel and just as I caught a glimpse of something metallic... VOID!! I swear my heart rate doubled. I was so sure I had found something. At this point I am pushing 8" deep real hard.

Well, void turned out to be a rusted out beverage can that I pushed through easily with the sharp tip of the shovel. All in all I am happy with the hunt tho. I pulled another can out that was barely legible (with a 22.250 shell inside of it) and an Lucky Lager bottle. There is still a bunch of stuff in there as the signal was quite strong and I saw lots of shards of glass. I am guessing its a dump from when the workers built the area, as it seems unlikely that weekend partying teenagers would have buried their empties that deep. I covered it back up and made the area look as undisturbed as possible. Going to head back up there next weekend with some better digging tools and work my way in all the way around, see what other kind of cool trash turns up.

Coupled with the 1956 wheat and 1959 pennies I dug up yesterday (as well as another small pile of scrap metal) not a bad day all in all

 

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[Old River]

Great story, and a beautiful location. Congrats on the pennies. HH.....

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Thanks very much for the great story Darshevo! The way the suspense was building, I thought that we were going to see a solid gold Haida funeral mask pop out. You never know though what you'll find under the bushes!

 

[njnydigger]

Man, you got some great spots to hunt there judging by the pics! Maybe I'll take a ride from New Jersey one day for a nice outting

I would be all over those fields after the farmers finish their tilling. No telling what you'll find.

Good luck.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Interesting story and it looks like a good place to start hunting.. maybe it was just left out of the story but the "parking the truck" and the just going for a walk part.. well.. no mention of getting permission so maybe it was a park or something?/ Just mentioned it because as you start hunting in a new area there is no better way to not get permission in a small community then to start hunting someone's property without securing it first.. word spread fast in a place like that! Good luck!! Hope it has some good producing spots!

MB

 

[Darshevo]

Interesting story and it looks like a good place to start hunting.. maybe it was just left out of the story but the "parking the truck" and the just going for a walk part.. well.. no mention of getting permission so maybe it was a park or something?/ Just mentioned it because as you start hunting in a new area there is no better way to not get permission in a small community then to start hunting someone's property without securing it first.. word spread fast in a place like that! Good luck!! Hope it has some good producing spots!

That makes an intersting note. I found some REALLY cool places to hunt. I marked them on my Delorme topo map and also with my GPS. When I got home I used Google earth to find the closest inhabited farms around each one so I can go track down the potential owners for a future hunt in the area.

The land I was on is a public/private type of consortium. about 100 acres or so is public land while the private land is available for the general public to enjoy in a non motorized manner. Any form of mountain biking, hiking, pick nicking, etc is allowed outside of fields that are in season. The area I was digging in was kind of a back wash area around a rock fall (looked like great rattlesnake land to be honest). While I have not checked the net to see if the area is specifically off limits to MD, I did see a guy at the little grassy parking area on the way out with one working around the late model bathroom/outhouse facility (manufactured here in Spokane by CXT by the way )

As far as the fields go I am itching for harvest right now. With my new MD hobby and interest in coin/treasure/relic hunting I have found that a huge part of the area around was the site of a battle between several indian nations and the US army in the 1800's. It would be one of the coolest things in the world to have something I dug up at the Museum of Art and Culture here in Spokane with my name on it

To see more about the area check out Steptoe Butte and the related battle that took place.

-Lance

 

[DMN]

Nice finds and they'll get better as you get more proficient. The best find of the day though...tha million dollar view!

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Interesting story and it looks like a good place to start hunting.. maybe it was just left out of the story but the "parking the truck" and the just going for a walk part.. well.. no mention of getting permission so maybe it was a park or something?/ Just mentioned it because as you start hunting in a new area there is no better way to not get permission in a small community then to start hunting someone's property without securing it first.. word spread fast in a place like that! Good luck!! Hope it has some good producing spots!

That makes an intersting note. I found some REALLY cool places to hunt. I marked them on my Delorme topo map and also with my GPS. When I got home I used Google earth to find the closest inhabited farms around each one so I can go track down the potential owners for a future hunt in the area.

The land I was on is a public/private type of consortium. about 100 acres or so is public land while the private land is available for the general public to enjoy in a non motorized manner. Any form of mountain biking, hiking, pick nicking, etc is allowed outside of fields that are in season. The area I was digging in was kind of a back wash area around a rock fall (looked like great rattlesnake land to be honest). While I have not checked the net to see if the area is specifically off limits to MD, I did see a guy at the little grassy parking area on the way out with one working around the late model bathroom/outhouse facility (manufactured here in Spokane by CXT by the way )

As far as the fields go I am itching for harvest right now. With my new MD hobby and interest in coin/treasure/relic hunting I have found that a huge part of the area around was the site of a battle between several indian nations and the US army in the 1800's. It would be one of the coolest things in the world to have something I dug up at the Museum of Art and Culture here in Spokane with my name on it

To see more about the area check out Steptoe Butte and the related battle that took place.

-Lance

Outstanding!! Glad to see the area is safe to hunt,minus the snakes!! Sounds like you know the laws and should be good to go!! Good luck on the potential military sights.. can't wait for the postings!!

HH,
MB

 

[OldNBroken]

Darshevo, just an FYI, Steptoe Battlefield is a nat'l historic site. Make sure you know the boundaries because MD there is a big no-no. Archies have organized with MD clubs in the past to try to recover artifacts to help reconstruct it. That is one of few areas around here archies are very very particular about protecting.

Edit: it's a state park. In Washington some parks are legal to md in, some aren't. There is a website that tells you which ones. Around here, Steptoe and Riverside are not allowed unfortunately. (Riverside would be awesome to swing in.) Mt Spokane State Park is legal in areas.
Here is a story on Steptoe and MD efforts to find artifacts.
http://www.bowenshideout.com/news.php?news_id=26

 

[Darshevo]

Thanks for the heads up on the legalities of the area OldNBroken. My hope is to lay my hands on something a little further out from the boundaries of the battlefield after tillage, but being right there in the area I would most likely have taken a swing in the park just in case something was missed.

I knew Riverside wasn't allowed. Too bad, particularly after this weekend, between the losses of the 4th of july campers and the history in general good chance a guy could leave with something interesting

-Lance