wildheart
Jr. Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2009
- Messages
- 60
- Reaction score
- 2
- Golden Thread
- 0
- Location
- Bucks County, PA
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett Ace 250
Oh boy...now I know I'm hooked!
Okay, y'all are going to laugh at this one, but I just had to share:
After getting my new Garrett Ace 250 for Xmas, I've been haunting these forums to try to learn everything I can about MDing until the ground thaws out here in the frozen north (here in southeastern PA, we had our first serious snow yesterday, just a few inches). So I've been reading about MDing etiquette, and smart things to do, like letting people know you have an MD to help them if they lose something.
Well, today I'm driving to an appointment and I see an older guy scuffing his shoe alongside the road where many of our outdoorsmen park to hunt our nearby game lands. So I pull over and ask him if he lost something. Sure enough, he lost a pocket knife, and he's really upset because it belonged to his dad. I told him I have an MD that I usually carry with me (which I do -- my old Ace 100), but I didn't have it because I read on here how we shouldn't keep them outside when it's cold. So I told him to give me his contact info and I'd try to get back out there before the sun went down. He gave me his business card and I was on my way.
I did go back out after I'd come home to change my clothes and pick up my detector. I only had about 15 minutes before it got dark, but I worked the area where I'd seen him. Sadly, I didn't find his knife (he said it was possible he lost it while out in the woods), but I have never, EVER gotten so many signals in such a small area in my whole time EVER using any MD. There was a layer of snow on the ground about 3/4" to 1", and I don't know if that'll make false signals, but I also imagine there are just TONS of old shell casings, dropped bullets, pull tabs and anything else you'd find in hunters' trucks. But the ground was nearly solid and I couldn't dig it at all.
Then a state patrol squad pulled up and the trooper asked if I'd lost something, so I explained what I was doing. He wished me good luck and moved on (I know him kinda because I'm on our local emergency mgmt. agency and he works our territory during events like flooding, etc., which has happened a lot in the past 4 years). So I kept at it and I did find a cheapy key to a cheapy lock (no pic, sorry It's nothing exciting). I know it's just a piece of junk, but when I bent over to pick that thing up, it was such a thrill. Aside from some old rusty stuff I've found underground before, it was really the first recognizable thing I've ever dug. And since it's the first time I ever went out after having actually learned some good stuff here at Tnet, I really consider this my first informed hunt.
By then it was dark and I felt it was too dangerous to stay along the road, so I called it a night. But I'm going back there as soon as the weather gets warm, because I know there's just gotta be a bunch of stuff there. Can anyone tell me if I have to ask permission to detect alongside the highway? What about a PA state park -- once the hunters are gone, I'd love to go over those trails they all use. Any advice would be appreciated.
Oh, yeah...even though my brief shooting session was kind of a bust, today I DID get my first silver and two wheaties! But it wasn't on or in the ground -- I sorted through my loose change jar.
I found a 1964 silver quarter, a '41 and a '45 penny. So, all in all, it was a good day for treasure hunting for this noob, and I just had to share it with my new Tnet friends. LOL
Okay, y'all are going to laugh at this one, but I just had to share:
After getting my new Garrett Ace 250 for Xmas, I've been haunting these forums to try to learn everything I can about MDing until the ground thaws out here in the frozen north (here in southeastern PA, we had our first serious snow yesterday, just a few inches). So I've been reading about MDing etiquette, and smart things to do, like letting people know you have an MD to help them if they lose something.
Well, today I'm driving to an appointment and I see an older guy scuffing his shoe alongside the road where many of our outdoorsmen park to hunt our nearby game lands. So I pull over and ask him if he lost something. Sure enough, he lost a pocket knife, and he's really upset because it belonged to his dad. I told him I have an MD that I usually carry with me (which I do -- my old Ace 100), but I didn't have it because I read on here how we shouldn't keep them outside when it's cold. So I told him to give me his contact info and I'd try to get back out there before the sun went down. He gave me his business card and I was on my way.
I did go back out after I'd come home to change my clothes and pick up my detector. I only had about 15 minutes before it got dark, but I worked the area where I'd seen him. Sadly, I didn't find his knife (he said it was possible he lost it while out in the woods), but I have never, EVER gotten so many signals in such a small area in my whole time EVER using any MD. There was a layer of snow on the ground about 3/4" to 1", and I don't know if that'll make false signals, but I also imagine there are just TONS of old shell casings, dropped bullets, pull tabs and anything else you'd find in hunters' trucks. But the ground was nearly solid and I couldn't dig it at all.
Then a state patrol squad pulled up and the trooper asked if I'd lost something, so I explained what I was doing. He wished me good luck and moved on (I know him kinda because I'm on our local emergency mgmt. agency and he works our territory during events like flooding, etc., which has happened a lot in the past 4 years). So I kept at it and I did find a cheapy key to a cheapy lock (no pic, sorry It's nothing exciting). I know it's just a piece of junk, but when I bent over to pick that thing up, it was such a thrill. Aside from some old rusty stuff I've found underground before, it was really the first recognizable thing I've ever dug. And since it's the first time I ever went out after having actually learned some good stuff here at Tnet, I really consider this my first informed hunt.
By then it was dark and I felt it was too dangerous to stay along the road, so I called it a night. But I'm going back there as soon as the weather gets warm, because I know there's just gotta be a bunch of stuff there. Can anyone tell me if I have to ask permission to detect alongside the highway? What about a PA state park -- once the hunters are gone, I'd love to go over those trails they all use. Any advice would be appreciated.
Oh, yeah...even though my brief shooting session was kind of a bust, today I DID get my first silver and two wheaties! But it wasn't on or in the ground -- I sorted through my loose change jar.
I found a 1964 silver quarter, a '41 and a '45 penny. So, all in all, it was a good day for treasure hunting for this noob, and I just had to share it with my new Tnet friends. LOL
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