SHATTERED my silver record today! my old record was 11.

oknorom · Oct 24, 2007

hi all,

first of all let me say, "wooooohoooooo!" ok, now that that's out of the way i'll tell you about my best day ever in my detecting career. let me tell you- i feel like i'm dreaming. i've been feeling like this for about the last five hours!

it all started when i met mike (ratman) at a park that i've been to two or three times in the last 3 years. we met at around 7 am this morning and got to swinging. the day started off slow for me, as mike had a few wheats and a merc before i even had a wheat. eventually i dug a few wheats, then at 8 inches i got myself an '06 indian! minutes later i dug my first silver: a merc. about 6 feet away i dug another merc. cool. i was on the board. i moved into another area and no sooner than i put my coil down, i get a great signal...merc. a little time goes by and i move into an area in the front of the park. it's a turf section that butts up right against the sidewalk. i start swinging and proceed to dig 2 wheats in one hole, then another wheat a few feet away. then i dig up a merc. i call mike over and we gab for a bit, then a foot away i get another merc. it was 11:30 am and i had 5 silvers in my pocket. i could have left then and called it a great day. but it was early and i had the whole day to detect. about this time mike had to take off. we said our goodbyes and i got back to it.

the area i was working was a green turf patch about 25 ft X 75 ft. running along the sidewalk in front of the park. after mike left i moved down the way a bit and started picking up wheats. then i dug a merc. about a foot away i dug a rosie, and this became the pattern for the rest of the day. when i broke for lunch i had nine silvers. i texted dan (Captn SE), DanaPointVal and jayson (staydetuned). captn dan texted back, "go for a record." twist my arm...

soon after lunch, i got numbers 10 and 11. sweet! i tied my record. just one more...number 12 came in the form of a rosie. then 13, 14 and 15. i couldn't believe it! i took a water break and called dan and mike. they couldn't beleive it either. when i started up again, i managed to pull two more silver dimes. i was at 17. i knew that was val's record, so i called up the boys in Iowa to let them know. val told me to stop right there. he didn't want me to break his coveted record of 17. but jayson egged me on, telling me to go for 20. i still had about an hour of daylight left, so i went for it. a bit later i get a great signal, dig down and out pops TWO ROSIES!! i immediately call up jayson and tell him i just found #'s 18 and 19. he just starts laughing. while i'm on the phone with him i recheck the hole with the probe..."there's another coin in there!", i scream! i told him, "i'm gonna put the phone down for a sec while i dig this out. i might be about to dig #20!" i remove a portion of the bottom of the hole and BOOM! rosie! i couldn't believe it. i went from 17 to 20 with one hole.

after that i hunted for maybe 10 more minutes, then decided to call it a day.

i don't know if i'll ever be able to beat this day.

most of the coins were 5-8". not sure of all the dates, as most of the coins from this place were pretty corroded. i was surprised that no big silvers popped up. i'm not complaining though.

thanks for the long read. i'm gonna go have a beer.

HH,

Mike

Mirage · Oct 24, 2007

Wow, what's going on out there in California?! You guys just start the metal detecting hobby?

Sounds like a lot of virgin ground you are hitting. Very Sweet. I know it was still work. I think my best silver day was 11.

Nice write up too.

Bob

oknorom · Oct 24, 2007

thanks, bob.

i doubt this was virgin turf, but it felt like it today. last time i hit this park i came away with 5 silver dimes and maybe 15 wheats, but the area i hunted today was new to me.

the parks we have been hitting lately and doing well at have been hunted for years. i'm not sure why we're doing so well, but i think maybe they were hit hard back in the 70's-90's with older machines. plus, you can never get a coil ove every inch of turf from every different angle!

Ratman · Oct 25, 2007

What a day Mike and the real action started just after I left . Wish I coulda stayed longer to see you break that record . You kicked some big time booty today and all were turf finds not like it was a scrape or disturbed ground . You earned every one of those digs ! I guess that front strip was overlooked by other hunters cause you've got a hot area there . Get back and get the rest ! Congrats Mike ....

Joe G · Oct 25, 2007

that's one heck of a day's hunt! Almost all the silver in my "hunted out" parks comes in the form of deep dimes that the Minelab sniffs out. They're there because others have missed them.

oddcoins · Oct 25, 2007

WOW ~ that is a nice haul!! WTG!!! Totally AWESOME!!!!!

desertfox · Oct 25, 2007

Yep, five, count 'em, five happy faces for you! What ever you guys do, stay the heck away from my part of town with them Ex's. hehe
Happy Hunting Mike. I hope you get another good day to go with this one.

Desertfox

Southern_Boy · Oct 25, 2007

Wow! never had a day like yours and I am envious too! You must have had a great rush on that hunt! I do love to hear the stories from everyone about their great hunt and what they have found. It keeps me motivated and I work that much harder.

Jeff

EDDE · Oct 25, 2007

i count 19 and 2/3rds ::)

8) KILLER

diamondjim · Oct 25, 2007

EDD that's cause you only got 19 and 2/3rds fingers and toes...just be glad he didn't get 21, you woulda been lost.

mastereagle22 · Oct 25, 2007

If I get over twenty I start counting nuckles.

Man I need you to teach me how to use my Explorer. That is by far one of the best finds/stories posted here.

birdman · Oct 25, 2007

Huge congrats on a day you will remember for a long time. I have never found a spot that hot for silver yet but it gives me something to shot for.

oknorom · Oct 25, 2007

thanks for all the replies!

i'm not sure if i can ever have a day like that again...i think i just got lucky to find this area of the park. it's amazing that it was a pretty small turf area. there were signals EVERYWHERE! i was just going over and over the same areas and silver and wheats were popping up. any high pitched squeak i heard i investigated. if it repeated and was deep enough i dug. i was only digging signals that read at least halfway down the depth meter (6 inches). this seems to me like a once in a lifetime occurrence, but you never know. i'll definitely be going back to that park.

funny thing.... this is a park that captn dan, danapoint val, staydetuned and myself were kicked out of 3 or 4 or 5 months ago. same old story: someone called the cops because we were digging. cops came and told us to scram. and here i am months later and i have an all day hunt with 20 silver and no hassles. maybe time is the best remedy for these situations...and keeping a low profile.

cwdigger · Oct 25, 2007

very nice congrats

HH

Mirage · Oct 25, 2007

Mike,
Last year I hunted a park in my area that later I found out used to be a place hunted regularly by a metal detecting club. Some deep good stuff existed in the obvious areas but there were also pockets of "virgin" ground that you know no one with a metal detector had gone over it - the stuff was just too shallow and plentiful.

The thing with getting kicked out of places.... Some places it's ok for one person to be metal detecting but if you have three people it draws a lot of attention.... Just like if you carry around a big full sized shovel - the perception is that you are digging big holes and making a mess.

Bob