Mirage
Silver Member
Let me start by saying thanks to DON. This year's hunt was even better than the previous two years (in terms of finds) and probably accomodations and such. Great job Don, Beekcake, Steve and everyone else who maked it possible. There is good and bad with this type of hunt:
The Cons:
Too many people. Competition was fierce. You had to be first at a spot to get the Big Silver (there were a couple exceptions).
People who don't follow the rules. Yes, part of it was ignorance and miscommunication. I did see the “greed” factor of human nature come out.
You might think you did good until you see what the next person finds.
The Pros:
Having so many people made what would have taken 2-3 people months to find happen in one day! Instant revelation.
Meeting other people and hooking up with old friends.
Enjoying other friends success in the finds.
Learning more on how to read a site and hunt it properly. It's always a challenge to quickly get a read on a site to find where the most likely spot for coins is and why.
Finding some decent finds.
Anyway, details of the hunt from my perspective:
The day started with the meeting at Bob Evans and dispite Beefcakes great map people getting lost on the way to the camp. Then sign in and the disregard for the “wait until eveyone is signed in before hunting” rule.
I probably should have studied the maps/history a little bit more as I just kind of followed the crowd down toward the old campsite. Too crowded so I branched off. I wandered around and after a bit I came to a flat area. A guy from Michigan/Wisconson (?) told me he had just found a silver Quarter in this flat area.
Not knowing when they made these flat areas (clearly by dozer). I decided to work the area a little bit. I was rewarded with my first silver of the trip.
I worked the area a little more and didn't find anymore silver or wheat pennies so I decided to more on. Hunted a bit more and came upon JerDFX (Jeremy) and his brother Lance.
Jeremy:
Lance:
Jeremy excitedly told me “Dude, Lance just found a Walker and I found a Standing Liberty Quarter!”. So I said cool and started hunting. Picked up a wheat and then found a Merc. I think before I even found the Merc Lance calls over “Standing Liberty Quarter, Baby.”
Now I was getting pumped. Ended up finding wheats and two silver but it was hot and we were getting dehydrated so we decided to head back to the car. Dave and I came back to the spot after lunch worked the area a little bit and proceeded to work downhill. When we came to a ravine I looked up and saw a ridge of pines and some flat land below it. I had to get back soon (driving home for the evening), was again dehydrated and tired so I told Don and Dave I was going back (If I would have gone forward there were some awesome coins in that spot that had not been found yet - Morgan Dollar, Barbers, Silver Halves, etc). 
So, I left at before 4pm on Friday. My finds for the short day:
Saturday while everyone was finding Morgan Dollars, LC’s and Barbers I was at Nate’s track meet.
I got back to the camp with Nate by about 2:30 and we had some lunch. Hunted around the lunch cabin found a few things but not much. I asked Nate if he wanted to go for the old stuff or silver . He opted for the later so I lead him back to the spot Lance, Jeremy and I found our silver at. What surprised me was how many more silver and wheats he pulled from that spot.
Nate working the spot :
I managed another half dozen wheats and a silver rosie but that was it. I know the second time back hunting with the MXT I was not hitting stuff like with the DFX. Finds from the second day:
It was fun hanging out with Danimal, Don, Zoso, Scott, Spencer, Handyman and his Uncle in the evening. Handyman’s uncle cleaned house. He has an old White’s hipmount 6000. And he knows his machine! Here is a picture of the frenzy Danimal created by finding ______.
This was kind of a neat find – now if I can only get that letter opener out of the trace….
All in all not bad but relative to some others…well never mind.
Bob
The Cons:
Too many people. Competition was fierce. You had to be first at a spot to get the Big Silver (there were a couple exceptions).
People who don't follow the rules. Yes, part of it was ignorance and miscommunication. I did see the “greed” factor of human nature come out.
You might think you did good until you see what the next person finds.
The Pros:
Having so many people made what would have taken 2-3 people months to find happen in one day! Instant revelation.
Meeting other people and hooking up with old friends.
Enjoying other friends success in the finds.
Learning more on how to read a site and hunt it properly. It's always a challenge to quickly get a read on a site to find where the most likely spot for coins is and why.
Finding some decent finds.
Anyway, details of the hunt from my perspective:
The day started with the meeting at Bob Evans and dispite Beefcakes great map people getting lost on the way to the camp. Then sign in and the disregard for the “wait until eveyone is signed in before hunting” rule.
I probably should have studied the maps/history a little bit more as I just kind of followed the crowd down toward the old campsite. Too crowded so I branched off. I wandered around and after a bit I came to a flat area. A guy from Michigan/Wisconson (?) told me he had just found a silver Quarter in this flat area.
Not knowing when they made these flat areas (clearly by dozer). I decided to work the area a little bit. I was rewarded with my first silver of the trip.
I worked the area a little more and didn't find anymore silver or wheat pennies so I decided to more on. Hunted a bit more and came upon JerDFX (Jeremy) and his brother Lance.
Jeremy:
Lance:
Jeremy excitedly told me “Dude, Lance just found a Walker and I found a Standing Liberty Quarter!”. So I said cool and started hunting. Picked up a wheat and then found a Merc. I think before I even found the Merc Lance calls over “Standing Liberty Quarter, Baby.”
Now I was getting pumped. Ended up finding wheats and two silver but it was hot and we were getting dehydrated so we decided to head back to the car. Dave and I came back to the spot after lunch worked the area a little bit and proceeded to work downhill. When we came to a ravine I looked up and saw a ridge of pines and some flat land below it. I had to get back soon (driving home for the evening), was again dehydrated and tired so I told Don and Dave I was going back (If I would have gone forward there were some awesome coins in that spot that had not been found yet - Morgan Dollar, Barbers, Silver Halves, etc). So, I left at before 4pm on Friday. My finds for the short day:
Saturday while everyone was finding Morgan Dollars, LC’s and Barbers I was at Nate’s track meet.
I got back to the camp with Nate by about 2:30 and we had some lunch. Hunted around the lunch cabin found a few things but not much. I asked Nate if he wanted to go for the old stuff or silver . He opted for the later so I lead him back to the spot Lance, Jeremy and I found our silver at. What surprised me was how many more silver and wheats he pulled from that spot.
Nate working the spot :
I managed another half dozen wheats and a silver rosie but that was it. I know the second time back hunting with the MXT I was not hitting stuff like with the DFX. Finds from the second day:
It was fun hanging out with Danimal, Don, Zoso, Scott, Spencer, Handyman and his Uncle in the evening. Handyman’s uncle cleaned house. He has an old White’s hipmount 6000. And he knows his machine! Here is a picture of the frenzy Danimal created by finding ______.
This was kind of a neat find – now if I can only get that letter opener out of the trace….
All in all not bad but relative to some others…well never mind.
Bob
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I hate those seeded hunts.
