Digger_O'Dell
New member
Hi all,
I've been reading a lot of yearly recaps and seen on lot of great recoveries from the year. So I began to wonder what makes some hunts better than others in an effort to improve the next year of hunts.
This past year had a lot of firsts for me. For example I got my first seated. In my region they are a rare find. I know folks who have hunted for decades who have none of them. Then when I found my second not long after finding the first one, I was amazed! Was is just luck, or a change in hunting tactics? I think it was a bit of both.
This summer I had my goals set to find a seated coin. So I traveled all over my state and even went as far as 6 hours south into Illinois. I later found the park I went to had been hunted heavily for years as well. But sure enough, that's where I hit an 1853 seated dime! Then later on during a street tearouts locally I get another seated dime. Was I starting to see a pattern?
I began to search in earnest for that elusive gold. I hit every lake Michigan beach and water from mid Wisconsin to Chicago, along with numerous inland waters without luck. But I was persistent and worked on learning my machine better, and horse to search more efficiently. After a big storm tore out a huge swarm of sand at my local beach I hit the thick bands of submerged newly exposed rocks and gravel. Sure enough, hit a long lost 14k band!
With that in hand I was able to experiment with my machine to get the best settings and a better feel for gold hits. It wasn't very long that at another nearby beach I was able to locate a very tiny 10k gold band!
Yes, it's often just luck of the draw, but obtaining the skills, doing the work, researching, persistence, and setting goals really can pay off. Here's a few more firsts from 2016.
Fatty Indian
Items still not identified
First skeleton key
Only example I've ever seen posted of a lead bottle cap
The silver napkin ring, waiting on 2nd restoration.
Handmade copper bracelet
First Walker
I've been reading a lot of yearly recaps and seen on lot of great recoveries from the year. So I began to wonder what makes some hunts better than others in an effort to improve the next year of hunts.
This past year had a lot of firsts for me. For example I got my first seated. In my region they are a rare find. I know folks who have hunted for decades who have none of them. Then when I found my second not long after finding the first one, I was amazed! Was is just luck, or a change in hunting tactics? I think it was a bit of both.
This summer I had my goals set to find a seated coin. So I traveled all over my state and even went as far as 6 hours south into Illinois. I later found the park I went to had been hunted heavily for years as well. But sure enough, that's where I hit an 1853 seated dime! Then later on during a street tearouts locally I get another seated dime. Was I starting to see a pattern?
I began to search in earnest for that elusive gold. I hit every lake Michigan beach and water from mid Wisconsin to Chicago, along with numerous inland waters without luck. But I was persistent and worked on learning my machine better, and horse to search more efficiently. After a big storm tore out a huge swarm of sand at my local beach I hit the thick bands of submerged newly exposed rocks and gravel. Sure enough, hit a long lost 14k band!
With that in hand I was able to experiment with my machine to get the best settings and a better feel for gold hits. It wasn't very long that at another nearby beach I was able to locate a very tiny 10k gold band!
Yes, it's often just luck of the draw, but obtaining the skills, doing the work, researching, persistence, and setting goals really can pay off. Here's a few more firsts from 2016.
Fatty Indian
Items still not identified
First skeleton key
Only example I've ever seen posted of a lead bottle cap
The silver napkin ring, waiting on 2nd restoration.
Handmade copper bracelet
First Walker
Attachments
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