A quest for treasure

txkickergirl

Silver Member
Jan 4, 2007
2,782
25
George West, TX
Detector(s) used
SOV, EXCAL, CZ20, & more
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
When I purchased my first metal detector. I was among many that had grand illusions of soon having a room full of treasure troves. Dreams of gold and silver pouring out over chests, diamond rings on every finger, and fist over fist fulls of gold coins. Like many upon hearing the UPS driver pull up to my house, I had the detector assembled, batteries in, and turned on before I reached the front steps to my house. I can still hear that first beep and remember pulling out that shinny little square piece of metal that would later haunt my life from that day forward. Yep, we know it too well, the pull tab. Upon reflection I decided that well #1 the detector works, I found something and #2 how many people have caches buried in their own yard? So out I set pouring hours into research, reading every treasure book and magazine I could find, finding a highly addictive and highly educational forum to advance my knowledge. Driving down roads and noticing trees, or remains of old buildings, grilling family and even complete strangers about areas to detect or local legends. I did all of this and more while finding a few pennies and moving up to quarters and buckets of rusty stuff and things I will never be able to identify. I kept telling myself that good things come to those who wait and that I need to learn the machine or by now machines since I seemed to have acquired an extra hobby of collecting metal detectors as well as using them. Now the addict that I am, needs a room filled with gold and silver to break even with the expenses and gear I have, but being the addict I am if I had such a room I would just justify it as a reason for needing more stuff. Any rate as of late I have found myself discouraged with my meager findings and disappointed that I probably have found enough pull tabs to wrap around the earth twice and still nothing super valuable to show for it. Then it hit me looking through my piles of lost, discarded and long ago cast out items that for the first time, I know what a treasure hunter truly is. Its half of a horse shoe from old calvary days, its and handful of civil war bullets, it’s a small buckle from an old army mule camp, it’s a coin older than yourself but still clad, it’s a junk bent up ring, or that huge rusty piece of “you have no idea” but had to drag it home anyway just in case it’s something. My point is that although my eyes glaze over at the very thought that my next beep will my retirement fund, the simple truth is I already found my treasure of the lifetime. I found a group of great friends, became closer to my dad and brothers(we all got caught up in metal detecting around the same time) and found something I long forgot between work, wife, and being a mom and that was just being myself. So the next time you dig up that shinny square relic, instead of thinking crap-- not another one, think, “I” found this, me, not anyone else and chances are if “I” didn’t find it, it would of been lost forever.

Happy hunting all!
 

Great post Txki :)
I think the people who (stay) addicted to metal detecting are explorer's by nature and just enjoy satisfying their curiosity. If a person goes into it thinking they will be rich quick , they have set expectations way above reality and will soon be discouraged. I have even gotten to the point where I enjoy (out smarting ) the junk in the ground. If I get that pretty much good coin sound but still hear a little snap blip when pinpointing my gut feeling tells me bottle cap and then digging proves it, I say AH HAH !!! I KNEW you were a bottle cap ;D. I was speaking to Rowdy one day and he made a great point. He said metal detecting is like scratching lottery tickets , its fun each time. True metal detecting addicts are happy with this approach and getting small rewards over time. The dreamers only buy the multi million dollar prize tickets expecting a big payoff and usually end up very discouraged.
So I guess I'll just keep diggin a lot of junk and a little treasure and loving every minute of it ;)

Doozis
 

doozis
I love the part about out smarting the junk...I know just what you mean.
 

TX,

It"s really not what you find, It"s you found it, Who you found it with,and that you DID find it, It"s the adventure and break from our ordinary lives that makes this hobby so great.HH
 

my problem is i like it when detectorists give up because it allows me to buy another detector i dont need from them cheep...
I now have 12 detectors...LOL
 

TX, kudos for putting into words the feelings most of us have regarding this great hobby. It really is about history, nature, exercise, the excitement and anticipation of the "next find", and trying to "out-smart" the trash. Thanks
 

What a fantastic post, txkickergirl. :) :)

Everybody should read what you just wrote....especially the newbies.
 

Great post txkickergirl. You have a unique talent for putting thoughts into words that reach other people. Looking forward to more. My son and I are sort of learing the ropes together. I gives us quality time together and we both get to learn something we didn't know before. The "better" stuff we find is just an added bonus. :)
 

There is a big disadvantage that the current generation is having, verses the generation that got into this back in the 1960s/70s.

As someone who's been into this since the mid 70s, and having been president of a club, mentored lots of folks, etc... I can't tell you how many newbies who pick up a machine, rush out to the library (or drive down a country road and see old foundations, etc...) and think "bingo! a spot!" But for those of us who'd been into it for 20 yrs, they were places we'd already researched out and pounded the sn*t ouf of, already tried. Or ....d/t our experience of hard-knocks, we just knew had the wrong ingredients (fill dirt, under a reservoir, silted out, or whatever).

The earlier generation on the other hand, had virgin parks, first run of the history books, etc.... So now, even though things aren't virgin, that generation still has the advantage of having come through the ranks, known what they're looking for, understanding age indicators, etc...

While I still get spanish reales and gold coins in my area, newbies on our local CA forum pull their hair out wanting to know how I do it! They suggest certain site tips, but of course, they're always spots that we (the first generation) looked into 20+ yrs. ago. And sure, they're welcome to go there, but they'll only get leftovers, meaning that there's not enough targets for them to develope a "pattern", as was allowed to the first generation. It sucks, but it's true.

I remember when a person, in the late 1970s, could pick up their first machine, and with a 10 minute lesson, could go out to "central park" and find silver. NOW, even the aces struggle to find a wheatie at these same parks. Now what kind of learning environment is that? Naturally, a newbie will only find clad. Thus is the dilema of the hobby. People read about astounding finds, order a detector, wait for the UPS truck with dreams of riches, and ......... the rest is as your post says.
 

Don Jose: What kind of detector did you have in '55? Where were you hunting? What did you find? I know some guys in my area who got detectors in the early 1960s, and got shoeboxes full of silver from schools/sandoxes (go figure, it was still in circulation).

Yes, anyone starting out today still has chances at goodies, but they are at a disadvantage that you and I didn't have. Like ..... I could come to your are, pick up a coffee table history book, and run out to areas, that you detected in the '50s and '60s. Sure "nobody gets it all", but guess who's going to have the advantage? You, or the person who just picked up a detector yesterday?
 

I am more into the relic hunting and Tom, I could only imagine your generation detecting sites and pulling up bullets, buttons and buckles every time you went out. Also, there were more sites availabel to your generation then know due to developement, stricter laws and what not.

I can only imagine..........

Hey Txkickergirl, you found a hobby that brought you and your family together to enjoy, now that is the real treasure as you have stated. Everything else is all material, but hey, who wouldn't enjoy a chest full of gold material right!?! ;D

Good luck to you !
 

doozis said:
Great post Txki :)
I think the people who (stay) addicted to metal detecting are explorer's by nature and just enjoy satisfying their curiosity.
Doozis

I agree, Doozis. When I am out in a forest looking for a foundation of a long gone home that I spotted on an old map, that is enough. I have rediscovered something long forgotten. If I find some old artifacts or coins it is a bonus.
 

I really enjoy that post, its pretty darn good! I felt the same way many a time when going out. so i decided to kinda put myself on a plan. A friend of mine who hunts alot decided that I could use it, he had been useing it for some time and found that he could pay for his ventures with it and still have a good time. I did not understand till he went into more detail, but was pretty simple for me and helped me with staying in the hobby lol


*darn pull tabs*
 

I guess I quit trying to get rich years ago. I get a bigger kick out of guessing what is coming out before I dig. That time I changed to a smaller coil and found that dime, I knew it was a dime but I didn't know it was a Mercury dime. That's why I like hunting in the surf so much, you never know when that piece of aluminum will turn into a gold ring when you scoop it up.
 

I haven't been able to get out and hunt in almost 2 weeks I will make up for it this weekend, so I am looking forward to even finding those nasty pulltabs.

Thanks for all your wonderful replies
 

I'm just addicted to history. ;D
 

I agree - good post. One of the things that keeps me going is just plain curiosity. When the machine beeps, I want to know what caused it, even when it's only a pulltab. On the other hand, I have to say that the amount of trash I've detected says a lot about the sloppiness of our general population. We th'ers encounter a lot more trash than those that only look at the surface. Anyway keep digging that next signal may be the reward for persistence.
Bill
 

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