Brett
Bronze Member
Well I got a slow start today... got up and just surfed the Net for about 2 hours. Then my Dad IM's me and asks me if I was hunting today. I said, "let me go splash some water on my face and see if I get motivated". Within 10 minutes I was putting my Dickies on and lacing up my boots. I told my Dad where to meet me if he was coming, but alas he never showed. I guess he didn't want to get his new coil wet/dirty/frozen.
I couldn't find my winter hat so I just grabbed my AZ Cardinals ballcap and hoped it would help keep my head from loosing too much heat. I figured the new Ratphones Max would keep my ears warm, and they did! For 3 hours my ears were perfect and snug in them babies. I chose to take my Lesche model 85 out instead of the new minelab digger, because I knew the ground was going to be tough. I had originally planned on hitting the big sledding hill, but some parents and little ones were there so I didn't wanna be the "weird guy" invading in on their fun. I'm respectful of stuff like that. So I went over to a tried and true spot that has produced some old ones. I didn't expect to dig them, just see them and try to remember where they were for when the ground got warmer. Well after digging a sub-surface penny for my first target (2004), I decided that sucked and if I was going to dig anymore it had to be worth it! At the bottom of a hill I got a great signal through 2" of snow drift... I was swinging wild when I saw it too, just looking for surface finds. This was another smaller sledding hill. When I saw it read like 8" I was all about it! I cleared away the snow and it was still reading 7 or 8" so I dug a 6" plug and it was still in the hole. The pistolprobe was working great showing me that the coin was right in the center of the hole. I dug another 1" of dirt up and out popped a '44 wheatie from 7".
After that I felt like digging wasn't so bad as long as it was a good signal like that one. So after that I dig a BUNCH more trash... that shiny aluminum piece was at least 13" down and the pistolprobe was seeing it from the bottom of the 4" plug. I kept questioning the probe because it seemed like it was too perfectly in the center of the hole, I thought maybe it was sounding off on all of the dirt centered around it... but it only did it at the bottom of the hole. The pistolprobe also ratchets down on the target when you are in proximity. If you pull away it will reset it's ratchet, it's pretty cool. So I kept digging and checking probably 6 times, and finally got to a shiny piece of metal at the bottom of the hole. I was like, "son of a -----!" but was still impressed with the PistolProbe. I actually thought I would have a hard time hearing the probe through the Rats and the threshold of the E-TRAC, but with the threshold down low you can hear the probe good enough to use it. I kind of wish it had a vibration mode though... but it works great so "beeeeep" will have to do.
I circled around and around the areas that I have gridded really slowly multiple times with my SE Pro, and I was cruising because it seemed like the E-TRAC would sound off on something deep whether I was going slow or really fast. Plus it was getting progressively colder out and my fingers were starting to ice up like a squirrel's nutsack. Then I hit another great tone that was reading 6". This place has good stuff at all kinds of depths, and most of the wheaties and indians are in that range. Dug it up and out popped the '26 wheatie. It looked great when I wipped the reverse of it and saw a crisp wheat ear. Also in the gridded areas, I found another very clear '60 memorial and a '67 dime that was reading LOUD and CLEAR. Can't believe I missed all of these before.
One of those great tones was the Cracker Jack token. I thought it was slaw at first, but could clearly see writing on it and it looked thick like a coin. I knew it was aluminum though, but hey... I think it's pretty sweet. My first cracker jack find.
I kind of wished I had grabbed my new Lesche model 58 shovel, but with 3 cops driving past I thought it might have been a little much on the flashy side.
Apparently my pistolprobe did not cause a rise in the cops... but every time I was holstering it and unholstering it I was thinking it did feel like a gun. Whatever.
Pics!
So far I'm really impressed with the E-TRAC. It's nice and quiet, the menus are fast, the processor is updating very quickly and I just know when I get into some older areas it's going to be ExTRACting silver all over the place!
I couldn't find my winter hat so I just grabbed my AZ Cardinals ballcap and hoped it would help keep my head from loosing too much heat. I figured the new Ratphones Max would keep my ears warm, and they did! For 3 hours my ears were perfect and snug in them babies. I chose to take my Lesche model 85 out instead of the new minelab digger, because I knew the ground was going to be tough. I had originally planned on hitting the big sledding hill, but some parents and little ones were there so I didn't wanna be the "weird guy" invading in on their fun. I'm respectful of stuff like that. So I went over to a tried and true spot that has produced some old ones. I didn't expect to dig them, just see them and try to remember where they were for when the ground got warmer. Well after digging a sub-surface penny for my first target (2004), I decided that sucked and if I was going to dig anymore it had to be worth it! At the bottom of a hill I got a great signal through 2" of snow drift... I was swinging wild when I saw it too, just looking for surface finds. This was another smaller sledding hill. When I saw it read like 8" I was all about it! I cleared away the snow and it was still reading 7 or 8" so I dug a 6" plug and it was still in the hole. The pistolprobe was working great showing me that the coin was right in the center of the hole. I dug another 1" of dirt up and out popped a '44 wheatie from 7".
After that I felt like digging wasn't so bad as long as it was a good signal like that one. So after that I dig a BUNCH more trash... that shiny aluminum piece was at least 13" down and the pistolprobe was seeing it from the bottom of the 4" plug. I kept questioning the probe because it seemed like it was too perfectly in the center of the hole, I thought maybe it was sounding off on all of the dirt centered around it... but it only did it at the bottom of the hole. The pistolprobe also ratchets down on the target when you are in proximity. If you pull away it will reset it's ratchet, it's pretty cool. So I kept digging and checking probably 6 times, and finally got to a shiny piece of metal at the bottom of the hole. I was like, "son of a -----!" but was still impressed with the PistolProbe. I actually thought I would have a hard time hearing the probe through the Rats and the threshold of the E-TRAC, but with the threshold down low you can hear the probe good enough to use it. I kind of wish it had a vibration mode though... but it works great so "beeeeep" will have to do.
I circled around and around the areas that I have gridded really slowly multiple times with my SE Pro, and I was cruising because it seemed like the E-TRAC would sound off on something deep whether I was going slow or really fast. Plus it was getting progressively colder out and my fingers were starting to ice up like a squirrel's nutsack. Then I hit another great tone that was reading 6". This place has good stuff at all kinds of depths, and most of the wheaties and indians are in that range. Dug it up and out popped the '26 wheatie. It looked great when I wipped the reverse of it and saw a crisp wheat ear. Also in the gridded areas, I found another very clear '60 memorial and a '67 dime that was reading LOUD and CLEAR. Can't believe I missed all of these before.
One of those great tones was the Cracker Jack token. I thought it was slaw at first, but could clearly see writing on it and it looked thick like a coin. I knew it was aluminum though, but hey... I think it's pretty sweet. My first cracker jack find.
I kind of wished I had grabbed my new Lesche model 58 shovel, but with 3 cops driving past I thought it might have been a little much on the flashy side.
Apparently my pistolprobe did not cause a rise in the cops... but every time I was holstering it and unholstering it I was thinking it did feel like a gun. Whatever.
Pics!
So far I'm really impressed with the E-TRAC. It's nice and quiet, the menus are fast, the processor is updating very quickly and I just know when I get into some older areas it's going to be ExTRACting silver all over the place!
