Keep at it ...

[Mississippi Yankee]

There are reasons why so many metal detectors end up in the garage, closet, or attic to be forgotten about & whose only job now is to collect dust. There are also reasons why so many others get so much use, the company's who make batteries are kept in business !!

Getting shut-out or digging nothing but trash is part of the learning experience !! It happens ( & still does ) to ALL of us along the way to actually being able to find something to keep the "Fire burning" so to speak.

Yesterday, a neighbor who bought an ACE250 ( on MY advise ) complained to me that he had gone out TWICE with it & found nothing but trash !! ( 1st Metal detector, used it twice, and now ready to quit !! ) I asked him HOW he got to be so good at shooting Pool that he brags about, & he responded "I Practiced a lot". I then asked him ....."Well then, WHY would this be any different" ?

After than asking if he had an hour or 2 to spend, we took the detector to a nearby playground that had been built in the last 6 months due to Hurricane Katrina's visit to our area. ( I had NO IDEA as to how many times this place had or had not been detected leading UP to yesterday, only knew that there HAD to be something left there for us to find to prove my point !! )

I set the discrimination at 3 and proceeded ....

in less than 1 1/2 hours.....

I dug a TOTAL of 2 "trash" targets.... AND .....

2 quarters
3 Dimes
2 Nickels
19 Pennies ( 4 being coppers )
1 1995 Chuckie Cheese token
1 Housekey
2 SILVER charms !!

When we were done, he asked in amazement HOW did you DO that ?? I responded "I practiced a lot".

I believe he finally got the point, as he left with his detector 1st thing this morning to ( I assume ) go back to that same park.

 

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[Cubfan64]

Hehe - good story . Don't convince "too many" people to keep getting out there and practicing or there won't be anything left for the rest of us though (hehe). Seriously though, your advice to him was VERY SOUND and could be applied to many many other things in life as well.

Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Michigan Badger]

Good post and well written.

I think many who come to this "hobby" aren't really treasure hunters at heart. I think many are gold diggers or easy come...easy go people. Just looking for something for nothing.

Us old diehards (40 years) are treasure hunters. It's in our blood. The thrill never goes away. We must be in pursuit of treasure.

We're the ones who last the long haul.

Badger

 

[stoney56]

Excellent story and post. There are those that figure that MDing is the fast track to becoming wealthy (which it is if your talking about knowledge- ) They see the big $$ signs and when it's not immediate they get frustrated.
Just remember the old saying, "If at 1st you don't succeed, don't try parachuting."

 

[Mississippi Yankee]

Thanks y'all.

Just checked in with the neighbor.

He found a total of $1.29 in clad & some of those pesky pull-tabs I told him to dig !!

I again, had to explain to him WHY you dig those signals, especially when in an area where the diggin' is SO easy ( wood-chips ) I don't think I "Created a monster" here, but him finding coins & learning the machine as he went along, just might keep him hunting a while longer

 

[thadious]

Great job on showing him how to use detector. For some of us, me especially, this is more than a hobby . Its also my exercise. A chance to meditate, to relax, to smile, even to laugh at myself as my hopes get up only to pull another beer bottle cap or pull tab out of the ground. If I did this for the money or cool things I find I probably would have quit all ready. For me the hunt is the game and the finds just the ending of one hunt and the beginning of another. I say this because even though I have only been at this for a few months I know that this is something I will continue to do as long as my back and health let me. So if your neighbor does not stay with it after your help then this is not for him. Anyway good luck and hunting and may all your finds be good ones. Ted