Possum
Bronze Member
- Nov 22, 2017
- 1,912
- 2,477
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab CTX 3030 and Equinox 800, XP Deus, Shadow X5, Shadow X2, Fisher F44, Whites Coinmaster, and Tesoro Compadre'
- Primary Interest:
- Relic Hunting
“A Lesson Well Learned”
Hi, my name is Darryl “Possum” Galloway and I live in Southeast Louisiana and I’ve been relic hunting for 20+ years and thought I knew all there was to know about metal detecting and wilderness survival, or at least that’s what I had convinced myself. I’ve recently been doing some research on a British encampment and finally secured permission to metal detect a possible site.
It was a blistering hot day in the summer of 2018 when myself and my hunting partner Dean “Truth” Taillac went in search of this possible lead of the British encampment in the Chalmette area, which is located in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Guys, I'm not going to lie, it was miserably hot. The area was huge and as a crow flies, we were only about a quarter mile or so east of the Mississippi River and not much more than a mile +/- northeast of the actual Chalmette Battle field.
Truth and I both had camel backs for hydration and two-way radios, due to the area being so big and we were going to spread out a little to cover more ground trying to find the actual encampment site.
Well, after hunting for quite a while, I got all caught up in the hunt and was continuously moving from level high ground to ridges. Because I figured that's where they would’ve set up camp above the water line during the rainy season and to avoid the swampy lower portions of the area.
Anyhow, I lost track of time and when I realized it had been several hours since I heard or seen Truth, I decided to do a comms check. I pulled back one of my headphone ear pieces and hit the radio alert, but there was no response, so I hit it again and followed with an audible call. But again, no response. The other thing that I noticed was that I couldn't hear the traffic that kinda kept me oriented to my location in this rough terrain.
I took my phone off of airplane mode, pulled up the GPS and after the GPS page loaded I almost collapsed when I realized I was at the far northeastern corner of this property that as I stated above, this was some rough terrain, it was covered with palmetto, vines, briars, Kudzu, not to mention spiders, snakes, wild hogs, and other plants and shrubs that I had never seen before.
Well I finally made contact with Truth via my cell phone and told him that it was going to take me a while to get out. He wanted to know how my water supply was and that he was not leaving the property until I came out.
I took my westerly mark from my compass and set off, but soon realized that for every 30 yards or so west I walked I had to walk twice as far north or south to find a suitable area that was open enough to push through before I could return back towards my westerly heading.
It didn't take but about 2 hours and I was completely out of water but being a Louisiana State Game Warden and in the woods all the time, I always carried a survival straw just for these types of emergencies, But… reality check!!! It wasn’t there!!! I don't know what happened to it. All I can think is it fell out of my carrying pouch somewhere in this miserable swamp.
About an hour later I could hear the traffic and was able to speed up a little since I didn't have to keep stopping to confirm my westerly azimuth. I kept on fighting this “Jungle” hoping to eventually run across an ATV trail that was so numerous when we first started hunting, but of course all I found were game trails that just zigzagged all over the place.
I’m not lying, those palmetto, briar, Kudzu and other vines and weeds were killer, not to mention the felled rotting trees that were still there from the past hurricanes. When I came upon an area that was overgrown with this stuff and it was not feasible to back track, all I could do was place my shovel horizontally in front of me and stand on it mashing the briars and such down and repeating this over and over again until I came to another clearing where I could move a little faster. God!!! What I would have given to have my Kukri or Camillus with me. But of course, both were in my bugout bag in my truck several miles away!!!
Truth stayed in touch via cell phone and asked if I could hear his trucks horn. I just smiled while spitting cotton balls and calmly told him I could only hear his truck horn through the phone… LOL
Well, about 30 minutes or so before I finally found my way out, I found what appeared to be earthworks that ran in and almost perfect straight line from a SW to NE direction. I started following them and looking them over really good and taking GPS reading and photos of them before reality hit me in the face with a big old, “Hey stupid! You’re really dehydrated and need to get back on track!!!”.
I eventually made it out onto a levee. About a mile or so further to the south I could see Truth’s white truck. He kept to his word and refused to leave a man unaccounted for. He’s a great guy to hunt with and he will not leave you, I promise!!!
I began trudging towards him and eventually I found a shade tree on the east side of the levee road and ditched all my gear for a later retrieval. My boots were soaked with sweat and foul swamp water and they were slipping on my feet rubbing them raw.
Unfortunately, Truth couldn’t drive his truck to me due to the poor condition of the levee road, but being the down to earth person, he is, he grabbed a gallon jug of water and set out on foot meeting me half way and I mean not a moment too soon!!!
His biggest concern was that the water wasn’t ice cold, but instead lukewarm. I just looked a him and told him it really didn’t matter it was wet and I needed it cold or not, and I thanked him for waiting on me!!!
We didn’t find the encampment this time, but after some more in-depth research, cooler weather and a more precise plan of action, we’re going back.
I suppose the moral to this story is; even though I’ve been relic hunting for many, many years, being a veteran, an experienced wilderness survivalist and Game Warden to top it all, I wasn’t properly prepared which broke every rule in the book. Because of my costly mistake of not being properly prepared I felt like a rookie and fortunately God was with me and mother nature schooled me!!!
I’m not embarrassed or ashamed of what I went through and I hope this may reach someone to show them no matter how much training you have, if you don’t do your homework and properly prepare yourself for the current conditions it could mean the difference between life and death.
I want to again thank Dean “Truth” Taillac, whom I’ve never met in person before this day, but in true metal detection comradery and his being a down to earth good Christian guy, he stayed and refused to abandoned me. I truly consider him a lifesaver and friend and will hunt with him anytime, because I know he’s got my six!!!
I know a lot of you may think I’m being melodramatic about my situation, but believe me I honestly don’t think I could’ve walked to where Truth had his truck parked, and where help could’ve been found because I was becoming more and more unsteady on my sore, aching and raw feet. I was nauseated and close to heat exhaustion. The only reason Truth didn’t call for help was because I never let on to him just how bad I was and it wasn’t until he reached me that he knew I was bad off!!!
Thanks again Truth, you a true friend and lifesaver!!!
P.S. Lesson Learned!!!!!!!
Hi, my name is Darryl “Possum” Galloway and I live in Southeast Louisiana and I’ve been relic hunting for 20+ years and thought I knew all there was to know about metal detecting and wilderness survival, or at least that’s what I had convinced myself. I’ve recently been doing some research on a British encampment and finally secured permission to metal detect a possible site.
It was a blistering hot day in the summer of 2018 when myself and my hunting partner Dean “Truth” Taillac went in search of this possible lead of the British encampment in the Chalmette area, which is located in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Guys, I'm not going to lie, it was miserably hot. The area was huge and as a crow flies, we were only about a quarter mile or so east of the Mississippi River and not much more than a mile +/- northeast of the actual Chalmette Battle field.
Truth and I both had camel backs for hydration and two-way radios, due to the area being so big and we were going to spread out a little to cover more ground trying to find the actual encampment site.
Well, after hunting for quite a while, I got all caught up in the hunt and was continuously moving from level high ground to ridges. Because I figured that's where they would’ve set up camp above the water line during the rainy season and to avoid the swampy lower portions of the area.
Anyhow, I lost track of time and when I realized it had been several hours since I heard or seen Truth, I decided to do a comms check. I pulled back one of my headphone ear pieces and hit the radio alert, but there was no response, so I hit it again and followed with an audible call. But again, no response. The other thing that I noticed was that I couldn't hear the traffic that kinda kept me oriented to my location in this rough terrain.
I took my phone off of airplane mode, pulled up the GPS and after the GPS page loaded I almost collapsed when I realized I was at the far northeastern corner of this property that as I stated above, this was some rough terrain, it was covered with palmetto, vines, briars, Kudzu, not to mention spiders, snakes, wild hogs, and other plants and shrubs that I had never seen before.
Well I finally made contact with Truth via my cell phone and told him that it was going to take me a while to get out. He wanted to know how my water supply was and that he was not leaving the property until I came out.
I took my westerly mark from my compass and set off, but soon realized that for every 30 yards or so west I walked I had to walk twice as far north or south to find a suitable area that was open enough to push through before I could return back towards my westerly heading.
It didn't take but about 2 hours and I was completely out of water but being a Louisiana State Game Warden and in the woods all the time, I always carried a survival straw just for these types of emergencies, But… reality check!!! It wasn’t there!!! I don't know what happened to it. All I can think is it fell out of my carrying pouch somewhere in this miserable swamp.
About an hour later I could hear the traffic and was able to speed up a little since I didn't have to keep stopping to confirm my westerly azimuth. I kept on fighting this “Jungle” hoping to eventually run across an ATV trail that was so numerous when we first started hunting, but of course all I found were game trails that just zigzagged all over the place.
I’m not lying, those palmetto, briar, Kudzu and other vines and weeds were killer, not to mention the felled rotting trees that were still there from the past hurricanes. When I came upon an area that was overgrown with this stuff and it was not feasible to back track, all I could do was place my shovel horizontally in front of me and stand on it mashing the briars and such down and repeating this over and over again until I came to another clearing where I could move a little faster. God!!! What I would have given to have my Kukri or Camillus with me. But of course, both were in my bugout bag in my truck several miles away!!!
Truth stayed in touch via cell phone and asked if I could hear his trucks horn. I just smiled while spitting cotton balls and calmly told him I could only hear his truck horn through the phone… LOL
Well, about 30 minutes or so before I finally found my way out, I found what appeared to be earthworks that ran in and almost perfect straight line from a SW to NE direction. I started following them and looking them over really good and taking GPS reading and photos of them before reality hit me in the face with a big old, “Hey stupid! You’re really dehydrated and need to get back on track!!!”.
I eventually made it out onto a levee. About a mile or so further to the south I could see Truth’s white truck. He kept to his word and refused to leave a man unaccounted for. He’s a great guy to hunt with and he will not leave you, I promise!!!
I began trudging towards him and eventually I found a shade tree on the east side of the levee road and ditched all my gear for a later retrieval. My boots were soaked with sweat and foul swamp water and they were slipping on my feet rubbing them raw.
Unfortunately, Truth couldn’t drive his truck to me due to the poor condition of the levee road, but being the down to earth person, he is, he grabbed a gallon jug of water and set out on foot meeting me half way and I mean not a moment too soon!!!
His biggest concern was that the water wasn’t ice cold, but instead lukewarm. I just looked a him and told him it really didn’t matter it was wet and I needed it cold or not, and I thanked him for waiting on me!!!
We didn’t find the encampment this time, but after some more in-depth research, cooler weather and a more precise plan of action, we’re going back.
I suppose the moral to this story is; even though I’ve been relic hunting for many, many years, being a veteran, an experienced wilderness survivalist and Game Warden to top it all, I wasn’t properly prepared which broke every rule in the book. Because of my costly mistake of not being properly prepared I felt like a rookie and fortunately God was with me and mother nature schooled me!!!
I’m not embarrassed or ashamed of what I went through and I hope this may reach someone to show them no matter how much training you have, if you don’t do your homework and properly prepare yourself for the current conditions it could mean the difference between life and death.
I want to again thank Dean “Truth” Taillac, whom I’ve never met in person before this day, but in true metal detection comradery and his being a down to earth good Christian guy, he stayed and refused to abandoned me. I truly consider him a lifesaver and friend and will hunt with him anytime, because I know he’s got my six!!!
I know a lot of you may think I’m being melodramatic about my situation, but believe me I honestly don’t think I could’ve walked to where Truth had his truck parked, and where help could’ve been found because I was becoming more and more unsteady on my sore, aching and raw feet. I was nauseated and close to heat exhaustion. The only reason Truth didn’t call for help was because I never let on to him just how bad I was and it wasn’t until he reached me that he knew I was bad off!!!
Thanks again Truth, you a true friend and lifesaver!!!
P.S. Lesson Learned!!!!!!!
