POLL: The Hunt or the Treasure?

[Michigan Badger]

Greetings fellow badgers.

I've often asked myself which I like most, the hunt or the finds hanging on the wall?

I would say the finds are most important to me but the hunt runs a close 2nd.

How's it with you?

 

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[surfrat96]

If you hit the Lottery for $200,000,000.00
Would you Still Detect Beaches,Groves, Schools, Etc. ?

I would. (Only I'd do it all over the world.)

Therefore, I feel I must like the Hunt

I've thought of that before too. If I hit the lottery, I'd be at the beach everyday either surfing, fishing, or detecting. Money wouldn't be an object, so I agree with Jeff.

HH 8) surfrat

 

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[ferrouser]

The Hunt or the Treasure?

If I hit the lottery, I'd be detecting overseas. But I'd pay somebody
to do my digging for me. "Say guy, come push the pinpoint
button for me, I'm too tired."

And I'd hire George Payne to build a new detector, then buy
Fisher to build it-and get them back on their feet, and at
the Pinnacle of detectors like they should be.

 

[stefen]

Combining research of a pre-hunt is as interesting as the hunt itself.

Additionally, identification and finding the history of an item has a satisfaction factor, as well.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Another part of "the hunt" is using the Gear (detectors, spare coils, pinpointers, and all that). You know you love to use the Gear. I sure do.

 

[Gypsy Heart]

I am going to say the Hunt...the anticipation and excitement of "thinking" that This Time I am going to find that silver cache ....versus the fact that I end up with some rusty iron and pull tabs gets me every time. Of course ,if I ever hit the big one....my story might change.
Every single time ,the girls and I hunt...it always begins with ....."what will we do if we find a million dollars".....and the dreaming and planning is the fun part.....and if I do hit that big one....I will be searching treasure full time and worldwide!

 

[Sandman]

Definitely the HUNT. If I was in it for a profit, I'd be in sad shape. Even when I was doing well diving the wrecks, you have to average it out to the other days, so you end up operating in the RED

I once had a friend that wouldn't buy a treasure magazine or book on how to detect because he thought it would take away from his profit.

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Definitely the HUNT. If I was in it for a profit, I'd be in sad shape. Even when I was doing well diving the wrecks, you have to average it out to the other days, so you end up operating in the RED

I once had a friend that wouldn't buy a treasure magazine or book on how to detect because he thought it would take away from his profit.

I agree. That's a funny story about your friend... I'm Laughing Out Loud pretty hard right now

 

[Dick from IA]

I voted for the Hunt over Treasure, but it's probably about 60-40.

My main reasons for getting in to this hobby were 1. Exercise (I'm 61 years old and feel better now than 15-20 years ago) & 2. Being outdoors with solitude; I hunt wooded areas primarily so curiosity seekers are rare).

Of course a good treasure day makes it even more fulfilling

 

[Monty]

I've been a deer hunter all my life practically. MDing is almost the same as deer hunting. It's the hunt. The deer or the treasure is merely bonus. Of course if I never saw a deer or never found anything I'm sure I wouldn't stay interested. Another aspect equally as interesting is the historical research both before and after the hunt and the knowledge gained from it. Monty

 

[Digginman]

I voted both, but there is another reason: Great exercise. Walking, bending, stooping, pulling, pushing. Lots of folks pay big bucks for a workout like we get.

Bob

 

[Michigan Badger]

This has been a great POLL and I thank each one who responded.

Badger

 

[agbonanza]

Really think the hunt is the best part. A lot goes into the hunt...research...finesse...luck....it all adds up to finding the treasure. Whenever someone asks me about something I have found, my mind goes back to the hunt, so I believe the huntis the best part.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Nice question, Badger. After 15 years of THing, I have never sold a single find.

The Hunt. Final answer.



There's gold and it's haunting and haunting. It's luring me on as of old.
Yet it's not the gold that I'm wanting, so much as just finding the gold.

-Robert Service

 

[gollum]

Nice question, Badger. After 15 years of THing, I have never sold a single find.

The Hunt. Final answer.

OK. Are you a Ttreasure Hunter or a Metal Detectorist? Think about that before you answer!

The differences can be minimal to extreme. It depends a lot on how you hunt. Metal Detectorists live by the MD, Probe, and digging tool, while Treasure Hunters use a MD as just one of the tools of treasure hunting. Do you find old Civil War Battlefields, go to the beach, can't wait to get to an old park or school ground to spend a great day swinging that thing? You are a Metal Detectorist. Do you spend days online and in public libraries researching old newspaper articles, books, local historical societies? On a hunch, do you drive 200 miles to the middle of the desert or mountains, just to hike in another 5 to 10 miles, to climb a 3400 foot ridgeline to check out a rock monument, and bring your metal detector as an afterthought? Then you are a hard core Treasure Hunter. Those are the two extremes granted, and there are countless combinations of the two. And I haven't even mentioned those intrepid folks who spend every vacation working a lease claim in the ocean off the East Coast of Florida.

The reason I went into all this is because you say you have never sold anything you have ever found. That sounds more like a metal detectorist than a treasure hunter to me. Don't get me wrong. One is not better than the other, just different. What if you found a cache of 500 $20 Double Eagles? Would you still not sell any? What about if you found some old Spanish Armor in an old cave? Would you keep it or sell it for tens of thousands of dollars?

For me, and those like me, it's all about the payday. I don't MD Parks, Schoolyards, or battlefields. I do sometimes go down to the beach (I found something quite nice about seven years ago. Can't stop now).

Although it is all about the payday, there is a great amount of self satisfaction when I can figure out some code system that a mining engineer thought up 300 years ago. When you are sitting in front of a monument, trying to guess where it is telling you to go, and all of a sudden, it hits you like a bolt. You take off, and pretty soon find that next monument in line. It's a very satisfying feeling. Even better, when there i ssomething at the end of the line.

Just my thoughts on the matter-Mike

 

[EDDE]

im the undecided one

 

[Charles Miller]

Good questions. I'm only just getting into MD, but I've been a collector of many things for decades. And I don't mean eBay collecting. When I was a beachbum in Florida, from 1992 through 1993, I survived strictly by beachcombing, without detectors or magnets or scoops, and I sold anything that I couldn't wear, drink or eat. Starvation will set your priorities straight real quickly when it comes to sentimental treasures.

But, once I settled into a comfortable routine --- that is, when I was feeding myself regularly and had a little luxury time on my hands --- I started a couple of money-making enterprises right off the beach. One venture was swimming out a couple hundred yards or so and free-diving to retrieve these great big, live sand dollars. They averaged about 6 or 7 inches in diameter, some up to about an inch thick, and I'd just fill my pockets with the things, then return to shore and spread them out on a beach towel, where the throngs of tourists could see them. Invariably, this drew a crowd and, invariably, they would offer me money for the sand dollars (bleached, dried out and sealed, these things sell for, like, $3 apiece at souvenir shops). Some folks wanted me to swim out and retrieve giant sand dollars especially for them, which was no problem, and it was entertainment. On my best days, I could sell around 70 of those sand dollars at $5 a pop.

The other venture was a little more demanding. While fossilized shark teeth, and even perfectly beautiful fossilized shark teeth, are abundant on Florida beaches, there are things you can do to enhance their monetary value. Such as buying a spool of cheap gold wire, wrapping the horns of the shark teeth with the wire, and twisting it into a loop to make -- ta daaaa -- shark teeth pendants. A spool of gold wire could wrap about 50 or 60 prize shark teeth, and that's how I spent many a pleasant afternoon in the shade of a palm tree on Siesta Key. Then, on the weekend, I'd catch a ride to any of several flea markets in the area and sell off the pendants. Depending on the color, size, luster and species of the shark teeth (which are easier to find than pulltabs when you know where to look), you could ask anywhere from $1 to $10 and more per tooth... The big Megalodon teeth can bring real money, but they are usually found at open-pit mines far inland, and rarely at the beach (I only found fragments of Megalodon, which are basically worthless). In one summer I hunted up over 3,000 perfect specimens of fossilized shark teeth, and sold the majority of them.

To me, this was real treasure-hunting, taking the treasures of Nature --- which are right there at your feet --- and turning it into currency. It saved my life, quite literally, and it was an experience that I would never trade. Although, if I had it all to do over again, I think I'd try a metal detector first.

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

=Charles


**************
+++++ Charles, you know what it is about.

Tropical Tramp