Seated Dime, Attacked by Stray Dogs and a Twisted Ankle!

livetoplay804

Full Member
Apr 25, 2005
157
9
Nixa, Missouri
Detector(s) used
Whites DFX
What a weekend for me. Here in my hometown we found a field that was in the beginning stages of dirt work. So the topsoil was barely shaved off and the grass was pound flat from the big trucks. The location was in between a known CW battle and a CW camp. So Saturday I grabbed the detector and off I went. Within 5 min, I hit a good tone (82 VDI for you Whites users) at 5 inches. Bingo, an 1877 Seated Liberty Dime. I detected for about another 45 min finding some trinkets until my wife called and husband and daddy duties called.

Next day, my dad and I decide to go back and continue. He and I branched off in this 15 acre field to hopefully increase our chances of locating a CW camp area. That?s when I looked up and noticed two dogs heading my direction. Not thinking much of it, I kept on searching. Not too long after, those dogs were charging after me. Now my father was clear across the field facing the other way with his headphones on trying to locate a target on his knees. I am a pretty big boy and can handle myself and I even own a big dog my self (ok, so he's a big, gentle black Labrador retriever). I love dogs but these dogs had no love for me. Where I was detecting, I was trapped, there was a big dirt pile behind me where the earth movers had piled up some fill dirt and I was in a little pocket over some untouched ground. There was only one way out.

I have never been attacked by dogs before. These were not true pit bulls but had pit bull in them. They seemed to have the face of a pit bull but bigger bodies. Anyway, these two dogs had me trapped and were lunging at me. I had my Whites Spectrum strapped in my right arm, my good arm. So like an outlaw in the wild west, I drew my digger out of my pouch as fast as any cowboy ever drew his colt pistol. I was using my arms, voice and detector to try and make myself look bigger than life but this only increased the agitation of the black faced dog. He actually lunged at me with the intensions of striking me. I took my digger (which is bigger than the average digger, its about 16 inches long with a 3/4" round steel handle and the blade or shovel part is made out of 1/8" steel and its about 10" long, more of a weapon) and struck this dog upside the head with my left hand. I am not as coordinated with my left but the contact was fierce. Then the white faced dog attacked. I swung and missed. I began to try and shuffle my way out of this trapped area. As I was making my way out of the area, the dog continued to attack. I remember looking back and seeing my dad still crouched down over a hole (which by the way ended up being a junk target) yelling but him with his head phones on he could not hear me. As the dogs attacked I swung my digger. As I made my way out of the trapped area, I began to try and turn to move farther away and that?s when I hit a hole or indention in the freshly moved dirt and "SNAP" I felt my ankle pop. It immediately caused me to drop to the ground. The white dog attacked at that moment and I was able to deter him with my Spectrum. I looked back at my dad....still digging (I need to teach him how to use that bullseye sometime I guess). It was at this moment I took my detector off my arm and put the digger into my stronger and faster right arm. Just at that exact second, the black one came in for another lunge and I made a very strong contact this time. This seemed to really get the dogs attention but did not stop them from being aggressive. What happened next was weird and I am not sure why I did it but I am glad I did. In the middle of battle it occurred to me to turn off my detector to save the batteries as I had seen they were beginning to get low. So I turned off the machine and immediately the dogs stopped barking and ran off.

My battle was over, the ankle was in serious pain, I was lying in a pile of dirt and dad was still digging! I did finally did get to my feet and began to limp in the direction of my dad and the truck when he finally stood up. He came over and I explained the story to him and he stood there in awe. We could not believe it. We watched to dogs for a moment or two wondering if it was the frequency of the detector causing the dogs to go crazy. I had had my headphones on so it must have been something only dogs can hear.

We stopped detecting that day so I could rest my ankle. All we really found was some odd ball stuff, shotgun casings and the one dime. Dad and I are going to start carrying pepper spray with us.

(Sorry the pic is not that good but I think you can see Ms. Liberty sitting on her perch.) BTW, ankle is getting better!
 

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wow, glad to hear you're ok. that's one scary experience. i have been a walker/hiker for awhile and have always turned around now and again to make sure nothing is coming up on me. so you actually thought about conserving your batteries while fighting for your life? thats' pretty nuts. HH
 

That's quite a story. I'm a dog lover myself, but I know of dogs doing crazy things, so that fear is the back of my head sometimes. It's good to hear you didn't get chewed up and congrats on the seated dime.
 

Those big ol'e dogs must of been purdy tough cuz I have seen that digger and its pretty heavy. If you hit a dog in the head it had to hurt it. It's made out of heavy gage 4 inch steele pipe with a long handle and it probably checks in around 8 or 10 lb's Wel if I would of been there you know what I would of done, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE! no buddy I would of helped you out. Nice find! Tim
 

What a story! Hopefully your ankle will heal rapidly! The owner of the place I frequent a lot has seven labs and usually while I have been there hunting for a bit they all show up and give me a bit of a shock. I rarely see them coming till they are right there...wanting to play. :D So glad you weren't bit!

Awesome find on that dime! :o

Feel better soon!

;)
 

Glad you made it out of the battle!! I got attacked by a bull dog when I was 13. I was lucky that I was on my dirt bike and he let go for a better bite and I was able to get going with him close behind..I still have a scar. Nice dime ,hope you have a chance to get back there. Happy and safe hunting.
 

glad to here you made it out alright. I have been chased by dogs several times while hunting indian artifacts in waterways. Had some very close calls, but have not been bitten yet Thank god!
 

Wow, I too am glad you are okay. Pepper spray is a good idea - never thought of that. Of course, if it would have happened to me, I would have pulled my pistol, but I think I might invest in some pepper spray just in case!!
 

Thanks for the warning - its a good reminder for all of us. At least you didn't come out beaten and empty handed.
 

Nice, Seated dimes are nice to find. Watch your self out there. Your eagle looks to be in good shape. I learned how to detect on one of those back in the early 90's. Still a good detector in todays world 15 yrs later.

HH Jer
 

Ok...Now we know you are a die hard ....any one that shuts his machine off to save the batteries during a 2-dog confrontation ,just in case he survives the fight ..... ;).....is a true treasure hunter and an asset to this hobby!
Hope that ankle heals ,but hey, whats a little sprain,when there is treasure to be found!!!
 

Sorry to hear about the dog attack :-\ You might want to think about carrying something more heavy duty than pepper spray, or those crappy dog dazers, I have seen both fail. I usually carry a knife with a really big blade or some type of club, or a gun would work. At least you got that dime and the day wasnt a waste :)
 

I have a dog and had another that dug up my coin garden and ran off to the Caribbean, I think. Anyway, I love dogs but in such a case as yours I am afraid there would have been some euthenasia as I always carry my .45 auto with me. I never thought about dogs as I carry it for two legged animals mostly. Glad you weren't hurt bad. I never thought about dogs being able to hear a signal from a detector but I guess it's possible? Nice coin anyway. Monty
 

Now that's one helluva story. Glad you are ok. I have yet to wear headphones while detecting for that very reason. I have hunted some parks in Chester Pa., my hometown. On New Years Eve. all manner of firearms are discharged here from AK's to uzzi's and everything in between. The crime rate is among the highest in the nation. I may miss a few targets but I can 'live' with that.

HH,

root
 

good finds and im glad that your ok. There is a neighborhood dog down the road from me right next to our local high school, If i go down there and try to detect while he is out he goes nuts. dont know if its me or the detector... any who im glad that you are ok...
 

man that really sucks! im glad you were able to get out of that one (almost) in one piece. how is the ankle? if you heard something pop you really should go have it looked at.you could have really damaged something in there. ive been meaning to get some pepper spray too but i keep putting it off. i think this will make me finally follow through. i love dogs but ill tell ya.......in a similar situation i would have have no problem killing both of them. they certainly would have done it to you if they had gotten a hold of your throat. thank god they didnt. thanks for the story and take care of that ankle. ;)
 

Thanks for all the condolences. This happened on Sunday. The ankle is still tender today but getting better. It just goes to show anything can happen. I am sure there are people who detect in bear or big cat country. Could you imagine what can happen to an unsuspecting person with head phones on, concentrating on searching.

Dime is a little warn but otherwise in great shape. I plan on hitting the spot again this weekend.
 

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