Liars in our hobby...

Mud-puppy said:

Hey everybody! I just caught a penny Thiiiiiiiiiis Big!

This place is for learning and getting tricks and tips to become better hunters..sort of like an old timey campfire, therefore, Lies and tall tales have their rightful place amongst the typically chatter of the days hunt!

Some of us "Prolifics" are just better at it than others, years of careful practice, so sit back and enjoy the show! ...
Mud

Click to expand...

Reason I joined this forum is the help I received IDing a find. The learning, tips and tricks just make me better. I love the hunt. A property owner was very excited that I recovered the headstamps from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. They shared the info with family and friends. That made me feel good.

Lots of GOOD and very little BS here.

Foragist said:

I'm so sorry! That was all a lie. Don't know why I did that. Here's what I actually dug this morning:

Click to expand...

Now this is what I'm talking about. Some old fart (just kidding) that has been MDing for a hundred years and this is what he digs. This is honesty at it's best. Looks just like my pile after a good afternoon.

I am a member of a club and I have been “Hunter of the Year” the last 2 years and I’m off to a good start for this year. I’ve caught an occasional strange look from people over some of my finds. And I understand it. I have been very VERY lucky especially the last two years.

But how and why? Well I believe there are two types of luck. Pure unadulterated luck and what I call influenced luck. This comes when someone has prepared or studied or done something that tips things a bit in their favor.

I have been detecting 7 years and own 11 machines. I am retired and in fairly good health and I live in an area with some areas of history where I might find some good stuff. I hunt almost every day and I watch numerous YouTube videos, and I’m on this forum a great deal. This definitely tips things in my favor.

I was a sales trainer in a marketing and advertising business. So I know how to market myself to get attention and a reputation. I actively market myself on a number of local Internet forums offering my FREE METAL DETECTING SERVICES. I have been published in. 3 different newspapers and 5 magazines including the UK and Scotland. One of my finds was on the cover of American Diggers last year. I have twice been a Kellyco Find of the Week and once Garrett’s Find of the Month. So I get 4-5 requests to find lost items a month along with 2-3 invitations to simply search.

And I’m not shy about knocking on doors and getting permissions. This gives me unbelievable opportunities which I cash in on.

Now I have freely offered advice and instruction to my club members on how to do this. Few will try. Instead they want me to invite them to hunt these spots with them.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! I raised one child and that’s enough.

I also offer to take people who want to start MDing hunting with me. I will supply everything they need to try. I will teach them the basics and help them. BUT they provide a permission for a place to hunt. Most won’t do it.

Now I often post my finds on the club’s Facebook site, primarily to encourage the others to try and find a treasure. And I also post many stories of the failed hunts where I was skunked or things went bad. I think a big problem we have with this hobby is nobody sees us digging pull tabs and rusty nails and everybody expects to find gold coins ( which I’ve never found) and diamond rings on every hunt. And anybody who does find one must have cheated.

Believe me I come home empty handed plenty of times. And plenty of times I do not.

I also am the programs chairman of our club and do most myself on different techniques. I’m trying to make better hunters of them. Some pay attention. Some do not.

So yes, there are people who probably fake or falsify finds. But there are people who actually do find what they post.

I just read the the linked thread in the OP The offender Wild Bill or whatever was pitiful. He just posted the nice coins from the 1600's. Not a speck of dirt anywhere, those boys over there caught on pretty quick. Lol.

sandgroper said:

6. Entire. Tent. Pegs???? I don't believe you. Do you have any in-situ pics?

That's hectic Don't think I could beat that even if I tried

Click to expand...

I didn't get any pics but these 2 guys saw and would vouch for me.....

Lying about finds

has to be something wired wrong with someone who would do that, eg lying about or faking finds.

What is the point? Do they think so little about their own abilities to have to lie to others?

I have a lot of self-confidence, but I understand there are people who metal detect are just better than I am and probably better than I will ever be. So what?

I would hate to try and put something over on the people on this forum. The chances are you would slip up somewhere because there are a lot of sharp people on this forum.

when someone's claims defies the odds that we all understand, then that person's claims may not pass the smell test by coming up with great finds all the time. There are hunters who do turn up a lot of good finds and those are the ones that I know that have the experience and really put in the hours. I hunt maybe 2-3 hours a week. One would not expect me turning up great finds all time and I don't. I find some good stuff every three months and that is about it.

I personally know two hunters in Florida who turn up about $10,000 to $20,000 in gold rings with diamonds each month. I ran across them when writing two small books on hunting Florida beaches. Neither one gave me permission to use their names and they never post their finds anywhere or are not active at all on any forum. they are professionals. If they posted their finds, no one would believe them. Theirs is a very nice tax free income to say the least.

So lying is pointless and why some make these fake claims probably have more problems than just lying.

I suspect 99.9% of all the finds on this forum are honest finds.

my two cents worth on this topic.

I think that I'm smart enough to make a believable lie but just not quite smart enough to not slip up and get caught.