TNTGross
Elite Member
I work pretty much every Saturday in the summer, and when I get done, it is normally time to hang out with the Misses. But yesterday, she was out with friends so I grabbed the Nox and headed out. I have a couple of places I want to hunt, but they are a bit of a drive and I wanted to spend my time hunting, not driving, so I headed to a park that I have avoided because I was told by fellow hunters that it was hunted out.
Funny thing is, the park is in sections, broken up by streets. I had a section I wanted to hunt and took some back streets to get to it. When I got to where I thought I wanted to be, I got out of the truck, grabbed what I needed, and headed into the park only to find I was in the wrong section.
As I was all set up to hunt, and not wanting to walk all the way back to the truck, I figured I might as well hunt where I was at instead of trying to find where I wanted to be.
It is a good thing I did... Here I am, in the wrong part of the hunted out park just waisting time till the wife gets home and within two minutes of firing up the Nox, I get a solid 33-34 ringing in my ears.
I have had that signal before only to dig up a large washer or a plumbing nut, so I wasn't expecting much. I flipped my shovel over and stuck the point in the dirt. Trying to push the tip into the soil wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. It is very common in these parts to have a layer of topsoil covering or mixed with oyster shells. That was the case here.
When I broke up the soil and shells enough to pull it out by hand, I got down on one knee and started scooping it out. When I got to a bit of depth, I pulled out the pinpointer and jabbed it into the hole. It started ringing right off the bat. Even with my glasses on, in bright sunlight, I couldn't see what the pinpointer was reacting to.
The pinpointer was going crazy, so I knew that I was right on it. I reached in and pulled out another handful of dirt and shells and my first ever Barber Half Dollar.
I knew what I was looking at, but I couldn't believe my eyes. A 1907 Barber Half Dollar!!!
A bit later, I found a 1960 quarter, a 1924 Buff, a couple of old rabies tags and a bit of clad.
After I got it home, I cleaned it and a couple of other coins that I have, just to see if I could. Used salt, baking soda, vinegar, and hot water mix. Soaked for a couple of hours then pulled them out and scrubbed the coins between my fingers with baking soda. That took the oxidation right off...
Funny thing is, the park is in sections, broken up by streets. I had a section I wanted to hunt and took some back streets to get to it. When I got to where I thought I wanted to be, I got out of the truck, grabbed what I needed, and headed into the park only to find I was in the wrong section.
As I was all set up to hunt, and not wanting to walk all the way back to the truck, I figured I might as well hunt where I was at instead of trying to find where I wanted to be.
It is a good thing I did... Here I am, in the wrong part of the hunted out park just waisting time till the wife gets home and within two minutes of firing up the Nox, I get a solid 33-34 ringing in my ears.
I have had that signal before only to dig up a large washer or a plumbing nut, so I wasn't expecting much. I flipped my shovel over and stuck the point in the dirt. Trying to push the tip into the soil wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. It is very common in these parts to have a layer of topsoil covering or mixed with oyster shells. That was the case here.
When I broke up the soil and shells enough to pull it out by hand, I got down on one knee and started scooping it out. When I got to a bit of depth, I pulled out the pinpointer and jabbed it into the hole. It started ringing right off the bat. Even with my glasses on, in bright sunlight, I couldn't see what the pinpointer was reacting to.
The pinpointer was going crazy, so I knew that I was right on it. I reached in and pulled out another handful of dirt and shells and my first ever Barber Half Dollar.
I knew what I was looking at, but I couldn't believe my eyes. A 1907 Barber Half Dollar!!!
A bit later, I found a 1960 quarter, a 1924 Buff, a couple of old rabies tags and a bit of clad.
After I got it home, I cleaned it and a couple of other coins that I have, just to see if I could. Used salt, baking soda, vinegar, and hot water mix. Soaked for a couple of hours then pulled them out and scrubbed the coins between my fingers with baking soda. That took the oxidation right off...
Also, I tried to find any law or info on the no Park hunting in Jax "law" you spoke about. No luck finding anything. So, I will keep hunting them till I'm told not to. Hope your club has some good luck with the Parks and Rec office. Please keep me posted.
