M-Taliesin
06-20-2011, 06:14 PM
Howdy Folks!
We left on Friday for Hastings Nebraska after I ended up stuck at work all day and didn't get free to leave until after 8:00pm. I drove all night to reach Hastings by 5:00am, and we went to our room to catch a quick nap. By 7:00am, we were up again and headed to Dyer Park where the Nebraskaland competition hunt was to be held.
I ain't trying to make excuses, but I was purely bone tired as the hunts got under way. My performance in the appreciation hunt was poor. It wasn't any better for the beach hunt. Calling that sandbar jutting into the Blue River is actually an abuse of the term. It is more of a rocky/muddy sandbar that does not fit the image in your mind of a beach. I did poorly there too. There was a fun hunt scheduled and I passed on that one in favor of returning to our motel in Hastings for a bit of much needed rest.
After a few hours sleep, I felt like a new zombie. Not quite human, but not the living dead either. We headed back to the park for the night hunt. Let me tell ya a little something about Nebraska mosquitos. There were plenty of them, and they swarmed to the hunt field like vampires to a blood bank. I got more bites than I'd see in 10 years of hunting in Colorado. After significant loss of blood and fearing the onset of anemia, I terminated my participation early and again, didn't fetch in nearly as much as I'd hoped.
Sunday rolled around and after a great night of sleep, we were on the field early for the silver and gold hunt. Of three gold coins on the field, I scored none. I didn't fetch in much silver either. I've been to quite a few competition hunts, and have never seen coins planted so deeply as Nebraskaland. I found many silver dimes that were down between 4 to 6 inches. Usually they are within an inch or two of the surface. These guys made you work for those things!
The half on edge hunt was my best of the weekend. Half dollars were planted on edge, so all you have to detect is the thin rim of the coin. I took 11 half dollars, two of them 40% silver, and two others of 90% silver. I also uncovered a Mercury dime that had been planted for another hunt years earlier at around 6 inches deep. I was running the V3I for that hunt with the 10dd coil.
The main hunt also had three gold coins on the field. I didn't get any of those either. I got only one prize token, and not nearly so much silver as I figured I should. The token I got brought me a prize that consisted of a pocket knife and a notebook with a calculator in it.
Let me say a word about the competition. Unlike most open hunts, these guys are the best of the best. There ain't much room for rookies or newcomers. They are the hard core types who don't mess about. When you hunt with this crowd, you're running with the big dogs. That being said, I did much better last year than this time around. I felt real bad about my showing on this hunt, but treasure isn't always measured in silver and gold. I spent the weekend with some folks I've met over the years and enjoyed their company. There were tall tales spun, good company to enjoy and friendships nurtured. In that sense, you just can't lose at a competition hunt like that one.
Anyhow, my take was rather humbling.
I got 11 Kennedy half dollars (2 of 40%, 2 of 90%)
6 Mercury dimes.
a mere 58 Roosevelt silver dimes.
1 modern dollar coin.
1 prize token for a knife and notebook with calculator.
It was a humbling experience. And true to my luck, we got pounded by hail on the way home out by Julesburg. It came down hard and furious and we had no cover anywhere. I thought all the glass was going to break, but we escaped that. Now I need to visit the insurance agency about the hard water damage to the car.
So I did poorly. Guess it had to happen eventually. But just wait till next year! I'll be back, and I'll plan things better so I can better represent! We will return to that distant land where castles of grain dot the countryside! And I'll be gunning for gold!
Katy....... Bar the door.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin
We left on Friday for Hastings Nebraska after I ended up stuck at work all day and didn't get free to leave until after 8:00pm. I drove all night to reach Hastings by 5:00am, and we went to our room to catch a quick nap. By 7:00am, we were up again and headed to Dyer Park where the Nebraskaland competition hunt was to be held.
I ain't trying to make excuses, but I was purely bone tired as the hunts got under way. My performance in the appreciation hunt was poor. It wasn't any better for the beach hunt. Calling that sandbar jutting into the Blue River is actually an abuse of the term. It is more of a rocky/muddy sandbar that does not fit the image in your mind of a beach. I did poorly there too. There was a fun hunt scheduled and I passed on that one in favor of returning to our motel in Hastings for a bit of much needed rest.
After a few hours sleep, I felt like a new zombie. Not quite human, but not the living dead either. We headed back to the park for the night hunt. Let me tell ya a little something about Nebraska mosquitos. There were plenty of them, and they swarmed to the hunt field like vampires to a blood bank. I got more bites than I'd see in 10 years of hunting in Colorado. After significant loss of blood and fearing the onset of anemia, I terminated my participation early and again, didn't fetch in nearly as much as I'd hoped.
Sunday rolled around and after a great night of sleep, we were on the field early for the silver and gold hunt. Of three gold coins on the field, I scored none. I didn't fetch in much silver either. I've been to quite a few competition hunts, and have never seen coins planted so deeply as Nebraskaland. I found many silver dimes that were down between 4 to 6 inches. Usually they are within an inch or two of the surface. These guys made you work for those things!
The half on edge hunt was my best of the weekend. Half dollars were planted on edge, so all you have to detect is the thin rim of the coin. I took 11 half dollars, two of them 40% silver, and two others of 90% silver. I also uncovered a Mercury dime that had been planted for another hunt years earlier at around 6 inches deep. I was running the V3I for that hunt with the 10dd coil.
The main hunt also had three gold coins on the field. I didn't get any of those either. I got only one prize token, and not nearly so much silver as I figured I should. The token I got brought me a prize that consisted of a pocket knife and a notebook with a calculator in it.
Let me say a word about the competition. Unlike most open hunts, these guys are the best of the best. There ain't much room for rookies or newcomers. They are the hard core types who don't mess about. When you hunt with this crowd, you're running with the big dogs. That being said, I did much better last year than this time around. I felt real bad about my showing on this hunt, but treasure isn't always measured in silver and gold. I spent the weekend with some folks I've met over the years and enjoyed their company. There were tall tales spun, good company to enjoy and friendships nurtured. In that sense, you just can't lose at a competition hunt like that one.
Anyhow, my take was rather humbling.
I got 11 Kennedy half dollars (2 of 40%, 2 of 90%)
6 Mercury dimes.
a mere 58 Roosevelt silver dimes.
1 modern dollar coin.
1 prize token for a knife and notebook with calculator.
It was a humbling experience. And true to my luck, we got pounded by hail on the way home out by Julesburg. It came down hard and furious and we had no cover anywhere. I thought all the glass was going to break, but we escaped that. Now I need to visit the insurance agency about the hard water damage to the car.
So I did poorly. Guess it had to happen eventually. But just wait till next year! I'll be back, and I'll plan things better so I can better represent! We will return to that distant land where castles of grain dot the countryside! And I'll be gunning for gold!
Katy....... Bar the door.
Blessings,
M-Taliesin