Cedar Rapids Natives Land Extreme Metal DetectingTV Show

[MinelabIowa]

Treasure hunter Tim Saylor is not above licking a clump of dirt if he loses a bet over finding a silver dollar, but he prefers it when his buddy loses and has to wear a yellow prom dress while riding his bike off the dock into the icy Montana waters.

Saylor, a Cedar Rapids and Williamsburg native, started “extreme metal detecting” with friend George Wyant about 10 years ago when he moved to Anaconda, Mt. They even formed a company, AnacondaTreasure.com, to share their zany exploits and tips with other hunters.

Saylor, an insurance software programmer, insists the fun isn’t about finding something worth thousands of dollars because he doesn’t sell most of what he finds. It’s “all about the chase,” silly stunts and antics along the way to digging up buffalo nickels, silver dollars, 1800s saloon tokens, Civil War artifacts, rings and any other treasures they find.

After writing a book, producing six DVDs, You Tube videos and a short appearance on Good Morning America showcasing their metal detecting prowess, Saylor and Wyant landed a series, “Diggers,” which premieres two episodes Feb. 28, on the National Geographic Channel.

“Treasure hunting shows are popular right now but they liked us because of the way we do it,” Saylor said laughing. “We had interest from 14 production companies and I thought ‘what is going on, why us,’ but they were looking for something entertaining and I guess we are. It’s just beyond dumb and over the top (our behavior). And we’re not afraid of the camera. We’re just being ourselves.”

Wyant said he was surprised by the following but the DVDs started selling and then Half Yard Productions got interested.

Half Yard produces several other series including Hillbilly Handfishin’, American Loggers, The Real Housewives of DC and Say Yes to the Dress.

“I have to admit I kind of rolled my eyes when I found out his silly hobby turned into a serious one,” Saylor’s mother Dixie Saylor, a former University of Iowa English professor, said. “I never thought he would be on TV. He could do anything. He has two degrees. He’s a good writer and use to teach German, but he’s always been a collector. He collected baseball cards for years and when he finally sold them it was enough to buy a Corvette. He always wanted to do unusual things.”

A YouTube video posted on their website give a sampling of “Ringmaster Tim” and “King George” in action digging up their treasures, making bets if Saylor will get another ring, which is how he got his nickname, or if Wyant digs up another silver dollar to bolster his status as King.

When they get a hit, they start predicting what it is and then start digging, but not without teasers to build the anticipation. Wyant starts hollering “Half dollar in the hole” or “I see roundness” until he whips them up in a frenzy and Saylor is kissing coins or pushed into licking something by the time it’s over.

Saylor said the first two episodes of Diggers is similar to their antics in the past, only far more professionally filmed and edited but there’s no real script.

“We were encouraged to be ourselves,” Saylor said. “We had a script to set the show up and do teasers for the show but after that it’s just us.”

The first episode is filmed in Montana and they are hunting at old ranches. They also film some scenes at the Old Montana Territorial Prison in Deer Lodge, now a museum, because the bet is the hunter with the least valuable stuff has to spend the night at this prison known to be haunted.

Saylor made the bet because Wyant’s only fear in life is ghosts and he was hoping Wyant would have the horror, but instead Saylor lost and the night’s hijinks are documented with a night vision camera.

The other episode was filmed in Charleston, S.C., and the guys are digging up treasures at a Civil War site and on the beach. aylor said they find some war artifacts like parts of guns, balls for muskets and military buttons.

If the premiere is successful, they will travel to many interesting destinations, possibly even out of the country, Saylor said.

[jkress]

Thanks for the heads-up Joe. I might just tune in to check it out.
I found them on youtube.... :confused: they seem a bit too 'out there' for me. :cheesysmile:

[Cheap Thrills]

A part of me fears the results of this airing on TV . :-\

[Fire Fighter 43]

I have five of there DVD's and they are entertaining. They put a different twist to our hobby with all their antics, they also make some nice finds. It should be interesting to watch. Just set the DVR so I do not miss it. Thanks for the heads-up.

[RobW]

I watched 2 of the episodes last night.....

While I believe and do have some fun in the field
They annoyed me.....I got JUICE! I got roundness!I got Civ I got Cologne

They have their own language, but are portaying it to be the language of the hobby. And I love the value they place on their finds which is so innacurate....a toasty KG at $60?! The holes they dig are horrible, they just tear up the sod.
I think a lot of what they do is for the camera.

That being said, I probably will still watch future episodes. Besides, it bores the hell out of my wife and she'll leave me alone.

[Epi-hunter]

I can see that they might be entertaining to some people. My only concern, from my own personal perspective, is that it does not portray the hobby in a professional light. It takes so much effort to educate non-detectorists that we are serious and responsible in how we conduct this hobby. Something like this completely contradicts what we are trying to portray. :-\

Just my two cents.

[del]

i did watch both episodes and while they were a couple of entertaining guys , the little bets between themselves was corny but funny and i did like their enthusiasm and goofy lingo . the show however just wasn't very accurate and looked to be sponsored by Garret in some way ( by the looks of their shiney brand new AT-PRO's) . ah yeah, the appraising was just a tad off :rolleyes: if i got $60 bucks for every King George Copper i found i would be a very rich man lol lol rofl and i agree their digging skills were atrocious for a couple detectorists that supposedly have a decade of experience under their belts :eyebrow:. i agree Angie they do not represent the professionalism that a lot of us have and with the platform they have , they should be good role models for up and comming newbies that want to start this hobby .its unfortunate but i feel in the long run they will do more damage to the metal detecting hobbyists than good.

Dan

[PL8MAN]

I loved the show ! It's two guys having fun with their hobby . I have seen their old videos on YouTube and they act just the same . When I go hunting with my friends we do some goofy things and have goofy names for finds lol . When we find a large silver ring we call it a chunker lol .
I guess I don't take life so serious . I have sold items I have found and given back items when I find the owner . I love this hobby and enjoy watching other have fun doing it to thumbsup01
HH
Glen

[Epi-hunter]

I loved the show ! It's two guys having fun with their hobby . I have seen their old videos on YouTube and they act just the same . When I go hunting with my friends we do some goofy things and have goofy names for finds lol . When we find a large silver ring we call it a chunker lol .
I guess I don't take life so serious . I have sold items I have found and given back items when I find the owner . I love this hobby and enjoy watching other have fun doing it to thumbsup01
HH
Glen

I think it's great that detectorists enjoy the show. :yes: I would love to have the kind of experience that you do. But not everyone does. It's funny if you have lots of great sites that you can go to and you don't have to worry about what effect it might have on you personally... and this has nothing to do with returning items found.

Being 'goofy' and acting out is great fun, if you are into that, as long as the audience has a perspective that it's all a joke.

My concern is, does the general public have the same perspective as you? I don't think they do. Aren't you concerned about how it might impact the impression of the hobby in general? Or doesn't it matter to you, if you have sites already secured to detect? What about the rest of us?

In my area, we are fighting to be able to metal detect even on PRIVATE ground and several bills are pending on this. I am concerned (as are many other people) that this will give people their first impression of the metal detecting hobby. That will literally be the end of detecting in some states in the South. There is never a second chance to make a first impression.

Given your ring total it seems that you have no problem finding great detecting spots. That is not true everywhere.

[PL8MAN]

I think it's great that detectorists enjoy the show. :yes: I would love to have the kind of experience that you do. But not everyone does. It's funny if you have lots of great sites that you can go to and you don't have to worry about what effect it might have on you personally... and this has nothing to do with returning items found.

Being 'goofy' and acting out is great fun, if you are into that, as long as the audience has a perspective that it's all a joke.

My concern is, does the general public have the same perspective as you? I don't think they do. Aren't you concerned about how it might impact the impression of the hobby in general? Or doesn't it matter to you, if you have sites already secured to detect? What about the rest of us?

In my area, we are fighting to be able to metal detect even on PRIVATE ground and several bills are pending on this. I am concerned (as are many other people) that this will give people their first impression of the metal detecting hobby. That will literally be the end of detecting in some states in the South. There is never a second chance to make a first impression.

Given your ring total it seems that you have no problem finding great detecting spots. That is not true everywhere.


What it comes down to is two different ways at looking at the hobby . I'm not worried , this show will come and go like all the rest and be forgotten . I'm going to watch every show and sit back enjoy it for what it is a TV SHOW .
Glen

[POKIE73]

i saw the show the other night it was not to bad they put togher a decent show it was not to far out plus it did not put us in a bad light dennis

[Fire Fighter 43]

I was excited that we finally had a show airing about our hobby. I thought maybe it would be a little more professional than their DVDs but it wasnt. I was disappointed with the show as a whole. The digging was sloppy at best and it was fuel for any archeologist that dislikes our hobby. The other thing I did not like was the sale of finds at the end where they showed the cash being exchanged for some of there finds. I do not disagree with selling finds but it just made it look like it was about the money. 2 :thumbsdown: from me.

[MinelabIowa]

'Diggers,' 'American Digger' TV Shows Said To Promote Looting Of Archaeological Site



Archaeologists are mounting a campaign against two new cable TV shows that they say encourage and glamorize looting of American archaeological sites.

On 20 March, Spike TV will premiere a new show called American Digger, while a show called Diggers on the National Geographic Channel made its debut 28 February. Both shows promote and glorify the looting and destruction of archaeological sites, Society for American Archaeology (SAA) President William F. Limp wrote in a message posted earlier this week to the SAA listserv.

The premise of American Digger, which is being hosted by a former professional wrestler, was laid out in a recent announcement by Spike TV. A team of diggers will scour target-rich areas, such as battlefields and historic sites, in hopes of striking it rich by unearthing and selling rare pieces of American history. Similar locales are featured in National Geographic's Diggers. In the second episode, set in South Carolina, Revolutionary War and War of 1812 buttons, bullets, and coins were recovered at a former plantation.

After viewing the first two episodes of Diggers, Iowa's State archaeologist John Doershuk posted a review to the American Cultural Resources Association listserv, in which he lamented: The most damaging thing, I think, about this show is that no effort was made to document where anything came from or discussion of associations—each discovered item was handled piece-meal.

It was ironic that they [the show's on-air diggers] are destroying the entire basis of what they're interested in, Doershuk told Science Insider by phone. These are non-renewable sources. There's only so many of them from these time periods.


The archaeological community is trying to make its views known. In addition to Facebook petitions, professional societies such as SAA have sent letters of condemnation to Spike TV and National Geographic. (Copies of the SAA letters are on its Web site.) Limp said Tuesday on the SAA listserv that Spike TV had not yet responded to its concerns. He wrote that National Geographic indicated that it would place a disclaimer into its show that affirms there are laws in place protecting archaeological and historic sites.

Despite the treasure-hunting theme of both shows, neither appears to be violating federal and state regulations against unlawful obtainment of antiquities. The on-air fortune seekers are not venturing into National Parks or other federal lands, but dig on private property. If property owners sign off, then it is legal--landowners can do whatever they choose with artifacts found on their land. That's the argument Shana Tepper, spokesperson for Spike TV, made to ScienceInsider. &quot:daydream:ur show is shot on private property, she said. They're getting artifacts that are otherwise rotting in the ground.

But archaeologists remain concerned. These programs encourage looting, University of Colorado, Boulder, archaeologist Steve Lekson wrote in an e-mail to ScienceInsider. National Geographic's imprimatur also rankles some. Its reputation as a credible scientific and educational institution effectively normalizes the looting aspect of its show, says Washington State University archaeologist William Lipe.

Lekson bemoans the yawning gap between the scientific approach to archaeology and the popular notion that the discipline is basically organized treasure hunting. In the United States, that perception dates back to the late 1800s and early 1900s, when museums sponsored field expeditions to dig up Native American ruins. That ethos quickly gave way to the modern science of archaeology, which developed a set of ethics and practices that shunned its exploitative roots. But popular culture clings to the treasure hunting mythos.

Two hundred years ago, archaeology was a treasure hunt—finding fabulous things for museum collections, says Lekson. &quot:beerbuddy:ut we learned long ago that archaeological sites were really books to be read, pages of history. We can learn a great deal about pasts we would otherwise never know, by studying sites themselves and artifacts (simple or spectacular) in their original contexts at sites. When treasure hunters loot sites, ripping artifacts out of the ground, we lose any chance of understanding context—what was with what, its date, how it was used, what it can tell us about history—all so somebody can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.

[RaZR]

all so somebody can have a trinket on their mantelpiece.

And how many times have you seen a story on the internet about how some custodian found a bunch of highly valuable coins,paintings, pottery items or what have you hidden away in some museum basement or closet? If this idea that every item that was lost or thrown away and is now under ground is somehow an
archaeological treasure that needs to be catagorized and logged continues someday my old Converse all stars will be dug up from a land fill and placed in a glass case. If any of the items that those two found changed the way we view history i didn't see it. They were down south and found lead and an old coin and a military button. Who wouldn't think that that's what they might find in any southern state that the civil war was fought in? Do the museums not have a button
or a coin or a lead ball from the war? Or is it just that they can't find them in the warehouse full of important archaeological finds they have! If i dig up an Egyptian tomb or the sword that Gen. Custer had when he died. I'll be glad to donate it to the museum. But they don't need the silver coins i find or the lead i may dig up. If they do i'll gladly trade for some of that old crap they don't know they have. :grin: