Clam guns for coins at the beach

[jog]

I live in Oregon and detect the beaches here.Has anybody used a clam gun for a digging tool? Just a thought.

 

[nw1886]

I'd just worry about damaging a find (beings it's small in diameter). I'd just run with a small shovel and basket scoop?

 

[alienbogey]

I would think it would work well if you're searching the wet sand and a plastic gun couldn't hurt a find. You may have to do some explaining to do if it's not clam season, because it's sure going to look like you're clamming. People will probably think your detector is to detect clams.

 

[jog]

Was thinking of cutting one of the plastic ones down to about half its length.Maybe it wont look so suspicious.

 

[;hgarr]

Hey Alien, searching for clams with a detector, don't laugh. Back in 1965 or so, I was hunting the surf line at Huntiington Beach (CA) north of the pier with an old Fisher 1265 and noticed getting a lot of distinctive nullings. I dug one of the nulls and up comes a 4 inch Pismo clam. Well, it happened there was a guy close by punching the sand with a pitchfork to find these clams. Anyway, it ended up that I found his limit of 3 of the 6 inch legal clams in about five minutes. This guy was jumping up and down with joy because these were the first legals he got in two days of hunting. Happy hunting...Later in the week I won five dollars from a guy in our detector club by proving to him how well this trick worked...Happy hunting. How..

 

[alienbogey]

hgarr,

Wow, ya learn something every day. Whooda thunk it.

Going out on the Washington state beaches after razor clams it's a matter of looking for the little depressions and/or holes in the sand, but maybe a detector would work on the Sound beaches for geoducks? Maybe the detector would help find bigger ones?

 

[crabby]

n/t

 

[alienbogey]

A clam gun is a traditional muzzle-loading firearm, kind of a cross between a shotgun and a rifle, usually about 68 caliber or so, that is used in a two step process. First, a line of clam-gunners, known as the 'Blasters', form up line abreast before a likely clam-bearing area. Upon a signal from the leader of the hunt, the 'Master Blaster', each gun is fired in sequence, each successive blast being timed with the ebb of each ocean wave. If all goes well, the experience and skill of the Master Blaster being most important, the clams will stampede toward the second line of hunters, the 'Whumpers'.

Unlike the Blasters, the Whumpers' clam guns are charged with shot, a special blend of flour, corn meal and special spices, the recipes of which are usually closely guarded family secrets. Upon seeing evidence of a stampeding clam, normally a slight, moving mound, the alert Whumper will fire directly into the sand, leading the disturbance ever so slightly. (According to some authorities, the sound of the shot impacting the sand is the source of the Whumper's title.) An experienced Whumper will not only cleanly kill the clam, preventing any undue suffering, but the charge of flour and spices will prepare it for cooking.

There is considerable controversy and jealousy between traditional clam gunners, those described above, and the Modernists, who use a plastic or aluminum tube, approximately 6 inches in diameter with a T handle and small air hole in the top. The Modernists identifies a likely clam location by spying a depression in the sand and works the hollow tube down almost to the handle. Then, by covering the vent hole with a finger, the tube is pulled out with a "core sample" of sand that, hopefully, contains the clam.

I like the Traditionalist way a lot better.

 

[apikoros]

April 1st falling in December? Proof positive of climate change.