Eric in RI
New member
Holy crap, what a friggin' day! About 5 hours ago I posted my silver coin finds for 2014. As I sat there admiring the 2014 haul, I was itching to go by the pounded park to see how much snow was really left. Mind you, I haven't been to the park in nearly 3 months. I stayed away from it all during the winter because I knew one look at it with all the snow would make me sick to my stomach. We've had some fair weather the last 4 days with temps in the mid 40's each day. The snow banks in my driveway melted from 7 ft down to just 3 ft and I knew some of the hillsides in the park had to be melted down to bare dirt by now.
I arrived in the park and much to my dismay, there was still tons of snow all over the place. I took a quick ride thru and found that some of the hillsides were melted down to the dirt and grass, but this place still had a looooong way to go lol. I parked the truck and grabbed my 4" Phillips screwdriver. I got out of the truck and found a 2ft section of grass near the sidewalk where I parked and stuck the screwdriver all the way down, I immediately convinced myself that hunting today was achievable. I went back to the truck and stuck in my rechargeable batteries into my rapid charger and after 15 minutes of waiting (which seemed like an eternity) I was pounding dirt.
I walked thru the snow to one of the melted areas and came up with the usual trash signals. My buddy and I hit this area pretty good before but I was limited on where I could hunt. In some places the ground was frozen still, other places a bit of chiseling was in order and around the trees was perfectly thawed. After slowly making my way thru the crap, I came across a 4" repeater, coming up between 80 - 82. Dug down to reveal frozen tundra, I grabbed the pro pointer and figured out where the target was, then chiseled out a piece and seen a wheat staring at me. Turns out to be a 1935. Not bad, first wheat of the year. After snapping a couple pics, I was again on my way. I then came across another signal near a small tree stump. It was a bit bouncy on the numbers but it sounded like silver with something else near it. I stabbed the semi-frozen earth, flipped the plug and seen a potato chip bag, lol! I got up and swung over the hole again and the signal sounded better, was repeating 82-83. I stuck the shovel back in and took out another scoop of dirt and seen the back of a Merc, sweet! This one turned out to be a 1941. Now I'm not going to lie, I begged God to let me find silver and I swore that I would leave after I did, but I decided to see what else I could find, sorry God!
After snapping a pic of the merc, I came across a really really nice 88 signal at 6 inches. I stuck the shovel down and heard thud, turns out there was a huge tree root right where the target was. Not to mention it was frozen solid around the root. I spent 20 minutes pounding and chiseling around the root and I finally found the target. Turns out it was a freakin nail! DOH! That's what I get for breaking my promise to God, now we're even! After I stood up, I noticed something odd on the ground about 2 feet from where I was standing. At first glance I thought it was an odd button, but it turns out it was a baby turtle. Unfortunately he didn't survive his winter cryostasis nor the reanimation sequence, LOL. I snapped a pic of it just because it was an eyeball find, lol.
I ran out of real estate to hunt, so I trudged thru the snow to the other side of this walkway near a big tree that had much ground exposed underneath it. Again, I have hunted this area hard and didn't think I would find much of anything. I came across this bouncy signal near the base of the tree that came up 50 68 52. Here's a secret I will pass on to you AT Pro users. Usually this is an older variety nickel signal in this particular park. I swear by it. If you get numbers like this, dig them! You may be surprised. I dug down 4" and chiseled out a nice 1912 V nickel! See, I told ya! After snapping a pic suspended in its frozen grave, I filled in the hole and hunted the remaining turf before again running out of real estate.
I again trudged thru the snow to the next clearing which was a nicely thawed hillside. After nearly breaking my ankle getting down the hill, I was in business. I came across a wicked loud signal behind this tree at the bottom of the hill. I moved away some leaves and found a big chunk of copper, sweet! I walked over to these stone steps at the edge of the hillside and got a repeatable 80 near the steps. I stuck the shovel in and popped out a silver dime, I swore up and down that it looked like a barber, but after wiping the dirt, turns out it was a 52 Rosie. At this point I'm starting to think I may actually have a great day and who knows, maybe I'll get a trifecta! I slowly worked the hillside, sticking my butt in the air for all to see whenever I had to dig, lol. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I came across a bouncy 80 - 83 signal, dug down and was rewarded with a 44 wheat. About 5 minutes later I had the same signal, dug down and was rewarded with another 44 wheat.
After taking a 5 minute break, I continued hunting this hillside and came up with a really really faint signal. I was running Pro zero mode with discrimination set at 0, running 2 bars below max sensitivity. I didn't even see a target ID on the screen, so I maxed out the sensitivity and the numbers starting bouncing, but I seen 80 and 88 appear a couple of times and the tone was very soft and silvery. I pinpointed the signal and it was at 8" all day long. I stuck the shovel down deep and took out a huge plug. Ran the pro pointer in the hole and the signal was still there. I stuck the shovel in again and took another scoop from the sidewall and low and behold, another silver! I prayed for old silver because this sucker had depth to it, but alas, just a 39 Merc. After doing the happy dance, I filled in the hole and continued on the hillside. 10 minutes later I came up with a bouncy nickel signal. I didn't think it was an old nickel and I was right, after digging the hole I found just an ordinary Jefferson nickel. It had some crud on the back and as I wiped it, I seen silver! I flipped it over and seen 1943, awesome! I just couldn't believe the day I was having. After again doing my happy dance, I continued the hunt to the other side of the hill. I hunted the other side of this hill before, but never found much there. Just as I was starting to drift off into space due to the lack of signals, I came across a bouncy 70 - 76 signal at 4". I figured it was a stinkin Lincoln, but remembered those numbers could also be an Injun. I dug the hole and at the bottom I saw a penny. Another wheat I said to myself, but I was wrong. After wiping off the caked on dirt, I saw the head of an Injun! This one is dated 1907!
After doing yet another happy dance, the wind really started picking up and I was about frozen, so I decided to snap a group pic and call it a day. I left out one of the wheats as I had stuck it in the wrong pocket when digging out the finds.
What a day, best first hunt of any year that I have ever had. I'm definitely coming back here next weekend and giving this hillside a more "thorough" hunt. HH!
I arrived in the park and much to my dismay, there was still tons of snow all over the place. I took a quick ride thru and found that some of the hillsides were melted down to the dirt and grass, but this place still had a looooong way to go lol. I parked the truck and grabbed my 4" Phillips screwdriver. I got out of the truck and found a 2ft section of grass near the sidewalk where I parked and stuck the screwdriver all the way down, I immediately convinced myself that hunting today was achievable. I went back to the truck and stuck in my rechargeable batteries into my rapid charger and after 15 minutes of waiting (which seemed like an eternity) I was pounding dirt.
I walked thru the snow to one of the melted areas and came up with the usual trash signals. My buddy and I hit this area pretty good before but I was limited on where I could hunt. In some places the ground was frozen still, other places a bit of chiseling was in order and around the trees was perfectly thawed. After slowly making my way thru the crap, I came across a 4" repeater, coming up between 80 - 82. Dug down to reveal frozen tundra, I grabbed the pro pointer and figured out where the target was, then chiseled out a piece and seen a wheat staring at me. Turns out to be a 1935. Not bad, first wheat of the year. After snapping a couple pics, I was again on my way. I then came across another signal near a small tree stump. It was a bit bouncy on the numbers but it sounded like silver with something else near it. I stabbed the semi-frozen earth, flipped the plug and seen a potato chip bag, lol! I got up and swung over the hole again and the signal sounded better, was repeating 82-83. I stuck the shovel back in and took out another scoop of dirt and seen the back of a Merc, sweet! This one turned out to be a 1941. Now I'm not going to lie, I begged God to let me find silver and I swore that I would leave after I did, but I decided to see what else I could find, sorry God!
After snapping a pic of the merc, I came across a really really nice 88 signal at 6 inches. I stuck the shovel down and heard thud, turns out there was a huge tree root right where the target was. Not to mention it was frozen solid around the root. I spent 20 minutes pounding and chiseling around the root and I finally found the target. Turns out it was a freakin nail! DOH! That's what I get for breaking my promise to God, now we're even! After I stood up, I noticed something odd on the ground about 2 feet from where I was standing. At first glance I thought it was an odd button, but it turns out it was a baby turtle. Unfortunately he didn't survive his winter cryostasis nor the reanimation sequence, LOL. I snapped a pic of it just because it was an eyeball find, lol.
I ran out of real estate to hunt, so I trudged thru the snow to the other side of this walkway near a big tree that had much ground exposed underneath it. Again, I have hunted this area hard and didn't think I would find much of anything. I came across this bouncy signal near the base of the tree that came up 50 68 52. Here's a secret I will pass on to you AT Pro users. Usually this is an older variety nickel signal in this particular park. I swear by it. If you get numbers like this, dig them! You may be surprised. I dug down 4" and chiseled out a nice 1912 V nickel! See, I told ya! After snapping a pic suspended in its frozen grave, I filled in the hole and hunted the remaining turf before again running out of real estate.
I again trudged thru the snow to the next clearing which was a nicely thawed hillside. After nearly breaking my ankle getting down the hill, I was in business. I came across a wicked loud signal behind this tree at the bottom of the hill. I moved away some leaves and found a big chunk of copper, sweet! I walked over to these stone steps at the edge of the hillside and got a repeatable 80 near the steps. I stuck the shovel in and popped out a silver dime, I swore up and down that it looked like a barber, but after wiping the dirt, turns out it was a 52 Rosie. At this point I'm starting to think I may actually have a great day and who knows, maybe I'll get a trifecta! I slowly worked the hillside, sticking my butt in the air for all to see whenever I had to dig, lol. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb. I came across a bouncy 80 - 83 signal, dug down and was rewarded with a 44 wheat. About 5 minutes later I had the same signal, dug down and was rewarded with another 44 wheat.
After taking a 5 minute break, I continued hunting this hillside and came up with a really really faint signal. I was running Pro zero mode with discrimination set at 0, running 2 bars below max sensitivity. I didn't even see a target ID on the screen, so I maxed out the sensitivity and the numbers starting bouncing, but I seen 80 and 88 appear a couple of times and the tone was very soft and silvery. I pinpointed the signal and it was at 8" all day long. I stuck the shovel down deep and took out a huge plug. Ran the pro pointer in the hole and the signal was still there. I stuck the shovel in again and took another scoop from the sidewall and low and behold, another silver! I prayed for old silver because this sucker had depth to it, but alas, just a 39 Merc. After doing the happy dance, I filled in the hole and continued on the hillside. 10 minutes later I came up with a bouncy nickel signal. I didn't think it was an old nickel and I was right, after digging the hole I found just an ordinary Jefferson nickel. It had some crud on the back and as I wiped it, I seen silver! I flipped it over and seen 1943, awesome! I just couldn't believe the day I was having. After again doing my happy dance, I continued the hunt to the other side of the hill. I hunted the other side of this hill before, but never found much there. Just as I was starting to drift off into space due to the lack of signals, I came across a bouncy 70 - 76 signal at 4". I figured it was a stinkin Lincoln, but remembered those numbers could also be an Injun. I dug the hole and at the bottom I saw a penny. Another wheat I said to myself, but I was wrong. After wiping off the caked on dirt, I saw the head of an Injun! This one is dated 1907!
After doing yet another happy dance, the wind really started picking up and I was about frozen, so I decided to snap a group pic and call it a day. I left out one of the wheats as I had stuck it in the wrong pocket when digging out the finds.
What a day, best first hunt of any year that I have ever had. I'm definitely coming back here next weekend and giving this hillside a more "thorough" hunt. HH!
Thank you for getting out, taking pics, and doing such a great job on your adventure! I enjoyed every minute of it!
Good job! HH jim tn
