I was so excited to get out after work and hunt for a little with the 6x8 SEF in the spot I've had luck with, so I showered really fast, and got to my spot as fast as I could. It would've given me about 2 hours to hunt.
No more than 15 minutes in, as it's getting dark, a light to my right caught my eye. It was a flashlight. Holding said flashlight was a 29 y/o Police officer. My initial thought was "Oh great, question time..." since the area I'm in is notorious for drug activity. Oh, did I mention I'm armed too? Oh yeah. My .40 XD is bulging off my hip:
Officer: "Hey, sorry about the light. Didn't mean to startle ya."
Me: "That's OK."
Officer: "So have ya found anything?"
Me: "Nah, just got here. Haven't found anything but a bunch of mosquito bites. I'm getting crushed right now."
Officer: "You come here a lot?"
Me: "Yeah. I was here the other night. Found 3 'Barbers'."
Officer: "Barbers? What's that?"
Me: "Quarters and dimes from around the 1900's. We have Washingtons now, but around 1900 it was the Barber design. If I had one I'd show ya. Basically looking for silver coins."
Officer: "Cool. I always wanted to try that, but had no idea where to even get one of [those], and never had time to get into it."
*At this point I realized he was just curious about MD and not why I was in a drug infested park at night*
Officer: "There was just a shooting over there (pointing to the street) a few weeks ago. Aren't you worried about being in here at night?"
Me: "Nah, I'm a retired MP, and I brought 'company' (gesturing with my hand to my hip and smiling)"
Officer: [laughing] "Nice. Good to be prepared around here. Nothing but a-holes."
Next 20 minutes we BS'd about police stuff, then he left to finish walking his beat. Coolest guy ever. Sean. Good Irish cop. I'll remember him the next time he's walking that beat.
Now I look at my phone for a time check. *sigh* 45 minutes wasted. Now I have 30 minutes to hunt. ugh. So I start swinging, still getting eaten alive, and hit a decent dime signal. I crouch down to dig the plug, take off my headphones, and as I start to dig, I hear the leaves and twigs around me starting to crackle with noise. Huh? What's making that noise? A squirrel? Hmm, let me turn my head and look behind me... HOLY EFING S! THERE'S A RACOON STANDING LESS THAN TWO FEET FROM ME ON HIS HIND LEGS! Heart starts racing, grabbing my gun is NOT an option, so I grab the Lesche and level the point towards Rocky Raccoon's face. What's this? What the heck is he doing? He's....what the....he's sniffing me?! He's standing on his hind legs, arms out to either side of him, and he's sniffing with his nose up in the air like he's trying to see if I'm friend or foe. OK, hmmm, now what? EUREKA! Drop the Lesche, and grab the iPhone! Start rolling video of Mr Raccoon. (video will be up soon on YouTube). The light on the iPhone from the video scared him, so he walked over to a tree, where I followed him, and I recorded him as he hng about 4 feet up on the tree looking at me like I was some retarded tourist. Then, abruptly, he climbed up the tree and disappeared. OK< let me see what time it is now. UGH! 10 minutes PAST the time I should've been home. I have a lot to do, so I was late getting home, and basically only hunted for 10-15 minutes. What did I find? A 1918 Wheat penny, a Memorial penny, and a clad dime. Whup-tee-doooo! Well, that's my story for today's "big" hunt. :/
No more than 15 minutes in, as it's getting dark, a light to my right caught my eye. It was a flashlight. Holding said flashlight was a 29 y/o Police officer. My initial thought was "Oh great, question time..." since the area I'm in is notorious for drug activity. Oh, did I mention I'm armed too? Oh yeah. My .40 XD is bulging off my hip:
Officer: "Hey, sorry about the light. Didn't mean to startle ya."
Me: "That's OK."
Officer: "So have ya found anything?"
Me: "Nah, just got here. Haven't found anything but a bunch of mosquito bites. I'm getting crushed right now."
Officer: "You come here a lot?"
Me: "Yeah. I was here the other night. Found 3 'Barbers'."
Officer: "Barbers? What's that?"
Me: "Quarters and dimes from around the 1900's. We have Washingtons now, but around 1900 it was the Barber design. If I had one I'd show ya. Basically looking for silver coins."
Officer: "Cool. I always wanted to try that, but had no idea where to even get one of [those], and never had time to get into it."
*At this point I realized he was just curious about MD and not why I was in a drug infested park at night*
Officer: "There was just a shooting over there (pointing to the street) a few weeks ago. Aren't you worried about being in here at night?"
Me: "Nah, I'm a retired MP, and I brought 'company' (gesturing with my hand to my hip and smiling)"
Officer: [laughing] "Nice. Good to be prepared around here. Nothing but a-holes."
Next 20 minutes we BS'd about police stuff, then he left to finish walking his beat. Coolest guy ever. Sean. Good Irish cop. I'll remember him the next time he's walking that beat.
Now I look at my phone for a time check. *sigh* 45 minutes wasted. Now I have 30 minutes to hunt. ugh. So I start swinging, still getting eaten alive, and hit a decent dime signal. I crouch down to dig the plug, take off my headphones, and as I start to dig, I hear the leaves and twigs around me starting to crackle with noise. Huh? What's making that noise? A squirrel? Hmm, let me turn my head and look behind me... HOLY EFING S! THERE'S A RACOON STANDING LESS THAN TWO FEET FROM ME ON HIS HIND LEGS! Heart starts racing, grabbing my gun is NOT an option, so I grab the Lesche and level the point towards Rocky Raccoon's face. What's this? What the heck is he doing? He's....what the....he's sniffing me?! He's standing on his hind legs, arms out to either side of him, and he's sniffing with his nose up in the air like he's trying to see if I'm friend or foe. OK, hmmm, now what? EUREKA! Drop the Lesche, and grab the iPhone! Start rolling video of Mr Raccoon. (video will be up soon on YouTube). The light on the iPhone from the video scared him, so he walked over to a tree, where I followed him, and I recorded him as he hng about 4 feet up on the tree looking at me like I was some retarded tourist. Then, abruptly, he climbed up the tree and disappeared. OK< let me see what time it is now. UGH! 10 minutes PAST the time I should've been home. I have a lot to do, so I was late getting home, and basically only hunted for 10-15 minutes. What did I find? A 1918 Wheat penny, a Memorial penny, and a clad dime. Whup-tee-doooo! Well, that's my story for today's "big" hunt. :/
