BarnacleBill
New member
Addressing the reformed beach hunter ten step group;
Hello my name is BarnacleBill and I hunt(gulp!)boat ramps....
This past summer I watched as Jackpine Savage posted wondrous finds from boat ramps. Now being the world famous and noted beach hunter that I am,
I never thought I would be caught dead hunting a boat ramp. Fast forward to a month ago as I was doing research on old children's summer camps that are no longer in existence. I came upon information that there was a defunct girl's camp on a nearby lake only 30 minutes away from my home.
Using the name of the camp on an Internet search I ended up with several map servers putting the camp's GPS coordinates at a certain spot on this particular lake. I knew there were old hunting camps there, but old topo maps from the 1930's showed no structures in that area, and the children's camp had existed since the 20's. I also knew there was an all sand public boat launch at that locale which would afford me access to the shoreline.
On the other hand, online forum memoirs from the surrounding area placed the camp on the other side of the lake about a half mile away. But as luck would have it, I also have private hunt permission on a beach that would only put me about 1500ft from this location, which makes it accessible during fall lake draw down. So planning this morning's hunt I checked the lake's state run depth gauge online. Unfortunately we have had a great deal of rain and the gauge is notoriously inaccurate, and prone to wild swings. The gauge stated the lake was down 1ft from it's summer level, but arriving at the lake this morning it turned out to not be the case, it was only down about 3 inches.
So plan B was to head to the area with the boat ramp and see if there were any old coins in quantity to confirm the location of the camp. Upon arrival I looked over the nearby structures, which looked to be normal old hunting camp type buildings, and not children's camp cabins, which are usually uniform in size, style, and spacing. To hunt the boat ramp area I decided on the X50 with HF DD coil, just in case there were any low conductors to be found.
The X50 GB'd at 3 and I could run sensitivity at 1 to 2 points down from max as the sand and gravel varied. Iron targets were only moderate in number with a sprinkling of modern trash. About the third target I found was the .22 cart and I thought, "oh no my nemesis". Then a couple targets later I had either a mixed target(i.e. lead sinker w/steel hanger), or a steel bottle cap, or a target close to iron.
I decided to check out the possibility of a good target next to iron. So I took my boot edge and parted the sand, pushing one pile left and one right. I checked the right pile and received an iron response, and checked the left pile getting a +6. My initial thought was that I had another .22 cal cart, but I scooped up the pile in my beach shovel and walked to the water's edge and began a panning motion. At first glint of metal I thought I had a broken tab segment, but then..... holy moly it's a Jackpine Boat Ramp Special...
Don't know if the blue stone is an Aquamarine or Blue Topaz, but there are four little diamonds on each side. The metal itself is white gold and marked 14K. Also hit a little cheapie aluminum ring.
[attachment 38462 r2.jpg]
[attachment 38463 nut.jpg]
HH,
BarnacleBill
Hello my name is BarnacleBill and I hunt(gulp!)boat ramps....
This past summer I watched as Jackpine Savage posted wondrous finds from boat ramps. Now being the world famous and noted beach hunter that I am,
I never thought I would be caught dead hunting a boat ramp. Fast forward to a month ago as I was doing research on old children's summer camps that are no longer in existence. I came upon information that there was a defunct girl's camp on a nearby lake only 30 minutes away from my home. Using the name of the camp on an Internet search I ended up with several map servers putting the camp's GPS coordinates at a certain spot on this particular lake. I knew there were old hunting camps there, but old topo maps from the 1930's showed no structures in that area, and the children's camp had existed since the 20's. I also knew there was an all sand public boat launch at that locale which would afford me access to the shoreline.
On the other hand, online forum memoirs from the surrounding area placed the camp on the other side of the lake about a half mile away. But as luck would have it, I also have private hunt permission on a beach that would only put me about 1500ft from this location, which makes it accessible during fall lake draw down. So planning this morning's hunt I checked the lake's state run depth gauge online. Unfortunately we have had a great deal of rain and the gauge is notoriously inaccurate, and prone to wild swings. The gauge stated the lake was down 1ft from it's summer level, but arriving at the lake this morning it turned out to not be the case, it was only down about 3 inches.
So plan B was to head to the area with the boat ramp and see if there were any old coins in quantity to confirm the location of the camp. Upon arrival I looked over the nearby structures, which looked to be normal old hunting camp type buildings, and not children's camp cabins, which are usually uniform in size, style, and spacing. To hunt the boat ramp area I decided on the X50 with HF DD coil, just in case there were any low conductors to be found.
The X50 GB'd at 3 and I could run sensitivity at 1 to 2 points down from max as the sand and gravel varied. Iron targets were only moderate in number with a sprinkling of modern trash. About the third target I found was the .22 cart and I thought, "oh no my nemesis". Then a couple targets later I had either a mixed target(i.e. lead sinker w/steel hanger), or a steel bottle cap, or a target close to iron.
I decided to check out the possibility of a good target next to iron. So I took my boot edge and parted the sand, pushing one pile left and one right. I checked the right pile and received an iron response, and checked the left pile getting a +6. My initial thought was that I had another .22 cal cart, but I scooped up the pile in my beach shovel and walked to the water's edge and began a panning motion. At first glint of metal I thought I had a broken tab segment, but then..... holy moly it's a Jackpine Boat Ramp Special...
Don't know if the blue stone is an Aquamarine or Blue Topaz, but there are four little diamonds on each side. The metal itself is white gold and marked 14K. Also hit a little cheapie aluminum ring.
[attachment 38462 r2.jpg]
[attachment 38463 nut.jpg]
HH,
BarnacleBill