The "DEEP ONE" New to Nuggetshooting ???

[frank c]

Well I wasn't going to post this because I'm so damm tired, and this is the day after. But my other half asked me "did you post about that"??

So I have to accommodate her because I'm trying to teach her all I can and get her over her first nugget.

Story starts off on a Saturday hunt just a fine an dandy like candy July morning. The first 30-40 minutes were "par for the course" a couple steel shot, some lead fragments ya know the usual.

Then I switched areas moved into a deep wash with one side of the bank a steep wall and the other side a sloping bank. This wash had some history you could tell just by studying it for a minute or two. A few nice curves giving inside and outside areas to detect. A very inviting but hard to negotiate stretch of land for an old farts knees and balance.

Not 10 minutes into it and I hit a nice signal with a 16" coil. Wow I think why hasn't anyone else hit this ??? I GUESS it was MY LUCKY DAY !!!

So next I take a couple scrapes off with my pick and swing again, OH gets a bit better. I'm onto something here it might have been passed up for a trash signal I figured as I removed just about 6-8 inches of loose top soil and revealed caliche. Well I have always heard stories of "the deep ones" and dreamed of a chance at a once in a lifetime find.

It was early yet and not too hot so I began picking at it to create a round hole not knowing how deep the layer was. All I had with me was my pick and the wifes smaller pick No problem I figured.

Let me tell you what drives a 60 year old to picking and chipping in cemented gravels for 4 yes four plus hours in the July heat. GOLD thats right WHAT else could it be ??? After a few inches of caliche were removed the signal turned into an infamous LO-HIGH !! Couple THAT with the fact the cemented gravels were there before man and there was no target recovered in the first few inches that could have worked its way in time SO it HAD to be a natural occurrence.

And the target signal was very concentrated not broad, not to the left right above or below really concentrated.

VISIONS of sugarplums danced thru my brain....was it a solid SLUG or a quartz filled specimen ??? EVERY couple of inches that I laboriously removed (lacking the proper tools that I always carry in case this would happen one day but DIDN'T have today) I turned on ol faithful and rechecked the hole LO-HI still intriguing me. It got to the point where I needed a different coil to reassure myself of the target my 16 won't go in to the bottom after the hole was about a foot deep so I switch to my 8 x 15 elliptical to check the sides and bottom of "the pit" I'm creating. WOW at this point I'm pretty sure the signal is NOT comming from a side its straight down, LEAPIN LIZZARDS BATMAN your'e really on to something here. Getting into the 3 to 4 hour range of the picking of this damm cement trying to break large rocks apart throughout the process being careful to NOT break or deface the target and using up just about the last of the bottled water to wet the hole and ease the digging (got that idea late in the game). My hands are blistered, I'm hotter than HELL, my knees are indented with tiny rocks, (thats when I went to the truck and grabbed a thick floormat for a kneepad)!!!! We deceided ,yes we, The wife was watching this whole process she stopped detecting and sat and watched from the very start helping hand me things and running back an forth to the vehicle, I said I can't go any further with this I can't swing the picks into this hole its too deep. And besides that fact its killing me not having a small sledge and a chiselbar that was the ticket to digging any further.

So we covered the hole and as we had forgotten to get ice that morning and the water was running out it was time for reinforcements.

It was over 2 hours drive home an back to get the tools I needed. Then I got the idea a hardware store !! YEAH thats only about 50 miles round trip, but I had all the tools home in triplicate !!! Well not wanting to be away for long from this target, wondering if anyone was watching from a distance etc. I said to myself just go buy what you need and git back quickly.

So thats what I did. It was probably a god sent actually if I remained there struggling I probably would have had a heart attack or at least a severe case of heat stroke. The round trip for tools , ice, water and food rested me physically it was about an hour and 45 minutes. I even bought a freakin umbrella for the wife to shade me NOT remembering I had 2 of them under the seat of the truck !!! I guess I already had heat stroke !!!

YES this story is getting LONG but remember I'm pickin and a grinnin !! thinkin bout "the target" for 4 plus hours before I took the break.

Got back at it switched coils again to the 8" commander, this baby gets in the hole and can check the sides well to make sure my target wasn't off to one side.

WHAMMO LO-HI straight down still I'm druling from the mouth now its gotta be a monster at the bottom !!

Now I have a 2.5 pound hammer and an 18" chiselbar To hack and dig an break my way down with a 6 gallon water can to wet the hole and a nice little brush to sweep up an take a look see every few minutes I'm in heavin I think.

Well another hour which makes it 5 hours of steady rock breakin and it starts to sound hollow down there. My god I couldn't believe I was doing this for so many hours but the drive, the dream, the speculation of WHAT I would recover kept me plugging.

I broke thru the cemented gravels and hit soil with rocks mixed in HOLY SH#$ I thought a cavern or just a layer I don't know yet my brain is so overheated at this point I had already bought the ol lady a new Candy Apple Green Camaro with a white convertable top !!! and I was gonna be able to afford to prospect and detect everyday from now on thats ALL I was thinking.

It was time to grab soil an rock and remove it now from the hole and hopefully retrieve the target after all it wasn't in the cemented gravels all the way down so it has to be there the 3500 is SCREAMING at me.

Its much TOO LATE now to make a long story short. So in case theres any children or women reading this I won't use my usual language, BUT I will curse the pack rat that once lived in the bank of this wash many many years ago. Even though he was a very good home builder that incorporated a super solid and life long ROOF over his home (caliche layer) This relic of the past is quite a few years old. There were no traces of burrows around the sloping bank just caliche, time had eroded clues of possibilities and overburden had covered time and again the whole landscape.

REMEMBER as you look at these pics

I'm standing practically up to my knees in the hole and still goin down.

The wooden handle on my hermit pick is 32 inches long.

I persevered over 5 hours in the heat with hand tools.

After going down over 2 feet thru hard pack caliche.

Lesson # 1 DIG ALL TARGETS

Yes I was dissapointed after all the hours of hard work.

I barely got off my butt all day today too tired an heatstroke to boot.

LESSON # 2

ENDEAVOR TO PERSEVERE..........NOTHING WORTHWHILE COMES EASY.

(Like Bill S. says Never give up)

This isn't the 1st time I've dug a target deep like this and it won't be the last.

I have gained MORE faith and confidence in my detector that she will bring "the big DEEP one" to me one day.

Hope you that have taken the time to read this either enjoyed or LEARNED.

Till the next adventure comes,,,,

Hapy Huntn Frank C.

[shep]

I got your e-mail, then chkd for your post on this adventure, did't see any at the time, so replied to your e-mail. Perserverance was the key today; if you had of quit, well you'd never of gotten a good night sleep again. I added more in your reply, but won't repeat it here.

Shep

[tfrandy]

Frank,

All I gotta say is God owes you a big fat nugget,....thanks for describing so eloquently how you hung in there!!!!

Just remember, good things come to those who wait!!!!!!

I really get a feeling your time is near!!!

Randy

[Patrick in Havasu]

I'm just glad I wasn't there when you discovered the can.....

I would have probably learned a few "new" words.

But like Shep, I congratulate you on your hard work, and not giving up. Good job.

Patrick.....

[matt]

Makes you wonder what the guy that dug the hole first found and drank that beer in celebration...I too have dug many deep, tough to dig nuggets only to find trash. Just when you think it is gold, it fools you. The great thing is that when you dig that next screamer that is only inches deep and you look down and see a huge lump of gold, you will look back to this dig and wonder...

[Ant Man]

Shep probably nailed it when he said if you hadn't dug it you'd never get a good nights sleep again wondering about what was down there. So definately time well spent.

But yeah, a nugget would have been a lot nicer, and with your perserverence it will come.

Enjoyed the reading. Thanks for sharing it.

Paul

[Paseclipse]

Well Frank at least you got some exercise right? :shrug: I know it sucks to dig deep cans especially when you're convinced it's a nugget. I've dug my fair share of 2'+ deep holes for all sorts of cans and they can certainly be frustrating. The one and only time I've nailed a nugget that gave off the ooo-wee signal I was going through the routine of digging up another piece of trash and I nearly crapped my pants when I picked up a nice hunk of yellow metal!

Some day you'll get a nice big ooo-wee signal and it will be a nice hunk of yellow metal. Keep at it man because they're out there!

Del

[Hoser John]

Back in the 70's I was detecting with my ol'bud Larry Wilson with a Gemini 2 two boxer in Pattons old campground. We dug almost 10' to find a CENSORED AND CENSORED AGAIN spoked wheel buried at that depth. Caliche,time and rains had recemented the ground and looked virgin--NEVER EVER AGAIN NO BLOODY WAY JOSE-John

[xt18000]

I LOVED IT!!!!!! Now go find that darn RAT AND KILL IT!!!!!!!!!! (befor I hunt that area!)

[SGTFDA]

You passed the test Frank. You are now ready to move on to treasure hunting

We dig these things because we need to know, must know.

[garimpo]

Frank C....the old cop Frank said it....we dig because we gotta know...

If anybody ever comes up with a "nice hole" contest I'm going to enter your pics...

Hang in there buddy....it'll happen when you least expect it....now get some rest...

[frank c]

Hey Don, Sgt., I dig !!!!

[Au Seeker]

Hey Don, Sgt., I dig !!!!

Frank, you sure do buddy!!!

I agree that if you had not dug that signal it would've haunted you for a long time!!! :grr01:

Skip

[explorer1]

Frank, thanks for sharing. Years ago I was detecting in AZ. I came across a sure target in a open crack/depression in a large granite buried boulder. I didn't have the correct tools to retrieve. Last year, I returned from Colorado with what I thought was the right tools but to no avail again. Target was still there for I had covered it back up.

So this year I went down there with everything including the kitchen sink. Full blown attack force. Problem this time: someone built a house on that spot.

That will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Crying--Jim

[highbanker58]

Frank- While in Ganes Creek 3 weeks ago, we had been digging deep Pop cans, and junk all week.Tom got another big pop can signal and knew he had to dig it. He figured it was just another pop can ,until after excavating a hole 18" deep that 10.64 oz solid gold nugget was laying in the bottom looking up at him.With any luck, your next BIG hole will have one of those staring up at you. Dave

[frank c]

Frank, thanks for sharing. Years ago I was detecting in AZ. I came across a sure target in a open crack/depression in a large granite buried boulder. I didn't have the correct tools to retrieve. Last year, I returned from Colorado with what I thought was the right tools but to no avail again. Target was still there for I had covered it back up.

So this year I went down there with everything including the kitchen sink. Full blown attack force. Problem this time: someone built a house on that spot.

That will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Crying--Jim

WOW That is a RUDE AWAKENING to have returned to pursue that signal and find the property was developed !!!

.... DAVE, Love that story, thats what keeps me going.

[Micro Nugget]

Well, Frank, that experience kinda gives a new meaning to the phrase, "Can you dig it?" Congratulations on writing one of the best stories I've come across in a long while!!!

[garimpo]

Frank, thanks for sharing. Years ago I was detecting in AZ. I came across a sure target in a open crack/depression in a large granite buried boulder. I didn't have the correct tools to retrieve. Last year, I returned from Colorado with what I thought was the right tools but to no avail again. Target was still there for I had covered it back up.

So this year I went down there with everything including the kitchen sink. Full blown attack force. Problem this time: someone built a house on that spot.

That will haunt me for the rest of my life!

Crying--Jim

Solution Jim....buy the house....tear it down...and then retrieve that pull tab!!!!

[frank c]

Thank you Martin, I took the time to do this for the benefit of newcommers or potential newcommers.

Just to give them a real taste of what its like out there. Most people think nuggetshooting is a breeze compared to other ways of retrieving gold.

If yer gonna get serious ya gotta dig em all. And this just goes to show what you may have to go thru one day on the road to the DEEP ONE.

[Bucket]

What a great read that was Frank, up until the candy apple green Camero part... that's where i spilled my beer on the keyboard and almost pissed myself, now THAT was funny!!! I get pissed off at ten inches down and find out its trash. You indeed have earned the right to find yourself a monster next time, luckily you didn't drive past a Chevy dealer on the way to the hardware store!

[DolanDave]

Frank,

Great story dude !!!! Done that a few times, but not as deep as you went you dug yourself a mine, at least the tommyknockers could have left you a full beer !!!!

[bigrex]

That was probably worth the read more than it was worth the dig, oh well, :*&$*(: thanks for the story of perseverance.