Funny Things that Happen While Detecting

I had a 3 year old boy at the beach who was totally enamored with what i was doing, and asking some pretty intelligent questions for his age. I usually go out of my way for kids whenever I can. This kid wanted to try it, so I put the headphones on him as Mom smiled and watched from her blanket. I wanted to bury something for him to find, I reached into my pocket for a coin, but I'd just started hunting and hadn't found one yet. The only thing in there was my wedding band. I turned him away from me, and stuffed it in the sand with my foot. I showed him the general location and turned him loose, him holding the shaft about halfway to the coil. He found it quick and dug it out with his hand. His next move was a surprise. He spun around with my ring in his hand and hurled it into the surf.

Mom jump off her blanket and ran over crying an apology while I was laughing hysterically. The kid got scared because Mom was crying and I was laughing. Turns out he thought he would find a coin not a ring, so he tossed it. I took quite a while to calm Mom down and convince her that it wasn't lost. I found it in short order, but the incident attracted quite a crowd.
 
Welp, I know this post is a bit old, but a while back I was casually MD'ing, then someone came up to me. I'm a kid still (12), so they could talk to me like I was there friend. He was "Did ja find something?" Every time my detector beeped. Even on the false signals. Then I got a good one and started digging. "Did ja fid treasure?" He was literally in touching distance of me. "Woah. Calm down, it's just a penny." "I saw plenty of people here yah know, did you hear the story in the news, robbers robbed the bank and buried all the gold coins here!" I snorted because one, there aren't any gold coins in circulation, and two, there was no robbery in a 100-mile radius. "Yeah, totally." He's tailing me for another 30 minutes. I was like in my head, What the heck dude, not cool. So I do this. "Dude, I'm MD'ing. That's something you do alone. Remember that crazy old guy at the beach swinging a metal stick with a metal frisbee glued on it? That's exactly what this is. I'll be glad to have you dig this target, but that's all." That did the trick, he's happy with the nickel he found and I'm off to my quest of a gold ring. Bam.

Josh
 
Had an older lady ask if we were digging soil samples for the city. I guess I'm unsure why they would have a detector to dig them. My wife had someone who thought she was golfing. Also, I've had little kids ask about treasures. one followed me and he scored two little hot wheels! I kept the Marty McFly time machine one though. I agree though, I try to keep the headphones on to avoid conversations.
 
I was hunting in an Atlanta urban park what had an paved walking trails connecting parks and neighborhoods.

One guy came up to me and said I missed something. I wondered how in the heck would he know. Then he pointed to some weeds around some trees. He thought I was a park employee using a weed eater.

I told him I was metal detecting looking for Civil War relics. He said well you won't find any here.

Hah, what he didn't know he was walking in a park where Sherman and Hood met up in the Battle of Peachtree Creek one of the bloodiest battles in the Battle for Atlanta and he was standing in almost the center of the worst part of the battle.
 
What's with the questions about clamming?? I think if I got asked "Are you clamming?", I would say "No, I'm looking for the lost portal to the alternate dimension I am from. My work is done here."

I don't know why more people don't give answers like this.
Finding anything?
Yeah I found fastback Mustang but its to big to carry.
Immediately walk away.
 
Funny responses to people's questions

I had a sweet old lady ask us if we were going fish. Fishing? I thought, then she went on to say she had never seen a gadget like ours. She thought we were using our detectors to shock worms and bring them to the top were we would then pick them out of the ground.

Old post worth reading again for a laugh.
 
Usually, I'm polite and willing to talk with someone but if they are being an ass or i get a bad vibe, i'll speak german. Luckily i've not run into any german speakers yet.

Kids, yeah they can be totally obnoxious to the point that they wont give you room to dig or even swing the coil. When that happens, I fake a signal, dump a scoop of wet sand, swing again, then announce "thats a gold ring there, but its too deep for my scoop" and walk off. Never had one not stay and dig.
 
Do those things find land mines? Yes and whatever you do dont jump up and down onthat area of the beach...
 
Funny stuff people!

I also remember a friend of ours telling us that while he was detecting a beach in Canada, there was a group of kids following him around and burying cans in his path. :lol:

Anybody ever have clad tossed at ya? Sometimes I get the feeling people drop coins purposely when they see me detecting. :?:
A couple of local bars are close to the water and have been the source of lots of stories and many coins over the years. On one nice weekend afternoon I caught a glimpse of a quarter hitting the sand ahead of me on my path. After that I picked up a few more coins until one of the drinkers bounced a quarter off my cap! I told him that if he can't throw better than that he can keep his coins and walked away laughing to myself! :yes:

CJ
 

People can get in the way of metal detecting on a beach----- :shrug:




but sometimes it can be fun too!

In those early years there were so many opportunities to observe humanity that I sometimes think perhaps it was a mistake to shelve my detectors for so long. I could have had enough material for a book by now.

During the summer swimming season there was always an antic to watch and sometimes participate in. People seem to think that you are part of the experience of the beach and have no qualms about getting in your way or asking foolish questions, such as "Find anything good?", as if you are going to tell them the truth or better yet, "Can I see what you've found?" as they reach for your container of miscellaneous trash.

Any self-respecting treasure hunter worthy of the name knows better than to put his valuable finds in with the junk he is removing from the swim area. My usual reply to either query is to show the person the container of flotsam and jetsam I'm removing from the water "To make their swimming safe" and if I play it right I'll get a heart felt thank you from them. One lady got teary eyed at the thought of my civic generosity or perhaps she was just a sensitive sort and I suppose the booze I smelled may have played a part.

When a particularly aggressive sort got too close I would suggest that the sharp end of the scoop I was digging with would be hard on bare, wet toes and that I would not be responsible if they accidentally became victim by venturing too close; also that as I was focusing on the sounds in my earphones I would not be able to hear what they were saying.

One obviously intoxicated woman staggered her way out to where I was digging and I warned her not to step in the hole by getting too close. Her antics were so funny it was almost a pleasure to be accosted by her. I had to stop and explain what I was doing and to show her some of the things I had found. She asked for a small object of junk jewelry I had found and I happily gave it to her and sent her on her way.

She staggered to the steep incline at the waters edge and couldn't walk out of the water because of her "condition". On all fours she crawled out to where she could stand upright with swimsuit hanging below her rather large rear end, mooning me and everyone else in the water.

Somehow she kept her footing and made her way up the beach to her blanket and friends still clutching her prize. Along the way she managed to recover her modesty somewhat by dragging the sagging garment up over her ample caboose.

Sun, sandy beach and alcohol can set the stage for all sorts of comedy and as we know tragedy.

Continued another time friends,

HH

Cupajo
 
Most of the time when I am detecting at Virginia Beach in the summer, I get tourist coming up to me and asking what I am looking for. When I tell them, they usually walk away removing the rings and jewelery.
I was once at a roped off swimming area in NC and a young lady approached me and asked what I was doing, I explaned that I was looking for coins and lost jewelery like the gold pendant with the name "Maria" and nice gold chain she was wearing around her neck. She just laughed and said I wouldn't ever find hers, then she went back to the group of other young guys and girls she was with. They were horseplaying around and the girls were on the sholders of the guys wrestling with each other. I just went on detecting and about an hour later I had that chain and pendant in my scoop. I went looking for the young lady to return it and see her expression, but she had already gone.
I also found 1 silver ring and 2 gold rings in the general area the were playing in.
I would take the necklace and pendant with me everytime I went to that swimming hole for the next several years, but I never saw the young lady again.
Since I started MDing in the early '80's I have returned 50 rings and one bracelet! Always with the warning that should I ever find them out in the water or on the beach again they were mine!!!

GL&HH,

CJ
 
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