I was very excited when Big Digger (Brad) told me the corn had been harvested and we could now get to our favorite field for the first time since last year.
However he also told me the stalks had not been worked...were close together...and almost knee high.
This was okay with me because even though the finds rarely pop out anymore here...IF they do...they're either barber or seated.
Last season I hunted here for the first time thanks to Brad getting permission for us.
Before my first hunt at the field I ran into a few fellers' who said they had been hunting this "new to me" site for many years and that the finds had dried up for them.
They also told me what kind of Detectors they ALL were using...and they were not Minelab...and were also not Explorers...so I was very confident that Brad, Dave, and I could squeeze out a few more keepers.
To sum up last years 5 different hunts at this "hunted out" field for me.....16 Injuns'...7 Barber dimes...4 seated dimes...1 Seated Half Dime...1 Barber Quarter...and a gold ring.
Hunt #6 last year gave up ZERO coins for the 3 of us but there was also a lot of area that we could not get to because of the bean stubble...row positioning...big clods...etc.
I was hopefully optomistic about possibly squeaking out another keeper or two this season.
When I got there I realized how tough it was actually going to be to swing a coil between the narrow rows and close, high stalk stubble as this first pic of Herky shows.
[attachment 245419 fieldhunt2012j.jpg]
However the ground between the rows was absolutely smashed flat from the combine doing it's work...and this also raised the stalk roots up and out of the way somewhat... so a small coil could be effectively worked between the stalks and rows.
It would be very tedious work with a small coil...but it was the only way I could hunt the field.
I also have complete confidence at hitting extreme depths with my "old skool" 6" Excelerator coil and could work it inbetween the stalk stubble as well as between the rows.
After 3 full hours of silence and bending down only once to dig a nickel sounding hit...I finally got a very deep, high warble from the SE while I was working the 6" coil around and inbetween each and every corn stalk on each side of the row I was walking. It was repeating from every angle...and the depth meter was pegged at the bottom.
I dug down...then dug some more before running the probe.
I was now down right at 7" and the probe was telling me the target was a few inches deeper still.
I even let my best buddy Hercules listen to it.
[attachment 245418 fieldhunt2012i.jpg]
I carefully started scraping away dirt until I caught the glimpse of the surface of a dark black disc...and I will honestly say it was laying almost perfectly flat.
I then stuck my Lesche Digger in the hole and touched the surface of the disc so I could measure the depth of it.
The ring I have marked around the handle of my Lesche digger at the 10" mark was exactly aligned with the flat surface of the ground where I dug my hole.
I can honestly say this is my first ever 10" deep coin dug while using the 6" Excelerator coil...so I'm pretty stoked.
[attachment 245413 fieldhunt2012d.jpg] [attachment 245414 fieldhunt2012e.jpg]
I've dug a lot of 9" deep coins over the years with this coil...but up until this point had never dug a true 10" deep one.
[attachment 245415 fieldhunt2012f.jpg] [attachment 245416 fieldhunt2012g.jpg]
[attachment 245417 fieldhunt2012h.jpg]
A little while later I rescued a dark brown Injun' from 8"...and if you look closely at the top of the dark clod...you'll see it sticking out.
[attachment 245411 fieldhunt2012b.jpg] [attachment 245412 fieldhunt2012c.jpg]
What was strange about the Injun' is that it's the first one from here that has come out of the ground this color. The last 16 all came out corroded and nasty...and in fact I didn't even bother trying to clean them as a date was not even feasable on any of them. I could barely tell they were even Injuns' unless I examined most of them closely and noticed a feather on the front or the wreath on back.
So all in all a wonderful, peaceful hunt that I won't forget...as I found my first 10" deep coin with a small coil...a seated dime with my 6" Excelerator.
However he also told me the stalks had not been worked...were close together...and almost knee high.
This was okay with me because even though the finds rarely pop out anymore here...IF they do...they're either barber or seated.
Last season I hunted here for the first time thanks to Brad getting permission for us.
Before my first hunt at the field I ran into a few fellers' who said they had been hunting this "new to me" site for many years and that the finds had dried up for them.
They also told me what kind of Detectors they ALL were using...and they were not Minelab...and were also not Explorers...so I was very confident that Brad, Dave, and I could squeeze out a few more keepers.
To sum up last years 5 different hunts at this "hunted out" field for me.....16 Injuns'...7 Barber dimes...4 seated dimes...1 Seated Half Dime...1 Barber Quarter...and a gold ring.
Hunt #6 last year gave up ZERO coins for the 3 of us but there was also a lot of area that we could not get to because of the bean stubble...row positioning...big clods...etc.
I was hopefully optomistic about possibly squeaking out another keeper or two this season.
When I got there I realized how tough it was actually going to be to swing a coil between the narrow rows and close, high stalk stubble as this first pic of Herky shows.
[attachment 245419 fieldhunt2012j.jpg]
However the ground between the rows was absolutely smashed flat from the combine doing it's work...and this also raised the stalk roots up and out of the way somewhat... so a small coil could be effectively worked between the stalks and rows.
It would be very tedious work with a small coil...but it was the only way I could hunt the field.
I also have complete confidence at hitting extreme depths with my "old skool" 6" Excelerator coil and could work it inbetween the stalk stubble as well as between the rows.
After 3 full hours of silence and bending down only once to dig a nickel sounding hit...I finally got a very deep, high warble from the SE while I was working the 6" coil around and inbetween each and every corn stalk on each side of the row I was walking. It was repeating from every angle...and the depth meter was pegged at the bottom.
I dug down...then dug some more before running the probe.
I was now down right at 7" and the probe was telling me the target was a few inches deeper still.
I even let my best buddy Hercules listen to it.
[attachment 245418 fieldhunt2012i.jpg]
I carefully started scraping away dirt until I caught the glimpse of the surface of a dark black disc...and I will honestly say it was laying almost perfectly flat.
I then stuck my Lesche Digger in the hole and touched the surface of the disc so I could measure the depth of it.
The ring I have marked around the handle of my Lesche digger at the 10" mark was exactly aligned with the flat surface of the ground where I dug my hole.
I can honestly say this is my first ever 10" deep coin dug while using the 6" Excelerator coil...so I'm pretty stoked.
[attachment 245413 fieldhunt2012d.jpg] [attachment 245414 fieldhunt2012e.jpg]
I've dug a lot of 9" deep coins over the years with this coil...but up until this point had never dug a true 10" deep one.
[attachment 245415 fieldhunt2012f.jpg] [attachment 245416 fieldhunt2012g.jpg]
[attachment 245417 fieldhunt2012h.jpg]
A little while later I rescued a dark brown Injun' from 8"...and if you look closely at the top of the dark clod...you'll see it sticking out.
[attachment 245411 fieldhunt2012b.jpg] [attachment 245412 fieldhunt2012c.jpg]
What was strange about the Injun' is that it's the first one from here that has come out of the ground this color. The last 16 all came out corroded and nasty...and in fact I didn't even bother trying to clean them as a date was not even feasable on any of them. I could barely tell they were even Injuns' unless I examined most of them closely and noticed a feather on the front or the wreath on back.
So all in all a wonderful, peaceful hunt that I won't forget...as I found my first 10" deep coin with a small coil...a seated dime with my 6" Excelerator.
------------Del
Well, you know the answer to that. Tell Herc to keep up the good work writing such great stories for you. 
Beautiful coins too! I am still waiting on my first seated coin. Keep up the great work and posts - Jim