Digger Bob
New member
As Gus has already posted, I and my guys were out there for our annual Jim Williams Memorial Day hunt. And yes, the weather did not cooperate. Compared to the weekend before when it almost hit 100, this time we had rain, hail, lightning, thunder, wind, and everything but snow. We were chased back to camp about 3 times every day so we didn't dare venture too far from camp, which put a damper on exploring new areas.
But a couple of our guys did manage to score a couple of nice ones. The "smaller" one is only 5.5 dwt and has a very unique crystaline structure, not very evident in the picture. They are square-ish joined in a triangle like shape. Very pretty piece. It was found by a guy who was there for the first time, using a borrowed Minelab for the first time. Found on his first day under a bush near a known patch about 12 inches deep.
The second larger piece, comes in at 8.5 dwt. Again, unusual for Rye Patch. Flat and thin, with none of the chevron characteristics typical of there. It's shaped more like those found further north, having come right out of a thin vein. And it was only about 6 inches deep. Could have been found with a Radio Shack machine if you'd put the loop over it.
The guy that found this one is none other than our own Slopoke Bob. I gotta tell you something about Slopoke. He has been hunting with us for over 10 years, since the first Goldstalker trips with Doc. He has persevered through defective machines and loops, personal tragedy, health problems, mechanical breakdowns, and lots of plain bad luck. In 10 years of trying, he has never found a nugget other than flakes when he first got started with a VLF machine. In all that time, he never complained or gave up. He is a trooper of the finest character and I could not be happier for him. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. He doesn't post much anymore, but he's always out there trying and waiting patiently for his turn to come. It finally came through for him in this beauty.
Other than these two, about 5 more small ones were found by us, all under a dwt. It's getting tougher there, but there are still a few left. Oh, and the wet ground drove us nuts with the Minelab mono loops. DD's worked just fine. The moisture activates the alkali salts. The Whites TDI was unaffected by this ground. Unfortunatly, I could not pass the loop over a nugget using it.
Digger Bob
But a couple of our guys did manage to score a couple of nice ones. The "smaller" one is only 5.5 dwt and has a very unique crystaline structure, not very evident in the picture. They are square-ish joined in a triangle like shape. Very pretty piece. It was found by a guy who was there for the first time, using a borrowed Minelab for the first time. Found on his first day under a bush near a known patch about 12 inches deep.
The second larger piece, comes in at 8.5 dwt. Again, unusual for Rye Patch. Flat and thin, with none of the chevron characteristics typical of there. It's shaped more like those found further north, having come right out of a thin vein. And it was only about 6 inches deep. Could have been found with a Radio Shack machine if you'd put the loop over it.
The guy that found this one is none other than our own Slopoke Bob. I gotta tell you something about Slopoke. He has been hunting with us for over 10 years, since the first Goldstalker trips with Doc. He has persevered through defective machines and loops, personal tragedy, health problems, mechanical breakdowns, and lots of plain bad luck. In 10 years of trying, he has never found a nugget other than flakes when he first got started with a VLF machine. In all that time, he never complained or gave up. He is a trooper of the finest character and I could not be happier for him. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. He doesn't post much anymore, but he's always out there trying and waiting patiently for his turn to come. It finally came through for him in this beauty.
Other than these two, about 5 more small ones were found by us, all under a dwt. It's getting tougher there, but there are still a few left. Oh, and the wet ground drove us nuts with the Minelab mono loops. DD's worked just fine. The moisture activates the alkali salts. The Whites TDI was unaffected by this ground. Unfortunatly, I could not pass the loop over a nugget using it.
Digger Bob