ROAD TRIP!!! :clapping:

[Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO]

Time for my annual road trip! Almost didn't go because of time and the cost of gas.... but at the last second I cleared my plans through the war department at home, rented a car, and off I went. I spent 3 days up in southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, and western Wisconsin. I researched sites online - mostly parks, town squares, and courthouses. Nearly all of the sites i hit were badly hunted out... the Explorer hordes have pretty much hit everything in sight up there now. I did do good in a couple places, brought home a nice pile of silver and indians. I nearly ran over 2 deer up there (there were tons of roadkill deer everywhere)and was nabbed for speeding by Minn. Highway Patrol - he let me off with a warning thankfully. Admittedly covering 2,000 miles of roadways in a 3 day weekend will lead to a lot of very rushed driving. I started off Sunday morning at one particular courthouse that produced a lot of deep signals in the 8-11" range and I should have spent more than the 3 hours I did there, because that was the only good spot I hit that day. In 2 particulary bad spots on Saturday, I didn't dig a thing until I got to within 10 feet of the car as I was leaving... they were both Barber Quarters! I sure know where to park dont I? There were only 2 other sites that produced more than a few signals to dig.

The first pic is the silver: 1901 (no S darn it!) and dateless slicker Barber Quarters, 1875 Seated Dime, 6 Barber Dimes - a nice 1894, 1898, 1900, 1902S, 1906, an awesome 1906D, 5 Mercs 1916( no D darn it!), 1917, 1928S, 1939, 1941, and a lone Roosy round out the 16 silver coins.

[attachment 93392 02jun08silver.JPG]

This next one is 27 nice indians from 1865 to 1907. They sure are a refreshing change from the ugly corroded ones I dig around here!

[attachment 93393 02jun08indians.JPG]

Here's the rest of the goodies 1987, 1903 V nickels, 1924d Buffalo, 1947 Jeff, neat white metal pocket knife, 1919 modern health crusader pin. probably from the 1919 influenza outbreak, and other misc items. The big round thing sure felt like a silver dollar when i closed my hand on it a foot deep in a hole after getting a solid dollar signal - that one had me going for a minute

[attachment 93394 02jun02finds.JPG]

At one park I had the local DFXer come up seeing what I found, he'd been watching me a while and when I was digging too many signals he had to come see what I had. He said he hunted out this park a while back. I almost felt bad showing him a seated dime, standing quarter, roosy dime, and 3 indians from his hunted out park. I wish I had a picture of his expression. I think i sold him on an Explorer so that he can rehunt his park. I wish I made comission from all the explorers I've sold "on the spot" like this over the years.
Thanks for looking, take care and HH, Mike.

 

[sangamon]

At one park I had the local DFXer come up seeing what I found, he'd been watching me a while and when I was digging too many signals he had to come see what I had. He said he hunted out this park a while back. I almost felt bad showing him a seated dime, standing quarter, roosy dime, and 3 indians from his hunted out park. I wish I had a picture of his expression. I think i sold him on an Explorer so that he can rehunt his park. I wish I made comission from all the explorers I've sold "on the spot" like this over the years.
Thanks for looking, take care and HH, Mike.

but you have to give the DFXer credit for clearing out the trash before you got there! thanks for sharing your story.

 

[Magicman]

That was a great road trip, wish I could have gone.....

I guess I will have to find room on the Harley and start doing some road trips or buy a metro.

 

[D&P-OR]

Wow & wow Mike---WHAT A GROUP!! Old U.S. coins are so neat. I think of every one of them as being a piece of our nations history-and I cherish every one of them I find. GOOD HUNT!! (leave SOMETHING for the DFX) ha----Del

 

[Hobby]

I could sure do with a road trip like that......You did real good.......Hobby

 

[UncleTom]

Mike I know what you mean as a person who came from the DFX to the SE and never looked back, it will make you dig deep! Nice work great trip thanks for sharing with us. Tom

 

[Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO]

That's why I've always liked it when I find out a site was declared hunted out by whites users!

 

[Hard Nosed Dave]

n/t

 

[Clark-NY]

When I first started with the explorer you used to give me advice.
And now I tell the 2 guys I hunt with That you are one of the best with the explorer.
And to watch for the coins you post. Amazing as always WTG

 

[Andrus(ut)]

n/t

 

[RONC(OR)]

n/t

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Mike, thanx for the pix and blow-by-blow. Your road trip reminds me of a CA friend of mine who went to some back-woods little towns of Iowa during a family reunion. He takes his Explorer, and proceeds to hit little town squares, parks, schools, etc... He was amazed that it seemed like everything below 6 or 7" was virgin. He got lots of silver, and couldn't understand why the locals hadn't hit it better (as it was apparent that the clad and '40s/50s silver was mined out). He ran into a few Whites and Fisher guys who were amazed that he was pulling IHs and barbers from "their" parks. By the time he left a few days later, he'd sent several of those locals surrying to find Explorers for themselves

 

[SNOWY]

Mike, what a terrific trip you had !
Beautiful silvers you got !

Those indian heads look great too.

 

[Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO]

I remember back the first couple years I had the Explorer... every park I hit in the small towns of northern Missouri seemed loaded with silver and indians some places produced 10-20 silver coins in a day, most of them barbers and seated. Whites and Fisher machines were the choice of the locals and many of them couldn't believe there was so much left behind. At one courthouse I was only hunting 5 minutes when the local whites user came up and chatted... he had hunted this courthouse religiously over 30 years and found thousands of coins, he would be shocked if I even got a signal to dig. He watched me dig several coins - all around 8-10" deep, indians a barber dime and a seated dime and he was coverted to the Explorer on the spot - wanted to know where he could buy one, didn't care how much it cost. This scene has repeated itself many times over the years. That was why I started doing the road trips, trying to be the first Explorer guy into the old parks that lay unhunted for years. I think the Explorer has swept across the country and the places left "unexplored" are few and far between... but half the fun is in trying to track them down and hunting them. Take care and HH, Mike.

 

[Great Republic]

to go on a road trip.Right after my divorce.GR.

 

[Knipper]

Hi Mike...great finds there! Did you get anywhere near Rochester MN in your travels? (where I live). The funny part is, I've always envisioned a road trip to Missouri to look for older finds....looks like there must still be some left here in MN .

Knipper

 

[DukeOBass]

There are a few old parks around here that I'd like to detect at. Is there ever anyone in particular that you seek out to ask permission of?

 

[Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO]

I drove thru Rochester, but I did most of my hunting in sw part of Minn. not too many places in se part of state jumped out at me.

 

[Mike Moutray - St.Louis MO]

I never worry about asking permission to public ground. I've been tossed out of less than half a dozen places out of the hundreds I've hunted. Most of the times I got booted, they were very civil and kind about it. I don't have the time to track down permission - very time consuming - and most of the time the people you ask don't really know for sure and just tell you NO to cover their butt. Once in a while you see a place that has signs posted, but if there aren't, I hunt. Our taxes support all public places and we have the right to enjoy them until they decide we can't, and inform us so in person or posting signs. That's my take on it. HH, Mike.

 

[Magicman]

Lets get an RV and do US tour, metal detecting.