It rained here all day two days ago and then the temp dropped to 15 degrees for two straight days and nights. 32 degrees yesterday, went out to hunt. Ground was frozen to 4 inches deep, the freeze completely air entrenched the soil so I was lucky if my SE could get 4 or 5 inches in depth, I broke my favorite digging knife "Treasure Wise by Outdoor Outfitters"
and I managed to find 18 cents of close to the surface pocket change that acid rain ate up nasty like. However, in my freezing my butt off, total waste of time, frustrated, disappointing adventure, I found that under the piles of leaves, they work like insulation and the ground is not frozen. And I have to add that if it wasn't for my Predator Tool's digging shovel slash bad neighborhood, no this here is my 1500 dollar metal detector' defensive weapon I would not have been able to get through the frost and would have not have found anything at all. Oh and when I popped out a frozen plug of soil and put it back, it was obvious and ugly, not a good thing, but if after putting the plug back I beat on it over and over with my shovel (flat side) it pounded down nice and you couldn't even tell I dug a hole. Cold weather SUCKS!
I'm moving South.

