Rocky Mountain Hunt

Friday

Dave Foster and I arrived around noon or so on Friday and set up camp. Then Dave headed for the golf course (the other "Swinging" hobby) while I set to work burying pennies. 150 of them! I decided not to bury any "nice" coins and opted to use tokens to match up to the prizes.

I think the next to arrive was Romeo & Marion Lalonde and then the rest started to arrive and set up camp. It was cool (cold) that first night in camp. A little bit of rain (but not much) and a little wind, but other than that we were all planning for good weather on Saturday. Here's a shot of part of the camp site nestled up to the trees near the "Warm-Up Area"

As you can see, it didn't take long for the hunters to start warming up. Before we went to bed, the first silver had already been found! Ron Lukawitski dug up a 1933 dime in the dark and there were more to come ...

The only planted coins were 50's and 60's pennies so if anyone found anything other than one of them ... it was there since the day it was dropped.

A bunch of us scattered into the woods looking for dead-fall to build a camp-fire. Then Romeo and I took a drive to find some rocks to put together a fire pit. Why is it that when we detect, we can find lots of rocks but Romeo and I had to take quite a trip to come up with enough for the pit?

When we got back, an executive decision had to be made as to where to build the fire. Once that was decided, we started it up and settled in for the night.

Here, Dave Foster and Randy Joy plot out their strategies for the 10 am Saturday start ...

After a few libations and a bite to eat, it was time to hit the sack so we would all be rested and ready for the hunt.

Saturday

Saturday morning began for me around 7:30 am. I probably could have slept a little longer, but we had a guest in the area. Some *&%#! wood-pecker was doing his best to break into the old concession stand. Apparently he felt the metal roof was the best place to make entry. It was loud and sounded like machine-gun fire.

There was a foggy mist hanging over the hunt site, but it was blue skies and the promise of a nice day ahead. My first task after a cup of Dave's coffee (the true "Breakfast of Champions") was to bury the tokens. There were 63 of them to go into the ground and I was already sore from burying 150 pennies! I wanted to get them into the ground before everyone got up and started watching me try to hide them.

Here's a photo of a rare sight this weekend. Only one other person out and about ... and that's Rich heading out to bury his "stuff" for the Fun Hunt he had planned for after the token hunt.

It was quiet ... too quiet ... except for that *&%#! wood-pecker pounding away! I tried to get a picture of it, but everytime I got close he (or she) took flight. Here's a couple of early morning shots of the hunt site.

This is taken from about mid-way down the Token Hunt site. Behind the fence and to the left of the campers is the Warm Up area.

Still early and the first hunter has hit the field. Who can blame him ... we were all pulling up pennies from the 40's and 50's and with a '33 dime already in the bag there's always the potential for more!

It wasn't long before he was joined by another couple of early risers ...

Here's Randy Joy (r) and Ron Lukawitski. I think Randy might be asking Ron for the settings he had dialed in to pull up that nice dime the night before ...

The Hunt Begins ...

There were 63 prizes for the token hunt and at 9:15 a.m. it was looking like they would be shared by only 15 or 20 hunters ... and then the cars, vans, jeeps, half-tons and campers started rolling in. Before the 10 am start there were 33 hunters ready to get their share! There was just enough time to get a group photo before we started ...

Not everyone got in the picture as some had just barely arrived and were parking and gearing up for the hunt! I actually had to take a second picture as just as everyone had dispersed to get ready to hit the field, a couple of extra hunters ran up to get in the picture.

They're at the post ... They're off!!!!

The hunting was fast and furious. How could I have even thought that they wouldn't find all the tokens within the first 90 minutes? I was taking pictures so didn't get to grab my machine and start until 10:30 and I was darn lucky to come up with one token for myself!

Everybody got into the act. Rich managed to stop swinging long enough to pose for a picture ... and then it was back at it. There were a lot of good prizes up for grabs!

Page Two


	Friday
	Dave Foster and I arrived around noon or so on Friday and set up camp. Then Dave headed for the golf course (the other "Swinging" hobby) while I set to work burying pennies. 150 of them! I decided not to bury any "nice" coins and opted to use tokens to match up to the prizes.
	I think the next to arrive was Romeo & Marion Lalonde and then the rest started to arrive and set up camp. It was cool (cold) that first night in camp. A little bit of rain (but not much) and a little wind, but other than that we were all planning for good weather on Saturday. Here's a shot of part of the camp site nestled up to the trees near the "Warm-Up Area"

	As you can see, it didn't take long for the hunters to start warming up. Before we went to bed, the first silver had already been found! Ron Lukawitski dug up a 1933 dime in the dark and there were more to come ...
	The only planted coins were 50's and 60's pennies so if anyone found anything other than one of them ... it was there since the day it was dropped.

	A bunch of us scattered into the woods looking for dead-fall to build a camp-fire. Then Romeo and I took a drive to find some rocks to put together a fire pit. Why is it that when we detect, we can find lots of rocks but Romeo and I had to take quite a trip to come up with enough for the pit?
	When we got back, an executive decision had to be made as to where to build the fire. Once that was decided, we started it up and settled in for the night.

	Here, Dave Foster and Randy Joy plot out their strategies for the 10 am Saturday start ...

	After a few libations and a bite to eat, it was time to hit the sack so we would all be rested and ready for the hunt.
	Saturday
	Saturday morning began for me around 7:30 am. I probably could have slept a little longer, but we had a guest in the area. Some *&%#! wood-pecker was doing his best to break into the old concession stand. Apparently he felt the metal roof was the best place to make entry. It was loud and sounded like machine-gun fire.
	There was a foggy mist hanging over the hunt site, but it was blue skies and the promise of a nice day ahead. My first task after a cup of Dave's coffee (the true "Breakfast of Champions") was to bury the tokens. There were 63 of them to go into the ground and I was already sore from burying 150 pennies! I wanted to get them into the ground before everyone got up and started watching me try to hide them.

	Here's a photo of a rare sight this weekend. Only one other person out and about ... and that's Rich heading out to bury his "stuff" for the Fun Hunt he had planned for after the token hunt.

	It was quiet ... too quiet ... except for that *&%#! wood-pecker pounding away! I tried to get a picture of it, but everytime I got close he (or she) took flight. Here's a couple of early morning shots of the hunt site.

	This is taken from about mid-way down the Token Hunt site. Behind the fence and to the left of the campers is the Warm Up area.


	Still early and the first hunter has hit the field. Who can blame him ... we were all pulling up pennies from the 40's and 50's and with a '33 dime already in the bag there's always the potential for more!

	It wasn't long before he was joined by another couple of early risers ...


	Here's Randy Joy (r) and Ron Lukawitski. I think Randy might be asking Ron for the settings he had dialed in to pull up that nice dime the night before ...

	The Hunt Begins ...
	There were 63 prizes for the token hunt and at 9:15 a.m. it was looking like they would be shared by only 15 or 20 hunters ... and then the cars, vans, jeeps, half-tons and campers started rolling in. Before the 10 am start there were 33 hunters ready to get their share! There was just enough time to get a group photo before we started ...

	Not everyone got in the picture as some had just barely arrived and were parking and gearing up for the hunt! I actually had to take a second picture as just as everyone had dispersed to get ready to hit the field, a couple of extra hunters ran up to get in the picture.

	They're at the post ... They're off!!!!







	The hunting was fast and furious. How could I have even thought that they wouldn't find all the tokens within the first 90 minutes? I was taking pictures so didn't get to grab my machine and start until 10:30 and I was darn lucky to come up with one token for myself!

	Everybody got into the act. Rich managed to stop swinging long enough to pose for a picture ... and then it was back at it. There were a lot of good prizes up for grabs!

	Page Two