Rocky Mountain Hunt

Saturday continued ...

It was time to match up the token numbers to the prizes and divvy up the loot. I think everyone was pleased with what they won. There was everything from Large Cents to fishscales and lots of silver coinage in between. Congratulations to all! Click here to see the prizes.

Tokens weren't the only thing dug up in that first 90 minutes. John Bortscher had a little extra luck ...

What's that in his hand???

Way to go John!

Time for lunch. Rich's Fun Hunt was up next, but I think everyone needed just enough time to get a little more coffee in and get ready for Part II.

That is coffee ... isn't it?

You know how whenever we hunt, we also wind up with all sorts of odds and ends? Well, Rich planted a bunch of his odd finds and each one related to a prize courtesy of Rich's Locator Services. Books, pouches, T-shirts, rings ... a veritable smorgasbord of prizes! It was really tough digging targets that you'd normally ignore. Thanks Rich!

Add to that, John Bortscher donated one of his coin rings as a prize. A 1913 Canadian Large Cent with the patterns on the inside and outside of the band. An absolutely gorgeous ring! So, I had to bury one more token for that prize in amongst Rich's targets. I watched it like a hawk and although 3 or 4 hunters got really close ... some more than once ... no-one found it so John picked a number between 1 and 33 and Travis Padgham won the ring. I was hoping John would find it himself as the deal was that if he found it he had to move it. Then I'd would have gotten a shot at winning it. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try making one myself!

Rich agreed to bring out some MD gear to display. Lots of stuff to look over! I think I convinced him it was a good idea when I told him that "If he didn't, he'd likely have 20 or 30 detectorists parked outside his house early Sunday morning!". There's also a couple of custom sand scoops by the AMDF's resident beach specialist "Waterman" Mike McCabe.

Here's Randy Poirier drooling over some of the new gear. One of each Randy?

It wasn't all coins to hunt for. Just behind the trees at the camp-site there was a bottle dump. Lots of trash, but a couple of interesting finds as well ... (Thanks to Mike McCabe for the pictures).

The end of a long day. When it was over, there were 8 or 9 unplanted silver coins found. There was Ron's 1933 dime, Romeo and Randy each got an early 1940's quarter, Travis Padgham came up with a 1916 dime, Lyle Tremblay unearthed a 1928 penny and a 1964 dime, John Bortscher got the 1911 fishscale and there were a few others that I didn't manage to record as well. They were all a pleasant surprise as nothing above a penny was planted.

Once the sun went down, many of us gathered around the fire to tell stories and share tips etc. A few cocktails and lots of laughs. A really nice way to end the hunt.

Sunday Morning

With sunrise on Sunday, it was time to break camp and head our separate ways ...

Dave Foster has his gear all stowed and that's Marion Lalonde giving Romeo driving directions.

I guess some of us didn't get enough swinging in and many were off to Sylvan Lake for a water hunt. A few heading towards Edmonton had a spot of two in mind to check out and Randy Joy and I headed to nearby Benalto for a couple of hours.

Then we stopped in Sylvan for another cup of coffee and headed for the #2 South. I really tried to make that turn ~ honestly! I couldn't help myself. I wound up at a park in Red Deer for just a few more swings before heading for home. Not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a week for metal detecting!

Thank you's all around!

I would like to thank John Bortscher (Coin Ring) and Scott Fraser (a beautiful pendant made from a 1967 Canadian Half) and The West Coast Treasure Hunter's Club (1 oz. Silver Round) for donating those prizes to the hunt kitty.

I also need to thank Rich Hirschmiller for all of his advice and help. He was always ready with an idea or two and was an invaluable source of information about how to organize a hunt.

Everyone at the Calgary Metal Detecting Club and many regular posters to the AMDF all chipped in with advice and support to help me pull this hunt off.

... and most of all ...

Thank you to all who attended. It was great to see everyone and put some faces to the names we see so often on the forums. I had a great time and hope you all did too.

HH

Dale


	Saturday continued ...
	It was time to match up the token numbers to the prizes and divvy up the loot. I think everyone was pleased with what they won. There was everything from Large Cents to fishscales and lots of silver coinage in between. Congratulations to all! Click here to see the prizes.
	Tokens weren't the only thing dug up in that first 90 minutes. John Bortscher had a little extra luck ...

	What's that in his hand???

	Way to go John!

	Time for lunch. Rich's Fun Hunt was up next, but I think everyone needed just enough time to get a little more coffee in and get ready for Part II.

	That is coffee ... isn't it?

	You know how whenever we hunt, we also wind up with all sorts of odds and ends? Well, Rich planted a bunch of his odd finds and each one related to a prize courtesy of Rich's Locator Services. Books, pouches, T-shirts, rings ... a veritable smorgasbord of prizes! It was really tough digging targets that you'd normally ignore. Thanks Rich!
	Add to that, John Bortscher donated one of his coin rings as a prize. A 1913 Canadian Large Cent with the patterns on the inside and outside of the band. An absolutely gorgeous ring! So, I had to bury one more token for that prize in amongst Rich's targets. I watched it like a hawk and although 3 or 4 hunters got really close ... some more than once ... no-one found it so John picked a number between 1 and 33 and Travis Padgham won the ring. I was hoping John would find it himself as the deal was that if he found it he had to move it. Then I'd would have gotten a shot at winning it. Oh well, I guess I'll have to try making one myself!


	Rich agreed to bring out some MD gear to display. Lots of stuff to look over! I think I convinced him it was a good idea when I told him that "If he didn't, he'd likely have 20 or 30 detectorists parked outside his house early Sunday morning!". There's also a couple of custom sand scoops by the AMDF's resident beach specialist "Waterman" Mike McCabe.

	Here's Randy Poirier drooling over some of the new gear. One of each Randy?

	It wasn't all coins to hunt for. Just behind the trees at the camp-site there was a bottle dump. Lots of trash, but a couple of interesting finds as well ... (Thanks to Mike McCabe for the pictures).



	The end of a long day. When it was over, there were 8 or 9 unplanted silver coins found. There was Ron's 1933 dime, Romeo and Randy each got an early 1940's quarter, Travis Padgham came up with a 1916 dime, Lyle Tremblay unearthed a 1928 penny and a 1964 dime, John Bortscher got the 1911 fishscale and there were a few others that I didn't manage to record as well. They were all a pleasant surprise as nothing above a penny was planted.

	Once the sun went down, many of us gathered around the fire to tell stories and share tips etc. A few cocktails and lots of laughs. A really nice way to end the hunt.

	Sunday Morning
	With sunrise on Sunday, it was time to break camp and head our separate ways ...

	Dave Foster has his gear all stowed and that's Marion Lalonde giving Romeo driving directions.

	I guess some of us didn't get enough swinging in and many were off to Sylvan Lake for a water hunt. A few heading towards Edmonton had a spot of two in mind to check out and Randy Joy and I headed to nearby Benalto for a couple of hours.
	Then we stopped in Sylvan for another cup of coffee and headed for the #2 South. I really tried to make that turn ~ honestly! I couldn't help myself. I wound up at a park in Red Deer for just a few more swings before heading for home. Not enough hours in a day and not enough days in a week for metal detecting!

	Thank you's all around!
	I would like to thank John Bortscher (Coin Ring) and Scott Fraser (a beautiful pendant made from a 1967 Canadian Half) and The West Coast Treasure Hunter's Club (1 oz. Silver Round) for donating those prizes to the hunt kitty.
	I also need to thank Rich Hirschmiller for all of his advice and help. He was always ready with an idea or two and was an invaluable source of information about how to organize a hunt.
	Everyone at the Calgary Metal Detecting Club and many regular posters to the AMDF all chipped in with advice and support to help me pull this hunt off.

	... and most of all ...
	Thank you to all who attended. It was great to see everyone and put some faces to the names we see so often on the forums. I had a great time and hope you all did too.

	HH
	Dale