Manticore @ The Drained Lake

[Daniel Tn]

I opted to put this on this page vs the Manticore specific forum because I plan on talking about other machines in this post.  I FINALLY was able to get back to the site of the drained lake...the one where I posted about hunting with the Nox 900 and Deus 2.

Well they've fixed the problem at the dam and the water has came up quite a bit from the last time I was there.  In fact, it's up so high it actually covered about 1/3rd of the area I hunted with the previous two machines.  I wanted to see how the Manticore handled this particular place.  As noted in the other thread, this beach is man made and is pretty much this bedrock with sand and lake Muck on top of it.  I took a picture of the exposed bed rock for you guys so you could see what I am referring to.  So what did the Manticore find there after having previously hunted it with the 900 and D2?   How about.....nadda.  That's right.  Nothing.  I will tell you that it behaves similarly to the Nox 900 in that it is very chirpy and falses a lot in the iron that is on this beach, and even with tracking ON, it seems slow at keeping up with the changing ground.  I tried a couple different modes here...using the All Terrain General and All Terrain Low Conductor modes.  I didn't dig any non ferrous trash, nor coins, nor jewelry.  I'm not kidding when I say...nadda.  I did try digging some of the very obvious iron false signals just for the heck of it and they were indeed iron.  I had the D2 with me and the 9 inch coil on it.  I fired it up and rehunted the same area and I will tell you hands down...the D2 is smoother and quieter on this site.  It's actually a joy to use there. I did dig two non ferrous targets with it and both were small BB fishing sinkers.  

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Now here is where things turn.  I had been telling my mom about hunting the drained lake and she said something that blind sighted me.  She asked "where you hunting the new beach or the old one".  Huh?  Say what?  Well come to find out...the beach I have been hunting is what she refers to as the "new beach".  It was built some time in the 1970s.  The beach she swam at as a kid...during the 50s and 60s is the old beach.  I never knew it existed.  She showed me on Google Earth where it was. I said "mom, I've been metal detecting for 30 years and you just now come up with the info of TWO beaches?!!"  Haha. and that's where I went to after hunting the "new beach" today.  It actually took a bit to locate and I wasn't sure at first.  It is loaded with fishing sinkers and such.  But then...I started getting deep high tones and started digging coins from the 60s and 70s and then old style ring pull tabs.  I was pretty sure at that point I had found it...and signals are everywhere so I'm sure it hasn't been detected much either.  I actually just barely scratched the surface there...dug a whole pouch of older clad and 3 rings.  Two silver and 1 copper. I am confident more is going to come out of here...just have to work through the trash to get it.  I am more than willing to do that.  

So I stop by my mom's on the way home from the hunt to show her the rings and let her have her pick if she wanted one.  Immediately she grabbed one with a red stone in it and ran to the kitchen sink.  I didn't think anything of it.  Then she came out of the kitchen crying.  What happened?  Well...unbeknownst to me, I had found her sister's ring that she had lost when they were kids.  She passed away last year. Mom never mentioned her losing a ring but she sure knew it as soon as she saw it.  It was their grandmother's ring and their grandmother had given it to mom's sister. She lost it swimming back in the 1960s.  It was a 925 silver ring with either a red garnet or ruby...I couldn't tell you because it's firmly in mom's possession now.  I am stoked to have found a new spot to hit.  I didn't even hunt this one with the D2...the Manticore seemed to be doing fine at it.  There's no bedrock on this end of the lake...just sand and mud.  Some of the coins were rather deep...pushing 10 to 11 inches and sounded very good.  

[matt]

Great story and how awesome to find a ring that once belonged to your grandmother! I bet you find a lot more good stuff at the "old" beach.

[strick]

Nice report...better hurry up before they fill that lake back up! 😃

strick

[Daniel Tn]

I was caught off guard with how much the water had came up.  Jan 4th it was completely empty as seen in the pic below.  Compare that to the view in the post above looking in the same direction.

[F350Platinum]

Well Daniel you should win both the day and the Internet for that story. It's always nice to get a clue to a new spot to hunt, but finding that ring knocks it out of the park. 🏆

I'm sure you will find the right place for all 3 detectors. 👍

[Daniel Tn]

I asked her why she hadn't ever mentioned that ring before.  She said she'd told me about it when I first started hunting. I can't remember but...that has been a long time ago. I can barely remember to take my daily medication and have to keep a box handy to make sure I do. Haha 😄 

[midalake]

Awesome story and find!!!!!

[Rick N. MI]

Incredible find. I love the story. Great photos.

[CPT_GhostLight]

What a great story and congrats on recovering a family heirloom, well done!

[GB_Amateur]

17 hours ago, strick said:

Nice report...better hurry up before they fill that lake back up! 😃

strick

...Or the detecting competition shows up.

@Daniel Tn, that's the best jewelry find+return story I've ever read -- worthy of a Steve Hartman segment.