Joe Beechnut OBN

5 hours ago, schoolofhardNox said:

It would be nice to have something that you could never feel the cold no matter what the temperature of the water was.

That's what I had before, I could hunt for 5 hours and be toasty in low 30F waters.. temps could be in the teens and wind chill lower. I still have the "Muck Artic Pro" boots which are good down to Neg 50...., I was thinking lead weights on the ankles and a life jacket. But both would have to work in perfect harmony. Just enough lead to keep my feet down and enough floatation to keep my head above water, and not sink...

I see my hunting coming to a stop soon. Obligations are slowly growing, This will give me time to play with my equipment. Always next year.

Good Luck on the gold, Once you find the right spot I know it's going to happen for you!!

18 hours ago, mn90403 said:

Have you ever contacted the manufacturer of that suit?  They may pay you some money out of great concern for what happened to you.  You should let them know you have never told anyone you were wearing THEIR suit and see what they say!  haha

Like my Excalibur's, every thing I use has been reworked for what I need them to do.. Unfortunately, the suit looks nothing like the factory's for I've changed everything from the boots up to the neck seal, I'm sure they would get a laugh out of what has been done to it.  With what I have planned for the next Generation of my winter hunting suit, I should be able to hunt and be warm but just not as long.. Hoping I can push hunt time to 2 hours.. before I could hunt as long as I wanted. 

Here is the old drysuit setup. On the new winter drysuit,  all will be the same except the boots..

Love the 10k..looks a little chunky!

3 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

I think I'll have to get one of those suits..............

I still have two but they were for the cooler water months.. Nov/Dec then April/May. The one that had the floating boots got cut up in the rescue, that one was used for Jan/Feb..... But I do have a plan...

Hot! Hot! Hot!! Wow, Don't let it rest! 

Love the big white gold ring!

On 8/18/2021 at 2:27 PM, Gerry in Idaho said:

Now to be honest most folks are not good enough to find a gold stud but a gold ring is actually pretty easy

I think the Nox has changed that, I've not found a gold stud in 6 years now, that's just about how long they have been out. The Nox has helped everyone of my friends who use them, now as far as gold rings being pretty easy, must be the location for everyone of them have been complaining about there gold ring count for years. I am not a Nox lover but anyone asking me where to start.. I'm going to tell them the Nox.

Great story on using both machines. Be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out and will enjoy seeing. 

I love this time of year, tides start going crazy low.

11 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

I think the direction of the wind vs the beach angle has a big effect on making cuts or gaining sand. But the storms are the muscle doin' that work for or against us no doubt !  Cold water never bothered me much............when I was a kid !

 

Very true, I have aerial shots of all the beaches I hunt all the way back to 1952, most have the same patterns they did back then.. unless some changes were made or allowed by man.

1 hour ago, tvr said:

LOL ... winter can be the best time to hunt the bay and tributaries. Have broken up the surface freeze with the scoop many times to get to more of a beach. OBN has a full dry suit; I go with chest waders and layers with full length trapper's gauntlets. I have an auto / manual inflate life vest that I feel is just a little cumbersome when in the water so normally don't take it ... but after OBN's experience ... I take it more often. This fall and winter might be my last in the bay ... bought a house near the beach in South Carolina. I pray OBN has some more good bay years in him!

X-2 Buddy. I'll be thinking of you as I walk out in the 20 degree North winds and into the 40 degree waters. I got to say my setup I was using during the accident was warm as hunting the water in the summer. I'm going to need to figure something out.

Out today, my once a week hunt. We had some strong winds this past week, I was excited about getting out but after 4 hours.. Not much to show. One thing about the bay I've noticed the last 3 years, the best days are the lowtiders, and with natural / normal actions of the bay, seem to be the best for cutting out areas and opening spots for hunting. Hard winds just cover all up .

After 7 solid years of Chesapeake bay hunting you figure I could tell how all things affect this place....

Good to see the compass pointed in the direction of Gold! Love the chain! Lots of nice treasure ..

Your AQ is Hot!! Love the Eagle! 

16 hours ago, Flydog said:

Yikes!

If I understood it correctly air in the suit was giving you trouble in regards to swimming, or staying upright, head above water? I could see how that might be a problem but not insurmountable if you were 100%? At that time were you incapacitated from sucking water?

I've only had one near drowning and hopefully no more.

 

Several factors, stuck in the dead man float position because of the drysuit .....took water in the lungs, about 700 foot out in 5 foot of water, tried to paddy in ... Got tangled up in my tethered gear. Scoop, sifter, detector, 40F water coming in my neck seal thru a bleeder tube. Feet more buoyant and head less, luckily I was able to pull the sifter under my shoulders and head. When paddling in I kept going in circles, tried pushing myself with the scoop.. circles. So the best after 15 minutes, stay calm.. Yell help ever 10 seconds.

Not the first time happened, stepped in one of my holes and had a tumble in close to shore, about 3 feet of water. Was able to spin around and get control.. happens at 1 min 40 seconds. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYAnQDeMqWo

I now carry these items all the time. A Coast Guard Beacon and Manual inflate Life jacket.

Congrads on the 14k, It's tough finding gold on land. Great save! 

In my 14 years of detecting. Never found one on land.

49 minutes ago, Slimpickuns said:

Wow Joe! Killer summer haul ya got there! Amazing how many class rings you pulled out! Congrats!!

Thanks You! I'm stunned also and kind of thinking this is to good to be true. But when things do settle down, then the next round will be to take the AQ in.. 

One of the crazies digs I have had so far, most rings are about 3 scoops deep, guess 12 to 15 inches? I dug a pig of a gold ring, almost right on the surface..(1 scoop)  I am still trying to figure out are they moving, or are they being uncovered? 

2 hours ago, rvpopeye said:

WOW Joe !

You said that beach had a rep for rings so it must have been hit hard already..... And that kind of a rep usually means people were finding more than a few. Hmmm 

Maybe it was some kind of initiation or graduation tradition and everybody just tossed 'em on purpose ??????  

ANYWAY...

Guess you showed THAT beach who's da boss !

Id be crazy happy to have a pile like that in a lifetime of hunts  , so I guess you showed me too !  

 

Thank You! Funny I never tell anyone the right place where I am finding the gold. So I talking to this old hunter and telling him I hunting beach (A) and finding several class rings.. about half way thru he said, We never found many at beach (A) but we use to find a lot at Beach (X) all the time.... Oppps .. I never confessed he was right but it did confirm what I had heard before.

This beach I was told... if it was sanded in they would take the Jetboat and go up and down it a few times to find gold.. Not uncommon for them to walk out with more then 7 gold rings a hunt. The way I see it I am getting the crumbs.

2 hours ago, okara gold said:

It’s always a pleasure Joe to hear your stories and share the views of your finds. I’m amazed as usual at what is still there to be found. Happy Fall!

Thank You! Yes, every beach I have hunted in the Bay has been dredged, hammered during the 80's and early 90's but then they set for years as the land was sold to developer's, mostly homes and town houses. ... then a few, marina's. Most now are impossible to get to unless from the water.. Over the last 10 years I have collected stories and pictures on everyone of them, from the internet, old hunters and old people that still live near by. some of the stories are unreal on the amount of gold that they use to find. BUT time has passed, things were covered, moved around and hard to believe.. they all are still giving it up.. My favorite saying is... One door closes, and another opens. You just have to be there when it happens. 

Good Luck to you Okara also! 

4 hours ago, strick said:

Joe they all look so shiny...how to you clean them? Tumbler? soak in something? I mean they look almost brand new.. Nice shooting and glad to see you are back at it after the mishap you had. 

strick 

Thank you!  A small Dremel SS brush for the deeper details, then Mothers Mag wheel polish. Best stuff I have ever seen, I've used since I was into motorcycles..in the 70's.

12 hours ago, Sinclair said:

Just .. WoW

Those Class rings really set the average high - we sadly don't have that tradition over here.

Thank You! This beach is noted for its class rings, must have been the place to hang when you were young. Most of the rings are dated from the 1950's down to 1936. 

2 hours ago, Flydog said:

Hey I missed this adventure you had. Do you have a link to the juicy details?

I'll have to go thru my old post, story is rather long. Quickly, I am Very Blessed to be Alive. 

2 hours ago, cuniagau said:

Joe,

Nice haul of big chunky rings too.  Glad to see you out and about again.  That Excal is just an extension of your arm!  (I know that you know what I mean) LOL   Have you got your Dry suit seaworthy yet?  It is just around the corner.  Take care and stay safe.

Joe

 

Thank You!

Yes, On the extension of the arm. I really connect with the Excalibur as I am setting the threshold. Almost we become one?

The AQ is a little different, the connection is there but I can't seem to tame it? It is so beastly it really requires so much more coil control. I do have a new addition to it so I am hoping that will help. 

The drysuit from the great fall got cut up when they pulled me out of the water. I did save a few things off of it. Luckily I had 3 drysuits, now down to 2.. I need to put a new zipper in the one and neck seal. I do have to figure out some way to keep my feet warm once the water hits the 40's.. and below. Thinking some kind of electric sox's? Had them before but never really liked them. I saved the boots from the accident but they are totally unsafe unless I am hunting with some one. They did keep my feet toasty but if you lift one foot up you can feel them wanting to go to the surface, Very buoyant. 

2 hours ago, King-Of-Bling said:

Nice little mini run on the goldfish ! But do you run that silver through a tumbler or something ? Many look thin & wasted , but I wonder if you get any detail after cleaning. 

Thanks Mr KOB.......No tumbling, just take the cookie off and toss in the pile... Only detail I get from the silver is a check at the end of the year. And let me add, when I am finding silver quarters, It's a "X" on the map. Dig everything.

Would not be hard to track.. if you worked at FT.. 

On 8/26/2021 at 2:02 PM, Bill (S. CA) said:

Fascinating post, Joe.  You are never lacking for ingenuity.  I think the reason that companies like ML aren't developing products like this is simple: the creative development team guys don't hunt. 

Thank You, I fully agree and the same goes for Fisher.. other then Alexandra. You really have to be out there and experience, then be able to pull the machine a part and make changes. Seems like each time you go out you see something else that can be upgraded or reworked to be better.  And with this machine I've had it out about 6 times now and already see things I need to do.. In that time I have rebuild it twice.