Greetings From Southwest Wisconsin

[Johnny Phoenix]

I thought I had joined this forum some time ago, but the the pandemic hit and I pretty much lost all sense of time, so here we are.

I've been detecting and gold panning/prospecting and general rock-hounding since the mid 1980's. I lived in Northern California in what we affectionately called the "Nevada Panhandle" while in the military. Explored much of the desert and forests of the region and otherwise had a blast in all the open and wild spaces. Moved back to the Midwest in the 90's where activities have been mostly metal detecting, but I do have an interest in drift diamonds. Got a Fisher CZ-20 in the late 90's so I eventually took up SCUBA diving.

I currently live near Mineral Point, Wisconsin where lead was discovered in 1828. There are lots of old tailing piles around and I occasionally dig around in them. Detecting wise, I focus on old home sites and farms. A few times a year I go into towns and hit the parks or fair grounds, but mostly try to find undetected locations (yes, they do exist!). I bought a really nice beach scoop in February of 2020 with ambitious plans, but you can guess how that worked out...

I currently use an Equinox 800 as my primary detector, but have/have used detectors from Fisher, White's, and Tesoro.

Finally, my forum name in case anyone was wondering: I currently work in environmental restoration on grasslands and savanna and use prescribed fire as one of my restoration tools. I figure if I ever started a band, the name would be "Johnny Phoenix and the Fires Starters". This longstanding joke has led to my on-line alter-ego as Johnny Phoenix, who's way cooler than I'll ever be.

JP

[GB_Amateur]

Welcome, Johnny!  Appears you're a seasoned veteran of metal detecting, and that fits right in the spectrum of raw begeinner through world expert.  I look forward to your participation.  What do you find in the lead mine tailing piles?

[Valens Legacy]

Glad to have you here, and I also have panned for gold and silver near Calamine. Have you tried that area yet?

I have an 800 also that I use and enjoy sluicing and panning when I get the chance.

Please post some of your finds with pictures when you get a chance.

Good luck and good hunting.

[rvpopeye]

Welcome aboard Johnny Phoenix.  

Pull your chair up closer to the campfire.

I also use an 800 and it will find things below snow and ice ! ,,, (but I have to mark the spot to see what it is in a couple of months)........assume you have "found" the same lately.🙃 Any beaches nearby ?

     

 

 

 

[Johnny Phoenix]

Occasionally a galena specimen and old mining junk. Most are now pastures and the piles have trees growing out of them. I hate to refer to the geology around here as "boring" but it is. It dates from the Ordovician (460 Ma) so its basically limestone and sandstone with few interesting fossils. The topography on the other hand, is kinda cool. It's called the Driftless Area because it remained unglaciated during the last several Ice Ages. Lots of hills and valleys, steep bluffs, a number of trout streams, etc.

The only lakes (with beaches) in the area are in state parks and those are off limits to detectorists. In fact most state property is off limits. Some yahoo's were selling Copper Culture artifacts on eBay a number of years ago. They claimed the were from the area near Copper Culture State Park. The park managers we alerted to this and upon inspection, numerous dig hole were found in off-trail sections. This eventual led to restrictions on all DNR managed property, although there was an exemption for prospecting with a metal detector for gold. A copy of that memo was on the WDNR website but I've not been able to find in recently.

Dane County, the most liberal and restrictive county as some would say, has a permit system. It's free, and is valid for three years. You can detect their parks and properties, just don't trash the place, and only use a hand trowel. I don't hunt there very often unless I'm meeting a friend that lives in that area. They have a few beaches, but the get hit rather hard by the locals.

JP

[JCR]

Welcome from East Texas. Do you get much of a response from Galena on your metal detector?

[Joe D.]

Welcome JP!

   Love the nickname, sounds like an alter ego for the Marvels Fantastic Four Character, Human Torch!😁👍

   And on that note, Thank You, for your Service!!🇺🇲 All service people are hero's!!

   Cool to have such an extensive prospecting, and detecting history! Looking forward to some stories and finds! 🍀👍👍