Hayfields are cut

I haven't been posting much on the forum lately. I just haven't had anything to contribute so I keep quiet in times like that. We haven't had any rain here in the last few weeks; nothing to amount to anything. But the fields around here have mostly been cut for the fall season and the fields are prime for swinging a coil over. Just not good for digging unless you have an entrenching tool or pick.

I got a Whites Blue & Gray Pro a few weeks back. I took it for a spin today at the site that has been my testing ground for the last 16 years that will soon be a subdivision. They had just got the hay up off it so it was easy to swing a coil. The last time I was there, I got carried away by chiggers so the grass being gone was a big plus. Digging...not so much. The all metal side of the Blue & Gray is smooth but in the bad soil at this site, it proved to be a handful in keeping the machine balanced. VERY VERY much like the MX Sport is there. The MX Sport actually has better ID at depth than the Blue & Gray. Either one work equally well at this site. If I had to pick a favorite between the two, it would be the MX Sport for that type of soil. Either will get the job done. I just think in the long run of things, the MX Sport will be the one to keep an eye on due to the new coil sizes and types that will probably be coming down the road. This was a fun hunt. I turned 34 yesterday and these are my first Civil War bullets with the Blue & Gray Pro...which ain't a young pup either.





Now for the good stuff.

Keith said the Sovereign machines were good machines for picking plates out of homesites. In my initial run of the machine, it did not fare so well in my bullet site so I was kind of keeping it in the closet until our beach trip. As I said, most of the fields around here have been mowed for hay now. I took the Sovereign to a spot I had dug a few CS buttons at with the MX Sport back when the grass started getting higher. I poked around with the Sovereign in there. Dug a few modern aluminum cans that sounded just like this one signal but I dug it anyway. The dry ground and my laziness got the better of me. Twice. The last thing I expected to see come out of the ground was a plate. I figured it was another can and got careless at hacking at the ground. Bam. Right on the wreath! It was already in bad shape but didn't need my help. I will take it though!! Also...if you can see it laying there on the box, I dug half of a big brass lock. I smacked it with the digging tool too. I'm not as good as Keith when swinging those e-tools into hard ground. That place deserves another look over or two after it rains.

I also took it to another site with better dirt and scouted around. I found a few shot minie balls with it there too and some were quite deep; the Ultimate coil is a good fit for the Sovereign.

Sweet. Now that's some motivation!

Dang nice plate! Love the patina nice and green.

Looking good down that way Daniel. That's one sweet find right there. Season is on us fast and about time.

Heading down to GA in the morning to pick up a new one from Don. Hit Keith up but not heard back, be nice to pick his brain over a cup of coffee lol. Ya need to plan another trip up this way on a new permission I got. Beans will be off by mid Nov. if you can make it up.

Nice plate/buckle there Daniel

I'd take that all day for a B/day present too!

I just turned 54 the 3rd. Man You 20 years younger! WOW! I feel old now. If your a Virgo then You ah-ite.

Thats a gorgeous plate daniel, congratulations!

Hey you guys are babies, be 74 the 26th.

Dang! Frank you Da' man!

Nice plate Daniel.

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

Very nice buckle, congrats on the awesome find

Harold,ILL. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I just turned 54 the 3rd. Man You 20 years
> younger! WOW! I feel old now. If your a Virgo then
> You ah-ite.


Seems we have a LOT of Virgos here = I just turned 53 today (16th)

and yeah = Daniel just turning 34 makes ME feel old too!

Wonderful plate recovery, Daniel. Dry as a bone on this end of the state, too. HH jim tn

With all the rain we had from December - March this year, I thought we would have a wet summer this year too but that has not been the case. It has been miserable. 60 something days above 90 degrees is not normal for here at all, but we are on our way to 70 something days now and bone dry. In some places, the ground is like concrete or brick. In others, it is so dusty that just walking will kick up dust.

This might be an interesting relic season for me. I have spent a good bit of time this summer researching new areas. Now it just involves getting permission for the sites I want to scout. The problem will be, I am having to venture further from my home base to find these sites; the areas of research are almost 2 hours drive north of me, and then another area about 2 hours south of me. It is harder for a person to get permission in areas when you don't have any leverage of knowing farmers or landowners. In this area, my wife worked at the farmers Co/Op for about 8 years and knew all of them by name and or was able to ask them for me when she ran into them at work. So this will be a whole new animal for me to tackle.

For those of you that might be interested, I just put the Blue & Gray Pro up on the big auction site.

WOOOO WEEEE..





Great Dig Daniel...!!!

YEP those SOVEREIGNS ,,WILL DIG THOSE TARGETS...

Did you have the meter on???..those plates will read different ID wise than those cans..Cans will sound slightly warbly too and BIG BRASS will sound Tight Tone!!

I've found that if its an old Chimney in the woods and there's Civil war action in the area and it's full of deer hunters discarded cans for the last 30-40 years then you have a Great advantage to dig a Plate!!

Im very happy for you!!

Only machine I know of to date that will do what you did and make it EERILY EASY!!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I went by the same site today hoping to hunt it again and found the landowner tidying up on sowing winter food plots for deer hunting. This site was just an old 1800s homesite near a creek crossing. All that remains is a big 200+ year old tree that marks the spot near where it stood. He didn't want me digging in the food plot field; which is where the stuff has been coming out of. It will also be off limits til after deer season, which runs through January here. Deer season opens next weekend here in TN so I will have to contend with that for a while. A lot of the farms around here are leased to deer hunters come this time of year. I used to be right there with them but haven't hunted deer in 3 or 4 years now; just lost interest.