metal detecting (San Antonio, Hondo, Gonzales: to buy, income, club)

[mattzg08]

hey Im kinda new to the whole metal detecting scene and was wondering if there were any good sites in northwest san antonio where I would have a good chance to find something like historical artifacts valuable stones or rocks.

[Spock's Beard]

NW San Antonio/the hill country is rich in fossils. Because of the conditions of nature, it's almost impossible to find a complete dinosaur bone, but it's easier than hell to find a rock with little bone fragments swirling throughout. The only complete fossils I ever found were fossilized sea shells approx. 2" in size and a fossilized piece of segmented worm maybe 2" in size. Really the fact of the matter is that NW SA/the hill country is a treasure trove for fossils, but since no one I've ever heard of has found some colossal complete dinosaur, it's over-looked.


There are also tons of native American artifacts in the area NW of San Antonio. Just keep in mind that you'll find more stone hatchet and arrow heads than flint ones.

[Deep Forest]

I use to be into metal detecting big time. I do know that now if you go onto city property you need a license from the city and some places are just plain off limits. You could probably start by contacting Parks & Recreation. I'm sure that they could point you in the right direction. Most of the places our club would go are now pretty much off limits for this sport. You also get to learn more than you'd ever want to know about SA and it's history, I know I did. Parks in older sections of the city are a good place to start. I use to go to out-lying towns as well (Luling, Gonzales and Hondo) because some of them are just as old as SA and in more pristine condition hunting wise.

Good luck !!

[gwrober]

I've always wanted to do that! Looks relaxing. I took up geocaching instead, but haven't been in about a month.

[Deep Forest]

Originally Posted by gwrober

I've always wanted to do that! Looks relaxing. I took up geocaching instead, but haven't been in about a month.

I've read up on geocaching and it appears it's in the same league as "treasure hunting". The only down side to metal detecting was that you would have "idiots" take shovels and picks and leave the area looking like Devil's Den after a weekend of atvs tearing it up. Not good press for the sport. That's why some places were placed off-limits for it. ..

[gwrober]

Yeah GC gets it's share of bad apples - one of the rules is 'no trespassing' and something called CITO, or "cache in, trash out" meaning you clean up after yourself and then some.

But not everyone cares.

[maluminse]

gc? detects rocks? what kind of rocks? expensive to buy?

i want a metal detector.

[Deep Forest]

If you start "treasue hunting" it will become an obsession. You must have a very expensive metal detector otherwise you'll be finding lots of pull-tabs. You must have nothing else to do at least eight hours a day. You must have enough income to support you because you won't have time for an eight to five job (either good retirement or independently wealthy). You must learn metal detecting etiquette, where you can and cannot go and lots of local/regional history (Battle of the Medina/Battle of Rosillo Creek and on and on). There's lots to be found from the early days. Historians still haven't figured out where exactly the Battle of the Medina took place but if it's ever found there will be lots of artifacts to be had. There's a park off off Roosevelt (close in towards the city) where they found an old cannonball from some forgotten battle. The sport is addicting and the history is fascinating.

Whew, that paragraph wore me out. ...

[gwrober]

There was a Cash and Treasure show about metal detecting - they were out in the woods somewhere, looking for Civil War artifacts. They found sooo many!

Here's a link to the show's website.

[Spock's Beard]

Originally Posted by maluminse

gc? detects rocks? what kind of rocks? expensive to buy?

i want a metal detector.

Geodes. Ordinary rocks that are in fact hollow inside and have gems.

http://www.wonderquest.com/fig2-geode.jpg



These are some of the artifacts I've found:


There's a complete petrified clam shell, what appears to be a petrified worm segment, an ancient man-made hatchet head and spear tip, and a broken dinosaur tooth. All of it was found NW side of San Antonio up to the hill country around Medina lake, and I have more too. This area really is rich in fossils, but most people overlook that for some reason.