petoskey Tag | The Ring Finders

This adventure started with a call from Tim saying he lost his Wedding ring after throwing hay over a fence to the horses. He said he has been married 27 years and would very much like to get the ring back. Tim and his wife had been looking for the ring for 4 days with a $50.00 metal detector they just purchased to try to find the ring. I told Tim I’m not trying to be rude or hurt your feeling but you are wasting your time with that approach. He told me that was exactly what he wanted me to say and when did I want to come to look for the ring. We still had a couple hours of daylight so I told him I could be on the road in fifteen minutes. I was thinking in my head « Horse + Hay = BRING THE TALL BOOTS » then explained some of the basic metal detector operation and why you needed a better detector and someone who knows how to use it. I can do two things tell you where the ring is not at or find the ring.

Fifteen minutes later I was loaded and headed to Tim’s house. When I got to the house Tim showed me the area he was getting the hay from and the three different spots he threw the hay over the fence. He has three horses he was feeding for the night. He did not realize the ring was missing till he was in the house getting ready to go to the neighbor’s house Saturday night. To myself, I’m thinking we don’t have an exact location it was lost but no big deal the area is pretty small. So I started the search and search I did. I searched the hay storage area twice the path he walked on twice and the area on both sides of the fence twice. So after about 2 hours in I was scratching my head on what to do next. I made a decision on grid searching the complete corral area then calling it a night. I had already told Tim I would return Saturday if I did not find the ring tonight. I switched the coil on my CTX3030 to the big 17-inch coil to cover the area faster. I was on my second pass and got a great sounding target but it was 4 inches down. Was thinking to myself the ring cannot be 4 inches down the ground already it is starting to freeze. Either way that sound needed to be investigated further. I ran up to get my raptor digging tool out of my truck, so, I could dig a big piece of the soil out, not do any damage just in case it was the ring. I had the ball of soil in my hand broke it apart and the ring appeared. I almost fell over thinking that is a big chunk of gold I was not expecting. I had only asked Tim what the ring was made of and if it is a small band or a wider one. Well, I cleaned the dirt off stuck the ring on my finger over my glove held my hand up in victory. Tim came out of his truck to see what I was doing, so, I yelled I have the ring. He ran over grabbed the ring off my finger and gave me a big hug. At that time his wife Deanna just got home and he gave her the news. She asked me where I found the ring then gave me a hug thanking me. The ring was out in the corral about 30 from the fence. Tim and I talked for a minute on how the ring could have gotten that far out. I think it got stuck on one of the horse’s hooves and got carried it out that far and he agreed that something like that happened.

I had a great time with Tim and his Wife Deanna they are both great people to talk to. As I was packing up to leave Tim mentioned he was amazed his wife said there are people that will come and look for your ring. He did an internet search and one of my blog posts came up first. He called me and got his ring back the same night. I told him my stuff is always ready. I can be loaded and on the road in 15 minutes if needed. I went home cleaned the horse droppings off my coils put the battery on the charger ready for the next adventure.