Winter Treasure Hunting in Upstate New York, page 5

Metal Detecting on Frozen Dirt of Plowed Corn Field

Living in the sticks and being a simple down-to-earth guy, Rodney did not have patience for philosophical evaluation of the reality, so he right away grabbed his "whatever" metal detector and began decisively scanning the ground.

Rodney Starts Metal Detecting Immediately

Before turning my detector on, I visually examined the ground surface for any signs of former human activity. And there were plenty of them: china shards mixed with brick fragments.

Old China Shards and Brick Fragments on Ground Surface
A China Shard and A Brick Fragment in Dirt

None of us had headphones, oh well, we broke all the rules of professional metal detecting anyway. So I was hearing a lot of iron crackling coming from Rodney's detector. On one hand, this was a good indication of the spot being loaded with targets, but, on the other hand, it was totally annoying. I was just about to turn my Prizm II on when I heard Rodney's detector emitting a good, loud signal.

Rodney Got Good Audio Response to Target
Rodney Stumbled Upon A Good Signal

When Rodney began digging a hole, I right away realized that we were in deeeeeeep trouble - the dirt was FROZEN!

Rodney Struggles While Trying To Dig a Hole in Frozen Ground
Rodney is Prying Into Frozen Soil with His Shovel

It normally takes a metaldetectorist 5-10 seconds to cut a dirt plug out in the plowed field, but, in Rodney's case, it seemed to be taking forever. Now I was losing my patience waiting to see Rodney's find.

Difficult Target Recovery on Frozen Ground
10 Minutes Passed, Rodney Was Still Struggling with Icy Soil