The greatest part of metal detecting is you just never know what is on the end of that beep. I had been doing online research to try and come up with some unexplored places to go metal detecting and increase my chances of scoring something unique. After about six hours of research, I had a few leads but nothing that seemed concrete enough without doing more research. My brain was beginning to turn to mush, and the itch to get out and do some metal detecting was getting strong. You know how it is, as your doing the research, your brain starts imagining incredible finds that you might come across. Anyway, with my brain starting to become jello, I decided I'd put the mouse down for a little bit and go do some detecting. Yeah, it might be a area that had already been hunted over by other Detectorists, but if it's frequented by people on a regular basis, who knows whats been dropped since the last Detectorist has been there. So I loaded up the truck with my shovel and my X-TERRA and off to the shore I went. I decided I'd go to a little park area that is just off the highway. It has a few picnic tables, a grassy area, a small Sandy Beach and some trials that for dog walking etc. That go off into the woods and run parallel to the ocean. It was about 9am when I arrived so there weren't many people at the park. I hunted the grassy area and the little Sandy Beach. I didn't have very much success, just some clad and a couple pieces of trash. The itch to metal detect still hadn't diminished so I figured I'd walk down one of the trails and see what might turn up. I had gone down the trail about ten feet when I came to a rather large tree that had been uprooted by wind.(most likely a recent hurricane). It had been completely knocked over and it's root structure stood taller than me. Probably reaching 8 feet high. As I looked at the area where the fallen tree met the ground I noticed a buildup of sand all around it. And I thought to myself, hey this root base was acting like a catchers mit, grabbing everything that the overflow of wind and water pushed it's way. So I search the area up close to the trunk and found a couple current coins, a dollar bill that had wedged itself into the roots, and I thought to myself, ok that's a nice find, but it wasn't until I walked around to the back of the fallen down tree that I found something I never dreamed of. As I worked my way around the tree, I got a loud strong tone. So I bent over, reach into the soft sand piled up against the base of the tree and as I was raising my hand up I felt a large item filling my hand as the sand poured out between my fingers. As the sand dissipated off my hand I could very distinctly feel the item even though it was wrapped securely in a black plastic bag. The item had a little weight to it, and before I even unwrapped the black plastic bag surrounding it, I knew I was holding a pistol in my hand. I always wear gloves when I'm metal detecting and I'm glad I had them on now. As I unwrapped the plastic bag I revealed a 9mm pistol. It had a few grains of sand stuck to it that had gotten inside the bag, but overall this gun was in fairly new condition, not a spec of rust or water on the guns surface. Two bullets were still in the clip. My first thoughts were what happens if I'm here by this tree when the person that hid this firearm here comes back., I didn't panic, but for safety concerns I figured it'd be a good idea to depart the area. So I took the find and the bag it was in, and departed for home. The first call I made when I got home was to the local sheriffs department. Within a half hour, a deputy was at my door taking a statement and securing the firearm into evidence. He left a business card with his name and phone number as well as the case number and said most likely I'd be receiving a call at some point so I could show deputies exactly where and how I found the item. I haven't received the phone call yet, but it's only been a couple weeks. But I have a feeling I'll be getting that call sometime down the road. After all, I can't think of any good outcomes as to why someone would wrap a pistol up in a plastic bag and then bury it in the sand next to a fallen tree. Needless to say my itch had been scratched. At least for the rest of that day! Who knows, maybe it will be the piece of the puzzle that solves some crime that until that point had hit a dead end.
Brian - Florida, USA
