Posted on 03/02/2013 2:15:25 PM PST by LibWhacker
My friend Jack pulled the car into a grassy clearing. We donned rubber boots, fetched a metal detector and digging tools from the trunk, and headed off along a game trail. Our mission: To dig up and test fire a pistol Jack had buried years ago.
The trail disappeared into a wetland, which Jack crossed with confidence. The muddy water was only about six inches deep where he walked, but I couldn't see the bottom so I waded gingerly after him. It was at this point I discovered that my borrowed waterproof boots — weren't. I squished along after Jack. By the time I emerged onto dry land, he was standing well ahead of me, next to the stump of an old cedar that had been logged a hundred years ago.
"It's buried right here," Jack told me confidently. "Between this stump and that sapling."
I was dubious. The "sapling" wasn't exactly a sapling anymore. It had grown into a mid-sized alder tree. Besides, Jack had history with not being able to relocate a buried firearm. Back in 2004, I had mocked him in one of my Backwoods Home Hardyville columns for that very thing, an SKS he couldn't relocate.
Nevertheless, he set to breaking up roots. I followed with a shovel.
"I didn't bury it very deep," he said. "We shouldn't have too much trouble."
(Excerpt) Read more at backwoodshome.com ...
/johnny
Beat me to it...
I concur...100%
A friend of mine kept his stash about nine feet from an active Geocache. He had the unfortunate luck to run into a ranger while checking on and resupplying his stash. The ranger helpfully told him that he was close, but not at the geocache, and gave detailed instructions on how to find the cache. He thanked the ranger, had a picture taken with the log, and left the area without incident.
He later moved his stash to another location, just for safety's sake. I've actually used a similar method in storing items that I only used for certain events with little difficulty or problem.
Who knows? They horse might learn to sing.
/johnny
Theres some work to this but the idea sounds like a viable alternative to gun confication. If I did that I’d have to pass the location on, FOR A PRICE!
But then you run into the problem of geocachers stumbling upon it. Agreed (and this was my first thought, too) that caching would lead to experience in hiding it though the jackboots would probably be just as experienced. Learning orienteering would come in handy.
LOL! As my daughter and son-in-law say: "This is dad. He was Air Force because he doesn't do land navigation except on his ground"
I'm better off with a butterbar with a map and a compass trying to do land nav for me, unless it's my ground, where I know every rock and tree. ;)
Everyone has their strengths. Everyone has their weakness. It's good to know early what you can't do well.
/johnny
Yep.
A couple of years ago, a farmer found an SKS buried in PVC tubing. It was washed out of the ground by a storm and came to rest in a field. The finder turned it in to the sheriff, and the local paper ran the story, but for some strange reason nobody claimed it. I have doubts about the whole “bury your guns” thing. Wouldn’t you be better off keeping them close to hand in such a scenario?
He maintains a number of geocaches, and has a very heavy and varied GPS log of his ‘finds’ which conceal his stashes extremely well. If you only go out into remote places JUST to maintain your stash, you’re likely making a big bold arrow for LEOs to follow. But if you’re constantly in out of the way areas, handling ammo cans and the like for geocaching, the actual data is buried under a mountain of inconsequential acts. It is very similar to the method of using an underground cable to conceal your stash - LEOs do not follow a lead when it appears to be something else.
For Pete’s sake, I am becoming(?) paranoid. I read the whole article and I took notes. Zombie apocalypse, here I come.
I’m thinking that if the LEO’s are on a gun grab it’s the best thing. Wait till the wave washes over you then get the guns when the the wave recedes. Bury rifles in the vertical position and strew small finishing nails over a wide area to confuse metal detectors.
Don’t read this article on your home computer.
For at home, know where your plumbing runs, the cast iron vent stacks that go through the roof will give off a strong signal to detectors. Mine also has a heating vent running right alongside. Enough metal to hide anything, as long as the agents aren’t into ripping your plumbing apart. 1/4” drywall is an easy , quick punch through to get at what you might need in a hurry. If they do cut through to take a look, it will probably be done at an easy reach from the floor,,,, say 5 feet up. Put your stash up high at or above ceiling level. And have a lot of nasty fiberglass insulation in the cavity.
Not quite. The rules say a geocacher should not have to dig with a shovel to find the cache.
For instance I have been to a geocache that was hidden under a pile of large stones. It was buried but I didn't need to use a shovel to find it.
The idea behind the rule is so that geocacher seekers aren't digging holes looking for things. That could get messy and damage property.
Another example, it is kosher for me the geocache hider to dig a hole and bury a piece of PVC that sticks out of the ground and made to look like some bit of pipe that looks like it is a service opening for buried infrastructure. But the seeker of the cache should not be required to unearth the pipe to get at the cache. Usually there is a hidden lid or door on such things. (The hider must have permission to disturb the ground for the cache to be kosher)
I few things I would add to this.
Your metal parts may be in fine condition, but if the stock is ruined, you have a problem.
Always consider “biologicals”, like ants, termites, and larger animals.
If someone is using a metal detector, it is likely you are already a suspect, so all security measures should be in effect.
Deception pays. If they dig up 6’ of dirt over a hundred square foot area and find just enough non-incriminating evidence to do that, they will have likely lost their taste for digging.
Planned disappointment is the best. Imagine digging down 6’, because the metal detectors say “big metal” is down there. Then finding a large, non-functional safe bought cheap, with its door welded shut. Then, after they painstakingly open it, they discover only compost, 2” of nasty black water, and a few pounds of very fetid pork grease. Very demotivational.
Are you one of the chosen ones?
People who frequent FR are probably already on the list.
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