Dear White’s,

I must share with you what I feel was a special first hunt. Two of my daughters, Leanna 14 and Sarah 12 wanted to accompany me on a Civil War relic hunt. Although they have hunted many times in woodchip playgrounds, this was the first time I thought they were big enough to swing a detector for several hours.

Using my DFX and XLT, we started detecting the site of a Union infantry encampment. The area was open pasture, except for the thickets of two natural springs that ran down either side of the hills. I turned on the XLT and set it in a relic mode so that Sarah would only hear the good signals. Within 12 minutes of swinging the coil, Sarah found a Union eagle button at a depth of about four inches. These are two-piece brass buttons, and they are very light. Sometimes they are not very deep at all, even though they've been in the ground 150 years. Most relic hunters will tell you that a person needs to dig 100 bullets before they dig their first Civil War button, so the way I figure it, Sarah is owed 100 bullets.

Leanna was using the DFX, and she was really wanting to find a "big white bullet"(a Civil War .58 caliber mini-ball). She became almost as obsessed in that quest as Ahab in pursuit of his white whale. Leanna soon had her big white bullet, and several more by the next day as well as her own eagle button! Even Dad managed a few buttons and some bullets in between congratulating the girls.

I thought they did exceptionally well for their first relic hunt. I'm also including pictures of their relics that we put in showcase boxes. Thank you, White’s, for making some of the best detectors available, I would much rather see my daughters digging up historical history than text messaging... which they don't do anyway.

Vernon