Sun's Up, Time to Get Ready

It's 7am and its time to get things rolling on the 23rd Treasures in the Sand HRRS Hunt. A lot of preparation goes into planning an event like this. There are prizes to buy, permits to obtain, and lay out for the event. This year we showed up bright and early to get the registration table and hunt field set up.

People are always eager to get started during an event like this. Saturday's great weather after so many storms coming through made people that much more ready to start. We began registrations at about 8:15 once our tents, tables, and prizes were set up.

So what do people do when they are waiting for an event to start? They talk and catch up with friends! We had people from West Virginia, Delaware, all across Virginia participate this year. Most if not all have participated in many of our past hunts.

Every time we have an event like this we want to take group photos of everyone that participates. Some have been attending for years and we like to have a visual record to go along with our registrations of those that attend.

Laying out the rules in regards to the hunt area as well as reviewing the types of tokens was not the only thing we had to do this year. We also were required by the City of Hampton Parks and Recreations Department to give a safety briefing. With all the storms recently as well as the past history of the beach itself, keeping everyone safe with potential hazards was one of our many concerns during an event with so many people from out of town.

Detectors Ready..... GO!

The Warm Up Hunt is your chance to check out the conditions and hunt styles of those around you. Typically there are not as many tokens as in the later hunts but still plenty to find.

Our hunts provide a wide range of potential targets in a variety of metals. Dig Everything and Dig quick. Nothing is usually deeper than 6" so its a quick dash trying to scan as much of the surface as you can while avoiding interference from other detectors. This in itself is part of the challenge of a competition like this, in that people have different equipment and different hunting styles.

Now is where it starts to really get interesting. Our second hunt was our silver hunt this year. With silver prices as high as they have been there were not as many targets as in the 1st and last hunts. Now is the time to look for silver coins in the hunt field and the occasional special token. Prices of Gold and Silver can really limit what you are able to do during events of this size. Careful budgeting and planning are needed to strike the right balance. After 30 minutes of hunting its time for lunch.

A lunch break affords not only the participants from relaxing and refueling their bodies, but also gives a chance to observe what's going on in the area. This year we were afforded some entertainment from several sources. Military Helicopter formations flying by, sea gulls coming in looking for a handout, Blimps flying in the distance (sorry photo did not come out), boats zooming by and even a fast moving low flying private helicopter (yup missed that one too) buzzing the beach. This year we also had a local gospel event at the nearby stage supplying music and a food vendor, Caribbean Castle Catering providing some delicious food.

Directly following lunch we hold what I think is the most important hunt of the day, our kids hunt. Being able to participate in a fun and helpful atmosphere is a great way to get your kids to enjoy the same hobbies you do. For this hunt we dramatically scale down the hunt field and offer as much assistance as we can provide to our young participants. From showing them how to use the equipment to helping them locate there first to last find is a lot of fun. For some this is their first chance to try out Mom or Dad's hobby. Everyone wins during the kids hunt. That's the goal for any hunt is to make sure everyone leaves knowing they have had a great time. Making sure the kids leave with something makes sure they will want to come back in the future and tryout the adult hunts when they get older.
See the awards page for additional photos.

Our Final Hunt of the day involves the most tokens and the most targets per person of any of the hunts.We had perfect weather the entire day and the few clouds that did drift in provided a nice relief to the blazing sun we had all day. At one point the entire hunt field was covered in the shadow of a cloud much to the relief of those out on the hot sand. Even with the heat though many stayed out to the final bell. Most years we do very well with a 100% find rate on everything we put out. This year two tokens were never found. Those prizes were given away via random drawing from those that were registered hunters.
See our awards page for more information