(ALL HUNTS WERE ON PRIVATE PROPERTY WITH PERMISSION)
Date: 10-15-10 - 10-17-10
Location Type: River, West Texas scrub, Campgrounds, Ranch
Detecting Time: 10 hours
Detectors: White's Spectra V3i/D210/Eclipse6x10, Minelab Excalibur II/10

Some of the folks at TreasureNet put on a hunt centering around the Uvalde - Concan area of West Texas. Being eager to hit the road, 6AM was departure time. I picked up Blind.In.Texas and we were on our way. Five plus hours later we arrived at Neal's Lodges on the Frio River in Concan.

View video of arrival...
Coming into Concan

From there, I slept for an hour and then we got our gear together and took the short walk to the Frio and hit the Best Swimmin' Hole in Texas. When we got there a couple of TNetters were in the water and we introduced ourselves. It's great to meet the folks you've been chatting with forever on TNet. Coins were aplenty as well as pulltabs. The old rusty bottle caps could deceive you at times. And, there was the seemingly inevitable variety of slag. Complaints and the Frio don't mix, however, especially in such good company and gorgeous weather.

Day 1 Afternoon - Frio River at Neal's

After the hunt we met up with more TNetters and ate at Neal's dining room overlooking the Frio. Following this we had a group meeting where we got to meet everyone and learn about the hunt locations, meeting times, etc. Lack of sleep the night before (like...none) made me call it a day and hit the bed pretty early.

Day 1 Afternoon - Meeting fellow TNetters at Neal's and Frio River from Neal's dining room porch

This trip was a comedy of errors. Saturday morning found B.I.T. and I a bit late for the morning hookup and we attempted to find the location on our own. We were lucky enough to get in touch with the property owner through Neal's and didn't waste much time, thankfully. The property was everything you could ask for; it was easy to picture the encampments along the Dry Frio on this grassy bench along the river, and an old west feel was in the air near and away from the river. Fairly easy digging and lots of fellow detectorists made for a great hunt.

Day 2 Morning - Dry Frio River

Feeling a bit hungry we headed out and grabbed some lunch. Then it was back to the Frio at Neal's. This is where my second error occurred. I was told about a group meeting, but it must not have registered since we were unaware of it. So, we were swingin' in the Frio while everyone was at a meeting and getting a group pic taken...lol. We also hunted another hotspot a few miles up river that sees heavy traffic in the summer. It had finds similar to the Frio at Neal's. That evening there was a birthday party and there was much rejoicing.

Day 2 Afternoon - Frio River at Neal's

Day 2 Evening - Birthday at Neal's

Sunday morning, the day of our departure, found us up very early for an 8 o'clock convoy to the site. We were determined not to mess this up! After a pre-sunrise breakfast at Neal's we met up and hit the road. The ranch we hunted was outside of Uvalde and was huge. You couldn't hunt it all in 100 years. It has some decent history too. Although different areas were explored, most concentrated on a spot where a tornado had ripped apart some houses.

Day 3 Morning - Sunrise from Neal's dining room porch

Day 3 Morning - Ranch

Sunday afternoon found us fairly well hunted out. Back at Neal's, we packed up and hit the road. There were very few police and everyone was really flying down the road...like 80 mph or faster with a speed limit of 70. We made good time. It was an awesome trip and I'm looking forward to the next. The people, locations, history and, of course, lots of detecting make trips like this well worth repeating.

Finds for the Uvalde hunt

Happy Hunting!
The Beep Goes On