NGRHA Relic Hunt

North Georgia Relic Hunter's Association Club Hunt

  The NGRHA Club hunt was held on some wooded property near the Picket's Mill Battlefield. Club participants met early at a nearby Walmart and car pooled to the site. The first two hours were spent hunting for relics in the woods.  After a short break, the seeded hunt was conducted in a large field. Tokens with numbers were found by lucky hunters. A hamburger and hot dog cookout was well appreciated after the seeded hunt was completed.  Prizes were given out with everyone winning some kind of prize. Many people stayed around to relic hunt the property for the rest of the day. 

Participants in the hunt get ready and hear the ground rules before starting to dig. Club President Steve Strictland gives a signal while Treasurer and Hunt Master Jim Hammonds scopes out his planned route to hunt.

Ed Travis digs a deep minie ball. On the right is the bullet in the hole with the skirt barely visible. Note how carefully he digs his relics.

Ray McMahan with his daughter Elizabeth hunted together.  She found her first Civil War minie ball at the hunt.  Bill Mull and Bill Swafford discuss a dug New York cuff button.

Steve Strickland inspects a Confederate Cast I dug by Eddie Maddox near a creek. The cast I is shown just out of the ground. It was the second one found in the area.

Retired Cobb Police Chief Bill Mull discusses hunting with Football Coach Steve Corrigan who is sitting down during a break before the seeded hunt.  The group on the right marches to the field.

Over 186 prize tokens were seeded in the field. It was hot but the field yielded more minie balls that were not planted, an extra bonus. Ron Lowry hunts like a man possessed, digging every signal in the field.

The cooks worked hard to get the grilled hamburgers and hot dogs ready. Chow line went well with everyone getting plenty to eat after a hard relic hunt.

Mike Surcey and Dr. Larry Cooper pose together. Mike attended middle school many years ago when Dr. Cooper was Principle of Garrett Middle School. On the right, the two amigos patiently wait for prize time (Charles and David are inseparatable).

Brian Copelan keeps his two sons together in front of the prize table. Legendary relic hunter Frank Warren takes a well deserved break. Frank cleaned and deactivated writer Tom Dickey's shell collection many years ago.

Jim Hammonds, Roy Baker, and Ed Travis keep the prize give away moving. Jim made sure that everyone got a prize regardless of what kind of token was found.

'Killer' gets his turn to pick out a chip to see what kind of prize that he won. The top prize was was a Fisher metal detector.

Jim Kwiatkowski won the second prize which was a US Bormann Shell. Harvey Gambrill on the right was one of the last to draw and won the solid shot 12 lb. cannon ball.

It was another fine relic hunt by the club which also provided some fine memories to everyone who participated. The next hunt will be a coin hunt which will be just as much fun. The purpose of the North Georgia Relic Hunters Association (NGRHA) is to further the preservation of history through responsible collecting of Civil War relics, old bottles and coins.  Meetings are held the first and third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. Location is the Cobb County FOP Lodge, 2350 Austell Road, Marietta, GA 30008. Membership is open to anyone who has an interest in history.