<p><strong>Hi, my name is Steve Ciriaco.</strong> I'm a member of SIHH & SHPRG. My Club Events Coordinators: Carter Pennnington, Keith Debs and Mike Burns set up our first VA Hunt in Cold Harbor, VA. When we started, our guide was Randy. It was a two-day hunt and everyone was excited to see what they could find. After hunting all day, I turned up two Confederate bullets and one three ringer encased in a tree bark. One of the other members, Woody McKay called me over to a spot where he was finding three rigners in a Rifle Trench, so I joined him. Heading down to the end of the trench, I got a faint signal from my E-TRAC, which is the only metal detector that I use on a regular basis, that I bought from Ron Degattor of Gold Digger Metal Detectors. So, I started digging. About six to eight inches down, I found a Three Ringer. I always check my hole for additional finds. As I stuck my pinpointer in the hole, it went off again! I scooped up a handful of clay and there it was another one! I had a big grin on my face.</p>[split] <p>After hunting all day and finding three bullets- two more was a great find. So, I checked my hole again and my pinpointer sounded off again! Another scoop of clay and there was another. So, I stuck my pinpointer in again and it kept screaming! In total, I pulled about 23-24 bullets, the bullet mold maker and a handful of lead. This soldier must have been sitting in his trench making bullets. Why he left them there, we can only imagine. Was he shot and killed?? Was he overrun by the Confederates or was he so drunk that he just left them there. We will never know. It took me about an hour to recover all my targets and the hole was almost two feet deep. The clay turned into watery mud and I killed two pinpointers trying to recover everything in the hole. There were still more targets in the hole, but it was starting to get dark, and I decided to wait until the following day to return to my hole to clean it out. As I emerged from the woods, I was glowing, this being my first time in Virginia. On my first day, I thought to myself, “not a bad haul, for a day's work!”</p> <p>As the four of us headed back into the woods, I hoped to myself that I could still find the hole. Well, I did. At that point, I told the guys that if we found any guns or Belt plates, they were mine, but that we could split up everything else four ways. The lights went on and the sleeves got rolled up. Woody and Joe Gizzi stuck their poinpointers in the muck and they sounded off. I brought my Beach Scoop to pull out the muck and mud...four scopes and four more bullets. Joe's arms were completely covered in mud. There were no more signals and we were covered in mud from rolling around in the trench. Since Joe got the dirtiest, I told him to keep two bullets, Randy got one and Woody got one. In total, we recovered 27 bullets, the bullet mold maker and some lead.</p> <p>The next day, the finds were few. One member, Harry Baron, found a worn out belt plate. My wife, Carol, found a general staff Eagle button in good shape. Carter, found a badge made from a hammered out bullet. In all, we had a great time and can't wait to go back. Hanks to Randy, our guide and President John Marchese. THE TRIP WAS A SUCCESS! I think that day, I proved to any of the members, who may have been sceptical, that E-TRAC is a superior machine! I'm confident that I sold more than a few E-TTRACs that day.</p>