For me, the GNRS-2000 began around a roaring bonfire on a cool crisp October night in 1999. John (in Virginia) Craig and his family were holding their annual Columbus Day weekend camp out in the still serene countryside of Catharpin, Virginia. It was on that night and around that fire that our first conversations had taken place about the possibility of holding a GNRS event in Virginia.

At the time, I knew little about the GNRS other than the fact that once a year a group would get together at a site for a competition hunt and detector bragging rights. When I realized that the hunt was an actual hunt, or the "real deal" as John so factually put it, my interest soared. John mentioned a few possible sites that he and Butch Brown already had in mind. We talked about the potential of the relics that could be found and the idea of a BBQ. Now it was getting my attention! It was a great fantasy at the time…awesome site, great relics, meeting all of the Depot people and having a great BBQ to top off the three day event. It seemed a LONG way off at the time.

Probably the most intense moment of the entire GNRS-2000 event for me was the night of the sign-up. I was alone at my computer reading and posting…knowing that as the clocked ticked by the time for TR’s "GNRS Sign-Up NOW!" post was soon to come. From behind a computer screen you could feel the tension of hundreds of people building up! Suddenly the chatter in the forums began to slow down to a stop. Everyone was hitting refresh. The forum started to take minutes to load rather than seconds. By the time the top of the hour came, anxiety almost swelled to a panic! Thoughts of "am I going to get a spot?" quickly turned to "will I even get into the Depot at all?" as "Internal Server" errors began popping up after sometimes minute long refreshes. My heart was pounding and my hands were sweating when suddenly, there it was! "GNRS SIGN UP NOW!". No matter how prepared you were, when the announcement popped up it was almost a moment of panic in the attempt to enter in the sign-up data correctly and as fast as you could. Then after hitting refresh and seeing the list of posts pop up with my entry first for the White’s Team…that in itself was an incredible rush of victory and excitement! What a way to start off the GNRS-2000! It took a long time for me to get to sleep that night as the rush of adrenaline slowly subsided. I think that the sign-up procedure is one of the most unique attributes of the GNRS and I hope it is retained as the method for sign ups of future GNRS events.

When January and the new millennium rolled in, the logistics involved in organizing the event became much more clear. There was a lot that needed to be done but the event seemed a long way off . As a matter of fact, it was so far off that at times weeks would go by and it would be the furthest thing from my mind. But whenever we would throw a local get together, inevitably the conversation would turn to the upcoming GNRS. Looking back now, it sure did pass by quickly! Time can really seem to fly…but no more so than when the actual event arrived and the participants began trickling into Manassas!

Never having been in a GNRS event before, I had no idea what each day of the event would be like. When Thursday arrived, the atmosphere was a festive one. First, most of our team met at Logan’s where we got to know each other over dinner and a beer or two. Some of the other team members arrived and the next thing you know practically half of the dining room was occupied by GNRS participants! From there we headed to the Holiday Inn. You could really feel the excitement in the air. Everyone was in a jovial mood. It was truly an experience being able to meet the faces behind the forum names. That night reminded me of a hundred kids getting ready for bed in anticipation of Christmas coming the next morning!

I didn’t think we were ever going to get there by the time the buses were finally loaded up and rolling. It is a testament to the logistics involved in getting over a hundred hunters ready for a relic hunt. But once we were rolling everything went along smoothly. The weather in the morning was a chilly one, in the forties. But it turned out to be a beautiful, blue and sunny day with temperatures in the 70’s! Almost too hot for me. But as unpredictable as the October weather can be, we couldn’t have placed an order for anything better!

The view from where we were setting up was quite a majestic one. As far as the eye could see in any direction there was nothing but woods and farm land. This was turning out to be a typical relic hunting trip in Virginia and not the "boundary specific, competition hunt" that I was kind of expecting. The landscape seemed to offer all of the features that we would normally encounter…rolling hills, valleys, grassy fields, cut corn fields, etc.. The judges got themselves set up and before you know it, Larry was up on a chair and explaining the boundary lines and the schedule to everyone for the first day’s hunt. The word was given to start and at a hasty rate, everyone headed out in all different directions.

Like on any other hunt, the first few minutes are spent getting a feel for the ground. I could tell immediately that the ground was going to play a big factor in the machine’s ability to ID any targets as well as the personal skill of the relic hunter wielding it. I started on the left side where the grass was the highest. I saw dozens of hunters immediately head for the first hillside which had been mowed down nearly to the dirt. Easy hunting, I thought. And with so many hunters, I decided to hit the harder to hunt areas.

After several minutes of hunting this grassy hillside, I finally had made my way to the bottom and where the first cornfield on the left began. So far I had not dug any good Civil War era artifacts. I ventured into the cornfield hoping that maybe the hunting would be easier and that possibly I would stumble upon a little hot spot. The first thing that I noticed was how fast the ground was changing as I stepped forward. That, coupled with the fact that the cornstalks were still about 18 inches high, made for a very difficult hunt. By now, over an hour had passed. I headed for the very far reaches of the left side of the corn field where I eventually met up with Steve Schorer and fellow team mate Todd Kendrick. Both had little success also. I still had not found my first CW relic! The three of us headed for the wood line at the far end of the cornfield. After several minutes of fruitless hunting, we reached the wood line to be greeted by a floor of poison ivy. I didn’t let this stop me. Those woods looked too good and we had come this far. I stayed at the high points while Steve and Todd went down into the low area where they encountered a swamp and Bob Buttafuso, another team mate. It didn’t take long for us to realize that we had just eaten up three hours of hunting with nothing to show for it and found ourselves hunting in the worst of conditions. I pulled my two-way radio out to call friend and fellow team mate Kevin Ambrose. The last time I saw Kevin he was still digging in the very first field amongst all of the rest of the dozens of hunters that had immediately started digging there.

"Kevin, you there?", I called. Within a few seconds I received a good clear "Yeah. Where are you?". "I am at the end of the cornfield about as far as the eye can see and I haven’t dug squat! Have you dug anything?". Kevin replied, "Yeah, I dug a North Carolina button, a couple of eagles and a few Ringtail Sharps and Gardner bullets". "In that front field?", I asked, surprised. "Yes", Kevin said. "Hold on for a minute", I told him as I climbed up the side of the wooded hill that I was on and into the clearing of the corn field to get a better view. As I got to the top of the hill and looked the mile or so across the field, all I could see were dozens of dots, which were hunters, speckling the side of that very first field and all hunting diligently! "I’m heading back over there!" I called back to Kevin and I immediately shut off the detector, threw it over my shoulder and began making the long journey back to the starting point. With Bob by my side, we discussed how it was already now going on 1:00 pm and we hadn’t even dug the first relic! I recall both of us talking about this pond which was to our left as we were heading out but deciding that in light of the situation it was best to get back to where obviously (it seemed) all of the relics were being dug.

I got into that first field and after several minutes of hunting I finally dug a bullet. A nice dropped Ringtail Sharps. Confederate when dug here in Virginia. Surprisingly, this bullet discriminated good without digging first but for the most part, I had to swipe a few inches off of each signal before I could get a good discrimination reading on anything. The horn sounded and it was time to submit our finds. It was now 1:30pm and I had one whole bullet to show for half a day’s worth of hunting!

The team congregated back at our initial drop off point. Butch Brown, John Craig and Kevin Ambrose had done real well. Each had generally stayed within a couple hundred yards of the starting point. The rest of us shared the same stories of frustration in the "hot" ground and the scarcity of the relics. With the short period of time that we had, we talked about the advantages of the "all metal, non discriminate" mode. To learn to hunt in such a mode in severe ground conditions and in the middle of a real relic hunt was a challenge for anyone. I saw Kevin and Keith Zorger helping some of the guys with the settings on their XLT’s. Adjustments were made. This time I was going to stick close by. I decided to hunt the woods behind us.

Steve Schorer and I headed straight to where some of the huts were still visible in the woods. I picked one out that looked like it hadn’t been disturbed before and proceeded to dig it out. This is sometimes back breaking and lengthy work. After about an hour, all I saw was broken CW era glass…no relics. Due to the clock winding down, I decided to go back to surface hunting. I walked down the hill from my hut site when I received the unmistakable good signal of a bullet. A few inches down, there it was. A nice three ringer. This is more like it, I thought. Even after almost twenty years of relic hunting I still get that same rush of anticipation when I hear that sweet sound of a good signal coming through my headphones! This spurred me on to concentrate my hunt in the woods. After about thirty minutes, I hit a string of about eight three ring minnies. They were in an area which had that "house site" look to it but nothing else produced. The day was quickly drawing to a close. I worked my way into the field on the other side of the tree line where I dug two CS Gardner bullets, one after the other. It was 5:30 pm on the dot and I knew that this is where I would pick up the next day.

Leaving the site that day was one of two highlights of my experience at the GNRS. I was leaving the field and had quite a long walk. The sun was setting and a peaceful calm had set all around the farm as the day was coming to an end. As I walked, I saw what looked to be every one of the relic hunters gathered at the top of the hill and I wondered if I had hunted too late. It was quite a sight. Just then, Tim Knapp from the Garrett team appeared. Apparently, he too had hunted right up until the last possible moment. We ended up walking that long walk up "Agony Hill" together. I asked him how he had done and I was surprised at how many relics he had found. He also told me about the saber guard he dug (what a signal!). I really enjoyed the talk we both had as we climbed that hill back to the rest of the group. It really put the whole event in perspective. It wasn’t just the relics…it was moments like these that the relics you dig will remind you of.

After arriving back at the gathering point, I began to hear the stories of all of the finds. Bob Buttafuso came up to me and said, "Remember that pond we walked past and were talking about?". "Yes", I suspiciously replied. "Well" Bob said, " A CS tongue was dug on the other side of that pond". Every relic hunter’s nightmare.

Day two of the hunt started out a little smoother. It was still dusk as everyone congregated out in front of the Holiday Inn. Everyone was eager to get started early. Tony Naracci of Team Garrett appeared ready to roll. Tony rode with me and Kevin Ambrose on the first day to the site and back due to a shortage of bus seats. We got to know Tony pretty well by this time. On the way back yesterday, Tony was quite disappointed that he had only found one bullet. I told him about the talk I had with Tim and how well he had done with his Garrett 2500 and that perhaps Tim could help him. As we all stood in the early morning dawn talking and waiting, Tim showed up. Things started getting hectic again as it was getting time to get the show on the road so I quickly got Tony and Tim together and explained to Tim that Tony didn’t seem to have the same luck and I asked if he could help him. Tim gladly said that he would. I wandered off at that moment to help get the caravan organized. The buses were ready to roll. Tony loaded my vehicle up with his and Kevin’s gear and we were ready to roll. TR climbed aboard my "loaded to the gills" Jeep and we were off.

I can’t even tell you without writing another entire story about the conversations that went on inside that vehicle for the whole trip there and back those two days. Two Virginians, A Texan (and leader of this event) and a New Yorker all traveling together with one common interest and goal. I casually asked Tony if Tim had been able to give him any help and Tony said that he did. I think Tony was a little overwhelmed with all of the relic talk that was going on in that vehicle during that hour long trip. For me, it was just like one of thousands of other relic hunting journeys that I have been on, all preceded by past experiences and relic stories. The rides to the GNRS and back were also, in themselves, moments to remember.

Day two started off with a bang. The site was opened up to almost endless hunting boundaries and it was announced that there would be no formal break. This was great news. This made it a genuine Virginia relic hunt in anyone’s book. Again everyone headed out at a double quick. I decided to pick up in the field where I left off yesterday. John and Tony D’Angelo headed for the woods together. Kevin and Keith Zorger were again tearing up the first field and still digging relics that others walked over! Keith showed me a beautiful bugle mouth piece that he said came in like a hubcap! I made it to my Gardner field. I must say that I hunted that field diligently for hours. TR even came whizzing by me like a crazed relic hunter in search of the Holy Grail! One minute he was there and after I dug one hole he was no where in sight! Foolishly maybe, but I spent at least most of the first half of the second day in that field and only dug one or two bullets. It was getting hot, I was thirsty and I was beginning to lose any hopes of recovering a stray CS relic there. I headed for the solace of the woods once again.

No sooner than I entered into the woods when I got a faint but good signal. A 3 ringer. My first thoughts were, Why didn’t I just spend all morning in these woods? My less than enthusiastic hunting turned quickly into higher gear. Working my way along the hillside and up another, I got another signal. A perfect dropped Ringtail Sharps. A few seconds later, another. Shotgun shells from a few inches deep were appearing also. This had all of the makings of a surprise CS button appearing. I began hunting with vigor. I reached the top after digging a few bullets more when I stumbled upon two living creatures sitting on a log. It was RichardTX and Ringo, relaxing on the log in the shade of the trees. By this time I was getting a little tired myself and I had run out of water some time ago. I stopped, took off my headphones and talked for just a few minutes. I really would have wanted to just join those guys but with the clock winding down and nothing substantial found so far, I was motivated to keep going.

I continued my hunt along the hillside. It was quiet and peaceful in those woods when I looked and saw fellow teammate Mike Quinn heading my way. I motioned to get Mike’s attention and immediately told him what I was finding. I knew there had to be more. Mike was hunting with a 5" coil and I was using the 9.5" on my White’s. Mike was hunting almost right behind me and he was plucking deep ringtails out of the ground that I walked over. We both decided that it was now or never and we hunted right there on that hillside together hoping to hit it big. This was when the second of the two highlights of my hunt took place. I really hadn’t gotten the chance to get to know any of my teammates in this short period of time, yet we were hunting together on this hillside hoping for the best for each other just as if we had been hunting partners for years. I would call to Mike and show him what I had found and he would do the same. It was just me and Mike in there and we seemed to have this little piece of the woods on this secluded hillside all to ourselves.

Before this day was done, I also dug the better half of a "Brandy Spur" in that woods and the top half of a canteen with the pewter spout still attached. In all, that last few hours in the woods was where I had done my best hunting. That CS button that we knew was hiding in there never did give up its’ whereabouts. But now it was time to head back. When I got to the drop off point, there were some happy hunters there. Butch had found a CS tongue and, I felt, rightfully so since he was instrumental in getting this site for us all to hunt. I saw Tony D’Angelo and he was grinning ear to ear with his pouch full of bullets and he said he had a "wonderful time" and had I not found a thing, that alone was worth it! Todd had managed to get a beautiful silver gilded South Carolina coat button.

There were a lot of happy faces this time around. Then here comes John with buttons rolling out of hands, pockets and film canisters! This guy is a button magnet! But best of all, through all of the bodies wandering to and fro on that hill top, I saw my riding buddy from Long Island NY, Tony Naracci. I hadn’t seen him since we arrived at the site today. I called over to him. I said, "Tony, how did you do today?" All I saw was Tony holding up a plastic baggie that was just FULL of bullets and a big grin across his face!

Leaving the site was actually kind of a sad time. In such a short period of time, many memories and good experiences had taken place there. We came and did the best that we could in ground that was as bad as you could imagine. Luckily we had the BBQ to look forward to still. Winning the trophy was just the icing on the cake for me. It was a long ten months of anticipation and getting to know our fellow team mates only through forums and e-mail. Getting together for that team trophy picture was a real treat and a great reward for putting so much heart and effort into ensuring that, not just us…but that everyone had the time of their lives. But as always…all good things must come to an end. And so it was with the Virginia GNRS-2000.

I have said before and even more so now, that the relics we dig not only bring us closer to those who passed before us, but they are reminders of the experiences and good times that we shared in our pursuit of them.

-Steve Pittman

Father, White’s Team Captain, Relic Hunter