Shooting and Prospecting

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Prospecting....
Patty, myself, my son William, my daughter Margaret and her husband Austin, Went down to our range today (Saturday), did a little shooting and some gold panning. I haven't panned for gold in a good while because William and I own a high banker and a four inch dredge, and you get lazy with the modern conveniences. We found about 30 flakes of flour gold in two pans.

This is a spot on our range I had sampled before and knew it had some color. When it gets hot, we're  gonna take the high banker down there and get serious. Indiana is known, believe it or not, for its gold and its purity.

Morgan county, the county I live in is supposed to have the most gold in the state. When they put the underground electrical wires to my barn, I panned some of the hard clay from about a three foot level and found a few flakes.

I've got several nuggets we panned out in Bear Wallow Creek (the creek across from our range) that are about the size of the end of my little finger. All the gold in this area (Indiana) is placer gold. Indiana does not have any native gold deposits, that have been found to date.

We're hoping to do a NCOWS regional next year (IF we get our stages built) and one of the items on the agenda is to teach those that want to learn, how to pan for gold using the old style copper pans, no plastic.

Shooting...
Specifically went to the range today to get Patty used to her new Open Top. We started with smokeless and worked our way into black powder. Now, I don't use black powder substitutes, and I have this philosophy that anyone that does, should be shooting in a modern category....sorry if that offends anyone but that's just me.....

Patty handled the black powder like a pro... and those open tops sure are accurate. Once she got used to shooting a revolver (first time for her) she was shooting groups on paper at 25 yards, you could cover with your fist.

My daughter Margaret has been shooting since she was five and I'll put her up against any man shooting skeet or sporting clays. She can handle the full loads of black powder in a .45LC as good as any one I've seen shoot.

Anyway....once the girls get used to the big revolvers and get some more practice in, they are going to start shooting this fall...no sissy smokeless...as my daughter said today...gosh, she takes after her Dad, and that's a good thing!!

Bill

[Ottawa Creek Bill]

Oh....I forgot to say that the smokeless loads were given to me and we were shooting them up so we could use the cases to load black powder.........They wee free.....

Bill

[Wild Billy Potts]

Dangit Bill, now yer gonna have me pannin fer gold in the creek below my house. I need a gold brick to buy myself some primers.