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Posted by: leonard Mar 27 2013, 08:10 AM

I watched a new prospecting show last night at 7:00 pm on the Weather Channel. It was right up this forums way. They were gem hunting on Mont Antero and Lake George. Boy do they earn any gems found on Antero. Rugged hike in and working on the sheer rock faces. They were getting amazonite, florite, and smoky quartz. What was neat was no swearing, no drama, and people actually getting along and doing work together.

I'm putting it on my must watch list.
Leonard

Posted by: swizz Mar 27 2013, 08:25 AM

I watched the back-to-back episodes and feel it's a great series thus far. Definitely right up our alley here! No scripted or contrived drama either. Other than safety issues which are obvious, this show is really good if you're a rock nerd like most of us. This series is worlds better than the goofy "Gold Rush" format shows which are so popular.
I really like it... I think Dan, Denise, Woody, and others here would like it too. I would bet money that D & D know some of these folks in Lake George whom they were following. The finds were incredible!
The bad part.... Mt Antero is about to get a huge influx of armchair prospectors and claim jumpers, you can bet on that. The cat's really out of the bag now. I wasn't surprised to see Amanda having to chase the claim jumpers. They were scrambling as fast as they could to get over the crest of the mtn while fleeing. I hope that put them a long ways from their parking spot at least... jerkwads, they knew they were mineral trespassing. This will unfortunately get worse as a byproduct of the series. Most of the good honey holes on that mtn are claimed from what I understand.
Anyway, I really enjoyed it and the specimens are stunning. My favorite was the huge Fluorite crystal, find of a lifetime... but some of the Amozonite/Smokey combos were off the charts too!

Posted by: Dypheron Mar 27 2013, 11:28 AM

I think that's the nature of the beast with any reality show or popular movie though. American Chopper: now everyone makes custom choppers. Fast and the Furious: Everyone is a street racer. Dogg the Bounty Hunter: Everyone runs around calling each other "Brah." The list goes on.

I think the claim jumping will not just be limited to that specific area, it'll spread all over the place as people watch the show and decide to pick up a pan. They won't do any more research than they have to, meaning they'll know where to find some gold but not if it's claimed. They'll go out, start digging, and probably not even realize they've committed a crime. Then in a year or so they'll realize they wasted money on what they though would be a profitable hobby and dump all their equipment on ebay. I also see a bunch of slightly smarter people who realize they might have to go back in the hills a bit to find gold, but they try to take a lexus up a dirt road and get stuck. True story by the way, dude got stuck on Old Stage Rd. and was so rude that I left him there. Or they'll take their SUV sitting on 22" inch rims and wonder why they lose a tire. Another true story, idiot left it in the middle of a FS road and ruined my day.

Posted by: swizz Mar 27 2013, 01:15 PM

I firmly believe that over 90% of claim jumpers are:
1. Lazy
2. fully aware that they are possibly violating some laws
3. love to tell stories explaining how they had "no idea they were doing anything wrong"
4. and assume that it's not that serious anyway... figure they'll get at least one "mulligan" based on their story of not knowing any better

Great reasons to mark your claim very very well (I certainly do). Not necessary but highly advised and helps build a stronger case. Takes the whole "honest, I didn't know" factor right out.
Hypothetically: If I drive up to my claim (well marked even though I don't have to) and see someone working there (pan, shovel, or sluice) there is no excuse... I don't even want to hear it. Chances are I won't even confront them. Sheriff will be on the phone with me in a matter of minutes and we'll both confront them. While waiting for the Sheriff I'll be taking some pictures. I don't give mulligans. I want my estimated mineral loss, estimated reclamation cost, and hopefully some new equipment from the jumpers.
Would be cool if they did a show on that, eh?.
... could call it "Claim Wardens"

Posted by: Goodwood2223 Mar 27 2013, 02:57 PM

Swizz what's a mulligan? We don't have that term here in England,I agree about the claim jumpers,when I was in California I was on the north fork American river at a place called mineral bar,south of the camp ground is state recreation area and ok to prospect,north of the campground is blm land and all claimed( I knew this due to research) on my first day there I took a stroll up river and saw some guys panning in area right by a pile of rocks which I thought given location was claim marker,I approached them and believing they were claim owners as I was curious about the whole system, there response, this is claimed land? Blah blah blah.i pointed out my research where was good to go etc but I just got the feeling they didn't give a crap and knew they were on a claim,that said they did pack up and leave.

Posted by: swizz Mar 27 2013, 03:08 PM

Hi Goodwood!
A "mulligan" is a term frequently used in Golf. It's a figure of speech. An example would be a golfer making huge mistake in his swing and the ball travels 1 yard instead of 300yds.... he might turn around embarrassed and jokingly say "can I get a mulligan on that one?"... meaning: whoopsy, that never happened, can I get a free pass on that one and we won't count it?

Posted by: Dypheron Mar 27 2013, 03:29 PM

Something I plan to do to protect myself is to start a binder with all the documentation I have showing that what I'm doing is legal. CFRs, local and state laws/guides, swizz's mining lease, etc. Better to have it all on hand and not need it than to need it but not have it.

Posted by: Woody Mar 27 2013, 04:39 PM

Hi Leonard,

What's the name of this new show. I don't have the weather channel but will try to view it through other means, like internet. Thanks, Woody.

Posted by: Goodwood2223 Mar 27 2013, 05:26 PM

It's called "prospectors" I've tried finding it to view online but so far no luck,kinda sucks as I can't get weather channel due to living in England :(

Posted by: swizz Mar 27 2013, 05:39 PM

I have binders full of women.
Seriously though, that's good thinking. I carry three large manila envelopes in my Jeep with all of my claim documentation, boundary mapping, etc... even the claim boundary mapping of the claims around me which I got from the County Recorder. I'm going to get a waterproof attache case for them eventually rather than the large envelopes. Good thinking though Brandon.

Posted by: swizz Mar 27 2013, 05:43 PM

Woody, here's a link to the Weather Channel's video feeds for the show.
Not sure if you can see entire episodes or not yet: http://www.weather.com/tv/tvshows/prospectors/video/web-exclusive-getting-the-shot-34519?collid=/tv/shows/prospectors

Posted by: amorton Mar 27 2013, 06:56 PM

So just watched the two episodes. Little bit of drama but not too thick. I do think they went a bit crazy with the claim jumper thing. I saw a guy in a hoodie with no equipment who was running away from people / camera crew screaming claim jumper at him I would have left too. I value the mineral claims and understand the possible impact on the claim owner but one thing I have noticed that does bother me is the sense of ownership of that particular piece of land their claim is on or near. From my own personal experience prior to getting into prospecting while hiking and exploring the mountains. I have been confronted and accused of doing something wrong and literally did not even know I was on a mineral producing piece of land. I have found that some claim owners have a very paranoid attitude toward any presence on or near their claim. Their claim is to the resources on that PUBLIC LAND it is theirs and mine and any one who wants to be there. I dont mean to vilify claim owners but the few I have met in the field came across as immediately hostile and very suspicious of why I was on their land. Now I am sure most claim owners are fairly level headed "example present company" and will simply ignore hikers climbers and other no prospector types. But you dont remember the guy you never saw or they guy who just said HI while in the woods or on a river but one in your face confrontation will stick with you for a long time.

Back to the show I liked it the gems they found were amazing and i liked seeing how they were being mined and what they were looking for. I hope they expand on what they look for to find a possible spot. Also quite cool that it was all colorado prospectors.

Posted by: russau Mar 28 2013, 05:27 AM

i missed it but its rerunning this Saturday and ive got my dvr set to record the seris.

Posted by: swizz Mar 28 2013, 08:31 AM

Russ, I think you'll enjoy the series... I also have it set on the DVR.
Far less BS than the Gold shows.

Posted by: Woody Mar 28 2013, 12:36 PM

Found the link thanks.

I've been up to these slopes about 20 years ago. But at the time it was just hiking another mountain. Wished I would of did my resurch and place a claim then. But hey, kudos to these guys. I will be watching it with envy and hope they have the best of luck. What a way to make a living!

Posted by: OklaPony Mar 30 2013, 09:01 AM

Just set my DVR to catch it today.

Someone else did a show on an Antero claim a few years ago and brought out a monster smoky quartz. Seems like it was either TLC or Discovery and was part of a series called Treasure something or something Treasures... I'll see if I can locate the title.

Found it... the show was called Treasure Hunter and was actually on Travel Channel. the host also did some gold prospecting on some of the shows in Colorado and maybe Alaska, too. Here's a link:

http://search.travelchannel.com/travel/treasure-hunter/index.html

Posted by: swizz Mar 30 2013, 09:58 AM

Wow, thanks for that link Pony. I just watched the first 15 minutes and I'm hooked. Gonna have to find time to sit down with some popcorn and watch the rest!

Posted by: russau Mar 30 2013, 09:17 PM

i also saw that show a couple of years ago! i thought it was this new show, just rerun,but i had a chance to veiw this new show this evening and it was good! and it made me think of Quintin at the Dreamtime mine. how is he doing now-a-days?? i still have the peice that Mrs.CP gave me at the RMMR from the Dreamtime mine! sure is purty!

Posted by: traddoerr Apr 3 2013, 08:33 AM

Thanks Chris for the info to the show, I liked it! and Amanda has to be the hottest rock hounder I've ever seen, sad past for her, wish her and her family the best. The show last night though had a little drama, and seemed maybe a little scripted between Steve and his buddy, still it may become my favorite of all the shows because it's in Colorado and I have been to Mt. Antero, but never paid attention to any mining there, hunting critters not rocks.

Posted by: russau Apr 3 2013, 08:43 AM

yep and now the drama/scriping starts! the shows started off ok untill this ugly argument! they need to stop this before it gets anymore involved! thats what ruined the other gold shows for me!