What is the smallest "punch Up" nugget you have seen/heard of?

[Brumble-Gum]

A bit of humour thread here, no names or aliases please...
I will start my true story.
When I first started out metal detecting, I had 2 x experienced detector operators take me to Castlemaine in Victoria for my first outing.
Prospector #1 & Prospector #2 had an agreement that whatever gold they found was theirs. However they had a "3 and out" rule also. If one of them found 3 pieces and the other none, then they were given the 3rd smallest piece as a good will gesture between mates.
This day both myself and Prospector #1 both found no gold, however Prospector #2 found 2 x small nuggets and a small specimen.
I was having the time of my life I learnt heaps off both these guys, I learnt to follow the gullies and old cart tracks and how to run a SD2100. The biggest lesson was on the way home, I learnt to have rules set each time you heading out with company. Halfway home Prospector #1 asked for his share the 3rd smallest piece. Prospector #2 told him he wasn't getting a piece as there were 3 in the party and not 2 as normal he will have to give 2 away and not 1 like usual. I was in the back seat trying to figure out what was going on when a huge argument erupted over owing their share of the gold. I said I don't want any and was happy with my outing. The argument continued and just before Bachus Marsh the car was pulled over and Prospector #1 & 2 were throwing punches on the side of the highway over about 3/4 gm of gold.
Needless to say I could not get out of the car quick enough when I got home. Two very sore and sorry older gentlemen said "bye" and I never heard from them again. I learnt alot about people and what gold does to them.

 

[nuggetino]

Great story mate. Both funny and sad at the same time. Wouldn't believe two blokes could get into a fight over a bit of yellow but some of the guys I've already met have fit the description of the guys you went prospecting with. I ran into a Drongo as I could best describe him in Clermont while prospecting who proceeded to lecture me about how dangerous metal detecting is and all they blokes that get thrown down mineshafts in certain goldfields of australia. Basically doing his best to talk me out of having a good time. I felt like telling him they can't be that evil out there or they'd sure as hell have thrown you into a mineshaft by now. No punch up stories from my end but I can't wait for some of you long time prospectors to chime in with a tale

 

[Brumble-Gum]

I have had a wild dog/dingo X, growl at me and "Bird watchers" follow me in the Bush.
Each time it is reassuring to know I have a 6" pick spike with me in situations like that.
People like that annoying me.

 

[Simmo]

Showin' me age now!!!
I went on a tour with a couple of amateur prospectors by the names of Ian Aitkin and Doug Stone, many moons ago...
The 2000 had just come out, but I was running a Garrett I think...

Anyway, I'd had enough for the day and went back to camp to have a beer...
I could see the field, just over the creek from where I sat....

I had befriended a couple of blokes from Melbourne, and as they had a van, they travelled in my old Cruiser....

One of my mates was in the middle of this white quartz covered flat, below a huge quartz blow.....
He found a bit, then another, and one more, so started to grid an area of probably 10 mtrs by 10...
I'd watched him bend and dig the first three and thought....'bugger me, he's on to it!'

Anyway....there was another husband and wife team on the tour, he was a Doctor, and had bought two 2000's.....
They were cleaning up, but they were putting in the hours too, most of us would finish up mid arvo, but those two would come home after dark!!

Well the good Ol'Doctor must've seen my mate bend over a few times too.......

He starts wandering over, getting closer and closer to my mate that was gridding.....

Sooner or later, it was bound to happen!! Both detectors were going off with proximity interference....
The Doctor kept on swinging as if nothing was wrong, but my mate was getting visibly upset!!!!

Well, some yelling and chest puffing and I cant remember how or who resolved the face-off, but shit it was a good show!!!

I had a box seat!!!!

At the weigh in that night, the Dr. and his wife won the day, (again), but we drank more homemade grappa!!!
The camp was divided into them and us, and that was just fine!!!!!!

We got 10 1/2 ounces of that patch all up in just four days!!!

 

[dwt]

Caught a moonlighting prospector on private property some time ago leaving huge holes in my mates wheat crop.
The farmer (my mate) kept the gold, the cops took his detector and accessories, and I bumped into him some time later at a pub.

 

[yobskin]

Me and a newly aqiured friend went propecting for the first time just testing areas...by the 3rd day he kept telling me where to dig even though unlogical i tried still with no colour . 4th day i started digging where i wanted! Old mate took offence got real hormonal like me mrs??? Struth a bloke carring on like a sheila couldnt believe it... i made it worst by finding 3 specs of colour than the mouth started... "thats not gold" ... for the next 2months i witnessed more tantrums than my 2year old. Anything i tried or thought of or even reaserched off google was rubbish so negetive. "Just because you google it doesnt mean its right" sort of thing...what made it worst was he is colour blind???? So i was identifing his gold for him...crikey! So we parted it was all my fault...wtf? 2weeks later he starts stalking me turning up at the diggings just sitting there slandering me while i tried to enjoy a dig...i bought this guy his permit and pan never paid me. 3days later he comes down agian same thing this time im worried he seems more agatated pacing back n forth getting closer ...i was digging waist deep in creek back to him nekmint he jumps in right beside me with my pickaxe!!! I jumped n swung me shovel bam!! Splash!! Bugger!! I falconed him right in the kisser he has landed in the water out cold...now i gota drag him to the bank. He came to pretty quick broken nose he was rattled. I told him what had happened and straight away turned angry and stated i attacked him and there hell to pay ...the trappers will be at your door tonight ra ra ra ...so i tied him up and put him in me trolly took him to the gate and called ambo he was cursing spitting blood everywhere ...told ambo,s he was commiting self harm he needs help ...went to the station and made them awear of the situation and i havernt seen him since...

 

[deepblue]

Hey Simmo,
I reckon you are showing your age my dad went out with Doug and Ian too and that was well over 20 years ago.
cheers db

 

[Metamorphic]

My most memorable dust-up was for a target that sounded picture perfect on the GMT, it may have been a nugget but I will never know!

The enemy was not human, a lot smaller than me, but i was outnumbered 100 to 1 and came off second best.

This was an insect with a bad ass attitude......namely the dreaded and feared 'Bulldog Bull-Ant' or '1" Bullet Ant' as the old timers referred to them.
They were named such by the old boys because they are an inch + long, and if you got bitten by one, it felt like you were hit with a bullet.
Anyone who has spent a bit of time out in the central gold fields of Vic will know what i mean.

The story begins with me swinging not far along the downslope side of well worked reef when I came across a solid low hum signal on my GMT.

The detector placed on the ground next to me, I began with a light scrap using the pick in both hands only an inch or so deep. Tested the hole with detector again with the signal still there.
Placed on the ground next to me and scraped another inch or so from the scene when suddenly i noticed a bullet ant walking across the immediate scrape, within a few seconds another appeared. I knew the reputation of these things so i was a bit weary of continuing as i was down on my haunches.

Next minute i looked down between my feet only to see a bloody swarm of them crawling on and around my boots, and they weren't happy!

I jumped up with the pick in one hand, grabbing my detector with the other and made a 3 meter dash out of there in about 0.000012 of a second.

I kicked the buggers off my boot alternating kicks with each boot and then quickly proceeded to check if any were on the pick or detector....there were a couple and i must have spent the next few seconds removing those i could see with quick swipes of my hands.

Catching my breath and feeling confident i was out of danger, I suddenly felt a searing pain from inside my boot.
Dropping the pick and detector i grabbed the bottom of my hard yakka pant leg and lifting it up to expose my sock and boot tongue..... there were 3 or 4 of the buggers going to town on the top of my foot in down below the boot tongue, biting me repeatedly.

The pain was immense but i was panicking by this stage. I was trying to undo the double bow knot in my laces to get the boot off but it just tangled in a worse knot in my hurrying panic. They were chewing the crap out of my foot by this time.

I managed to get my boot off and scrap them off my sock, but by this time it was too late....they had given me one hell of a beating.

Needless to say, by time i got back to camp my ankle had swollen right up, and that night I was dizzy with pain much to the amusement and delighted 'shit stirring' from the boys.
I took some ice from the esky and packed my ankle in it while i tried to put on a brave face and suck back a few bourbons as painkillers.

Not much sleep that night but i survived a pretty horrible experience all in the name of searching for gold.

Never did go back to see what that target was? And frankly, I didnt give a crap!

 

[Heatho]

The bite from a Bulldog Ant doesn't hurt that much, it's when they ram that venom laden tail stinger into you that hurts like hell.

 

[Guest]

My "punch up" is still yet to happen. Back in the 80's my dumbass lazy brother in law decided he wanted to be a prospector. I had registered a claim and had about 500 tons of wash dirt, excavated by a previous claimholder, but not processed, and ready to go. I agreed to go 50/50 with him. In those days when you pegged your claim you could not work it until all the paperwork was approved. So after a couple of months I ventured to my claim to make sure pegs were in place etc. When I arrived I was gobsmacked to see my pile of washdirt was reduced to a small mound of about 10 metres. WTF. I spoke to him and he said he knew nothing. So I set a trap. I knew he was going bush so I headed up and staked the claim out. Soon a front end loader and tipper appear. A couple of blokes I didn't know and my brother in law. They proceeded to load the tipper and leave. I followed them on foot through the bush and out of site. About half a km away they entered another registered claim and proceeded to wash my dirt. I took some photo's, returned to Melbourne and cancelled my claim. I said nothing to him. A month or so later I get a call from him demanding to know why the claim was cancelled. I played dumb and said we should meet up and "discuss" it. He didn't show up, so I posted the photo's to him. Not a word, and he threatened my sister if she told me what he did he would harm her. They are now divorced, and she lives in the house that was paid for with my gold. Somewhere some day I will catch up with him, and it will be a punch up. Gold does strange things to some people.

 

[Metamorphic]

The bite from a Bulldog Ant doesn't hurt that much, it's when they ram that venom laden tail stinger into you that hurts like hell.

That would make sense Heatho cause despite the pain, I really also felt a bit crook.....sort of light headed and nauseous!

The pain remained and my foot was swollen throughout the next day. Only the day after did the swelling begin to reside and then it became incredibly itchy!

I would rather a black eye or split lip than mess with these suckers again i promise!

Cheers mate

 

[Heatho]

They are evil buggers, got out of the car one time for a pit stop without shoes, they give a whole new level of pain. You might be allergic to them mate, some people are very allergic to them and can die in extreme cases. It can be so bad an antivenom produced for the Jack Jumper type of the species.

Check this out from about 8 minutes in.

 

[nuggetino]

I had no idea the jack jumper ants were such a potential danger. I get done by these ants most times I head out around jupiter creek as the place is crawling with them. In my case they only produce a small bump and stinging itch for a good while. If I were allergic and without a vaccine I'd more than likely be dead by now.

 

[Simmo]

Showin' me age now!!!
I went on a tour with a couple of amateur prospectors by the names of Ian Aitkin and Doug Stone, many moons ago...
The 2000 had just come out, but I was running a Garrett I think...

Anyway, I'd had enough for the day and went back to camp to have a beer...
I could see the field, just over the creek from where I sat....

I had befriended a couple of blokes from Melbourne, and as they had a van, they travelled in my old Cruiser....

One of my mates was in the middle of this white quartz covered flat, below a huge quartz blow.....
He found a bit, then another, and one more, so started to grid an area of probably 10 mtrs by 10...
I'd watched him bend and dig the first three and thought....'bugger me, he's on to it!'

Anyway....there was another husband and wife team on the tour, he was a Doctor, and had bought two 2000's.....
They were cleaning up, but they were putting in the hours too, most of us would finish up mid arvo, but those two would come home after dark!!

Well the good Ol'Doctor must've seen my mate bend over a few times too.......

He starts wandering over, getting closer and closer to my mate that was gridding.....

Sooner or later, it was bound to happen!! Both detectors were going off with proximity interference....
The Doctor kept on swinging as if nothing was wrong, but my mate was getting visibly upset!!!!

Well, some yelling and chest puffing and I cant remember how or who resolved the face-off, but shit it was a good show!!!

I had a box seat!!!!

At the weigh in that night, the Dr. and his wife won the day, (again), but we drank more homemade grappa!!!
The camp was divided into them and us, and that was just fine!!!!!!

We got 10 1/2 ounces of that patch all up in just four days!!!

Haha!!! That's the one @grubstake! Good find!!
Gold Fever and the Doctor!!

 

[grubstake]

Haha!!! That's the one @grubstake! Good find!!
Gold Fever and the Doctor!!

Not me, Simmo - @mbasko gets the credit for finding your old post.

 

[Simmo]

Not me, Simmo - @mbasko gets the credit for finding your old post.

Haha!! Well done Matty then!!
What did you do, merge my accounts??
Either way, this was a fun thread back in the day!