2016

I supposed that with the hunt starting in a couple of weeks that its time, once again, to put together a list of treasure hunting tips. I completely forgot about doing this last year. Oops. Not gonna forget this year. And this year, there's going to be something of a theme to it, inspired by last year's five clue hunt: "Don't wait". This can mean a lot of things. Don't wait to get your hunting gear ready. Don't wait to get your button taken care of. Don't wait to go out hunting. Don't wait to mingle. Don't wait to turn in the medallion. 

Don't wait with your gear. If you're a true Coolerhead, you've already started on this one. Chances are you have some gear from some of the summer hunts you've done. But guess what? We've got snow this winter, and with the subzero weather this weekend, its hard as a rock. Your rake isn't gonna do you any good on it. Change it out for your ice pick, shovel, boots, and hand warmers. Seriously. If they're in your car or truck you're prepared for when you get the great brainstorm.

Don't wait with your buttons. Sure they may not be great this year, but buy one anyway and get it registered before the deadline. You've got until the 23rd at midnight to get it registered for the $5000 bonus cash (despite the registration card appearing to say the 28th; that's the date of the Carnival). No one wants to take the risk and lose out on that $5000, even though its been done before. The "Highlander Rule", inspired by the 2012 hunt, means you can't count on one of your hunting buddies to have one registered unless you're counting on that same hunting buddy to be the one to turn in the puck if you find it. And that rule will not be going away any time soon. No excuses.

Don't wait to get out and hunt. No one who ever found the medallion ever told a story of how they found it while watching tv, or while sitting at their computer in front of the chat boards. Yes there are those who live vicariously through the discussion boards and they have their reasons. But as James Goodhue IV told us a few years ago, "get off thy duff and hunt, hunt, hunt!". This millennium has given us some comparatively short hunts. Last year's, despite being at a new park outside the city, actually comes in among the shortest in terms of the number of clues needed for the find. Waiting until the weekend definitely has its risks. If you've got an itch of an idea, don't wait to go scratch it. Put that shovel into the snow and look! And if its that good of an idea, you will go out and look, so not waiting to get your gear ready is important.

Don't wait to mingle. Many of us in this group and others will tell you that the greatest treasures we've found while hunting are the friendships we've formed. As a group we might seem really cliquey to people on the outside; yes there really are groups of us that get together outside the two weeks of the hunt in January and February, whether its to go see a movie, or watch the Vikings play, or go to someone's kid's graduation party, or someone's wedding or funeral. There are two times though that you can be certain we'll all be together. Our Pre-Dig Gig and Rehash Bash. Both are open to any and everyone. We'll post the details of the Rehash Bash when they're finalized. Plus, a lot of us and other hunters get together every night before the clues come out (we don't know where that's going to be yet either). You might have noticed our group on Facebook. The only way into that group is knowing someone in the group already. And the only way to do that is to come out and mingle. Come out to the predig or the rehash. Come out and wait for the clues to come out. Its part of the fun!

Don't wait to have fun. Oh yeah. Don't wait to have fun hunting .