RIP ol' AZ Nugget Prospectors

[Uncle Ron]

Yo All ... After about 10 years, I last night pulled the plug on the old "AZ Nugget Prospectors" forum on Yahoo ... It was one of the predecessors of this and most of the other gold forums ... There was lots of good info on it from back in the day of the old Beanarama outings at Gold Basin, the Vultures, etc...However it simply had become irrelevant and was turning into a spam farm ... So goodby ol' AZ NP...We hardly knew ye ...Cheers, Yer Unc in the Dubyah

[nuggethunting]

Hey Uncle Ron,

That Yahoo forum was the place back in the day. There was really only one "Gold Forum," which was the one you ran. Rather than having 4-5 major forums like today, there was only one and everyone was on and contributing.

Those were the good ol' days for sure.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[dutch john]

Uncle Ron... You are truly a Pathfinder. Bill and Rob started their nugget hunting and nugget shooting forums. This was back in what seems to have been a kinder and gentler time. The forum posts were revelent and informanent. No sour notes. Anyone could post.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Jim,

I have to give much credit for Uncle Ron starting the first Internet forum, which most of all of us posted at one time. Not far after that Bill Southern started the Nuggetshooter forum, which is also running strong. I was experimenting at the time with various forum formats, but once Nuggetshooter was online with a newer, easier format, I then built my own Nuggethunting.com forums.

Not sure where Bill has been lately, but I give both Ron and Bill credit for getting the forums up and running for us all today. I was just a follower, while others followed all of us later down the road.

I do agree, the information is still good on the forums, but there is more attitude now then before. There has always been the "Mums the Word" if you call it that, but earlier on there was less worry about guys hunting information and patches down. Many are now looking for tid bits of information to find someone's new discovery. Not sure what to call these people so called "information hounds."

There is a wealth of information on most of the forums, it's just a matter of sorting out the negative and distracting information.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[dutch john]

Rob... right you are. Some of the earlier posts were more intimate and asked for help and gave away details.

I guess I was one of the "Silence is GOLDen" guys. But to protect someone from having others taking advantage of him by the "information hounds" who check the various forums as guest visitors.

However, as you remember, you, Reg, and me; we freely gave our meteorite information to all. We planned on writing a book; but never did. Had we followed through

it could have been a great read. But it did wind up as

part of the "Shooting Stars" forum on another link.

I wrote a series of five articles on meteorites. Two were published by the icmj, one by GPAA gold prospector, another by western and eastern treasurers and fith by Lost Treasure magazine. But they were not the same without you and Reg...

Now back to Uncle Ron... likely none of my above post would have happened if it was not for you as a Pathfnder! THANK YOU Uncle Ron... Jim Straight

[Uncle Ron]

Yo Jim, Rob & All..Thanks for the kudos...We all need to remember Doc's forum, Goldstalkers, which preceded AZNuggetProspectors...Unfortunately his forum got hijacked by people posting all kinds of stuff and not much on gold beeping ... Pictures of puppies and recipes and stuff ... That's how AZNuggetProspectors came about...An attempt to provide a purely gold beeping forum ... But the yahoo forum format made it too difficult to continue on as yahoo tried to commercialize the forums and Bill's, Rob's, Chris's and Rod's came on with a much more user friendly operation ... We all owe a big thank you to these four guys for providing a place to exchange info about our hobby/passion ... Cheers, Unc

[nuggethunting]

Hello Jim,

I was hoping we (Reg, You and I) could have gotten the meteorite book off the ground. Even though I haven't talked with Reg in some time, he is still a true friend in my book.

Jim, I feel I have a wealth of information to share, but lack in time and skills when it comes to official writing. I like to talk face to face where people can see and feel my passion about this hobby.

I personally feel you have and do write the best books. You use other people and give others a lot of credit. Many books and new writers thrive on the "Look at Me" or "I learned everything myself, no one ever helped me" mentality.

I have several mentors, you being one of them.

Uncle Ron - Yes, I forgot all about Doc's Goldstalker forum. That one became corrupt with Spammers and crap. The advantage of the new forum formats is the validation process. The forums are a part of my daily routine to see what is going on out there.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[adam]

Sounds like I missed out on reading another great forum. Sorry Uncle Ron but I have to admit that I was not even aware of it.....Maybe that is on a count of my youth

[dutch john]

Gosh... Uncle Ron... the circle around campfire is getting ever brighter as the fire spreads its welcome glow and warmth driving back the darkness and the cold. Gold truly comes in many forms. You started it all... It grows and grows... and may have just started. Where is Chris Gholson? And others who have been involved in the development of the early forums?

[nuggethunting]

Hello Jim,

Yep, I would have to give all credit to Uncle Ron and Doc for the first Yahoo forums. Bill and I got the first verison of the PHP boards online. Bill had been quiet, probably working, running his business and a personal life like mine.

It's great that there are a number of Internet forums today for newbies and seasoned prospectors to view.

Take care,

Rob Allison

[Uncle Ron]

Yo Jim & Rob... The current forums are much different than back in the day ... It certainly is true that there's guys using them the chase down spots on the sly ... In the early forums guys got together and swapped stories and techniques and it sorta just naturally led into swapping spots, even with newbies ... I remember when I first came to the big AZ from years of placer mining up in the Klamath Mts. of Northern CA, I met Rob through the forums and he gave me an invite to hunt with him up on Rich Hill...Didn't get any gold on that hunt (Did avoid a Joe NoShoulders though) ... But it turned me on to a whole new area ... Then Rob was hunting with an SD2100 and I was hunting with a GB2 ... Now I'm still hunting with my ol' Baboo sd2100 and Rob's hunting with a space ship :lol: ... During those early days I got pointy fingers from Bill out at San Domingo and John B. at Gold Basin and Greaterville too...Got to meet Richard Doherty over at Rock Springs, Mike K. at Rich Hill, Mike C. out at LSD and several other guys who either got invisible or died... ... There's still lots o' gold out there, but it's gettin' sneakier ... Here's a few weeks gold from a nice patch not too long ago, just to spice things up... Cheers, Yer Unc in the Dubyah

[DOC]

You don't remember the old GoldStalker forum? And the massive Metal detector wars? John B, and Rob and others all ready to rip each other's hearts out?

Doc