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Moonshiners


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Having seen the show on the Discovery channel about this 'occupation', got to wondering. Has anyone ever stumbled across one of these operations while cache hunting and what did you do?

Not a still, but while a bunch of us were out yesterday trying to find a fellow cacher's lost dog, some of the searchers stumbled upon one resident's personal plantation of BC Bud.

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Funny, I recently found what I'm guessing is remnants of a still, probably 40s to 50s era. This in a bit a swamp famous for the murder of Federal agents back in Prohibition; "don't go beyond the Lanier Bridge" they were told. They went beyond, and were killed.

 

In a different location, the same bits of masonry and pipe would be the remains of a tar camp, but this is on 30 foot speck of dry ground, surrounded by deep swamp, no trails, and .4 miles from any reliable dry land. Nobody sets up any kind of legal processing in a location this inconvenient.

I haven't been back, I was moving PDQ because of running out of daylight. I shouldn't have started that bushwhack that late in the day.

 

I've twice encountered Meth lab stuff in the swamp. Once looking abandoned, the other time looking newish. Both times I took some coords and moved off fast. Reported to forestry and the sheriff.

Edited by Isonzo Karst
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Never found anything like that. However most of the show is staged. The state authorities know about it and have confirmed no moonshine is being made.

 

None of those shows are real. They fired some guy from Storage Wars for telling that the show was staged. I work two jobs in one, and my other job is the self storage next door. We had one of those auctions. It's hardly like what I've seen of the show at all.

Reality TV is not real.

 

Many strange things have been found by geocachers. If they all came to the forums, you might get someone who has stumbled onto one. But even all the moonshinin' in Appalachia is a stereotypical myth perpetuated by comics and TV shows.

 

Anyway, nowadays, they call them micro-breweries and micro-distilleries. :)

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None of those shows are real.

There are a few that are definitely real. Deadliest Catch, for example, includes many incidents that would be difficult to fake. We also have a show in Canada that focuses on an airline that flies vintage aircraft in northern Canada. A recent episode showed one of the aircraft experiencing a partial landing gear failure, and the aircraft had to crash land. Something like that is undoubtedly real.

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Maybe there are a few closer to real. I don't watch any of them. Because they take 5-6 minutes of something that might be interesting, and show it over and over and over for the rest of the show. First in the beginning segment, again just before the commercials, again when they come back from the break, and repeat. All you really have to do is watch the preview, and you've seen the whole show. And that goes for all of them.

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Never found anything like that. However most of the show is staged. The state authorities know about it and have confirmed no moonshine is being made.

 

None of those shows are real. But even all the moonshinin' in Appalachia is a stereotypical myth perpetuated by comics and TV shows.

 

Anyway, nowadays, they call them micro-breweries and micro-distilleries. :)

Now are you saying that moonshining was a complete myth or that it wasn't as wide spread as the comics and TV shows make it out to be? Because if you saying it didn't happen, I have family history that would completely contradict that. :lol: As far as how wide spread it was - well, who knows?

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I've been caching in North Carolina for over 10 years and have never found a still nor meth lab in the woods here.

Moonshiners are still plenty active in Johnston County, just to the east of me. I've tasted it more than a few times at friend's homes who have lived around these parts for a long time.

 

Did you know that NASCAR evolved out of the modified cars that were made by the 'shiners to outrun the revenooers?

It's a bit different now, but the heart of the sport is still in NC, mostly in the Charlotte/Concord corridor.

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Not an active still, but someone speculated that some old rusted equipment near one of my caches in a County Park (which didn't become a County park until about 1960) was the remains of a moonshine still. I didn't even see it myself until about the 3rd maintenance visit. I'll just take his word for it. I should read up on Meth Labs, and educate myself on what to look for there. :P

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A former co-workers family made shine down in SE Oklahoma. There are allegedly a bunch of stills there. I know his family did indeed make the stuff because he brought some a few times for us city folk to try. Stuff is nasty. I asked once how they keep from getting caught. He said that the stills he knew of were miles back in densely wooded areas that nobody could possibly stumble onto. I'm still not going caching in that part of Oklahoma.

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As long as we're bursting bubbles, the life of a military attorney is nowhere near as exciting as depicted on that terrible CBS show JAG. I don't think any of them ever had to cover walk in power of attorney or notary hours, or do a legal review on a unit bake sale. :anibad:

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Back before geocaching was a twinkle in the Frog's eye, a friend and I had occasion to stumble upon a (thankfully) inactive still while hunting out on the mountain. We knew what it was, and what could happen to "intruders", so we skedaddled outta that holler and headed back to my grandaddy's house, where I eagerly babbled on about the adventure while my grandparents just sat and smiled. My uncle, overhearing the conversation, asked again about the location. When we confirmed what he thought he heard, he grinned, pointed out the window at his relatively new Peterbuilt bobcat, and explained how our discovery had paid for his new job as an OTR driver. A few years later, my Dad was talking about a souped-up '40 Ford he had...when he got around to disclosing that he'd leaded the frame rails and made a few alterations the rear suspension, a little light bulb went off in my head. When I asked him if he ever "worked" for Uncle ____, he got this sheepish look, and just mumbled something to the effect of "Times were hard."...

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But even all the moonshinin' in Appalachia is a stereotypical myth perpetuated by comics and TV shows.

 

Yes, that's true. :laughing::ph34r:

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9055807/scott-county-search-turns-up-marijuana-weapons-moonshine-still

http://www.timesnews.net/article/9040171

 

Wow, a whole half pond of pot and one whole gallon of moonshine. I hope they are as proud as they sound, catching this kingpin of this major drug ring.

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Back before geocaching was a twinkle in the Frog's eye, a friend and I had occasion to stumble upon a (thankfully) inactive still while hunting out on the mountain. We knew what it was, and what could happen to "intruders", so we skedaddled outta that holler and headed back to my grandaddy's house, where I eagerly babbled on about the adventure while my grandparents just sat and smiled. My uncle, overhearing the conversation, asked again about the location. When we confirmed what he thought he heard, he grinned, pointed out the window at his relatively new Peterbuilt bobcat, and explained how our discovery had paid for his new job as an OTR driver. A few years later, my Dad was talking about a souped-up '40 Ford he had...when he got around to disclosing that he'd leaded the frame rails and made a few alterations the rear suspension, a little light bulb went off in my head. When I asked him if he ever "worked" for Uncle ____, he got this sheepish look, and just mumbled something to the effect of "Times were hard."...

I enjoy the history of Moonshine, mostly because it is local history. As you and another poster pointed out about souped-up cars and how NASCAR started out. Maybe that's why they have the Race Track in Bristol? :D

I don't think that there are any large Moonshine operations in the area any more. If I wanted Moonshine I would buy the taxed kind like they distill in Gatlinburg at Ole' Smokey. I guess I just never got over the stories that my grand dad told me about rats drowning in the mash barrels, or how to muck out the barn stall and put all that muck in a pile around the mash barrles because it gets hot in the day and holds the heat all night to help work off the mash quicker. :D

Moonshing is part of our local heritage, even the Courthouse here in Scott County had part of an old bullet rittled Still and a Rifle barrel on top of it until recent renovations. There is a good article on it in this weeks edition of the local news paper, Scott County Virginia Star.

Edited by Manville Possum Hunters
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family made shine down in SE Oklahoma. There are allegedly a bunch of stills there.

 

When I was a kid (too many years ago to remember) there was a manhunt in SE OK for a man who was suspected of killing his family. As the hounds would get to an area and be headed toward a still, the country folks in the area would say they saw a guy headed in the opposite direction, so as not to have their still located. Many stills were found anyway. :blink: I guess you have to protect your business at almost any cost. Hummm!

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I've hiked long before geocaching and haven't seen anything resembling an active still in over thirty years.

When I was a kid (no, we didn't wear togas) many small farms were working poor. If they grew corn or potatoes, they made booze.

 

Surprised at all the posts saying they haven't seen remnants of meth labs though. Other than Delaware, every State we've cached in had some from New York to Tennessee.

Most are careful of cleaning up I guess. Keeps a good spot open.

- But we've seen the occasional drano can, pack of sinus/cold medicine, or bottle of gas additive in many places we've cached. Remnants.

Singly, we cart it off with anything else we CITO while walking. More than one, we leave it ("really, it's not mine officer") make a call if in our own State, in others we notify the CO.

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Had some good friends from the Newport TN area back in my racing days...purportedly the 'shine capital of Tennessee even in those relatively recent days. Between them and the good folks of Hickory Tree, a little white lightnin' was never hard to find.

 

Haven't run upon any overt meth operations or their remnants while caching, nor an active still...but I've driven past a house or two out on the mountain that had plastic milk jugs hanging upside down from the trees in the back yard.

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Had some good friends from the Newport TN area back in my racing days...purportedly the 'shine capital of Tennessee even in those relatively recent days. Between them and the good folks of Hickory Tree, a little white lightnin' was never hard to find.

 

Haven't run upon any overt meth operations or their remnants while caching, nor an active still...but I've driven past a house or two out on the mountain that had plastic milk jugs hanging upside down from the trees in the back yard.

Parrottsville, Del Rio, and Newport may still be the Shine Capital. I used to visit a "Game" farm there in Newport many Moon Pie's ago. :laughing:

I did have to archive a listing in Gate City, but what I found may have just been a homeless persons tent. The trip wire was what concerned me, but only had AL cans attached and not an IED. I counted 14 bags of cheap beer cans at the site, and the remains of a raccoon in a steel trap. Also there was a Bible in the tent. A real life Jerimahia Johnson?

I was checking the cache alone that day with my Doxie when he barked at a tarp flapping in the wind. Have you ever seen a Walther Pee-Pee K? :anicute: I now own one. :D

Another reason that I have never found an active still is knowing where not to look. :ph34r: I'm sure that those plastic milk jugs you saw were for spring water. I see people filling up at local springs all the time. I do it myself, but I use a 5 gal water jug and keep a Brita full in the fridge. B)

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In NC, yes, finding still sites is not uncommon. Where I live, they are usually very old though. Most of the areas in this area are gameland and the occasional still site is older then the gameland designation. Nobody in their right mind will set up stills on game lands with as many hunters in this area now. I have a few pics to share when I find a public location to post them since GS *still* doesnt allow pics to be posted and stored on here (other then url's)

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I have a few pics to share when I find a public location to post them since GS *still* doesnt allow pics to be posted and stored on here (other then url's)

 

They don't specifically dis-allow it. All you have to do is create an unpublished cache and upload images to its gallery.

 

I have an unpublished cache called, co-incidentally, "Picture Placeholder" that has many images, like this one:

 

53c1082d-2ea6-4710-8c90-c0468a623329.jpg

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Many strange things have been found by geocachers. If they all came to the forums, you might get someone who has stumbled onto one. But even all the moonshinin' in Appalachia is a stereotypical myth perpetuated by comics and TV shows.

 

Anyway, nowadays, they call them micro-breweries and micro-distilleries. :)

 

You mean that white lightning I sipped in college was imaginary? I still remember the burn as it went down and the faint smell of fresh cornbread in the next breath.

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Found a ball perfect mason jar in very good condition on saturday in the gamelands in NC. I rinsed it out in a puddle and its just got some dirt in it in the trunk f my car.

 

I wrote in a previous post i think I had found the remains of a still sit in another gameland in NC. It is not totally uncommon to do so here. But to find a ball mason jar in that good of condition is.

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