BRUNSWICK — Dan Hume is a treasure hunter.

Since he started metal detecting two years ago, it’s been more hunting than finding, but that doesn’t bother him.

“I’m not bummed by the fact that I don’t walk away with anything really valuable,” Hume said Monday while scanning the Brunswick Mall for buried relics.

With the spring thaw taking hold and softening up the soil, Monday was Hume’s first trip out to the public park to see what he could find.

Hume just moved to Brunswick in December and is still scoping out the prime treasure-seeking ground, but he said seeking out those spots is not just about unearthing the past.

“It’s a nice way to get some exercise, enjoy the great weather and meet interesting people,” Hume said.

The hobby also has taken Hume to places he said he would have otherwise not explored, like Thomas Point Beach and land around a friend’s camp in Machias, where Hume said he found change and a brass buckle.

As he’s combing beaches and other landscapes, Hume said he’ll field a lot of questions.

Commonly, that question is, “What did you find?”

The answer Monday: a set of keys, a few coins, a tree tag with the number “23” pressed into metal.

Nothing big. But finding anything at all, he said, is intriguing.

“It’s amazing to find things that have been in the ground for quite a while,” Hume said.

For the big find, he’s still searching.

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