It was akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.
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When Roy Adams noticed his late wife's wedding band was no longer on his hand after spending the day working on his Boorowa Road property, about 12kms from Cowra, he gave up hope of ever seeing it again.
Roy and his late wife Wendy had been married 32 years.
"On Tuesday the 3rd March I was feeding hay to my starving cattle on my property on the Boorowa Road," Roy said.
"Unbeknown to me at the time, my late wife's wedding ring that I was wearing slipped off my finger and landed amongst the hay on the other side of the fence.
"It wasn't until returning to the house some time later that I realised that the ring was gone.
"In a mild panic I tried to retrace my journey, but by this time I had travelled around several paddocks.
"I searched and searched to no avail.
"Then the rains came on Wednesday and Thursday. My property was desperate for rain, but why now when the ring could be washed away? Roy asked himself.
It was then that his sister suggested he buy himself a metal detector and begin his search all over again.
"I rang the Frenchs Camping store in Cowra to see if they had a metal detector," Roy said.
"They did not but gave me a phone number of someone who had one.
"Ringing that number I spoke to Jason Stanford and explained my problem.
"He said, 'no worries, I'll come out Saturday."
"True to his word Jason turned up at Roy's property around 1pm on Saturday with another Cowra resident Peter Boler.
"So the search commenced... up and down, round and round.
After seaching one paddock Roy suggested they give up but Jason and Peter weren't finished.
"Jason and I walked along the fence line whilst Peter walked about two meters out," Roy said.
"As Jason and I were making another sweep, Peter yelled out, 'found it'.
"Thinking he'd found maybe more wire, tin or steel, Jason and I walked up to Peter who had his hand held high in the air.
"I could not believe it. Peter had found my wife's wedding ring after cattle had walked all over the ground.
"I had ridden my quad bike up and down numerous times and we had 52 mm of rain cover the ground.
"I can't describe how I felt. The ring means so much to me. I was cranky with myself for losing it.
"It will now go on a sturdy chain which I will wear around my neck."
Roy thanked Jason Stanford and his wife Eve, who sat patiently in the car, and Peter Boler for their efforts.
"I had given up all hope, one should never give up hope," Roy said.
