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Expert Detectorists Skills and Habits


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To all the experts in Nuggetshooting and Metal Detecting on here:

 

What kind of skills and habits do you use in the field and in your reading/research to make you a better detectorist ?

I've heard that 10% of the detectorits get 90% of the gold. What sets you apart?

What advice and tips do you have for someone that wants to take their detecting to the next level.

Is it research, the right real estate, luck, knowing geology, or as my grandpa used to say" your not holding your mouth right" ???

Is it having the best detector available or having an average detector and knowing the machine to it's fullest?

 

 

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 This will be interesting to see the replies. I am not even close to "expert" but one thing that is consistent with all mining is to process as many cubic yards of material  as efficiently as you can with what you have.  Detecting is simply processing material. I also think you have to create your own good luck. And have a good dog.

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This is going to sound really funny coming from somebody who discusses and obsesses so much over metal detectors. In my case at least the metal detectors themselves do not really have a whole lot to do with it. Or at the most only in a very broad sense.

What I need by way of a detector is one broadly applicable to the task at hand. In other words, if I am salt water beach detecting, I need a detector that works well on salt water beaches. So I would be looking at a Fisher CZ-21, Garrett Sea Hunter, Garrett Infinium, Garrett ATX, Minelab Excalibur, Minelab CTX 3030, Tesoro Sand Shark, White's Beachunter ID, or White's Surf PI. In other words, a waterproof multi frequency or pulse induction detector.

Which one of all the above I grab will not matter all that much.

What matters is:

A. Location, location, location. Have to be in a good spot to find whatever it is I am looking for. Lacking that all else is a waste of time.

B. Know whatever detector I do choose to use and have the ability to use it properly.

C. Hard work and patience. Though the work need not be hard or even work, since I enjoy doing what I do.

The detectors vary somewhat in performance but not so much that I cannot offset whatever they lack by working harder than the other person. A just barely ok detector worked well and patiently on good ground will always trump the best detector sitting in a closet.

I honestly am not some kind of tuning expert. I never did really learn what everything on my GPX 5000 did. I just get a detector running well enough and then get to someplace decent and put in the hours.

Finally, as a friend says - it is better to be lucky than be good!

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I have been privileged enough to detect with some of the best and can say they have different techniques, but a few things are apparent with them all. First off is they put in a lot of time behind a detector. Easier for them than most because they essentially are professionals who make or supplement a lot of their income with their finds.

 

Some barely know the settings on their machines but they know how to get a coil over gold and aren't afraid to dig. Success breeds confidence and confidence is the most underrated and unmentioned tool in the prospectors arsenal. If you see workings or geology which resemble what you've found gold in before, you will stay there and work hard digging trash and covering ground until you find something or are satisfied it's definitely absent. Iffy signals are investigated and trash is less of a nuisance. Confidence gets you back out in the field even if you're working on multiple day skunks. You know it's there and you know you have what it takes so you just keep going. 

 

The last thing I'll mention is their power of observation. They recognize and study all kinds of geological features and old-timer workings which have potential for producing nuggets. Most of them are not educated in geology or mining but neither were most of those gold rush and depression era prospectors. If you spent every day in the field prospecting with a need to feed yourself you'd catch on real quick too. It's like learning a new language, immersion is the best way to learn. Modern day experts are immersed and come to learn the language of the land and gold.

 

That 10% to 90% ratio appears accurate from what I've seen. It also seems to relate to the fact that I've seen a lot of inexperienced ones spend 90% of their time swinging in ground unlikely to produce whereas the pros spend 90% of their time in the most likely to produce spots. There's more to it than that but it's a big factor. 

 

I should bring out too, they didn't start out successful. Like a professional athlete or really anyone at the top of their profession, they got that way because they worked at it. And like a professional golfer they don't use outdated or inferior equipment. Tiger Woods could still beat any amateur with a wooden driver but when you spend that much of your precious time doing something, it pays to use the best. 

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Many of the ones that never score very often are the ones that seem to give up if they don't find anything in the first fifteen minutes.....

 

I think this observation is very true. As much for detecting (of which I know little) as for prospecting (of which I know something). Many times I have found gold in places that other people have abandoned too quickly. Another classic mistake in prospecting is throwing your tailings or diggings right on top of a gold source without even realising. You also need to research your location. Finding gold is hard work, but an enjoyable challenge. Those who do the work reap the benefits, and those who work smarter tend to reap more.

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Mike posted exactly what I wasnt going to say. Lately Ive been detecting with an old timer who is one of the most succesful hunters in my area. He doesnt use the latest/greatest, but he knows his gp extreme,gmt's and 5900 like the back of his hand. But what seperates him from many others is his confidence! He truly believes, if there is any gold in the area,(or coins/relics) then he WILL find it. Also his enthusiasm. Dude has been detecting for over 40 years,and he is still like a kid. One last thing that Im not sure has been mentioned yet, too be succesful for gold at least,health matters. Try to stay in shape. At least here in California, the canyons that we hike can be real a$$kickers. Ray

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There is a ton of learned information to learn on all the Prospecting Forums! You need to be in a gold zone and research is important to have your coil over gold bearing ground. Your equipment/metal detector needs to be researched and it's easy to find out which metal detector is the hottest for gold on all the prospecting forums. Each detector is a tool in the tool box. My GPX is my Varsity Star, it has found Sunbakers to nuggets close to two feet deep...everyone knows what these units can do. My GoldBug2, is a blast and if the ground is mild with plenty of small gold it's deadly. It will find gold that the GPX wouldn't think about wasting it's time to beep on and has filled countless poke bottles with it. My new SDC 2300, runs in hot ground that my GoldBug2 doesn't operated to it fullest. Plus, it finds the stealth nuggets that my GPX can't hear. A slow stealing swing is important with all detectors! Like the song says "These are a few of my Favorite Things". Until the next hunt

LuckyLundy

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