Plenty Of Excitement For The Enterprising Folk

[nebulanoodle]

Here are a couple things I've run into detecting lately that I figured I could share here for some motivation!

This first one comes from a patch where the trash is elusive and the hot rocks are warm at the worst.

This one gram specimen is the first specimen I've ever found at this location. I found it detecting a small gully on a big hill sitting near the top of a cut bank about 2 feet above the surface of the bed of the gully. It was the first gold find on that particular outing and in an area near my main patch which I hadn't yet found gold, let alone detected much at all.

What's more special about this little guy is that all I had found up to that point detecting new areas was trash (bullets and bits of steel). When I started detecting this gully, all was silent for about 20 minutes until I swung my coil over something that screamed really loud and sharp. After I moved it in one boot scrape into the gully, I knew it was going to be a .22 shell or some nice chunk of a bullet. But I gotta recover it right!? Whether it's just to remove the trash to clean the area up or to find out for sure if it's trash. Well, these finds are the most satisfying type! KNOWING I found trash and then somewhere along with all the nudging around I somehow managed to perform some alchemy and it turned the bullet into a nice little chunk of gold! So dig it all!!!

Bringing me right into my next reality checker find! Back to a very old patch where there is a lot of old diggings, trash, and black hot-HOT rocks!

Here I am on this trip, 13 hours of detecting, 0g of gold, 10oz of steel/aluminum/brass, and 50kg of HOT iron nodules kicked and/or tossed behind me until finally, I get back onto some gold missed by who knows how many enterprising prospectors. Now it's about enough to drive me mad and hopeless with that much skunk! Is my detector working? Yes, remember all the small bits of steel found at depth and how well the detector responds to air tests today. Is all the gold gone? No, you're still digging targets no one else has bothered with in old placer diggings that you've found gold in before. Should I stop digging at signals when I can see a hot rock sitting on the surface under my coil? No, what if it's masking a nugget!

Well, it happened! I moved one of those hot rocks, still a signal... Another hot rock! I'll move it... Still a signal. Another hot rock!? ...finally 8 inches deeper into the hot rock hole and I'm dealing with a steady signal, no visible hot rocks, and not much hope. But out pops a little smooshed nugget! PERSISTENCE!!! 

Excitement, energy, and conversely, fatigue all culminating in this moment, I must still stick to SOP. Recheck the hole. STILL another steady signal. No way... YUP! Another gold find, same hole! I ask myself, "Can this hole go for three?" The hole responds with... well it doesn't respond... But if I wouldn't have moved those hot rocks, I would have never heard those little nuggets hanging out beneath them! And if I wouldn't have rechecked my hole, I would have left one behind. Could you imagine how it would have made that nugget feel, being unearthed for the first time in it's life and being left behind all alone! Stripped away from it's partner that got taken... Coulda been a shame. BUT IT WASN'T!

Anyways! I'm looking at ~50 fun hours on my 14x9 Evo and I'm very happy with it! So here's a little Evo motto pic with about 3dwt of gold for everyone to enjoy!

[Gold Catcher]

Nice going GoldTree. Persistence and adherence to detector rules (i.e. always check holes) pays off. Dismissing targets because of sounds has never paid off for me, and clearly would not have paid off for you in that situation. 😁 

[paradiceau]

Nice write up, congratulations.

El Pasos?

[Lunk]

Good job, GoldTree!

[nebulanoodle]

53 minutes ago, paradiceau said:

El Pasos?

I'd love to! Let me know when!

[Cascade Steven]

Congratulations and thanks for the nice writeup😊

[matt]

Sweet!

[Valens Legacy]

Great write up and some nice gold on top of it.

Congrats for sticking to it and bringing home the gold!

Good luck on your next hunt.

[Gerry in Idaho]

Entertaining story and pics to go with it.  Those little chunky nuggets are what keeps us going.  The trash missed by others just goes to separate the men from the boys and you my friend are doing it right.  Those of us who know, realize your time, energy and persistence is part of  what allows you Success.  Keep it up and thanks for sharing with some of us Frozen Northern Dreamers.

[nebulanoodle]

15 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Entertaining story and pics to go with it.  Those little chunky nuggets are what keeps us going.  The trash missed by others just goes to separate the men from the boys and you my friend are doing it right.  Those of us who know, realize your time, energy and persistence is part of  what allows you Success.  Keep it up and thanks for sharing with some of us Frozen Northern Dreamers.

You bet and you said it!

Many thanks, and here's to the next ones! 🍺