Impressions On Water Hunting With The Deus 2

[F350Platinum]

I've been wanting to do more of a deep water hunt for quite some time. After hunting my small beach out I decided to go in the water, as far as chest deep to see of there was anything out there.

Got the Deus 2 set up with the antenna and added a lanyard, a really tough Milwaukee one for tools I picked up. Grabbed my scoop and hit the beach.

Another hot day but it was nice at the beach. Low tide and pretty calm. Chest height water is just beyond the piling at the end there, so I didn't have to go far, but there's a sand bar further out, maybe another day.

I have to say river hunting is pretty tough itself, but hunting in surf has to be brutal. All the things I had to think of, like making sure everything was secured properly, that I didn't have anything in my pockets that would get damaged (wallet, keys), and of course leaving stuff back on the beach while out in the water. 😵 The pockets in my shorts kept floating out, useless. It's not like ground hunting, everything is resistance and slow motion. 

What I didn't have any problem with was swinging the Deus, it was solid as my Equinox with the carbon fiber shaft and and a tiny bit faster to swing - less resistance. 👍 I was using Beach sensitive with nothing changed, the machine even completely submerged was quiet as a mouse until it encountered a target. I didn't encounter many, and even noticed 5 bars of mineralization, but the stuff I dug was mostly quite deep.

I used the BH-1 bone conduction headphones today as well, I really like them. The wire is stiff and doesn't flip all over the place, it didn't tangle with my detector lanyard. Glad I thought of that because the Deus floats like a rock. The square tones were great!

The long scoop pole came in very handy especially when the surf got rough later, I'm so glad I don't have a short scoop. I was a always able to steady myself when the waves came by in 4-5 feet of water. I was able to scoop fairly easily.

Gotta say in 3 hours I didn't get much. I gave away the 5 ounce sinker I scooped about 1 foot down, and got this much trash otherwise:

I wasn't able to search everywhere before the surf got up to about 2 feet and people started showing up. Last minute I got a 95 and ended the skunk, but not by much 🤣

2020 clad quarter 😀

This wasn't as much about finds as finding out the Deus 2 is a great water machine. 🙂 I'll be back.

[Skate]

Are you using the 9 or 11 in the water? You mentioned how easy it was to swing in the water which is encouraging to hear. It's always great to read about your adventures. 

[F350Platinum]

2 minutes ago, Skate said:

Are you using the 9 or 11 in the water? You mentioned how easy it was to swing in the water which is encouraging to hear. It's always great to read about your adventures. 

I have the 9" coil. No problem with depth, up on the beach you can dig junk all the way to about 14" 🤣 I wiped the good stuff out with my other detector 3 days ago. Yesterday I got some new drops and for some reason one old nickel with the Deus 2.

[midalake]

35 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

I have to say river hunting is pretty tough itself, but hunting in surf has to be brutal. All the things I had to think of, like making sure everything was secured properly,

Yes, one's world really changes when getting hit with forceful 3-4' walls of water. 😁

Good to see your getting dips in! 

[F350Platinum]

7 hours ago, midalake said:

Yes, one's world really changes when getting hit with forceful 3-4' walls of water. 😁

Good to see your getting dips in! 

My hats' off to you guys and SCUBA divers. 👍 After all I've read about the Deus in water I was pleased. I like the bone conduction headphones, and didn't find swinging the detector to be any worse than my other one. The shaft is not solid round so it cuts a little better. Having the confidence to dunk it didn't hurt either!

[F350Platinum]

For those that think the D2 won't hit small targets in bad ground, consider this story:

I got a 46/47 in about 2' of water, scooped and scooped and kept losing it. I was sure it was an earring that was falling out of the scoop. 🤬 Chased it around for about 15 minutes, then came back later determined to get it.

I wish I still had it, must have lost it cleaning out my pockets, but it was a tiny aluminum shoelace rivet, 1/8" wide by 1/16". 😀 The sand in the water was 5 bar mineralized.

[Carolina]

That’s the calmess ocean water I ever saw. Looks like the Chesapeake Bay on a calm day. 

[F350Platinum]

4 hours ago, Carolina said:

That’s the calmess ocean water I ever saw. Looks like the Chesapeake Bay on a calm day. 

It's not far from the Bay. Last 3 days were hot and dry with little or no wind. It got a bit choppy when the tide came in. 🙂 It was a great opportunity to get some experience.

[Jeff McClendon]

11 hours ago, F350Platinum said:

For those that think the D2 won't hit small targets in bad ground, consider this story:

I got a 46/47 in about 2' of water, scooped and scooped and kept losing it. I was sure it was an earring that was falling out of the scoop. 🤬 Chased it around for about 15 minutes, then came back later determined to get it.

I wish I still had it, must have lost it cleaning out my pockets, but it was a tiny aluminum shoelace rivet, 1/8" wide by 1/16". 😀 The sand in the water was 5 bar mineralized.

I also detected a shoelace rivet with Deus 2 using the General program. I was impressed that it hit that target at about 2" depth in 10 bar mineralization. I weighed it and it came in at .34 grams.

I am definitely one of the people that has wondered where the target size/weight drop off is on Deus 2 since I do a lot of tiny gold prospecting. I will say that my Deus 1 is more sensitive to smaller targets under .25 gram than Deus 2 using what should be their most sensitive modes and settings so far.  The same goes for Deus 2 Mono at 40+ kHz vs Deus 2 in any of its 40 kHz FMF modes. Throw in salt or iron mineralization and who knows.......

[CPT_GhostLight]

Way to take one for us landlubbers, F350! I appreciate your insights as always. If I ever do decide to get my feet wet, so to speak, I'll take the D2. So far, I've not had the opportunity to beach hunt with the Deus II, but I'm looking forward to giving it a go. The East Coast beaches I've been to in the past have some brutal waves and are very popular with surfers, so I expect to take a beating in the water. 😎