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The Logistics Of Metal Detecting For Gold


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New member here and glad to be a part of this great forum!

As someone who's looking forward to actually going out into the field with a metal detector for the first time, I'm interested in finding out how experienced nugget shooters actually "set-up camp," so to speak. Do you drive right up to the area you're going to cover in a 4-wheel drive vehicle? How close can you usually get to the exact ground you're going to search? Does anyone ever take a travel trailer out to those areas and stay a few days? Again, if so, how close are you usually able to get? Does anyone drive to the area in a 4-wheel drive and then ride to the site on an off-road motorcycle (or even off-road bicycle, if that's even feasible)? 

I'm interested in getting started in Arizona and Southern California but would eventually like to do some detecting in different regions of the West Coast up to Alaska. 

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Welcome to the forum! There is ground you can park on, and ground you have to hike a day or two to get to. Many people in the west do frequent easy access sites. However, as a rule the easier the access the more people have been there before you.

In Alaska nearly everything was a hike or a fly in scenario. Here in Nevada I can often camp right where I am detecting. The California Sierra country almost always requires at least a little hiking and some of it can be in some very rough terrain. Luckily it was the miners in most regions that put in the first roads, so most prospecting locations you can get fairly close with a vehicle of some sort.

Right now I would say that the more willing you are to get off the beaten path and hike around the better your prospects will be. There are both physical limits and time limits to what any of us can do in that regard however so we all just do the best we can do.

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Thanks very much for your welcome and reply, Steve!

Do you know of many detectorists who drive a 4-wheel vehicle as close to the site as possible and then ride an off-road motorcycle to the exact spot they'll be searching? The reason this is an issue for me is that I have pretty bad arthritis in my knees and would like to minimize walking to whatever extent possible. 

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I live in Golden Valley AZ and I drive my truck to within 100 yards of the place I want to hunt . I also camp out on the GPAA claims and hunt from there. I do use a UTV to get to where I want to hunt here in AZ after I set up camp.

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Hayesman76,

Some prospecting areas are off limits to any form of wheeled vehicle.  Some restrict OHVs to existing roads only.  You should check with the BLM or Forest Service office which covers your area to see if they will give you a special 'pass' because of your arthritis.  If you get stopped out in the field it is always better to have a name and a story from the office.

Mitchel

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Hayesman 76, I am not trying to be a dickhead or burst your bubble but if you have bad arthritis in your knees this may not be the hobby for you. Please don't spend a lot of money on equipment until you figure it out. Try this, get down on your knees for a couple minutes grubbin around. Repeat sixty times. This may replicate a easy day nugget hunting. Throw in a couple miles hiking over uneven ground and a couple slips, trips, and falls and well, you get the idea. I hope it works out for you.

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Goldbrick?  What kind of name is that anyway.  Sounds like somebody who wants all the fun for himself!

Didn't know that guy was still around.  Hayesman76, don't concern yourself with what he has to say.  I think he has been on a long boat ride or something.  Lost his ability to communicate, sounds like a kitchen chef with the insults.

:tongue:

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Haha Mitchel.  I am glad to see you are still here keeping us on the straight and narrow. I do hope that gentleman can enjoy this hobby but lets face it, what we hope for and what is reality are often times two different things.

My first detector was a used GP 3500. It was like brand new, only a few days of use on it. Why? A big fat guy thought he would love metal detecting. Well he probably did but what he didn't love was getting up and down a lot. Saved me a lot of money over a new detector.

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Hayesman76,

This Goldbrick guy is a personal friend.

Merton ... are you out there on the boat now?

Mitchel

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