Gerry in Idaho

As mentioned before. The more mineralized dirt in the cup, the harder it is for coil to see the exact same target.  That's why I train folks to not grab a bunch of soil on the weaker signals.  Mineralized ground (even a little in the cup/scoop) can mask a signal. 

Take it a step farther.  I have recovered small gold nuggets that were in a red stain and when I was the red stain away, I can hear the same small nugget much easier.  Heck sometimes, the small stained nugget reads as Iron on the ID.  I clean the stain off and the gold magically ID correctly.

Great read.

Moisture in the ground is killer even on the top PI's performance wise.  Trying to hear and sniff out the small pickers on those pounded patches is really tough during normal dry conditions.  You guys did well for your efforts.

Sorry to hear Old Red getting crankie with you.  The bad part now...knowing her ability to totally shut down with no warning and you not wanting to get far off the road.  Sometimes those are worse than a gold skunkin.

At least you were able to spend a little time with Lucky Larry and tell the same old stories.  This time though, you were able to make a new one to tell down the road.  I'm most certain Larry will be telling it much better than you though. LOL.

Thanks for the update.

Thanks for taking the time to write up about Rye Patch area from a newer prospector.  Your near 1/4 ozt of gold results are better than most who go there.  Sure the seasoned veterans running the top machine can find more, but we're not the norm.

I still feel the ground is pretty saturated in many spots, but being mid May, it's on the upswing from here.  Still quite a few wet spots fooling the detectors (even the high end ones) and those ears listening for the faint signals.  It's a learning curve everyone goes through and so now you have done it.

The 6.8 grams is actually good, what was the bigger pieces if you don't mind?

The GPZ dumbbell does have those rare advantages, but I prefer the lighter GPX-6000/Axiom myself.

Thanks for sharing.

Glad we are getting good lighter options and I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience.  Hopefully the next new version of GPZ-7000 will have lighter coils.  Well they might as well make the complete detector lighter as well.

There has been some really great comments on here from known members recently.

I'm not going to go into details and get long winded, but I see the writing on the walls as well.

Many moons ago I became a dealer after using detector for 20+ yrs and seeing (back then) many dealerships not offering real hands on.  My 25 yrs as a Multi Line Dealer is getting harder and harder.

Interestingly, I say to those manufactures who have been slowly cutting us old school dealers out and pushing Big Box stores and wanting us to sign up for a class on "how to sell on Amazon".  Sorry... you find someone else to do your advertising then.

Rob, Doc and a few others of us are still trying to hold on...but it's getting harder.

As for selling detectors at MSRP?  Heck, that hasn't happened in 15 yrs.  Selling at MAP (which is approx 20% off MSRP) is even tough in todays world.

16 hours ago, strick said:

Gerry That was a fun trip... even snowed a little if I remember right. Lisa was very happy with that chevron nugget. We have not been to Rye patch for a long time. I remember looking at your trailer and thought this might just fit a side by side in it so I found one just like yours lol. We still have it and it makes trips to the Sierras now mostly. Thanks for bringing back some great memories. 

strick

Stick,  You getting to go detecting with that nugget, you're a lucky man, gold already in your hand.

Glad you 2 enjoyed your training and I can see the gold in her hands, so I know she's doing well.

Yes that Desert Fox Toy Hauler is quite an impressive home on wheels.

I've since downsized but will be getting a van (hopefully next season).

10 hours ago, LuckyLundy said:

Well I thought I’d shake off the dust from myself and prospecting gear this last weekend.  I wanted to keep it simple and easy for the first trip of the year and headed to Rye Patch.  I met the whole Gang from Idaho, good group of Men.  Ground conditions was OK and will improve each dry day.  I found it hard to get my coil over something gold in color, yet enjoyed the chase and the abundance of Horny Toads enjoying the Sun as I was.  My second day, I called it a hunt at mid afternoon and loaded up making sure my one little nugget found a safe place in my truck for the 2 hour drive home back to Reno.  Until the next hunt!

LuckyLundy

Thanks for pointing out the hot spots to a few of my Idaho boys.  Hopefully they entertained you with a Baked Tater dinner/drinks.  Yeah, I told them the soil conditions would not be good, but as you said, sometimes it's just a  matter of dusting off the winter webs and starting to get focused for the season.

Glad you were able to take a picker home with you.

While I have been down south of the border scooping a different kind of gold, I was reading some of the reports of all the records of Snow coming down.

Some of the videos and pictures is just amazing and seeing how folks cope with and live through it.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/03/15/california-snowfall-record/11435377002/

Then, I got to thinking about when all that snow melts and those creeks in gold bearing areas will be at levels most have never seen.  Then to go a step further, some of the rivers should just be roaring with life and movement.  Heck I already heard a few washings in AZ that typically don't see much movement, were actually exposing some new layers and a few nuggets were being recovered.

I know for a fact what a good gully washer can do in desert regions, as I witnessed such event at Rye Patch, NV one early Spring (April 2015) while I was getting ready for a 3 Day Field Training for customers.  When driving in, I noticed the roads below were really torn up and a couple washes with deep cuts and ruts.  When I got south of the burn barrel, there was one section of exposed bedrock.  I figured there had to be a few pickers in there and as soon as folks started swinging, sure enough.

Pics are of a lucky lady and her 1st score with a GB-2.  After she swung over it, she looked down and there it was stuck in a crack, finally exposed after thousands of years. 

Later in the class she was able to score another chunkier nugget with some nice character.

Do you think the record snows and rains will be a big benefit to for gold hunters or just a few?  How many of you folks do sluicing, crevicing and other gold recovery methods?  I would expect later this season to be fantastic for most who are traditional Prospectors of gold.  I really don't know as my only means of gold recover has been with a detector.

Yes I'll try to get some pics of a few Au rings I recovered down south...just trying to get caught up with customers 1st.

Good to see you finding some nice color in the desert over the winter.  Yes the Rocky Mountains are certainly earning their name this winter with all the snow records.  I talked to a few customers down in AZ this winter and they said it was actually pretty cool and windy for much of it, so their gold counts were a little off as well.  At least in AZ you can still do it.  Hopefully next season I'll be in the position to head down for a month.  

Thanks for sharing.

At least you were able to get out, put a little time on your machine and clean up from some of the messy folks.  Sorry the genuine gold did not show its shiny face, but sometimes gold come in many forms and ways.  Thanks for sharing.

Been lucky to travel a little with metal detector.

Below - 1st pic is Positano, Italy and I detected the beach.  Found some coins and a sterling ring.

2nd pic (below) is my 1st ever one ounce gold nugget.  Found on the runway at Ganes Creek, Alaska.

3rd pic (below) is from Australia and the hot ground.

4th pic is from Bahamas

Detecting England in the early Spring Rains and some of the success from the group trip.

Interior of Mexico and the soldiers watching over/protecting the gold

Anyone been around old mining should know what this is...MX

Lake Tahoe and the rock statues watching the gold.

I was able to earn a little yellow heavy metal from Lake Tahoe.

Last pic - My CTX-3030 says something metallic in the rock.

Started detecting in the early 70's and was very skilled at old Coins, CW Artifacts, and even found a handful of gold rings .  Early 90's (20 yrs after I started detecting for Coin/Relics/Jewelry), I purchased my 1st gold detector (GM-VSAT) and went at least 6 trips to Eastern Oregon trying to find gold.  Ended the year with ZERO.

Next year I upgraded the detector to GM-III and went to the exact same areas I previously hunted with the VSat.  Why?  My buddies were finding nuggets with theirs at those same locations.  At the end of the year, I have ZERO nuggets.

3rd year of owning a gold detector with ZERO gold nuggets to show for my efforts, I've pretty much written them off and decided to stick with Coin/Relic/Beach detectors.  The better half of me (my wife) advised me to attend a class on how to use a gold detector.  Say what darling?  I've over 20 yrs experience and dug so many coins/relics/rings, even been to England with Jimmy Sierra and killed it on Romans.  Why do I need a class?  Yes I was a hard-head.

That May of about 1994 I paid $100 and attended a half day speaking session at Rye Patch, NV and listened to a gent by the name of Gordan Sahara talk to us about "using gold detectors to find gold".  He never did any hands on training with any of us, just stood up and talked and went over the motions with his own VLF detector.

I took the guy and his wife out to dinner in Winnemucca that night and listened to him some more.  He informed me, I was using my 20+ yrs of success/experience of hunting Coins/Relics/Rings the wrong way and I needed to toss all of that knowledge and thinking out the door.  Long story short, I was listening for the wrong things and did not have the right coil control or mindset.

How much did I learn from that 1/2 day group session at the burn barrel of Rye Patch?  I went home with new hope and fresh mindset and new desires.  A couple weeks later, Memorial Weekend I went to Sumpter, OR to the same exact location and dug 13 nuggets in 11 hours.  Been hooked ever since.

Moral of the story.  Get off your hi horse of what you think you know and listen to the folks that are regularly doing it with Success.  Watch them, listen to them, study them and hopefully they invite you along some time.  Or you can waste so many tanks of gas, flat tires and weekends digging trash.

My 20+ yrs of Success...chasing different targets in different conditions and being damn good at it, was my own demise.  Along with my upbringing of...I was a young stud Marine USMC back then and so I was taught to have confident in myself and capabilities.

You know how the joke goes. - A young bull standing the top of the hill with an older wise bull and they looking down the meadow below at all the cows.  The young bull says to the older bull, "hey, lets run down there and have our way with one of those cows".  The old bull stretches, sighs and then says to the young bull.  "No son, lets leisurely walk down to those cows and have our way... with them all"

For gold nugget hunters new to the game, my best advice is find that special person who knows the ropes and continually has success.  Become acquainted with that person, buy them breakfast or dinner or etc and get to know them.  Maybe, just maybe they might take you under their wing.  Be sure to bring them something to the table as many of them are tired of being taken advantage of their knowledge.

Good Luck

Thanks Mike for posting and hope to see you this summer.  Tell Sally I said hello and I'll still impressed to death with that nugget she found at Rye Patch with her GPZ-7000 while we were giving the class.

Some of my customers are making snowmen down there.  I have Brad, Jim and another guy (camped around the burn barrel).  Another guy from Boise, ID (Rob) is heading down Thursday and I think Ray, Faustino and one other, is also heading down this weekend.

I heard Lunk was running around with the Axiom and scored a couple yesterday.

The ground will still have a quite a bit of moisture, so stay on the ridge tops and keep your GAIN/SENS moderate.

Since I just returned from Cancun, I need to weigh all my gold jewelry and get caught up with customers before I head down.

Crazy it's already mid April and so many of us have yet to find our 1st gold nugget for 2023, well at least me anyways.  That's exactly why I had to get out of dodge and head south across the border.

Have fun guys and if you need any detectors or coils, I can ship them C/O at the US Post Office in Imlay.

If you stop in Mill City (it's not a city at all, just a couple buildings) say hello to Trudy at the Star Trading Post.  If you really want a treat ask her about the Prime Rib and Lobster Dinners (you must pre register).  Tell her Gerry's Detectors from Boise says "Hello".

If you are around the dam, stop in and see Danny at Gold Diggers Pizzeria and Saloon.  Treat yourself to the coldest beer in the area and one of the best hand made pizzas you'll set your lips to.  Danny, is the grandson of famous Ed Spears.  Tell him, Gerry's Detectors said "hello".

I forgot the name of the girl who offers sight seeing trips, but I know you won't be disappointed.   It's amazing the imagery you can see under moonlight.  Dang, were did I put that card?

Have fun everyone and be sure to have good quality tires, a spare and know how to change it. 

Fantastic is the word.  Your 1st gold has finally shown itself. 

What is most common (and it was in your desire as well) is the fact that most folks go many trips and even some a couple years or longer before they find the gold.  Heck, even myself was the 3rd year of trying and purchasing different detectors before it happened.

Now that you have a nice chunky specimen, be sure to not expect all signals to scream as loud.  Practice to find the tiny gold and listen for smaller targets...so you don't miss the majority of nuggets.

Great to see the enthusiasm and keep the swing going.

Well earned.

1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

Gerry should carry these for his beach hunts. Can’t believe the store actually sold out of them, probably alot of disappointed people out there for it.

 

Yes, I purchased everything they had, so they are SOLD OUT.  I'm looking for Field Testers = DetexFarts & DetexFlirts.

The DetexFarts need no experience required since we don't want to be affiliated with a dealer.

The DetexFlirts need no experience with a detector, but purple and pink hair is preferred.  If you have your own Social Media page.

April 1st was yesterday....

16 hours ago, Reg Wilson said:

TTT  Looks like phrunt has lost his crown for the 'king of detector collectors'.

Sorry, but I can't help but ask; why on earth do you need so many detectors? Are you opening a detector museum?

Hey,  Step back Reg, it's guys like Simon who keep dealers in business.  You know the saying..  The man who dies with the most detectors, his dealer wins....😆

10 hours ago, geof_junk said:

That is about the same size as my single largest gold specimen find, but I only got 16+ oz gold.  I suspect his detector was better (Is the right Gerry) . No it not, there is  more contaminates of GOLD in his, lucky bugger. If I add the extra weight of gold ( it showed a lot more when broken up) it looks about right for the volume. How could you sell mine for it true value without smashing it up and melting it.

 

 

 

 

Nice rock of gold my friend.  Have you had your dentist give it an X-ray?  16+ oz is a handsome payday.  Don't tell me you crushed it?

11 hours ago, Doc Bach said:

Piss poor isn't it.

As a dealer for 25 yrs, I would have never expected to be in this situation.   It drives me crazy as my customers who've been loyal for so long...I have no answers for them?  My list is shrinking each day as customers find them from other sources.  I'm ok with that...as a detectorist, I understand the desire to use the next best tool (detector).  I have noticed an uptick in my Deus-II sales as well.

As for the military discount a select few dealers offer.  Those sales, are a partial loss of profit for both the dealer and the manufacture.  The manufacture only gives a partial credit (towards more detector purchases).  In the end, the dealer and manufacture both make a little less money.

We all make mistakes and hopefully lessons will be learned and down the road, things will get better.

Man what a monster of a nugget and the Equinox 800 did the trick.  80+ ozt at $2000US = $160,000 just in gold US Dollars.  Collectors value could go half a million if a couple folks get excited.  Good on him and his family.

Thanks for sharing.

I've had so many people in my 25 yrs of selling detectors, ask why I do not sell them.  I tell them the tools I sell are the tools I know that work and can show folks how they work.  When the big gold rush in Africa yrs back with all the GPX-4500 sales and Commader coils selling for $1000+ each, GPX-4500's selling for $10,000+ on eBay... I had many Africans ask me about my Field Training and could I show them their long range locator?  Sorry, I can't train them.

Sales of metal detectors is walking a fine line, but at least I feel comfortable selling what I do, as I know how it works and have had great success over the years.

Sometimes, I get labeled as "Gerry, all you do is selling a dream".  OK,  I guess it's no different than selling a gold claim, selling a fishing pole, selling a house.  We buy things...we dream about and have expectations of Success.

Go online today and you can buy a wife. 

You were in a tough spot Mitchel and took it well.  Not much more you could really do.  he has your experience and knowledge so hopefully he does a little more research this time.

Total shock to me as I just on the phone with him about 10 days ago for an hour.  We were going to meet in April for a RR hunt and then I was going to show him around Rye Patch area for the June outing.  Monte was one of those guys who's memory was sharp as a razor blade when it come to detectors and his sites/finds.  He/I hunt some of the same locations in Oregon and he always had nicknames for them.

Man...just shocked to hear this.  I know he was in and out of the hospital quite a bit recently as I also was chatting it up with him last month as well.  But I did not expect to hear this so soon.

His desire/passion  to hunt with a small coil in iron infested sites was top notch performance.  One of the few folks who when he spoke, I was all ears as I know he's been around detectors since the late 60's.  One of the few who still enjoyed helping others become better with their detectors and or techniques.

You must be proud Monte Jr. as your dad was/is in a very elite ground of detectorists.

Prayers for you and the rest of family.

And yet Minelab management wonders why dealers (especially those who promote the hobby and such models) get so irritated.

1st it was All Sales to Dealers Only and those dealers could only sell and advertise in their regions.  

Then it was changed to All sales to Dealers Only and dealer advertise anywhere in the US.

Which then lead to most sales to Dealers and Only Go Find (beginner models) to Retail.

Then it changed to most sales to Dealers and select detectors to Retail Big Box.

To now, some sales to Dealers and Minelab Prefers to deal a big portion to Retail.

When Minelab offered a class on how to sell on Amazon, I realized the writing on the walls.

No worries, it's not illegal they say....just unethical in my mind.

Different management with different styles and ideas.  I'll get used to it, or I'll fade away.

4 minutes ago, Doc Bach said:

Because Jerry we need to leave those Historically significant items for the up and coming stuffy and overly zealous Archeologist of the future.As well as for others to enjoy of course.

So I'm now...I'm either labeled as a thief who stole history from the future or....I'm label a lazy a$$ liter bug.   One thing is for certain, as I'm becoming of age, I realize trying to please everyone is just as crazy as trying to educate everyone.

On 3/16/2023 at 12:38 PM, dig4gold said:

That's a bit sad really. Don't suppose you bothered to pick up all the broken glass from the smashed up bottles but just left it laying about out there.

D4G

No, I was a young kid back in the late 60's and early 70's so trash dumps in the desert were very common.  One of the best places to go target practicing back then.  As we get older and more wise, we become educated and some of us change our ways.  

Today, so many folks dig up a piece of trash and toss it back on the ground.  Whereas those of us who've learned over time, we tend to dig up a piece of trash and pack it out, so we don't find it again.

Yes in some areas and laws (which I don't agree with) if you do dig up a nail or rusty tobacco tin, you are supposed to leave it there and not remove it?  Why is that.

On 3/15/2023 at 6:45 AM, deathray said:

What you wrote up Gerry, is why I bought a 900. My Deus is on life support, so ready for new vlf. If the manti had a 6 inch coil, I would have bought one...had one with my name on it, passed on it. Now...if it would only stop raining/ snowing here in Cali...the winter from hell

I've been in discussion with Trevor at CoilTek and they will be working on a smaller coil for the Manticore.  It's going to be Ellip in shape as well.  Hopefully they can get it out later this year.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Yes the winter this season has been so annoying and long.  Here it is almost April and I have yet to break an ounce of nuggets, heck I've yet to find a nugget in 2023.  To be exact, I have yet to even dig a gold ring this year.  Now that's most certainly not my style.