oneguy

Thanks everybody!  

Phrunt... being able to follow an excavator around sure helps....LMFAO!

RVpopeye....  definately blew their minds, they tried hard to not take it but when a dying man expresses his wishes they kinda had too? The bulk of my gold came from their ground and the permission tripled my usual 1 ozt/season(s).  The gold is rightfully theirs and I had the pleasure of finding it and being a short time custodian of the gold while in my possession.

Matt.... Old, tired, worn out so I don't work too hard, 2-3  5-6hr hunts per week. Excavator does the heavy lifting...lol

Hard Prospector... The Co. has taken an 1883 mine reopened and modernized it and currently producing good AU.  I hope that jar helps a little and they keep creating jobs and end up successful.  Their passion is contagious! 

First blast of the new portal and neighbor standing by almost completed new portal

Here's some of the gold found and also a mine tour.  Unfortunately due to health I was forced to stop early this season.  I did manage 129 bits this year and that helped put me over the 3,000 piece count.  Five seasons total was 17.5+ ozt. from Montana and Idaho.  Gold pan and jar pic is the same gold minus 1.5+ ozt. that has been given away and not in pics. Long story but I managed to hook up with the Co. and got permission to prospect on their ground. The Co. has never asked me for money or gold except for small samples to be analyzed but I have done the right thing and paid some cash and also gold.  All they've ever asked for was information, keep an eye out for float, quartz outcroppings, etc. They have pretty much let me runamuck.  They have treated me like I've been there for ever, best bunch of folks I've ever been around!!!!!  In that 5 years I've only dug 1 nuggie over an ozt., and it was the world famous (my little world) "Butterball" nugget that weighed in at 3.55ozt.  Here's a few shots from a mine tour the boys gave me and my neighbor last Wed.  It was the coolest thing and literally ended with a BANG!  We came across the boys setting a charge so we backed out probably 50yrds around a corner, then a side x side hauls by us and one of the Geo's says "there goes the guys that lit the fuse" then 20seconds later...BOOOOOOM.  That was the neatest feeling that can't be described...Thanks guys!!!  I gave the 15.5+ ozt. jar to the Co. as they've been so good to me over the years and the gold won't do me any good where I'm going. They tried to refuse the gold but I persisted they take it.  Sad sack looking guy with the blue hard hat is me weighing in at 138lbs.

  Pic with me next to old cabin is from the beginning and one of Reeses' spots over by Helena, think I found 2 dinks that trip?  Here's a couple specimens from Co. property.  Shot of the buggy we all rode around in.  Anyways...some random shots from the last 5 years doing what I love to do.....ENJOY it while you still can.....!!!

good luck

Hate the skunk!  My back started hurting just looking at that hole, took some more oxy and back to the couch for some serious sofa-surfing.......

congrats on beating the skunk streak.....

On 6/20/2023 at 4:04 PM, Gold Catcher said:

Also, for best performance the sdc should be used with the SP01. Assuming all settings are adjustes properly, the SP01 gets about 20-30% more performance out of the sdc.

Just my 2 c

GC

This SP01....????  Know nothing about this gizmo, does it just enhance volume or does it actually increase sensitivity and hopefully more depth?  Outside of the ergonomics issues with the SDC the only thing "I" would like to see is a tad more depth with the SDC....

PS.... Currently run the Coiltek 10x5 and best I can tell from just an air test is the 10x5 and stock coil were equal as far as depth goes....

TIA.......

Can't help with any laws, etc. but if you haven't bought your sluice yet I'd highly recommend a drop riffle sluice such as a leTrap or Angus Mackirk sluice.  They are very forgiving and cleanouts take seconds also pretty damned efficient imo. No longer do the dig-in-the-bank along the river stuff but will never part with my AM sluice or Garret Super Sluice pan.....

Coin shooter for many years before I switched to nugget hunting last 5 yrs but I've used most these tactics for nuggets and old coins.  Swing along at a moderate speed and when I find a nugget I start to slow down, find another and slow down even more. When nuggets start to pop up less and less I slow down even more and then I might swap machines (vlf to PI or vice-versa) and re-hunt the area. If the patch has all but dried up I'll hit the patch from a different angle like 90 degrees and CRAWL thru the area digging even more "iffies" than before until I'm satisfied I've done the best I can with the skill and gear I've got.....

"Plagued by dinks & rain".......  Welcome to the Club!!!!... lol

Tuff sledding there Reese.......

Sorry for your loss......

So far in my 5 seasons looking for AU I've found 2 scoops (1 belonged to Reese), 3 Estwing rock hammers, and following the drill crew around I've found a #2 shovel, 1 lock, and yesterday I found a real nice heavy duty tow chain the boys left laying around, all returned......lol

Head up Notellum Creek starting at the old bridge and head up stream 5-600yds until you see the old snag on your left. When you spot the old snag head directly across the creek, hop the barbed wire fence and you'll come to a bench....gold on the bench!  All you gotta do is dig!!!!!

Gerry Said "Yes the Rocky Mountains are certainly earning their name this winter with all the snow records."

Pretty normal (but loooong) winter here.  Don't expect any major runoff in my area plus I'm not anywhere near any rivers so won't affect my searching any.  There's snow higher up (pic) and still snow patches limiting where a guy can go as of today.  I hit 2 places today, one was a bust so moved and picked up 3 little guys for 1.4g.  Also grabbed 9-10 pieces of float for the geo's from a new spot for them to eyeball? So first hunt of 2023 season and we're on board.....  It was good to get out FINALLY......

52 minutes ago, dogodog said:

 Oddly I dig a lot of silver half's but rarely these. 

Noticed the exact same thing from my coin shooting days (26yrs worth)...  Have dug quite a few Barbers, Seated, Walkers, Kens and only 2 Bens.  Most likely a total mintage thing... I've never checked?  One of my favorite coins!

Cool finds!

LMAO!   Sorry Reese, you know me and how I love to see others not having any fun if I'm also not having any fun for the same reasons......  Thanks for the laugh and remember "it'll feel better when it quits hurting".

Seriously tho.... it be over soon enough, good luck over there!!!!!!

Took my new-to-me Goldmonster to a river not known for nuggets to try and learn it a little before I went to my gold area.  Next day I hit the gold fields and popped a 2.3g first day out...  I got lucky right outta the gate!

PS...second day out found another 2.3g nugg  

On 4/12/2023 at 11:31 AM, SwiftSword said:

I confess I know nothing about prospecting, but that doesn't seem to be a lot of gold for a whole summer's worth of detecting. Is this par for the course, or do you need better them thar hills? 

It really depends on many things like time spent in the field, experience, quality of the location(s), limiting physical conditions, weather, and how serious one takes the hobby? The man found gold and obviously had some fun, that's probably what 99% of us "hobby" guys are after?  Simple math: 9.5g @ approx $65/gram is $617.50 minus 20% if you sell is still $494.....  One well known member here told me he went 6yrs before 1st nugg, My first ever trip out for gold I popped a 2.3g nugg then 2nd day out another 2.3g nugg.  First thought was "there's nothing to this, I'm gonna be RICH!"  Things went south after those first 2 days...lol  Main thing is... he didn't get skunked and had fun and came home with some nice nuggies!!!!!

JMO's

Here's my playgrounds....  High mtn lake and snow pic same mtn 5 miles from the shack.... 

Kinda neat to see everybody's areas!

3 hours ago, dsb said:

  Got to looking at my home town park list and found a few small ones in 1850's neighborhoods that i never knew about.  Just small parcels but surrounded by historical homes.  And a divided street with 12 foot wide by 60 green strip down the middle that got me looking at the area to start.  

BEWARE the nice divided street with a big strip in the middle with nice old homes in neighborhood!!!  Found out the hard way yrs ago that the beautiful green dividing strip is where EVERBODY shits their damned dogs.....lol

Wow...  Been in and around numismatics/coin collecting off and on since childhood and never seen or heard of "hobo nickels"...Thanks!!!!!!

On 4/5/2023 at 9:17 PM, Doc Bach said:

That's a fine grouping of clean nickels that you have in your display even minus the elusive three legged buff that you parted with.What you need to find now is a Hobo nickel to highlight the collection.

Hobo nickel..???  Is that the fake 3-leggeds that are apparently many out there?

On 4/5/2023 at 11:58 AM, schoolofhardNox said:

That was me 😄 Gorgeous 3 leg Buffalo. Thanks again for that. I want to move to Montana and detect there. Come on down to MA if you want to dig corroded nickels 😄. Your area produces pristine nickels compared to anywhere around me. Great looking coins! Nice collection of nickels.

Yeah...that 3- legger came out in pretty nice shape?  Did you ever run it to the coin shop to see what it may be worth despite the slight cleaning and environmental condition? Country I live in is very "young" so not many real old coins compared to back east. It breaks my heart to see OLD coins from back east totally shot like many are?  I do clean all my nickels except war nickels with a hard rub with steel wool as they all come out of the ground looking like a brown turd. Generally speaking they are all worth only a nickel anyways unless you find that one rare coin in good condition....

I just left Missoula today (chemo sessions again) and was noticing quite a few of the areas I used to hunt when in town and it brought back some fond memories of many of the great finds I made from the coin shooting days.....

Take care SofHK and glad you're happy with the coin...!!!!!!!

Know nothing about the detectors you mention.  As far as nickels go, back in my coin shooting days with my Etrac I'd hunt certain public parks, schools, etc. etc. and after several hunts I'd get an idea of the overall situation as to how hard an area has been hit and also an idea of the expertise of previous hunters and possibly the gear they used?  After a few areas I'd get a feel for the location and notice things like most silver gone or maybe few coins in the surface to 6" range, etc....little clues.  When silver was super sparse or "cherry picked" I'd focus on nickel targets/#'s and start popping V's and Buff's (and beaver tails).  Most guys, especially in parks, scrim out nickel range targets because of trash.  LOTS of nickels left out there guys along with the occasional gold ring that turns up in same range and many do.  I called it "nickel knocking" and had a blast chasing the nickels and my last 2 season chasing nickels I'd average maybe 250/season with approximately 10% being buffs/V's/war nickels.  Best place for nickels is curb strips because of way less beaver tails and general trash you'd find in more public areas like parks/schools etc.  Another benefit hunting curb strips is the quality of the nickels is generally much better because most homeowners don't use fertilizer on that (city) curb strip.  I had one city park that had lots of buffs/V nickels but whatever fertilizer they used just trashed the nickels so I quit hunting there entirely even though lots of V's and buffs turned up. Focus on the nickels and hit those curb strips.....have a bunch of fun!   I guess my theory on why so many nickels is that most guys scrim them out to avoid trash...???

PS...only truly RARE coin I've ever dug was a 3-legged 1937D buff in great shape for a dug nickel because the curb strip never saw any fertilizer. Sold that 3 legger to a forum member on here.....

Pic is very last coin shooting season (2017?) "keeper" nickels. Been on gold nuggs ever since...

Your story reminded me of back in my coinshooting days where I had a dog attack me from across the street.  Dog comes full bore at me and dog owner enjoying seeing her dog go after me.  I was packing my 31" ball handled Lesche shovel and after the first swing trying hit her dog THEN she tries to call him off and also saying "he doesn't bite" (they all say that).  I never did connect as my movement was limited because my headphones were still attached to me, detector on the ground, and that dog was fast. She got over there in a big hurry once the shovel swinging came into play....lmao!!!!

I always hear how you can mod the 5000.  But how much extra $ does all the mods cost in addition to the not cheap cost of the 5000 before the mods....  maybe the cost of 2 5000's...?????

jmo....go with the 6.  Had a 5000 and swung it for about 10-12hrs and quickly decided to sell it.  All the stupid cords, batteries, harness, bungee, headphones, etc. always getting hung up in the brush constantly drove me batty. The 5 definitely has the smoother threshold over the 6 imo.  The light weight 6 is a pleasure to swing compared to the 5 and you don't have to be tethered to the thing.  One other thing.... With all the multitude of different settings available on the 5 it would be my guess that quite a bit of learning time would be needed to fully get the most out of the 5...????  Didn't have mine long enough to find out...lol   JMO's