oneguy

Last week I was looking at 14" of the white crap and below zero temps.  This week snow all gone, sun shinning, and 60+ degrees so I headed out for more cleanup work on some gold.  Anyways...had fun, got some sun, and outta the shack!!!!  The big 6 had a whopping weight of .270g...!!!  Big or small...I love em all.

Me thinks you are SOL on that "just bling detector".  Due to different sizes, weight, gold or silver, depth, purity, etc. etc., your "bling" is gonna be all over the map from low to high.  I believe you'll just have to stick with what all "bling" detectors unfortunately have to do and that is dig it all..... jmo

19 minutes ago, phrunt said:

  Are they good eatin'?  Such a big animal would have some decent steaks and drumsticks.

 

Suprisingly enough they are VERY tasty...!!!!  Imo best description I can give is a cross between venison and pork, a white meat, and about the same texture as a porkchop...?  They are not really that big, usually 100-125lb range, big cat 150lbs+

Here's some good pics from a few winters ago off one of my trail cams.  If you want more cat pics I got tons, just not sure if Steve wants the stuff on this forum....

Pretty nice hunting...!!!!!

Gonna call it for the season.  These are the last little bits I could work out on a location cleanup before the rain came today. Already driven through a dusting of snow and it's getting cold with short days....that time of year.  Ended up with 8ozt. and count was 484 pieces for the season.  Had a blast.  Thanks to everybody for the comments and likes, etc.!!!!!

1 hour ago, klunker said:

 Perhaps Mr. H. should have a Lost and Found section where you could post things like

"Found peanut butter jar full of large gold nuggets PM Klunker, care of this forum."

LOL....yeah, like someone is gonna return a peanut butter jar full of big nuggets....lmao!!!!

 

Forgot to mention that I've also somehow managed to lose a rake over near Helena and have been back a couple times since hunting and also trying to find that rake.... GONE....lol

Couple weeks ago I'd found a 12 grammer and a couple tiddlers.  I decided it was about lunch time and also time to admire the big 12 grammer.  So while I'm eating a sandwich and looking into my vile at the 12'er I notice a small piece of wood or brush along with my gold in the vile so I blow out the debris, finish my sandwich and proceed to hunt some more.  10-15 min later I find another tiddler and reach for the vile and it's gone!!!  I panic as it's got the 12'er in there...but I think it's most likely where I sat down to eat?  Anyways...I go back to the spot and look around for a few and finally spot some cracked plastic in the brushy dirt....MY VILE!!!!  I'd managed to apparently step on it, cracked it, and ground it into the dirt BUT it didn't completely break and my booty was all in there.  That was a close one......

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

  I'd rather carry one than two.

Phrunt...  You own every detector ever made?...lol  Gotcha...(couldn't resist a poke...lol)

I'm loving my new-to-me ill handling boat anchor with cardboard in between the batteries SDC so it'll be with me for a long time....lol  Like to learn the one(s) I use to the best of my abilities before any switch ups.....jmo

Weather here has just been too damn nice to call the season over just yet. Managed to get out this week on Tues. and Wed. and scrounged up 2 pieces on Tues. and 15 on Wed.  Supposed to be another nice week ahead after rain this weekend?  Hopefully a few more hunts before I call it....

9 hours ago, klunker said:

Well Gerry, I would have replied sooner but I misplaced my keyboard.

 Years ago when I was falling timber I would carry a stout single bit axe for driving wedges. I was forever leaving it behind and loosing it. One day my falling partner said "did you loose your axe again?" I told him "yup. I have a hard axe to follow."

LMAO....  yeah, I've lost a few falling axes when I was falling. Tried florescent paint and that's good for about 2 days...lol

Yeah....I've left my pick half way down the mtn next to a dig and had to abort the location once I got there that I'd intended to hunt that day. I surely wasn't gonna hike up the mtn twice so found my pick and went to a plan B....

Been nugget shooting 3 seasons now and have found 1 scoop and 2 Estwing rock hammers so far..... and lost one el cheapo pick my first season....

Nice gold you got there....!!!!!

Nice hunt/gold and pics!  One of these days I'll get down there. I wouldn't know how to act on flat ground with very little brush...it'd be heaven!

Nothing special but the weather is GREAT right now so I got out and was able to get a few tiddlers this week. Got skunked on Monday, Thurs. I stumbled onto this little patch for 24 bits. Then today (Fri.) I was gonna hammer the new found patch and dug my butt off and only got 2 TINY bits...then lost one of them!....lol  Anyways...good to get out and I'll take them if I can find them!

Nice stuff!!!!!  I hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I do mine.....

20 hours ago, mn90403 said:

 

 

Do you have any idea how much time you spent detecting over the season?

I get out twice a week on average.  Got skunked today...  Tomorrow it'll be out cutting firewood (another type of gold). Weather here fantastic today!!!!!

Thanks everyone for the comments!!!  I'll be talking about this season for many years...."yeah I remember back in 2020"...lol  Doubt it'll ever happen again as things just kinda came together this season, but that's what keeps us going......

Thanks again and good luck out there......

Almost done this season but may get in a few more hunts. My 3rd and best season detecting for gold. Gold is from Montana and Idaho from 5 different locations. Total count was 436 pieces, 119 with the SDC and 317 with the Monster.  SDC got the 3 big ones and also the bulk of the total weight. Big nugget weighed 3.55ozt, then 25+gram, and 12 gram (3 nugget pic).  SDC also found me my 1st "pocket" where I'd had a 20 piece day with 14 coming out of a 6" wide x 8" deep hole...THAT was FUN!!!  Total weight (so far) is 7.66ozt.  Nuggets came from public, private and permission ground.  The Monster still amazes me and the addition of the SDC really helped make this season by far my best.  Thanks to everybody on the forum for all the info/stories etc. and to Steve for hosting and maintaining the site!!!!

I gave a few rings/jewelry away, both gold and silver, and sold a couple (I was after only OLD coins). Sold all my old tokens for $300 to a collector, cleaned clad got run thru the banks and exchanged for paper, and I'm about ready to sell 200 detected mercs and rosies that are common dates and not worthy of going in my collection (got bunches in there already). Also might sell my 3-legged Buffie which is the only truly rare old coin I've ever dug....?

Into gold now and getting older so it's time to thin out some stuff that no longer holds my interest much?  It's also nice to reap some financial reward from the hobby even tho all my past and present machines have more than paid for themselves several times over.

Bottom line...sell some of your stuff that now longer holds your interest?  Nice collection(s) you have there!!!!!

Have the Ultimate 13" along with several other coils for my Etrac.  Rarely use it but nice to have when the situation rises to use it. Very lightweight and performs well, no real depth improvement over Minelab stock 11" coil.  I did recover several deep Barber dimes on edge in a location I'd hit several times before with other coils and I believe the Ultimate might have been the reason why I got them...???  Doubt you'd regret the Ultimate 13.....jmo

Might look into the telescoping shaft?  Phrunt, I like your mini Monster setup a lot!  I've just recently started backing up the SDC with the Monster and find myself doing it more and more. I will be improving the process before next season.....

think what I'll try next before any equipment changing is to take those small flags with the wire shaft and mark 10-20 targets with the SDC...then grab the Monster and check marked targets and pulling the flags up as I go?  That alone will shorten the back and forth PITA of grabbing different machines.....

just a thought.....

Yes...  I've been thinking of doing the same thing as lately I've been using the Monster as a kinda "follow up" machine once I find a target with the SDC.  I hear a fluctuation in the threshold then dig a small 3-4" scrape then hit with the Monster 5" coil to get a better idea of trash or treasure....saves a LOT of digging and time recovering tiny crap using the Monster disc?  Problem for me is the Monster is my primary gold getter due to the trashy areas I normally hunt so I hate to shorten it up for "pin pointing/disc".  Now I just turn on both machines, leave the Monster in one spot, detect in cleaner areas with the SDC and find target, then go back and grab Monster and check, wash rinse repeat.  Kinda a PITA but still saves me lots of digging small crap and also pinpointing.  I do carry a ProFind which is fine for the bigger stuff and helps but I rarely use it and generally when pinpointing use the divide and conquer scoop method....

So far this season the SDC has recovered 25% of my piece count but has also got the bulk of the weight (biggest/deepest).  pretty impressed so far also as to how small the bits it can hit on are!

Bottom line is a hot VLF and a PI can work very well together (imo).  I guess I could scrounge up another 5" coil, affix to the short old broom handle and then make a quick swap out in the brush...????   hmmmm?

I'd just duct tape flat plastic extensions on the existing stand if you really want a better stand...???

No longer coin shoot but still have my go-to coin shooter...the mighty Etrac!!!

2 months left here (Montana) for sure....3 months left if we're lucky?