strick

I packed my 2300 with me deer hunting this year. We usually go into the Alps from Long Gulch Lake over the top of the ridge and down into South fork Coffee creek. We camp at the head waters of S Fork at about 6500 feet. Never found a piece of gold nor did I get a buck this year. I'm not surprised because my pick was clanking around on my pack were ever I went.  But I was more after gold then Deer. You should have seen the look on my buddies face when I pulled out the 2300 from my back pack when we reached our base camp. That was worth the price of the machine alone. I only saw evidence of one digging the whole time I was in that region of the alps and that was close to the truck. Years ago we used to go into the Hayden ridge area directly behind the Callahan store. Wish I was into gold back then. It truly is vast and beautiful country over there.

Pic 1 is the top of dead man peak looking east (Note Mt Shasta in the background)

Pic 2 is looking south into dead man gulch

Pic 3 is looking North down Long Gulch toward the Marble mountains

Pic 4 is a bottle of whiskey we left in a hollow log 12 years prior. It was still delicious 

Strick

Jason, Thanks for taking the time to film that and experiment with the settings.  The only thing I need now is the coordinates of that particular nugget !  All kidding aside keep posting so the newbies like me can reduce our learning curve to the bare minimum with this new machine. My favorite part is when your dog heard you get excited and came over to investigate. My little dog (the one in my avatar) goes everywhere with me 24/7 

strick

Thanks fellas,  This spot is in the lower oak dotted foot hills (between Fresno and Sacramento)  but closer to Jackson    has lots of old workings from the Chinese. I cant find any info about the size of the gold in area.  I guess I'll still keep plugging along. Was going to head up to Plumas county this Friday for the day Weather permitting.  It's fun even if they are small I guess. I've been working close to the old workings but it's time to go on a walk about with the powerful ZED.

strick

His and Hers nuggets maybe?  Neat pieces Russ.

Yea and we all know which one the lady gets

strick

Had the day off so I went back up to the foot hills. Second real hunt with the ZED and I'm really liking it. Today I was using Lunk's settings...and it worked! Even on high smoothing I was still able to hear these dinks. Thanks Kieth for sharing your settings.  I dug so many deep bullets today. It's so disappointing when you hear that deep solid target and then it comes up a mushroomed bullet. When am I gonna find that big nugget?

strick

Nice work! Mountain Lions and nuggets...it don't get any better then that. If it were me out there the lion would have ate my terrier and all I would have found was the tobacco can lol. Seriously that is a nice nugget. I have yet to get anything near that size.

strick

 

Sure wish I could find a girlfriend like this?

Hard to say they all look the same LOL

strick

My wife loves her AT Gold

Thank You Mr Garrett RIP

strick

No need for Rye Patch when you have That Patch! nice work Rick!

strick

Thanks Rick,

All cleaned up and ready for their photo shoot. The two on the right were with the ZED. Three on the left with the 2300. Finding Gold is Sooo Hard! This is three full days of heavy hunting. Having hunted and fished most of my life I will say that gold nuggets are the most elusive of all quarry. I'm learning to like the ZED. The smaller one was only 2 inches deep the larger was about 6 inches deep. This was my second time trying it. The first was in the foothills in a high trash area and I gave up quickly and switched to a VLF. Cant wait to get back out there!

strick

Thats some really nice gold...big stuff too! Congrats.

strick

Sometimes experimentation reveals things the designers never dreamed of. Thanks Lunk, serious food for thought there.

Kinda like building a rocket ship or new fighter jet...give it to the test pilots and they will push it as far at it can go.

strick

Thanks Lunk for the tips cant wait to try them out.

strick

Rick,

One of those nuggets looks very familiar! It was a pleasure meeting you and Robin and thanks for taking Lisa and I under you wing for a couple days. It's was very enlightening watching experienced prospectors work a patch. Next time I'll bring more beer and chairs! 

Chuck

Queen Elizabeth's nipple ring?

It's apparent you know what your doing. Just needed the right detector in your hands!

strick

Congrats on the SDC. No nugget is safe now. Fold it up and place it in the pouch behind the truck seat..... throw it in a day pack and go for a long hike up into a rugged area.....Detect under water.... Spray the whole thing down with water  They are awesome machines.

strick

Fred- sorry to hear about your problems with the detector battery. Wishing you a speedy electronic recovery so you can hit the fields ASAP.

strick

My question is why did it take so long to balance it out?

Looks like he is running in "normal ground". Should have been in "difficult ground" if it is making that much noise? I only have a couple hours on my 7000 but I was getting similar reactions in the area I was in with "normal ground" He might have been able to balance it out better with more  tracking in that mode? 

strick

If you have a ctx you will notice that the clamps that hold the battery to the detector on the 7000 are much firmer then the ones on the ctx. Input from dealers and customers.

strick

You went on a hunch and scored! nice work Rick and Happy Birthday!

strick

I was in the foothills Sat and could not use normal "ground", it was reacting to hot rocks regularly.  Put it in difficult  "ground" and it was much quieter.  I had smoothing off sensitivity at 9-12.  I buried a target (bird shot) about 8 inches and tested the unit in the three different ground types. Big differences in what you hear. It's going to take some getting used to. It's heavy, bulky, hard to fit into tight places especially on the side of a hill filled with manzaaneta.  But it is very sensitive and I found some very deep bullets deeper then I have ever found. No Gold. It was hot and I was sweating like a dog. It is not a machine that can be used were there is much trash. At one point I put it back in the truck and grabbed my 2300 just so I could have something easier to swing with a smaller coil as not to hit so much trash.  I'm thinking the GPZ 7000 is going to be my "wide open places machine"  what ever that means.

strick

Welcome to the forum Adam and congrats on the SDC...you wont regret it. Forks of Salmon....now there's one far away place.  That road from Cecilville used to be something else 30 years ago. I imagine they have  improved it ?

strick

There's gotta be a kid building sand castles that you could buy one from?

strick

Hey Lunk Thanks for posting. I wanna be a ZEDHEAD too but work is keeping me in the bay area. Just got off the phone with Gerry and he told me of your success...see you in April! or sooner...

strick