strick

I bought a cheap bladder pack at Big 5 for 25 bucks. Cut off the shoulder straps waist band and attached it to the Mine lab harness with rivet's. Been working ok but I took out the bladder as I found it to be easier to just put a couple water bottles in the pack then to have to deal with the water bladder. strick

Used to restore boats...somewhere I have a zillion pictures. Now it's gardening and fixing stuff that other people break... Love that clown on the third youtube down He's got some voice... just spent 45 min on youtube! Oh yea fly fishing for striped bass works for me also strick

Thanks again guys. Cant wait to get back up to the mountains....hopefully a few more times before it snows. I have renewed faith in the ZED and old beat up patches now! Idaho Spud- Lisa's new favorite machine is the 2300. She has found a few nuggets with it. We still have to make that trip to Twin Falls. We were supposed to go this time but decided to go to the Sierras instead. Glad I did now. Here is one last pic of the gold all cleaned up. strick

Very exciting! Thanks for taking the time to load those vids. Strick

Thanks guys for all the nice compliments espicelly on technique. Norm there is a few still in the ground but i would not leave your other spot for it. Gotta bring my big rake next time for a few more inches in depth. Makes you wonder what else is under all those fallen logs and overburden. Strick

I must admit that I have not had much confidence in my Zed. Yea I've found a few small nuggets with it but given the choice I usually grab the 2300 when I want to find gold. I understand the 2300's language much easier. The problem with the Zed for me was the ground noise. It was distracting me to no end. I felt like I could be passing over a deep nugget and miss it due to all the chatter the machine was making. My other problem was having never dug a big deep nugget I had no idea what one sounded like. Unlike some of you that have been detecting for decades using many different machines I lack the experience that you fellas have with ground noise, detectors and how to properly tweak your detector to eliminate this annoying problem. So when Lisa and I took off for a few days of detecting in the high sierras this past week I threw the Zed in the truck mostly because it looked cool and had a big coil. We got to the gold fields Sunday late afternoon and after setting up camp I managed to get a couple hours in swinging the Zed on some un disturbed ground looking for a nugget patch but I found nothing but trash. The next day... Monday was spent exploring new country far from camp. we put the boots to the ground but once again failed to find gold. Beautiful views of the terrain and wildlife helped to ease the pain of constant digging. That night I talked with forum member Normmcq by phone and expressed my lack of confidence with the Zed. He told me the settings he likes to use and more importantly told me where he got a couple nuggets earlier in the week. The area was close to our camp and despite hunting this area for nothing on a previous trip with the Zed I decided to give it a shot again. Tuesday morning we were on the claim and within two hours I had five nuggets all within a 30x30 yard area about 70 yards away from the designated spot. I was using Norm's settings running the Zed on high sensitivity, very low threshold, High yield, difficult. It seemed like gold was just popping out of the ground all of the sudden. And the ground was finally quiet! This is an area that has been pounded by everyone and his uncle for decades. I kept working it most of the day taking a break only for lunch. Wednesday morning I worked it again venturing a little farther but it seemed that I had cleaned out the patch. But at least I was happy now with the Zed it was quiet and I had found gold. As far as I was concerned the trip was a success. I had 5 nuggets and my biggest ever a nice 4 gram sponge specimen. That afternoon while having lunch with Lisa I was telling her I did not know where to go for the evening hunt. The patch was worked out I felt and I was beat up from all the digging and walking all over the sierras. Her reply... "why don't you try where Norm found his 2 nuggets?" True I had not tried that exact spot yet. I had been avoiding it mostly because it was near a major digging and I figured Norm probably cleaned it out anyway. So I headed back to the claim and slowly start working over "the area" with the Zed. It's late afternoon and I'm into the hunt about 30 minutes venturing closer and closer to the old diggings. Soon I think I hear a slight change in the threshold near a small bank so I scrape away a little dirt with my boot. It sounds about the same so I do another quick boot scrape and this time it sounds a tiny bit louder. Out comes the pick and after several more scrapes with the pick it becomes apparent that I have a deep broad sounding target. I hate digging deep beer cans more then anything but I get to work anyway. The deeper I go the louder the Zed screams until finally sweat is pouring off my body and the Zed is overloading. The hole is too deep and narrow now to pinpoint so I'm getting frustrated. Then I remember that I had the brains to put my pinpointer in the ATV before I left camp. I go and get the pinpointer and turn it on and shove it in the bottom of the hole.... but no signal...I look at it to make sure it's turned on and sure enough it is. Now I start to scanning the sides of the hole all the way around but still no signal. Thats weird I think to myself. Almost all deep trash targets are easy to find with the pinpointer. So I dig more and repeat the process with the pinpointer but still no signal. The thought crossed my mind that maybe it was a deep cable or something and just cover up the hole and be done with it. But I had to know so I dug a little deeper. Finally the pinpointer barely hears something. But it's a small area that it's reacting to... about two inches or so. I think to myself again thats weird usually trash targets are give off a big broad signal with the pinpointer. I'm digging more carefully now and within a couple minutes the pinpointer tells me that the target is out of the bottom of the hole. I find it about half way up the hole and grab a hand full of dirt. Now it's in my hand and as I let the dirt fall from my hand the pinpointer is still chirping at this smooth heavy whitish colored rock I'm holding. I'm blind as a bat up close without my glasses but I think maybe I see some yellow so I put it in my mouth to clean it off the whole time saying to myself....Please God, Please God!...... Then out of my mouth and into my hand pops a one ounce gold nugget! I can not remember when I have been so excited. Now I'm hooked forever. Thanks to the boys from Quincy for all your mentoring and hospitality in helping this newbie. I really appreciate it. strick

Nice find..... I've been digging lots of pull tabs looking for one like that! strick

Nice work! I got to go there last year for a couple days. Got one silver ring. You got the right idea with the wet suit. Save some for me as I hope to hit Tahoe before it gets too cold. Only a couple beaches allow dogs which is a bummer as we take our dog everywhere with us. Thanks for posting and have fun! strick

Nice pretty gold Norm. strick

I bought a spare battery for my ctx a while ago and it was about $150...the GPZ would have to be more then that in my mind. strick

Give it a break then come back with a 2300 for the small scraps. Or call Klunker. He has a backhoe lol We may be up your way the first of the month. Likely camp in the same general area. strick

Great. Now I have to buy some rock climbing equipment... Nice work as usual Rick! strick

I like the pic of him using the saw in the vein. Makes me want to go out side and start digging! strick

Yes lots of stories that have made me appreciate and never take for granted dry land. That tundra in the photos looks alot like the area around Bristol Bay. I would have nevr thought there be gold in tundra but thats what makes Alaska so special I guess. Nice place to visit as they say. strick

You cant beat the seafood in Alaska. Commercial fished up there for 9 seasons. Halibut anyone? strick

The SDC sure sniffes them out. It's a great machine Good shooting. strick

Hard work perserveres as usual. Nice job Rick. I see a lot of layers in that dirt. strick

Thanks fellas for all the kind words. I'll be heading back soon and using the ctx more often... strick

It's been over a month since I have had a chance to get out and hunt for gold. Last time out I got my butt whipped by my wife and so I been licking my wounds and sulking since then. She took off for her sisters this weekend so today I decided to go to the foot hills. My goal was a short half day hunt. My buddy has some property that has produced some small nuggets for me in the past. Nothing bigger then 1/2 gram and most are only a few grains but it's fun and something to do. The only problem with the place is it's riddled with bird shot and lots of other goodies...so you are digging constantly. I took my time getting up this morning and got to the ranch about 9am with my arsenal. I intended to start with the 7000 in normal ground mode over an area that I got 6 little nuggets last time I was there. I had pretty much worked the area over with the sdc 2300 so I wanted to see if there was anything deeper. I get started and it's hot already and before long sweat is dripping off my face like a waterfall while I'm digging bird shot, old musket balls and bullets. An hour and a half later no gold and it's time to go to the truck and have a beer...and a water. Now that I'm revitalized I decide I want to explore another area so I grab the 2300 and go on a walk about. The ranch is 100 acres but there is an adjoining property that I can go to as well so I head that way. Another hour and a half go by and nothing to show but more round balls and bird shot. On my way back to the truck (for another beer) I see a place that I have always wanted to try with my ctx 3030. It looks like an old dam in a creek that the old timers put together. I figure if I cant find a nugget maybe I can find a old coin. So I go back to the truck and grab the ctx. This is my last try as I wanted to get back home and finish some projects that I have going on there. There are lots of tailing piles on this pace so I start working them with the ctx as I'm heading to the dam. I was going kinda fast with the ctx and I dig a few more pieces of lead. As I start heading up the hill to the creek I'm swinging along carelessly and I get a nice low tone. I look at my display and it says 12.10 and there is a nice little red dot on the screen. I immediately think gold or a piece of lead or 22 casing. As I'm looking down my eyes focus on something yellow. Now I'm thinking probably a piece of yellow dirt. so I put on my glasses and low and behold it looks like gold! I've only been detecting for about a year now and I've never found a sun baker. I scrape a little dirt away and sure enough it's a nugget. I don't know how deep it goes into the ground so I wanted to savor the moment and go back to the truck for my camera. It's not nearly as big as what some of you fellas get but it's the biggest nugget that I have found so far in my year of detecting. 1.71 dtw And I kept telling my self. You gotta be kidding me. I found it with my coin machine? So what did I do next? I go back to the truck put the 3030 away and go back to the spot and work it over with the 2300 for a good 30 minutes. Nothing but more bird shot strick

I joined earlier this year and have got to meet some great people. My wife and I are new to the the game so it has been a wonderful experience. And we have found gold too! strick

5 star gold detecting for sure. I don't know if they would want a bunch of dirty prospectors jumping in the pool after a long hot day detecting. Looks like everyone had a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing. strick

I would like to find out were JP washes his hands so I can pan out the gold from under his finger nails! Nice work fellas. Thanks for posting. strick

Sometimes I find a hold half empty...so I dig it out all the way to full empty. I'm still waiting for a hole to be half full. I know it will come some day. strick

Take your coin machine along as well and get a feel of whats out there as far as trash and or relics are concerned. You might be pleasantly surprised. Heading up to the foot hills myself this weekend as I'm long over due for a nugget....Good luck! strick

Nice! If only you could chat with great grandpa for a while about his gold mining expeditions.... strick