LuckyLundy

The Florida Clan wanted to come for a visit and try some of that Arizona Sweet Tea.  Haven’t seen them all in a group for close to 30 years.  But, Robin’s and I trip started on Halloween Day from our home in Reno to Laughlin, NV.  That’s about as far as I can drive in a day!  We cut through Searchlight, NV and passed a couple washes I’d like to revisit.  Next morning we cut out to Wickenburg, AZ for a visit with Friends that just moved there a few months back.  Mike & Yvonne formally from Rural Oregon made the move to Wickenburg for the love of Team Roping and the Hunt for gold.  Didn’t take Mike long to find a Welcome to Arizona Patch which currently is close to a 2-oz patch! (Below in my hand are the fat ones).  Mike took me when we arrived to their home for a short swing!  It was a hill side small drainage wash that feed into the big wash.  I explored the patch and several nearby spots in the Reno Summer like temperature of 87 degrees.  I was roasting when I noticed a Cholla stuck to my Boot which I removed with 2 rocks with a dozen or more of its spears stuck deep into the leather!  Well 1/4 mile more and they worked their way thru the leather and now poking my foot!  We had to leave with no tools to remove needles.  Well off to my Folks and a week of fun with my Family traveling the sights from the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Tombstone.  Heading back we stopped at Mike & Yvonne’s again for a longer hunt and then hit the local Rodeo grounds for dinner and some cold beers.   Again, it was more than warm for this Northern Nevada guy.  We seen some likely hills with some colors we liked.  I was 3 gullies over (1/2 mile). I just worked up the side hill wash to the top of the hill and swung over to the next wash to work down it and repeat.  I heard Mike say, hey the old timers worked this one!  Sure enough old dry wash piles.  I was up at the head of the wash and he was midway swing up.  I pulled a dink nugget out and then Mike got on a string of nuggets.  Sure there was some trash, but there’s 9 little nuggets the old timers left us!  We know there is more to find at this spot, but water was getting real low and cold beer was at the Rodeo Grounds.  Off we went leaving the new patch to catch it’s breath after a 30 minute beating.  There’s still plenty of ground to explore in this old placer area(s) of Morristown!  What a great Vacation and yes, we are home to nice and cool Reno 😂. Until the Next Hunt

LuckyLundy

One of my other Buddies is heading home soak & wet!  Here’s is Poke

Early wet Weather in Northern Nevada, sure messed up a few of my hunts!  But, this last Hunt was called Rain or Shine!  Be there or miss out with the original hunting party.  We had half the amount of coils on the ground during this hunt and managed to find a few sweet spots of dinks to add to our pokes.  Rain on us with snow in the ground 200’ above us all 4-Days!  6000, Retune Button got a workout.  I kept the 11” Mono on.  Tried the DD for a few hours with no luck, don’t know if the ground and line I took was bad, but the guys behind me where finding nuggets…so back to the 11”.  My truck is out in the drive way in the wet Weather still loaded up with me gear!  Getting wet again to unload it, I can’t wait 🤨

Until the next Hunt!

LuckyLundy

Every patch holds its secrets!  Some only hold Dink’s, some hold deep gold, some will hold course and smooth nugget the list is long even in the same region you hunt.  The older Model GPX’s with the vast Coil selection aided in what I thought was cleaned out patches.  But, you’d find nuggets just on your metal detectors ability to hear and for you to comprehend as a signal.  The SDC 2300, made nearly every old patch cough up more nuggets and made it well worth the re-swing with that little coil over some extra large patches.  GPZ-7000, was the same and it punched way deeper than my old GPX’s and I loaded the poke up again with it.  Now, the new GPX 6000, is picking up what the SDC & 7000 missed.  Sure, I haven’t found a nice nugget in my old patches (so Far) with it, as I believe the 7000 heard them all.  And some old patches I’ve found nothing with the 6000!

Each Prospecting trip includes swinging new ground and a few skunk trips!  I know it makes it tough for a Prospector to travel hundreds of miles and to expect to find a nugget.  It takes time with boots & coil on the ground to keep that smile on your face.  

Time to walk from and old patch?  Know your old patches and the types of gold that you found on them.  Each new machine advancements just might wake and old patch up.  I’ve been finding nuggets just on the edge of not hearing them with the new 6000 (shallow Small Chevron Nuggets).  So yes, I hunt with headphones and Volume Max’d.

Happy Hunting!

Rick

I enjoy bright Full Moon hunts, seems the gravitational pull of the Moon moves me to the Goldfields.  You’d think I’d park my rig to avoid the big spot light in the sky to sleep better.  But, it gives me a half sleeping moment to pounder the mornings gold location.  
This hunt I was accompanied by and old Buddy from California.  Steve, was tutored on some of our hot and old patches in California, with his GPX 5000.  He quickly learned from us the many ins and outs of his machines and the fine techniques of putting nuggets into his poke.  He moved with us as Minelab Technology advanced to keep a smile and rattle in the poke.  He now owns a very nice stash of nuggets.

This Hunt we set our eyes on the outlaying areas of Rye Patch!  I had my RZR for mobility as we have many patches close by to just scoot to with it.  It’s still warm out in the High Plains, but very doable compared to my last visit there.  I pulled into the first location and ran into and old Buddy and his friend calling it a day.  They showed me their poke and I recognized the gold same area as I wanted to hunt!  Well, I arrived and unloaded and went for a short hunt and nailed one amongst the many footprints and dig holes.  Still color left and no one gets them all.  I rode around in my RZR after that till dark as Steve hadn’t pulled into camp yet!  Next, morning I gave Steve the pointy finger to the patch and I set sights to a nearby spot I had luck on several years prior.  Still within eyesight we waved at each other with a pumping fist to indicate a score of a nugget at the same time!  At the end of the day we had several nuggets for our efforts.  Now, I’m still hitting old haunts  with the new 6000.  So next morning after a couple more nuggets each.  We load up and off to more old haunts.  Next spot, didn’t disappoint us either!  Only problem was I didn’t fill up my RZR and that prior days joy riding looking at Antelope and Wild Horses and new spots eat more fuel than expected!  So we had to stay within eye sights of our camp just in case my Buggy ran out of fuel.  We hit the old patches and found nuggets and then hit a new spot.  The new spot, Steve was in the sweet spot and as you know the 6000 doesn’t play well with other 6000’s nearby.  
To end this trip, Steve out shot the Sensei and well done by him as we ended with plenty to cover expenses and another memory of a Harvest Moon Hunt!

LuckyLundy