Azavsfan

I believe the SPMA has the Potholes area well covered. Next time you're down there give me a PM if you'd like company. Its a short drive from "Yuma by the Sea" as Condor calls it and if I'm not swamped with school it's good to meet fellow detectorist's. Beatup has been down for awhile with his brother and we've been out a few times. As an added bonus they even got some gold. Good stuff you found!

Again I want to say thanks for the work you do! I was curious as to what you think the reason is behind the big drop in claims in the AZ counties you listed? I'm assuming the land status did not change or did it? I have a theory but it is based on my very limited experience and minimal research in my neck of the woods sands. I think the 2 biggest factors were the decrease in the price of gold and the concurrent increase in the cost of claim fees. I know that the association my Dad belongs to down here had to drop more than 50% of their claims when the fees went up. I think there are a lot of folks who bought claims thinking the gold price would continue it's rise and they would score by selling the claims they owned but we all know what has happened short term. Thanks again and once I get done with some of my programming classes maybe I can volunteer some time to help if you're in need of that type of thing.

When I first got started detecting I was looking for an all around unit and had no idea that the road would lead me to nugget shooting. I got a Garrett GTI 2500 and it works great for coin/relic/jewelry hunting at parks and beaches. The place it doesn't work all that well is in the AZ desert looking for nuggets. I got a Minelab SDC2300 and starting finding gold within the first few trips. My only complaint with the SDC is that coil is small and not changeable but it is truly a turn on and go without a steep learning curve. I would not get an SDC for use as an all around detector though due to price tag and inability to change coils. Another machine that I was able to test drive was the Minelab X-Terra 705 and based on that very limited test drive I would research that one for use as an all around unit. Like Fred said above though, read Steve's guide and look over the many great posts on this forum. I'm always learning new things here.

I remember seeing a story about when it got stuck but never heard anything else and assumed that they had fixed it. I never would've imagined how difficult it was to get her going again. Thanks for sharing Steve.

The larger of the 2 faked me out when I first got it. I thought for sure it was heavier but that skinny section is thin also so not much heft to it. I'll take em and they sure as heck beat the skunk that bit me today!

I got the new SDC out today and didn't find a single piece of gold. I am convinced it was my subconscious mind at work after reading this post last night. Now that I have left some out there for future generations I hope to get back into the finding mode instead of the hunting mode once this latest band of rain moves thru.

Dean, how are you? It looks like you are in for some weather over the next week and maybe some of that white cold stuff! We have a rain break tomorrow and I got my new SDC in today so gonna take her out and get muddy and hopefully some gold. Good Luck up there! We may be up around May and my Dad will be there mid April. Once it's gets closer I'll try to get you guys in touch if you're interested. He really wants to get out on the GPAA claims (he's a member) called Soldier Boy and Double JJ.

Really appreciate the site, thanks a bunch. It's too bad the BLM (govt in general) can't outsource things like this to people who know how (and want) to make it user friendly for all of us to use, or maybe that's the point.

Amazing story Steve, thanks for sharing it. All that glitters is not gold or something like that I guess.

There is no doubt in my former military mind that I have left and will continue to leave gold behind. I've had several targets that I was sure were gold, albeit quite small, that managed to escape just before I freed them from their involuntary prison sentences in the dirt prison. My replacement SDC just got here so I'll be looking to very soon to pardon some offenders and hopefully some big ones but I'll pardon little ones too..

Lunk, how long r you in Q? Yuma isn't that far and maybe when beatup gets here next week we could drive up there next weekend. I start school a week from Monday but I'm always up for a roadtrip. PM me if you're interested.

Still using Condors SDC as mine won't be here until Wednesday (I hope) but I cant complain because it's a gold finding machine. Here's the latest found less than a foot apart and the larger one downhill (steep) from the little guy. I found another target that sounded great at first about another foot downhill and I had visions of "big gold" or specimen but it turned out to be a nice round piece of buckshot about 10-12" deep. I was happy to find these 2 but my heart was thumping for a bit. Good start to the year though for sure. Happy hunting and good luck to all of you in 2016!

Nothing to see here folks, move along.

Great stuff Steve. The time spent explaining this and providing the links/example is greatly appreciated. I tried out the site with one of the photos from the original thread and there is no data there. I also tried the original image saved to my pc prior to forum upload and the only info was the resolution. Once you start pulling the thread on items it is amazing at the ways "big data" collects info. Thanks again for the site.

C'mon now, not fair to keep us in suspense like that.

Nice job and a heckuva good start for the new year.

I usually have the GPS feature turned off for photos. I do believe that I stripped personal info and tags from these photos prior to saving but if anyone can see this info on the pics I posted and feels like letting me know, it would be appreciated. Good info for all to know about without a doubt. Thanks.

I'm headed to Wally World today to look at those Interceptors and see how they look/feel. Like several others that posted, I like my Keen boots but the sole just isn't holding up well vs the desert terrain. It's actually starting to de-laminate which is something Condor warned me about after the purchase. Thanks for all the replies.

Pre bath. By the way, Dad got skunked and I managed a small .21 gram nuglet. Any day out is good one though! Thanks again Condor for the use of your SDC. Mine should be be back next Wednesday.

Little bit blurry but u get the idea.

Here ya go with the dirty nasty nugget porno!

Wow. I cannot imagine finding something like that. Congrats!

Thanks for posting this Nenad. I can never read too much about this hobby or my detector!

Wife got our son a toy that will help him find "big gold" like Dad and Grandpa (he says that even though we've yet to find the mythical big gold). That thing sounds off with or without a target but the light will change from green to red when it goes over metal. Of course it's nuts inside the house with all the metal throughout. He likes it though so I'm not complaining. I'd love to find something big enough to fill the back of the truck.

Awesome find. I've no idea other than maybe electrolysis? Try a quick search on that term for the process but no guarantees. What part of So Cal? County is enough if you're worried about others reading this. I used to live in Ventura County but didn't do much on the beach. I remember when I first got my Garrett 2500 and reached out to a local club member for some help detecting in general and he took me to a local beach. He told me that my 2500 wasn't very good for the beach (not true) and I'd be lucky to find anything but to follow behind him several yards so we could test his theory. Not long into hunt I got a signal his detector missed entirely and it turned out to be 2 clad quarters about 3-4 inches down. I got just over $1 that day. Good luck with those coins and happy hunting.