Tortuga

That's a good idea. Should sell those along with your picks.

I've been curious about the Huachucas, particularly Ash Canyon. Haven't detected out that way yet.

It's really hard to find the perfect pick unless you go custom I think. I'm sure Ivan can help you out. I wear a pick holder on my belt but that's usually just for hiking in. My GPZ will usually sound off on it so when I'm detecting it's usually slung over my shoulder. CC Picks from Australia have a pretty cool head shape but they're expensive and the shipping isn't cheap either. Be awful breaking a $200 pick you waited a month to get out in the field...

Any luck this weekend fellas? Seems like the vehicle traffic is picking up down there, dunno if its any of you guys on your way out. I'm kind of a late riser

I've been having good luck with my GPZ this year, have found about half it's cost in gold here in Arizona hunting on the weekends since I bought it in April. Don't think I'll be slowing down anytime soon either. I can't wait for an even bigger coil to be released for it, I think that would be find some deep stuff in my area just about everyone else has missed unless they're hand-digging out patches. Can't imagine those coils will run cheap tho, based on the price of the detector maybe $2,000+. Like everyone else I do have a few complaints besides the ones already mentioned like lack of control box covers, spare parts etc. (I fear for the day I actually break something on this thing...) 1. The lower shaft on my GPZ has an annoying "twist" to it. If there was only a way to tighten up the latch that locks it down I'm sure it would fix this but my coil likes to twist a little to the right and left and I'm constantly adjusting it so it stays at the 12 o'clock position. 2. I wish there was a clock on the screen! I read Steve's write up on how to get the time using the GPS but come on Minelab, update the firmware to display the time on the little bar at the top of the screen. I don't wear a wristwatch when I detect and my phone and Garmin GPS are all stashed away in my Camelbak. Just a little thing that would make life easier when detecting. Oh yeah and shave a couple hundred bucks off the MSRP by dumping the GPS in it. All I wanna do is hunt for nuggets, don't need to mess with a GPS and upload crap to my computer (I've got a iMac anyways ).

I've been using a Walco Heavy Duty Large pick I got shipped over from Australia with a big 130 lb neodymium magnet stuck on the head. It's got a nice long handle for digging GPZ holes and the pick head is nice and long with a wide scraping end on the back. It's not too heavy or too light. Picks have to be a little heavy to help with some of the digging. That way your arms and shoulders aren't taking all the brunt force. I like the Walco because the handle is a little skinnier and rounder than the Apex Picks and the steel used on the head is a little thinner making it a little lighter. Then the big magnet adds a little extra weight needed for digging. I really wish somebody sold those picks in the US, it would save a ton of money on shipping. Sometimes if I'm feeling lazy and using my SDC and scraping bare bedrock in desert washes I'll use a Hodan ProPick with a smaller neodymium magnet stuck on it. That pick is a lot shorter and lighter than my Walco and lacks a lot of the digging power. The angle of the pick head is a little awkward too, I think it's too flat but I've still managed to dig nuggets with it.

I go every year! Lots of great gold and meteorite vendors. Most of the best sellers like Pieter Heydelaar are set up at the Hotel Tucson City Center. I always hit that place first. That show usually starts on the last Friday of January.

Nice work. Let us know how it works in the goldfields.

Yeah is some spots like down in the potholes the grass was chest high. Chiggers and little biting flies were out too.

Yeah I don't know much about the northside of the goldfield, only driven in through the Greaterville Rd. a few times. Will have to do some exploring up there to see what's claimed and what isn't. Have mostly just played around further south down by the GPAA and DGD claims. Ivansgarage- just saw your website and the picks that you sell. Those look pretty nice. I'm always looking for a nice diggers pick. Everything for sale stateside is either too short, too long, too heavy, has too many magnets like the Apex Picks etc. I recently bought a Walco Heavy Duty Large pick from Australia. Cost a pretty penny to ship here. Stuck a big 130 lb neodymium magnet on the head. Works pretty good. One of these days I may contact you to make something custom. I like picks with wide shovels on the back for digging and scraping.

Damn that thing is nice. I've tried messaging Border Boy about some info on Greaterville but I don't think he logs on much anymore. Last I heard he was having some luck way up in Colorado Gulch. One of these days I'll get my nuggets together and share some photos of my finds. There's still big stuff to be found down there. The next time I go I might try some spots around Colorado or Louisiana Gulch I've been studying on Google Earth. Would like a little change in scenery from my usual patches.

Had any luck down there? Spent about 6 hours out there today. Got some pretty good rain while I was out but no gold this time. We should all meet up down there sometime and swap stories. Next month should be some nice camping weather down there.

It should be the 50/50 land just east of Granite Mountain. When I joined the Desert Gold Diggers club, the maps of the claims I got on disk showed the general area of this.

Can we see a pic of some of those monsters??

That's one nice looking nugget. The Zed quiets down a bit if you ground balance with the iron ferrite ring. After getting some hours behind it you'll get used to all the ground noises. The Z is like a super powerful, hot VLF detector. Metal targets will always make a distinct noise when you put the coil over them tho.

For me once I actually begin finding gold somewhere for the first time it's a huge boost in confidence. Now I know there's actually gold there and not just trash. Then I start to slow down and really focus on that area and begin looking at all the conditions that first nugget was found in; the depth, type of ground etc. Then I start hunting around to see if it's got any friends nearby. None of the materials the GPZ is made of are worth anywhere near $10k. What you're paying for is the research and technology that went into making it. I've only had mine since April and I've almost paid off half of it with gold I've found. The dream for many of us who buy the "latest and greatest" detectors is that it'll give us enough of a technological edge on the previous hunters to find that one big nugget they missed and hopefully pay the whole machine off.

I've used a Gold Bug Pro, GPX 4800, SDC 2300 and GPZ 7000 all down at Greaterville. Hunted a lot down there the last few years but have only found gold with the SDC and GPZ. I think it had less to do with the equipment and more to do with practice and experience. Once you find one nugget you gain so much knowledge from that experience that sometimes they start just rolling in. PI detector would probably be your best bet for down there unless you want to use a VLF to play around in the washes near bedrock where most of the trash is.

That's a good looking map, shows the old placers areas right there. What type of detector do you use down there?

That type is really hard to read. Sorry, had to say it. Welcome to the forums tho!

That's what I was going to say. I've noticed an improved ground balance since using the ferrite ring. Less ground noise and false signals.

I have spent quite a bit of time in Greaterville too over the past few years. Usually I find lone nuggets by themselves there either in old potholes or drywash tailings. However I've also found a small nugget first, which led me to really focus on one area, which has lead to big finds nearby. The oldtimers found most of the hillside nugget patches out there but they didn't find them all..

That's a good idea. The only kind of prospecting I've really done so far is with a detector. I'd like to get more gold though and a drywasher would definitely help. I like the idea of melting down some of the fine stuff into little buttons and dore bars. I'm heading back out to that area in a few days to check around some more. I didn't have a lot of energy left by the time I found that nugget so I'd like to spend a day just concentrating on that one area.

I was out yesterday in Arizona swingin' my Z in 90 degree, muggy high humidity weather made worse by the monsoon rains. Was out for about 7 hours, covered head to toe in dirt and mud, I looked like a real miner Managed to dig up a little 1 grammer in a spot I've been striking out at for months. Couldn't be happier. Rekindled my faith in the area and was enough to keep me pushing on.

I know I sure feel like that sometimes here in Arizona, can't imagine a country the size of Australia with all that open country feels the same way too!

Wow that thing is nice. I like imagining that each little speck of gold on those specimen nuggets might have eventually found its way to someone's pan or drywasher. We're so lucky as detectorists that sometimes we really hit the motherlode with these nuggets.