Hard Prospector

Not a tick problem but last couple of seasons, every bush with green on it seems to be loaded with green ants in NQ OZ, and they just love protein. Give you hell, not deadly unless you have an allergy. They are also tasty and thirst quenching but kill em first or they`ll bite all the way down.

Man eating ants huh, sounds like a great place to send my brother-in-law

Most of my prospecting is in the Sierra Nevada or Mojave desert and the big cats are the biggest concern ( 2nd; rattle snakes followed by ticks) I've seen them and had one trail me several years ago. California is just infested with lions these days and many outdoor enthusiasts that disappear in the California wilds every year  I just know are cat related.  Sacramento, being very sensitive not to upset extreme environmental groups in this state continue to turn a blind eye and deaf ear to a building public safety issue. OK, no more politics. 

I've been wearing Rattlers a long time now but would like to go external speaker as well. Many of my machines are Whites and as we all know they come somewhat "speaker challenged" to say the least. There was a thread on this site about the Radio Shack "mini amplifier speaker" working well for this application so I bought one and liked it so much that I'm in the process of fitting out all my Whites with  them.

Best thing you can do to AVOID having critters attracted or stumbling into you is to stink like a human. Wear unwashed soiled cloths, attach dirty smelly socks to your day pack and piss and crap near your camp site. Wild animals can't stand the smell of human odor and for those trouble makers that don't get it...........Lead

Nothing wrong with keeping those detectors, I have 6 VLFs , 4 PI machines and a large test garden so they all get taken out occasionally. Many of the nuggets I find (esp. specimen pieces) get re-buried in the garden, ran over with each machine and evaluated, I have learned so much doing this its incredible not to mention confidence in machines and the many different coils for each. Having extra detectors is also  nice for taking out a friend once in a while or caching out in the bush (so your not hiking it in and out every time) Just something to consider.

BTW Steve, that immaculate Goldmaster V SAT you sold me will not be stashed out in the boonies....Promise!

I have asked this question to many very good detectorists and have got varied answers. Some say yes on the tiny stuff and some say the protective cover isn't thick enough to ever be a concern. I have heard it said that its more likely to reduce depth / sensitivity on a VLF but not a PI. It would be nice to get some kind of consensus on this subject and thanks.......Rob

Nice haul, I'm sure it didn't come easy.

Lots of nice informative folks without the aloof and arrogant attitude. You can't say that about much of anything anymore.

Just bought a new F75  for the sole purpose of hunting in and around the trashiest sites,. I have yet to use it but thats the plan.

Thanks Steve, I'll take all the advice I can get for this new game I'm jumping into....Rob

Recently bought 2 Tesoro Sand Sharks( 8"and 10" coils) and plan to start my "beach gold prospecting" very soon. When out nugget shooting in the desert recently, I realized just how beaten to death the nugget patches have become and there is no doubt in my mind this new GPZ will "mop up" what little is left. That will be it for the next 10 or so million years. On the other hand, people going to the beach will keep replenishing jewelry in the sand  much faster than mother nature in the gold fields so it got me thinking of my options.   Living just 15 miles from the beach and a scuba diver most of my life I'm excited to try something new. Except now instead of diving with spear gun and ab iron I'll be swinging a detector. 

Went to the Pomona show (OK) but cant wait for Vegas!

New rumor; I heard that Whites was still making the 6x10" concentric GM coils but only for export to Africa. Wanting another one I've made several calls to Whites to which the reply has always been;" We will get back to you very soon"..............Crickets

Great thread

I haven't sold any as i still enjoy looking at it( like going to the beach and seeing 100's of almost naked women for free) Suppose I'll sell  if it hits $3000/oz or I get cancer.

Bungees........I hate em but they help keep my rotater cuff from getting pissed off and screaming

Not sure how many of you know but Radio Shack has defaulted on their reorg. loan and the company is not expected to survive. Anything you may need get it now before they pull the plug. They've been around for nearly 100 years (what a shame)

Just ordered a F75 yesterday (3 weeks on back order) and it too comes with the 11in. DD. I think Steve mentioned recently looking into the NEL Tornado coil for trashy mining sites, it I'm not mistaken.

The areas I prospect in the southwestern deserts, most of the gold/quartz deposits seem shallow and almost always iron oxides or iron stone is present. Where the host rock of the district is granite, when I start seeing iron stone strewn about I've learned to slow down and be through. Areas of bookshelf schist with crusty mineralized quartz veins get worked over with my PI and VLF machines til I'm satisfied. I know of guys who have found nuggets in iron oxide "blow outs" or seems of this red fine grained powdered stuff so as the saying goes, gold is where you find it. These are just personal experiences, I'm no geologist...........Rob

Nice haul for the effort

Hello to all, my name is Rob and I live in Southern Ca. Most prospecting I do is in the desert, been nugget shooting for several years and consider myself a novice but constantly trying to improve. Some of you have been very generous with your knowledge and experience (on this site and others) which has really helped "my game"  and I appreciate it. I look forward to contributing here and wish you all good luck in the diggs