IdahoPeg

Dang, is it September already? I didn’t even work my little Claim this season! All the easy gold has been gone for a couple years now, and since I’m looking at a Hip Replacement in the near future (old car wreck injury), it wasn’t worth the flare ups that come from hauling rocks, swinging a pick, and shoveling to get at the remaining gold. So I’ve focused on fitness and biking the hills this summer, with a couple fun detecting trips to Nv to keep me in the game….but the next trip isn’t for a couple weeks and I need a Gold Fix! So I decided that after my early morning walk, it would be time to go play with the Gold Monster😊 It was a brisk start to the day! My hummingbird feeder was starting to freeze; most have left, but I leave it out for the stragglers. While on my walk and planning where I’d go with the Monster, I couldn’t help but admire the beautiful sunrise….unfortunately due to the awful California wildfires😥. Then I saw the neighborhood Mama Moose….her Baby was with her, but I didn’t catch the young one in the pic. I sure do love my morning walks up here! Once it warmed up a bit, the Pup and I headed out in the side x side to an area I’ve hit quite a bit before with the Monster, but I was sure it could squeak out a couple more. Lila, of course, wanted to drive😄. I worked real slow, and sure enough, was able to find some little bits. And LITTLE being the key word here…check out this tiny speck. Unbelievable that a detector can pick this up! Here’s one of the larger bits found…can actually pose it on the detector lol! All the while, my little Pup was protecting me from the chipmunks scurrying amongst the Old Timer’s rock piles…what a cutie 🥰 We spent several hours enjoying the late summer sun, the gentle babbling of the nearby creek, the breeze in the pines, and the solitude and contentment only Nature can bring. And I ended up with enough bits to actually weigh…what a great day!👍😊

How incredibly awesome! 👍😃

Awesome piece of gold and rock! I watched your video of the dig on Facebook...you actually did great holding phone while digging!👍😊

Great report and story, so glad you are loving your 6000 and finding good stuff! Your comment about your wife’s hip concerns me...I need a hip replacement soon; old injury from car wreck during my youth. If she is swinging the 6000 does it pick up the hip, or only when kneeling close checking targets? Thx.

Chet, yes we should have checked those 1st two targets w the 7000. Didn’t even think of it, DUH! Though the largest nugget is gorgeous, I really love that one in the 2 o’clock position...it was my favorite from the git go.

Gerry, you are a hoot! I love your dating analogy re me taking some time to warm up to the 6000😄 Chet answered your question re us checking undug targets w the 7000...darn, we should have. Guess that’s why you are the Master! Re our twin nuggets, now that I’m looking at them after reading your post they look kinda phallic! I think I need to take a cold shower now😂😂😂

You live a charmed life, for sure!👍😊

Very nice nuggets! What fun!👍😊

I bet you’re itching to get back, but hey, hanging in Alaska ain’t bad is it? Oz is still on my Bucket List...hopefully someday before I’m too damn old!😄

Nice to meet you😄 Awesome pics and gold!

Beautiful gold! I’m an old hand at the “move rocks, scrape and detect” method too! Exercise with benefits😄.

Drove down Monday and met up with Chet; we wanted to try out our new 6000s on some hammered patches, just to make sure I wouldn’t have “Buyer’s Remorse” after trading in my 7000. I got there about noon, and Chet had been out hunting in the morning. He had marked two targets in the ground so I could hear them too when I got there. One was in a scrape and the other a bit outside....hmmm? Likely iron crap in this pounded area we thought. Dug them out, and he had just found his first 2 gpx6000 nuggets...beautiful character, with some intricate folds. I ended up with one that afternoon. Even though the 6000 is light with great ergonomics, my detecting arm is out of shape and my bicep was getting a bit sore. I found myself missing my bungee, hip stick, and guide arm on my 7000 setup. I also missed the clip on wireless speaker. I was using the Aventree Torus headphones that hang around your neck; they fell off a few times while digging, then when I tried to secure them, the Power button would get pressed and they would turn off. Chet’s just stopped working. Weird. So need to figure out my speaker system. One other 7000 feature I also miss is the built-in gps...so handy. So day 2 we hit several other old patches. I used a bungee and was getting more in tune with the 6000...much more comfortable with it, though my left arm didn’t know what to do! Put hand in pocket? Hook thumb on harness loop? Its motor memory wanted to be helping with a guide arm😄! By the end of 8 hours we each had found a bit more gold. Nice, but nothing over .2 or .3 gram. On the 3rd day we went back to Day 1 patch, as it was close to camp. Again, the 6000 was able to sniff out some good stuff from this patch that had been hunted by 5000s, 2300s, 7000s. By now I was in sync with my new detector. I mainly hunted in Normal, setting at 3 o’clock position with threshold. Tried the Auto+ but preferred the other, I like hearing the threshold and it was more sensitive to targets. We knew the machine was awesome at finding these smaller nuggets, and weird shaped nuggets, but we hadn’t found anything of any size yet. That changed when Chet found a gorgeous 2.5-3 grammer at about 6”! Woo Hoo!👍 So Chet was the big winner on this trip; 6.2 grams in 3 days. And they will be beautiful when cleaned up...maybe add those pics to this post Chet? I ended up with 2.4 g in 2 1/2 days. Chet attributes a lot of his success on this trip to the ease of detecting with the 6000, compared to the 7000...fewer rest breaks means more time on the gold fields. Though I really loved my 7000, I think this detector will better serve me; either hunting known worked patches or walking miles looking for new, it will do the job and be easier on my neck and shoulders/arm.

Great field report and photos Gerry!

Welcome back, and glad you had a nice trip back home! And you squeezed in time to find a couple ounces....nice! We missed you!😊

Time out in the Bush, time with family & friends, and lots of beautiful gold! Well done!

No, not this year Mitchel...did that a couple seasons ago on way to Florida. No diamonds for me tho lol. I did find a cool quartz cluster in Arkansas that trip. This year on the way back, I’m planning a topaz dig in Utah when they blast the mountain for fresh material. Should be fun!

Thanks so much Steve! I’m going to have some of the better teeth wire-wrapped/made into pendants for family/friends...if you want any, let me know!😊

Thanks! I guess when the teeth were lost and buried by sediment millions of years ago, through time and pressure, some sort of mineralization takes place...so the teeth are preserved. Cool stuff!

Thanks! Yep, made my own sifter: 3/4” pvc, 1/4” wire mesh/hardware cloth, noodles and zip ties. Works great!

Wow, that’s terrible re your friend! The key is to don’t go during mating season(pretty much from now through June or so), and avoid going near the baby ones that are often on the banks...momma will protect them! I’m around gators quite a bit in a wildlife preserve area where I walk almost daily, so I’ve learned to read their body language etc. But like with any wild animal, definitely need to give them their space and respect them!

I went over twice....2 days in a creek when the river was too high, then 2 more days in the Peace River 3 wks later. The tabletop finds were from that 2nd trip. I really hope to find some bigger Megs next season, as I’m heading back west in a week.

Last month I started to get a bit bored with my usual Snowbird gig of bicycling, paddle boarding, beachcombing, etc, so I decided to check out some creeks and the Peace River about 3 hrs west of me. This area was covered by shallow seas millions of years ago, and more recently saw the Ice Ages....so a cool mix of fossils can be found. Here is one of the creeks I hunted(cue the banjo music from “Deliverance” lol): So you kayak and/or wade in water of various depths looking for gravels in the bottom, then you dig and sift. All this is done in Gator and snake habitat, so one must stay aware of one’s surrounding while working the gravels: Here’s some of my favorite finds. A fossilized prehistoric bison tooth and a baby Megalodon shark tooth...the Megs are small here, as these shallow seas were the nursery. The next pic has a fossil tortoise leg spur, a crocodile tooth, and 2 extinct Snaggeltooth Shark teeth. Here’s fossilized stuff from my last hunt....upper left are turtle shell fragments; upper right turtle nuchal bones, a prehistoric tapir tooth, a broken Meg; then a whole bunch of shark teeth. I think I’ve discovered a new hobby and passion to enjoy while here in Florida half a year! And as a bonus, it’ll help keep me in gold hunting shape for when I’m back out west!😄

You did awesome “for the short dirt recon trip”, as per your usual lol 😄. I’ll be heading out there next month after I get back from Florida...can’t wait to get in the wide open spaces again!

Wow, perfect timing for lots of great ideas for me! I need to build a sifter to use fossil and shark tooth hunting in the Peace River on the west side of Florida. Hope to find a Meg tooth(a Bucket Lister)😊

Mitchel- I’m in Melbourne Bch...planning my 1st trip over to the Peace River and Venice Bch to hunt for sharks teeth soon. Wow, 5” is a whopper! I’d love to find a Meg tooth for sure! Haven’t researched the phosphate pits...will do. Peg