Lanny

In all my time in the wilds, I've seen far more black bear than grizzly. Black bear cause most of the trouble in our mountains, and they're very unpredictable. Sometimes you bang a shovel on the ground, yell, chuck some rocks, etc. and off they go. You know you're in trouble when they keep coming at you! (Been there, done that--a fat zero on the fun scale.) Plus, if a black bear attacks you (unless protecting a cub) it's because you're seen as a source of food, and so you're supposed to fight back with everything you've got to stay off the menu. Grizzlies usually attack to show dominance (once again, cub encounters excepted)--swat you down, stomp some, maybe chew on you a little (that'd be a tough undertaking to outlast), then they'll leave, supposedly. They are after all the apex predator in our mountains, so they can write their own rules, I guess. Had a double grizzly encounter one day, a couple of three-year-olds, ones just kicked off their momma's milk wagon. We were washing pay with a trommel, and the two grizzlies wanted to see what we were up to. So they got right close, then stood up. (As my dad used to say, "If you think a bear is big on the ground, just wait until it stands up!") Had a dumb idea to hop on the Honda Quad and gun the engine so they'd run away--only they came closer. Shut that Quad off right quick, and the grizzly twins dropped back to the ground and wandered away--they'd seen what they wanted to see, turned their backs on us and sauntered off. (I had a 12-gauge defender shotgun to-hand with buckshot as the first chambered round followed by four one-ounce rifled-slugs for backup, but I'm glad to this day that last resort that was never used--would have been a terrible jackpot of trouble with two grizzlies that close. I've seen other grizzlies as well, but usually at some distance--those are the grizzly sightings I enjoy the most. All the best, Lanny

Sweet find Gerry, and thanks for the video of the find--fun to watch and great to hear your excitement as well. Nicely done, and all the best, Lanny

Now I know why I could no longer get Scott on the phone. . . . Thanks for the heads-up about his passing. He sure was a great guy to talk to, lots of interesting stories, and he really learned how to use his detectors to find gold (loved the Goldmonster)--had great success with finding nuggets when he found his connection to get himself on good ground. He was easy to talk to, but it's going to be hard missing him--a genuine kindred spirit that loved chasing the gold. All the best, Lanny

CAPPHD, great job of tracking down the owner, nicely done! All the best, Lanny

Along with Oneguy and others, I love the one-two punch combination of a PI and a VLF, nothing better for the ground I hunt. As for the benefits/operation of a PI, you've received some excellent responses that I'd agree with as well. In addition, they are great at handling many types of hot-rocks, some ironstone, and are better at ignoring some types of pyrite deposits that VLF's struggle with. However, they will not ignore all hot-rocks or all mineralization, but do a good job on the majority of troublesome minerals and mineralization. You will also notice a weight difference between a VLF and a PI, as the PI is much heavier so harder to use on steep slopes, etc. All the best, Lanny

Dynamite was invented for prospecting that frozen winter ground, right? All the best, Lanny

Great photos, and a real nice haul of goodies! Thanks for posting, and all the best, Lanny

That sure is one sweet, golden goodie! Congratulations, and all the best, Lanny

That sure is some nice gold you're finding, congratulations! All the best, Lanny

Nice finds Condor, hope you find one big enough to use for a doorstop. All the best, Lanny

Lots of great eye candy Gerry, thanks for posting the pictures. All the best, Lanny

The Monster is a fine, fun little machine, super sensitive and a proven gold-getter that's light enough to swing basically forever. One day when my son and I were off to get some nuggets, we arrived, at our spot, but no battery in the Monster! The cam-lock/cover wasn't seated, and the battery was nowhere to be found. We pulled everything out of the truck, checked everywhere, even crazy places, no battery, just an open compartment. We carried on with the day with our other detectors. . . . When we got back to the gold camp, we pulled everything out of the truck and searched again, no luck. At about that time, I started to question if it fell out before we'd left camp, so we searched everywhere we possibly could have walked with the detectors before loading them up, no luck. I thought I was losing my mind or something, how could it have just disappeared? Well, in the truck we had a plastic wrapped six-pack of toilet paper, with one roll out. The battery had dropped from the detector and was underneath the bottom three rolls of paper!! So, I'm glad you're getting a new battery, and Kudos to Gerry for his lightning-fast service. On a different note, after reading your post about the AA battery pack, I'll dig mine out to see if it fits or not, as I didn't have mine with us the day my regular battery did its disappearing act. All the best, Lanny

Great write-up on explaining your position on the whole issue Steve. Really enjoyed the read, and I wish you happy hunting as you continue testing the Axiom, especially in Australia. What a fantastic opportunity! (Australia is still on the bucket list for me, not only for detecting, but for scuba on the Great Barrier Reef as well.) All the best, Lanny

Yes, Germansen Landing, been there multiple times. Lots of good gold history, and nice chunky gold as well. All the best, Lanny

That is one sweet piece of an amazing gold specimen. What a fantastic item to have on display. Thanks for the link, and all the best, Lanny

British Columbia is where I spend most of my time chasing the gold. Great gold rush history in multiple places, and B.C. is known for its nuggety gold. The monster nuggets are up around Atlin, in northern British Columbia, also the site of a long ago gold rush. B.C. is a continuing series of mountain ranges heading east to west across the province, lots of places to get lost in, lots of things still to be discovered, and the vastness of the wilderness places still intact boggles the mind. All the best, and thanks for the link, Lanny

First nugget, The Africa Nugget, found with the 2100, seems like a million years ago now. Nugget was close to 7 grams--back then it looked huge to me--and I let out a loud whoop when I found it, as I'd dug buckets of trash for days, because the area I was hunting was home to a large gold rush in the 1870's and there was trash everywhere. All the best, Lanny

All well up here in the northland, and there's still gold to be found. Lots of heavy forest fire smoke in gold country right now, classified as the worst air quality on the planet right now, no joke. I've found that picture, so I hope it will post. All the best as you chase that sassy Montana gold, Lanny

That really is a beautiful nugget, nicely done! I'll see if I can find the picture of my 1st metal detecting nugget, found with the Minelab SD 2100, still my favourite after all these years. . . . All the best, Lanny

Hours are not really a consistent thing for me. During the long summer daylight hours here in the northern latitudes, 12-14 hours a day when the weather cooperates (this summer has been firecracker hot). When the weather is cooler and the days shorter, maybe 8 hours. When winter freezes the land, usually zero hours. So, all over the map for me with the detecting hours, but now that I spend more time in warmer spots during the winter, those hours will tick up again. All the best, Lanny

Luke, sweet find! That sure is a unique one, and I'm happy you stunned the local gold hunters. All the best as you join the clubs and really get into chasing the gold, Lanny

Got out with the Goldmonster and found a few. All the best, Lanny

That little video has some solid tips on panning, and there's some chunky gold in that pan as well! All the best, Lanny

Steve, enjoyed your comments--no more likes for me today, so here is my like in text. All the best, Lanny

Jasong, great write-ups about your adventures and your reflections on whether or not the glaciers flattened your gold. We get a lot of glacial-stream flattened gold up here, as a good portion of the boulders that hammered the gold were car size to small house size--that'll get the job done. Not sure about your area, but you've given a lot of interesting theories and also added in some geological meat and potatoes about your area. Thanks for your efforts, and all the best, Lanny