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Saw a TV commercial this past memorial day weekend. Had to do with mowing lawn. And thats what i was doing most of the weekend. But my mind was definitely thinking about detecting for nuggets. But is got me thinking about detecting. Last season was my most productive. I did quite well. I finally got some rewards for all of my efforts. But while mowing and weedeating, thinking about how meticulous you have to be to make the yard look nice. Nice even rows while mowing. Even slow swings with the weedeater. In principle, the same as swinging a detector. But wanting to up my game this season, I know I have room for improvement. I've done lot'sof research this past winter. And got some leads that look promising, but will see if they pan out in the field. I know my main thing I want to improve on is hearing them faint signals. I feel I've been dismissing some as ground noise. I apologize for the rambling, but had to get some of my thoughts down on print. Hopefully the snowpack will be down this weekend for me to get to some of my areas. Wishing everyone on the forum great success this season. Scott K.

Planning a pilgrimage and would like some suggestions on 'MUST SEE' stops along the way. I don't want you to blow up your secret spots or jump any claims, just want to hear opinions on any oddities or points of interest that may be off the beaten path (and not in this book - http://www.amazon.com/Nevada-Ghost-Towns-Mining-Camps/dp/0913814040). Hoping to make a good video of the trip, and of course find some funny yellow rocks when we're down there. But I always enjoy the drive more than the destination. Open to suggestions for side trips and pit stops anywhere from Bend to Lovelock.

I was just curious how much luck some of you have had detecting gold/quartz specimens which also contained substantial sulfides.

In years past I was thinking of only coin hunting.Some may buy one as a hobby but I was a little deeper than that. All my free time was spent behind my detector land and water. I didn't care where I had to go you'd find me there and my wife was just as bad. I didn't get into nugget hunting until the early 90's. I started prospecting about 61,62 making my own equipment to find that yellow metal but detectors didn't come in to play like said. Oh I got more nugget detectors than a guy needs. Coin hunting I can walk away from time to time but that don't hold true with gold. The MX Sport that I'm sitting here waiting for is to replace my only other coin detector. How about you ? Chuck

How's this for a fortune cookie? I don't put stock in these things, but now i'm not so sure.....

If you could choose just one detector in search of gold nuggets in High trash areas what would it be and with what coil? Let me put this question another way. You have an opportunity to go to a new Pay to play gold mine like Ganes Creek Ak. Of course you will take your favorite PI detector and if money were not object and you could bring a second detector for the trashy areas given all the new and old detectors available what would you bring to the hunt? Thanks, Terry

Here is the latest copy of the Garrett Searcher - basically a compilation of recent finds by Garrett users. It is always interesting to see all the amazing stuff from all over the world being found with metal detectors. I would encourage everyone to look at it and pay attention to the number of great finds made with the Garrett Ace 250. This is a nice little detector sold for $212 and considered a low end moderate performer. Yet many fabulous finds are made with it, including even a gold nugget now and then. There is an extremely important lesson here and one that drives my basic philosophy of detecting. There is of course a focus on high performance detectors, but I very much believe it is all about the operator. It is about putting yourself on good ground and mostly about lots of hours. Even relatively inexpensive detectors with moderate performance can deliver tremendous results in the right hands. To have fun and enjoy success in metal detecting does not require a top end detector or a huge outlay of money. People are making finds every day that prove that. Food for thought. Here are a few nugget hunting excerpts:

It seems these days almost every new detector released has some kind of bug that gets discovered. And of course people get upset over it. How do you avoid this? Well you could blame the manufacturers for missing stuff. That may make you feel good, but it won't fix the problem. People also talk about hype a lot these days, and it just sort of flies over my head. Everyone seems desperate for as much information as they can possibly get about detectors early on, but then all that information gets labeled as hype. Unless you live under a rock I would expect you are a member of our consumer society and see advertising every day, so please get over the whole hype thing. It is just information good or bad for you to sort out, and more is better as far as I am concerned, not less. Nobody has to be first kid on their block to buy a brand new model of metal detector, and sorry, but I do not sympathize with people like me that choose to be a guinea pig by doing so. People with any concerns at all should wait a minimum of 6 months after release for the inevitable bugs to be found and fixed. Take your time, read the field reports from actual users, wait for a consensus to develop. Or be the first kid on your block. But be realistic and accept the inherent extra risk in doing so. Whether you like it or not the consumer is the last 100 feet of the production line and the first users find out what got missed, overlooked, or was just wrong. A handful of testers will never replace 5000 end users in their ability to use machines under varied and unanticipated conditions. I think it is really nice people think it should be otherwise but that is just the facts as they exist. Anyone with a bit of concern about any brand new detector model should simply not buy one immediately after release. Six months is generally good enough, a year may be better. As detectors get more like programs running in a processor, one of the biggest problems with new models has not been hardware bugs as much as missed software bugs. This has become so common now as to seem almost inevitable. Luckily some new machines now are shipping with the ability to download fixes for these bugs over the internet. Machines with this capability do provide at least a basic level of assurance that early production bugs can be fixed easily and for free. That in turn makes it a less risky proposition being an early adopter in those cases at least. You should never put all your trust in one person when it comes to reviews. It is like movie reviews, one movie can get two opposite reviews from two different people. A wise person looks at the big numbers from thousands of reviewers to make decisions. Or finds a reviewer who over time appears to have the same tastes in movies and trusts them a bit more. Just to sum up though so we are clear on this - if you buy a metal detector from any manufacturer as soon as it is released you are in my opinion accepting an inherent risk in doing so. It is a proven historical fact that nearly every new model released by anyone these days has some sort of issues to sort out. It is rather pointless to dwell on how unfair or wrong that is, just accept it is so. And if that is a big concern for you - wait it out. That is my absolute best advice for you. Me, I will continue being first kid on my block with new toys. I enjoy it!

I was fortunate while at the recent GPAA show in Las Vegas to meet Brandon Niece and his wife Katie. Just a super nice couple, and Brandon a real metal detecting expert. He is known on the forums as Dr. Tones and has a popular YouTube series, Dirt Fishin America, with over 22,000 subscribers! Long story short Brandon has a new book out and I got to take a look at it during the show. It is called The Metal Detecting Bible: Helpful Tips, Expert Tricks and Insider Secrets for Finding Hidden Treasures. It is what I like in a book - clear, concise useful information with excellent illustrations. In particular, the book focuses on the latest methods including the use of GPS units while detecting. Other subjects include: Choose the best metal detector Learn where to search and why Practice appropriate swing techniques Integrate advanced GPS technology Scout out beaches, parks and historic sites Gain permission to hunt on private property Identify antique coins, relics and jewelry Use handy target recovery tools Clean and safely preserve your finds Sell your finds for a profit With a five star rating for its 144 information packed pages it is well worth a place on the detectortist bookshelf. You can get it from Amazon or your favorite detector dealer.

Not that many of us keep record of this but it would be interesting to hear the number of trash finds to gold finds on your average day hunt. I know their are many variables as of site location and such, but for me it's been around 40-60 trash targets which includes lead and ferrous items to one single nugget. Regardless of sites in my area....that's the range for me. I try to disc out the obvious, but for safety I do dig questionable sounds. On another topic a heads up as far as disc on the 4500 Minelabs. I set mine at a pretty aggressive setting of 7. I have found that lead bullets will at times disc out, but they do have that distinct low tone ..so be careful !! Gold will also give of a warbally tone, not like a dic or tone break but some may mistake it as trash so dig it. When in question, dig....happy hunting to you all.....

Is it better to get the big nuggets out of the way first or should one start with the small ones and then concentrate on the bigger ones? Wouldn`t it be nice to have this problem! My own thoughts are the following. After locating patch with the GPX and a mid size coil I would chain from several directions, when no more signals were evident break out the SDC 2300 and chain and flog again. Last step get out the 18 or 20in coils and listen for the deep lurkers/lunkers. Do you think removing the small gold will enable one to hear the deeper gold better? A ZED may be able to do all in one sweep. Your thoughts and experiences appreciated.

I've had it with all this snow we've got here in north central Idaho. I moved down here from Wasilla, Alaska back in 2007 and we never had this much snow in Wasilla. I've recently sold all my placer claims and I'm starting to scale down all my assets. Retirement up here has been nice but I need to warm my bones. We're looking at Nevada or Arizona as our next and final residence. We want to continue our pursuit of the gold but we'll have to get re-trained to dry prospecting and swinging our metal detectors. If you were to recommend a location within those two states that offers the opportunity to continue gold prospecting, I'd greatly appreciate it. Oh, and any gold clubs you recommend would be helpful. We'll drive down for an exploratory trip before commiting. Thanks Bob

Always looking for a smart phone for prospecting with a screen that is readable in sunlight, currently using a aged Samsung Ace2 which is adequate but not ideal. Have found the use of such with mapping and zoom maxed out, one can help assure a patch is done fairly well, but the lack of clear readability in direct sunlight is a problem. Chaining in the country I prospect is a no go, too rough and you`d need a lead chain to mark the ground. Has anyone such a screened smart phone that can handle direct sunlight?

Seeing that most of the regular posters are experienced detector users, I'm a little curious what type of threshold you prefer. I've noticed there seems to be 3 main choices for threshold. 1. Running hot, detector sounds a little unstable but still a target stands out from the rest of the sounds. 2. Running smooth and steady listening for any change in sound at all. 3. Running close to, or actually silent with a target the only sound made excepting an occasional EMI burst. And second are you using headphones? I run my 7000 close to silent, and my discrimination detectors with a smooth threshold. I use headphones on everything.

White's is the only manufacturer I am aware of that makes the LCD window covers easy to replace and easy to get. Just peel the old one off and stick a new one on! Available at some dealers or online at https://www.whiteselectronics.com/?s=Window+decal&site_section=site-search&lang=us

I have been detecting for gold off and on since 1986 and I would like to give a little advice. I believe there are five main things you need to do to be successful. You need to be in a area that has big enough gold to detect. Dig all repetitive targets. It does not matter what sound comes out of the speaker.If it is a repetitive sound dig it. I have dug big deep gold that was nothing more than ground noise but it was a repetitive ground noise and after a scratch or two it turned into a clear target. Learn your detector, I still learn something new about my detectors once in awhile. I see guys stuck on one setting more often than not. Sure you dig up hot rocks with the Normal timings on the GPX's but you are also punching deeper than fine gold or sensitive extra in some ground types. Minelab put all those timings on there because they work! Use them!!! Swing speed SLOW DOWN!!! I watched some videos on YouTube the other day and I can guarantee some of those people are missing gold. The big deep nuggets need a very slow swing speed and good coil control. Learn how to ground balance. This is what I think is one of the most important things to learn how to do successful. Do it right and do it often and you will add more gold to your poke. Hope this helps someone, Root

Eight years of hard work gone..... http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-11/gold-nuggets-stolen-from-cowell-home/6844622

I was curious to know if you long-time detectorists noticed any performance differences dependent on weather conditions. I have noticed that my detecting just seems a bit smoother on those days when it is over-cast. Is this just my imagination?

I read a lot about how challenging nugget hunting was before buying the ZED and everything I read was true. I love the challenge and the hunt, I'm finding adventures and getting outdoors for lots of exercise, loving every minute. I have so much to learn and am very thankful for the honest advice by everyone here. Hunting the desert is fairly straight foreword, but the conditions Im finding around the Rivers on the areas Ive been to so far are telling me I have no idea about what Im doing. for example, the american river area is wonderful, but in most every area around the claim i hit targets every 3 inches or so. Some areas I can find a little more clean ground, but it is almost impossible to even ground balance without several target hits every sweep of the coil. pinpointing is impossible with a 14 inch coil in these conditions and most of the ground is vertical and getting a target out of the hole only sends it over several other targets. I was down to listening only for faint targets and then searching the soil scoop by scoop for any targets I might be lucky enough to find. In several areas I am also getting a target response on solid basaltic bed rock, Im guessing this is only hot rock. Im suppose I need to be raking and clearing a small area at a time and trying to work through any trash layers if thats possible? My tendency is to want to cover a lot of ground like when Im in the desert, but that approach won't work down by the river, so I have to guess a more careful and systematic approach is necessary working only a small area?

G;day Folks Does anyone here Know Bill Southern, Because I joined his forum because I need to talk to some one there And There seems to be an Approval Issue thing going on there and I cant contact anyone Or Post ther even though I am Now A Member there, Thanks Guys,, John

I just bought a new metal detector making the # of machines I own at 2... I'm already wanting to add another machine to my collection...I have 2 VLF's and now I want a PI.....am I addicted??...need meetings??? etc etc etc...haha

So I have a few people here at work who've never detected, sluiced, panned or, in one case, even camped! I'm looking to take care of all of those in one fell swoop with the caveat -- they're really not in good shape for humping around the backcountry. I'm looking at putting everyone in my truck and taking them up to the Mother Lode area of California (coming up from the Bay Area.) Requirements: 1) Near an easy-access stream for panning/sluicing 2) Drive-up campsite or SUPER easy hike in/out. Emphasis on "not in good shape" for some of the party. 3) Area is amenable to detecting (Taking a GB2 and v3i. v3i is not optimal but hopefully better than nothing.) I was thinking about the Auburn Rec area - I seem to remember a campground under/near a bridge but it's been a very very long time since I've been there. Maybe it was Mineral Bar? I wasn't driving and don't remember. 😛 Something like Ruck-a-Chucky might be doable but it's up away from the river a bit. Another option is camping BLM land if the hike in is short/easy - something around Columbia that might be unclaimed. If anyone knows of the correct terrain/area I'll research the claims in that area. This is more of a "fun trip" instead of a "hunt hard" trip but I'd like to get them into a little color and get them hooked - could use a prospecting buddy or two if I can get them into shape. =D Thanks! -mox

Just read this and had a great laugh telling the wife and kids about it - best laugh in awhile. No need for bear spray or a gun just haymaker the ol boy. Lol http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/04/28/placer-county-man-punches-bear-in-face-to-save-his-dog/

Need some advice for detecting out in the bush here in Alaska. Keep both earphones on? Keep one on and listen for bears with the other? Anyone have any ideas or experience with this? How about full earphones vs. in-ear phones? Thanks.

Recently I picked up a Fisher F19. I have been hitting the local parks after work putting time on the new machine. Benn having a lot of fun with that and finding tones of clad and junk jewelry. Nothing to brag about but fun all the same. What I have found that interests me is the children. I get a lot of attention from the kids. Today one kid cornered me and asked a million questions. Finally I asked is she wanted to give it a go. Man those eyes lit up "CAN I REALLY". Hay why not. She spent the better part of an hour detecting before it was time to go. In talking to her I learned she was Autistic and has Asperger. That got me thinking I need a metal detector just for the kids. I am looking for suggestions on a good, entry level detector. Not really shur what to look at, but seems to me it needs to be simple in design and sized for kids but I would like it to be capable. Price is not a issue but I would expect that it would not be expensive. Maybe an older used model is the way to go? What do you guy`s think?