Advice On Where To Begin. Join Gpaa? Pay For Some Training Or Just Read Everything Here

[HardPack]

American Mining Rights Association has access to two claims in SLO. Mining claims are listed on the site. Annual fees $200 with occasional group gatherings on different claims plus several videos. 

https://www.americanminingrights.com/

[phrunt]

All great advice above and very nice of Mitchel to offer to help you out, the key especially when learning is go to where detectable size historical gold has been found before and dig everything that beeps.   Use either the Nox and 6" or Manticore and M8, I'd probably take the Manticore.

[Swegin]

11 hours ago, Skate said:

Excellent advice and I thank you all for helping out. Looks like I'll be joining GPAA, buying Chris's book and getting some one on one training. 

Look this guy up.  He is about to retire, he is in CA.     https://www.facebook.com/ray.mills.37625    

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First day: many subjects; contact zones, natural and manmade indicators, intrusions, upheavals, line gold, pocket gold, old diggings, seam diggings, geological patterns…we will talk for about three hours. After the talk, we will do a walk-about for another three or so hours. Everything talked about earlier, you will now see, and fully understand before we leave the area. This course will put you ahead of most others as far as Electronic Prospecting.

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[Joe L]

All great info above.  
For me, even though I really don’t live in the “right” area I am totally into prospecting and mining. When I’m into something I do so much research my mine explodes.
I will say this, I have learned the most right here on these forums. There are a boat load of people here that have taught me, in reading threads, that on my trips I do west, I’M READY.

i have panned here back in the east,  but other than enjoyment of the actions ended up with,,,,enjoyment. That’s ok for now. I now own a gold detector, which can be limited used for other things, so when I head out west on one of my trips, I hope I enjoy that as much.

So my input on this thread, read, read, read.

Joe

[Skate]

It's ironic that in the years I've been on this forum I have never really gone into the top prospector one, just headed into coins or jewelry or one of the detector specific forums, I didn't know what I didn't know. I want to thank everyone who has contributed as there has been a bunch of great information and advice. I've already bought a couple of books and me and the dogs are waiting for the Amazon truck to get here. I've got to sit the wife down and make some promises I may not be able to keep. I'm sold on getting one on one training so that is my next thing to research and plan for. 

Thanks to all

[abenson]

I got interested in gold prospecting when I joined this forum and although I had hunted for gold nuggets before was not all that interested in it until about 7 years ago. The first thing I did after I bought my GPX 4000 was take a class from Gerry, which is actually where I meet Steve Herschbach for the first time.

The next thing I did was buy a bunch of books and join a gold prospecting club here in Utah where I found out real quick that Utah doesn't have much detectable gold. So I joined 3 clubs down in Arizona and went to a few club hunts and meet Jeff R. from Dolan Springs I think on this forum. For about 3 years I would go down to the Gold Basin area and meet up with Jeff who really helped me understand the why and where to look for gold and meteorites in the area. I didn't find much in the way of gold, a few small bits here and there but did find a lot of meteorites.

As I've gone to more club events and meet more people both on and off this forum I've learned more and more about gold hunting. Since I have to travel so far to get to areas that have detectable gold, 9 hours to Arizona and 6 to Nevada, it was very important to have help to get started so trips wouldn't be wasted not finding anything. I can't thank Jeff R., Steve H. and Steve F. enough for all the help they have given me over the last few years and thanks to everyone else that has contributed on this forum to help me and others learn how to metal detect for gold.

[jasong]

I don't know Ray Mills, but reading his class description that Swegin posted, that's the sort of thing I'd be spending my money on if I started from day 1 again, rather than trying to learn it all myself. Learning a gold machine takes a week or less if you spend time testing everything out (and you already know how to use your machines). Learning to actually prospect takes years, and many people never figure it out even after that much time, that kind of experience is invaluable because it can't be garnered in a week of testing, it takes a lifetime of prospecting to understand it and if someone is willing to distill it down into a class and share it, it's probably worth it. 

And if you are in California you can probably find some smaller/local clubs better than the GPAA that have actual productive ground to work. Or, use the GPAA locations to familiarize yourself with the geologic/topographic settings nuggets are found in and use that to extrapolate to new locations you explore. That's prospecting. Location is everything, even in good locations much of the ground often doesn't have nuggety gold, learning where it's at is key.

[Redz]

Take some soil samples home when you are out and pan them. Gold likes to hide where gold is.

[UT Dave]

I'm trying to get into nugget detecting this year too.

I've been reading.  And reading.  I like to read, so I've just read and read.

I'm signed up for Gerry's class in April, really looking forward to that.

I've been watching @abenson videos and they have been very helpful.

The biggest thing I have planned though, is just to get out and do it and try to find some as often as I can this year.  My first trip this past weekend was a skunk.  But, I figure, that's just part of paying my dues.  I got in lots of coil on the ground time and dug a lot of bird shot and tiny fragments of bullet jacket and such.  Got practice using the pick and scoop recovery method for tiny bits.  I figure, I keep trying, it will eventually start to come together.

- Dave

[phrunt]

4 hours ago, UT Dave said:

The biggest thing I have planned though, is just to get out and do it and try to find some as often as I can this year.  My first trip this past weekend was a skunk.  But, I figure, that's just part of paying my dues.  I got in lots of coil on the ground time and dug a lot of bird shot and tiny fragments of bullet jacket and such.  Got practice using the pick and scoop recovery method for tiny bits.  I figure, I keep trying, it will eventually start to come together.

Once the basics are down pat, which it sounds like they are the hardest part is putting the coil over some gold.