Off Season Hobby - metal detecting

The nanny state we live in, we get harrassed all too often. Been yelled at and had the cops called on us twice in the last year alone. Once at a park and once on curb strips, both times the cops immediately said some moron complained but we're ok have fun. That still ruins the fun for my wife and ends the hunt. Wish people would mind their own business...
 
That's a shame. I've only had the cops called on me once, and same deal, the cops were super friendly, told me I was absolutely good to go and actually wanted me to show them how it worked. I dug a small 10k gold ring right before their eyes and they were AMAZED! Both of them said they were going to buy detectors
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They said the call they got was for a dangerous looking guy in camo with a knife. I did have on a Sitka jacket and of course did have my digging tool. They reminded me several times, while they were laughing, that I had been reported as a dangerous looking character.

- DAA
 
The opposite of camo, I picked up a neon construction vest to wear while detecting in public. I figure I'll look like I'm a city public works employee, surveyor, or something official and people will leave me alone. Hidden in plain sight?

Meanwhile, I haven't had a chance to use our Nox 800 for gold prospecting in the Sierras this year. We are very close to some of the biggest and richest historical gold mining districts in CA. Most of the good spots on the rivers are claimed up and it takes research to find spots to prospect. I have a secluded spot I've scouted that requires a 2000 foot drop down to the river bank, but the terrain is so steep and rugged that I cannot find a safe way down. I'm always forced to stop 300-500 feet shy on my descent, it's just too dangerous.

I have come across some pretty neat old relics from the good old days. Remnants of wooden water flumes used to divert streams many miles to power hydrolic mining, stamp mills and steam powered engines, rails and collapsed adits. Most of this stuff is several miles from the nearest trailhead and not on any trail anyways. Literally "lost" in the overgrowth. And there is so much more, it's all over. GPS and machete required. I wish I had more time to explore.
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I have 2 Whites detectors, am MXT and QXT but have not done much detecting for several years. Seems like it is hard to find time to do it any more. Hopefully after I retire in December I will find more time to do things I like. Have my dads old Garret also.
 
I grew up just a few miles from Cold Harbor battlefield. Being on a farm a lot of neat stuff turned up while plowing. I remember my dad had bushel baskets full of cannon balls and hundreds of minnie balls. Back in '81 he found a yankee belt buckle in excellent condition while getting up onions. Not a lot to find where I live now but it's still fun going out with my metal detector.
 
Ran the Equinox 800 at a local park for an hour while my flat tire was being repaired. Found about a dollar in clad and this men's Titanium Carbide wedding band along the basketball court. First titanium for me, I almost skipped it because it rang up just like a Zinclon penny and I sometimes skip pennies.

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Nice! Those tungstens can ring up over a wide range, depending on carbide content. Anywhere from a nickel to a quarter.

I have been on a silver streak. Getting quite a few silver coins and even more silver rings lately. This is from yesterday.

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- DAA
 
I've been out metal detecting quite a bit this year and having a blast. Figured it was time to post a few finds. Hope some of you guys have dusted off those neglected detectors you have!

These indians had been laying in the sage brush a long time. Found them yesterday.

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Have been doing some gold nugget detecting this year too. It's just plain addicting.

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Chinese cash coins.

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Denver & Rio Grande Railroad padlock.

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Pocket watch.

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Some silver and gold jewelry.

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- DAA
 
Just got a Garrett to find the non-working sprinkler valve in back. Used to design detectors for Garrett long time ago. Never had much time to get into the hobby.
 
DAA, they made a wild West movie about the D&RG railroad and my wife EX was a brakeman on the line. My grand daughter still has the Plymouth he kept up in Minturn CO.

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DAA said:
I've been out metal detecting quite a bit this year and having a blast. Figured it was time to post a few finds. Hope some of you guys have dusted off those neglected detectors you have!

These indians had been laying in the sage brush a long time. Found them yesterday.

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Have been doing some gold nugget detecting this year too. It's just plain addicting.

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Chinese cash coins.

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Denver & Rio Grande Railroad padlock.

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Pocket watch.

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Some silver and gold jewelry.

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- DAA
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Some nice finds Dave. What detector are you using for the gold nuggets. I need to get the dust off mine and get out
 
reb8600 said:
Some nice finds Dave. What detector are you using for the gold nuggets. I need to get the dust off mine and get out
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Using the same Minelab Manticore for everything from parks to nugget patches right now. With the small M8 coil for nuggets.

- DAA
 
Jerryrigged said:
Since you guys are in the know, anything good to say about the Bounty Hunter stuff?
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Cheap and easy to use. I'm concerned the company may be going out of business though. Maybe they aren't, but they've been acting like it.

- DAA
 
When I was in the business, I took one of theirs apart. Found the circuit board had a competitors brand on it. At that time Fischer was decent and White was pretty state of the art. Technology has been pretty stable for last 40 yrs but cheap microprocessors have reduced cost. Did an Intel 8085 one but cost was terrible.
 
I can't remember all the brands First Texas owns, but Fisher is one of them. They are having an ongoing fire sale on all the Fisher models. Garrett owns White's now of course. But have never done anything with their tech except repackage the Goldmaster, which is still a viable machine for the purpose and the money. I think they probably bought White's just to prevent a Chinese outfit from using the name.

VLF is still VLF with all it's limitations. Nothing has changed there since forever. Modern simultaneous multi frequency machines do solidly out perform single frequency machines of days past though. Particularly in mineralized soil and in accurate target ID/discrimination at depth. And the newest PI machines are starting to have useful target ID, which is a big step forward IMO. I don't own a PI yet though. The prices on PI's are still too precious for me. They do punch through mineralized ground and hit on gold nuggets much deeper than any VLF though. I'll own one eventually.

- DAA
 
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