Ok, this is a personal subject for me. I am a firm believer that no spot is ever truly hunted out, there's always another coin or relic hiding, if one works hard/smart enough. However...
I value my time, and hunting for one piece of silver is not my cup of tea. No, I'm not a diva. I don't expect the world, and I appreciate EVERY good item that comes my way. But, IMO, there definitely is a point of diminishing returns.
If I have to hunt a spot for 5 or 6 hours, to maybe just eke out a silver or two (if I'm lucky), that's not time well spent, in my book.
The tricky part though is, we normally keep returning to the same spots, because we've done well there in the past, or because of convenience, or due to an emotional connection to the location, if maybe you had a killer hunt there in the past.
My question is twofold...
Does anyone else have spots like these? And if so, when do you choose to put that location on the back burner? If you get skunked two times? Five times? When does the straw break the proverbial camel's back, for you?
Joe
Well, I've been over the same ground in some cases a dozen or more times. Some days I hit silvers and some days I don't. I got this one spot that I've gotten over 30 silvers from and every third time I go there I find another one or two. I have another spot I'd been to previously a gazillion times over two years with nothing other than clad and junk and last month, within a week, I pull 7 silvers out of the place!!!!
I seem to never give up on an area. I just keeping looking slower in the same ground I've been over and have come to the realization that there is silver in the ground everywhere, but you really have to look for it. And I can't tell you how many times I've said to myself, "But I checked this area three (four, five, six) times already. How could I have missed this?".
So until I can't walk anymore, I'm going back where I found silver! Although there are a couple of places I've simply completely given up on. It's places where there are no signals whatsoever. Not even trash. And I think that's the key Joe. Where you find trash and junk, that's where the silver is. Like last month, I think I've reached a point at that place where I'm finally cleaning out the bad signals. And my style has changed 180 degrees from 2 years ago. Low and slow. Pick em out.
But for any of you guys that are time constrained, well, I'd say start asking for permissions. In many cases that's virgin ground and you are much more likely to hit silver than wandering around aimlessly in a park like I do. I have the time to do it though so it's no pressure. Can't concentrate when you're under pressure.
Ed
ps... I'm hanging it up for the remainder of March and the first week of April. Back to work now at the Soccer Fields and I need to concentrate on that. Detecting and work doesn't mix for me when we are going through setup for the season start. I'll be watching and commenting as I can so I hope you guys can get my itch scratched with pics and vids!!
That's great advice, Ed
Due to the depths our old coins are at, once the deep signals start to peter out, that's normally when I lessen the trips there. For instance...
If I'm getting good 6+" coin signals every couple of minutes, it's basically a numbers game that I'm gonna start digging wheats and then silver. The more deep signals I get, and the more trash/iron I dig, the more old coins will surface. But once it gets to a point where I have to go 15, 20 minutes (or more) between those deep signals, it just doesn't pay off. Not when I'm looking to have 4, 5 or 6 silver days. For that kind of action, you need a lot of signals, and a lot of the RIGHT signals. Without those, the numbers aren't on my side.
The other day I hunted for about 5 hours, and literally, there were maybe 7 or 8 perfect textbook deep coin signals, the rest were iffy signals (which still must be dug), and those were maybe 15 or so. Let's call it 25 good probability, diggable coin signals. 5 per hour. One every 12 minutes. Most of which is going to be deep iron, trash or a wheat, so what's left? Yes...
If just one or two are mercs or barbers, it isn't bad, but remember, the topic is diminishing returns. To me, a 4, 5 or 6 hour hunt should yield about a silver an hour. That's always been my rule of thumb. I sometimes break it down by a 10 to 1 wheatie ratio.
My point is, we all have our satisfaction level. To be honest, if I go home with just ONE silver I'm happy, though I certainly don't leave home hoping for that.
Joe
Well I might as well sell my detectors. I'm amazed of the amount of old coins at shallow depths in other locations. Or really any depth.
I know Detectorist must adapt to their environment. There is No way anyone could find a silver a hour in Florida. I don't think it could be done on virgin private property in historical district here in Florida. This state didn't have the development.
I spend 100 hours or more to find a silver coin, and it is most likely in the 30s - 50s. For the folks that think it might be my lack of experience. That's bullshit. I hunt with my friend that's been hunting since the early 80s. He buys the best equipment (latest & greatest). Owns and etrac, and considering a CTX 3030. He truly loves the hobby, and hunts almost every weekend. He also puts in 100+ hours to find a mercury dime. Cost / time we would be a lot better off buying our coins. We do sometimes, but it does not have the same satisfaction. We are targeting the beaches more. But with kellyco in the states and the false myth you can find gold at beaches its laying on top of the ground everywhere. There is a lot of competition.
Damn, we got it bad, your lucky find the amounts you do.
Heck it seems you have coins just under the surface that the worse detector could bang on! For some strange reason, we hunt areas that has not produced in weeks, months.
Updated changed verbiage Sorry guys if I offended anyone:
(03-18-2016 09:17 AM)updownup Wrote: [ -> ]Well I might as well sell my detectors. I'm amazed of the amount of old coins at shallow depths in other locations. Or really any depth.
I know Detectorist must adapt to their environment. There is No way anyone could find a silver a hour in Florida. I don't think it could be done on virgin private property in historical district here in Florida. This state didn't have the development.
I spend 100 hours or more to find a silver coin, and it is most likely in the 30s - 50s. For the folks that think it might be my lack of experience. That's bullshit. I hunt with my friend that's been hunting since the early 80s. He buys the best equipment (latest & greatest). Owns and etrac, and considering a CTX 3030. He truly loves the hobby, and hunts almost every weekend. He also puts in 100+ hours to find a mercury dime. Cost / time we would be a lot better off buying our coins. We do sometimes, but it does not have the same satisfaction. We are targeting the beaches more. But with kellyco in the states and the false myth you can find gold at beaches its laying on top of the ground everywhere. There is a lot of competition.
Damn, we got it bad you lucky @$%&--&! Stop your whining! Hell you got lots of freaky coins just under the surface that the worse detector could bang on! Count your blessings.
Why would you sell your detectors? The post wasn't meant as a bitch & moan session. It was intented to get opinions on when someone decides to cut their losses with a spot. The fact is...
There is no ONE yardstick to measure one's success on a hunt. Every location is different, and unique. What works in your neck of the woods might not work somewhere else. Different machinery needs, hunting strategies, etc.
Sorry if my post irked you, but I tend to analyze things, in the hopes of possibility improving on them. It was on that note that I was seeking opinions.
Joe
Your post did not irk me. Sorry if my post reflect that. It was not my intent. It is tough down south, and guess it jealousy not having the resources. Most places are off limits, or with our sandy soils those sweeties are closer to China now. If they even existed.
It's all good. Good luck everyone.
(03-18-2016 11:10 AM)updownup Wrote: [ -> ]Your post did not irk me. Sorry if my post reflect that. It was not my intent. It is tough down south, and guess it jealousy not having the resources. Most places are off limits, or with our sandy soils those sweeties are closer to China now. If they even existed.
It's all good. Good luck everyone.
You are right though up, unless you're in the real historic areas originally settled by the Spanish, (and I know most of those areas are off limits) FLA is a bear to hunt! Thank you though. What I have working for me in Northern Ohio is when the glaciers finally receded and the undergrowth grew for 12,000 years, the four to six inches of sandy loam I dig sits right on top of a layer of clay or shale or bedrock sandstone. Rarely do I find a silver deep in the clay! Most of the silver will make it down to the top of the clay/shale/stone and sit there for eons. And another bunch I find either just under the top of the soil and or just under the layers of leaves in the woods!!! So I feel for you. Joe and the guys along the East coast up North there, well that area was a hub for the expansion of the country so millions of people went through, not to mention all the revolutionary battles fought and simple yet enormous amount of commerce that went on. Now I'm not saying it's easy for them or for myself, as I know how you feel when I have a really skunky no hits for about three weeks. It can be tough. I'll hang it up for a couple days just to take my mind away from it. Good luck though. It is out there but I know what you mean about putting hours in for one silver! I seem to get a spat of them between long dry periods. Just gotta keep swinging!
Ed
My record of finding silver coins since 2009, two silver coins.
What keeps me going, the gold and silver jewelry and the $1 and $2 Canadian coins.
Then just having fun using a metal detector.
I believe Up & I misconstrued each others intent, in our posts. That's the damn problem with talking online, words will only get you so far, what's missing is the TONE of what's being said. That is hard to convey properly in a format such as this.
Like any other hobby with fanatical participants, it's sometimes easy to get caught up in something highly topical in nature, especially if one reads the situation wrong, which I have a habit of doing from time to time.
As 2 loyal, dedicated detectorists, we obviously stand on the same side of the fence, and that's really the only thing that matters, at the end of the day.
Joe
I very rarely completely give up on a spot , I hunt a park after work just to unwind that I know is absolutely pounded not only by my friends and I , but by a few other detectorists as well .
It usually produces something , it has given up 2 gold rings , a California fractional gold stick pin and just this last summer I got a 2 1/2 pesos gold coin in a gold bezel out of the sand volleyball court .
It has produced silver coins many times. Yes we have found just a couple bucks in clad on a few hunts , but it's about the hunt and enjoying the hobby.
When I need a silver fix I go to old house sites that I have permissions for. , but I have only completely given up on a couple of sites that after a few hunts didn't even produce any reasonable amount of clad or fun relics.