It is so easy to out smart yourself, especially if you are relatively new to using a metal detector at the beach.
Ive picked up other peoples books and read other peoples blogs who are considered beach hunting "Experts" and the one thing that that always grabs my attention is how much some people waffle on about piffle that beach hunters have no control over.
Studying the movement of water and beach erosion come in handy but when you walk onto a beach with a metal detector your chances of recovering something you hope to detect comes down to common beach hunting sense and beep and dig.
Over the years I have answered a heck of a lot of questions about beach hunting and metal detectors and it still surprises me to this day how much stock people put into things that are totally out of a beach hunters control.
A typical example is target depth, the driving factor behind beach hunters constantly jumping from one piece of metal detecting equipment to another, until a company brings a new metal detector out and its the latest and greatest got to have in order to detect good stuff.
In reality a beach hunter is blaming target depth and metal detecting equipment choices for a perceived lack of finds
Whatever they are searching for must be just out of reach, the same reasoning behind people who study and worry over beach dynamics totally out of their control.
Waiting and watching for high wind and waves in order to find what you are searching for at the beach is a poor beach treasure hunting strategy, beach fronts change at least a little every time the tide changes.
Do not get me started on the "I hit the beach 2 hrs before low tide" posters, who put a smile on beach hunters faces who found stuff while the low tide watchers waited at home.
As for target depth, it is not complicated my fellow beach hunters you can only detect what metals are within metal detection range at the time you are searching an area.
I never give any thought to the stuff I cannot find or give any thought to what ifs, only what I can take home from a beach in the conditions presented to me at the time.
Another example of something totally out of your control is pure luck, but you can increase your chances of having good luck by mixing things up searching different areas.
I try not to rely on luck but I describe myself as lucky, perhaps its all the work I put into trying to put myself in the right place at the right time more than the next person using a metal detector.
Not everything you search for has been lost at the same time in the same place, one reason I make sure I cover as many different areas of the beach as possible and I avoid running to the same sites all the time.
Conductive & ferrous numbers on a metal detector screen are another perfect example of please enough already, use them for potential target identification but never base your whole search around a set of numbers as metal detecting is all about site reading skills and search techniques.
One persons custom metal detector settings or programs is always another persons reason to return home empty handed.
My advice to novice beach hunters with a metal detector screen, lower the discrimination level, slap some tape over your metal detector screen and keep your eyes on the ground you are covering, listen and learn.
Beach treasure hunting is fun and it is not very complicated unless you outsmart yourself being concerned with surf projections, beach erosion and who is finding what and where.
The expression cant see the forest for the trees could easily translate to cant see the beach for the sand, try not to sweat the big stuff and overlook the important stuff like having fun and actually finding what you are searching for.
As you can see on my website finds page I like grinding and finding, relying on basic site reading skills and search techniques along with hard work and determination.
These beach hunting Bobby Dazzlers were recovered over a four month period a few summers ago, just part of a 2lb haul of gold jewelry that year.
www.garydrayton.com
No comments:
Post a Comment