During a beach jewelry hunting lesson yesterday, I was able gave a client a few observations about reading the competition as three Excalibur users were already busy searching the beach I had chosen for the lesson.
The Excalibur users in action helped me explain a few important things about jewelry hunting at tourist beaches.
One person had their search coil a good five to six inches above the sand, another quickly walked down the beach like they were taking part in a Benny Hill video.
The third person was digging holes in the sand wide and deep enough to say hello to Skippy the bush kangaroo.
In other words, loss of target depth, poor ground coverage and using the wrong search mode or poor target recovery skills.
In this video I show some of the basic Minelab Excalibur settings I prefer to use when searching for jewelry at the beach.
https://youtu.be/dNZul_8v3uQ
I always use the Excaliburs best discrimination features to help me detect both shallow and deeply buried targets.
The discrimination search mode is often the best search mode to use at a tourist type beach, helping you to spend more time digging good non ferrous (iron) targets.
In my opinion, time is money in beach jewelry hunting, especially if you are a weekend warrior or your beach hunting time is limited.
I pointed out to my client that searching with the coil on the sand or as close to the sand as possible, will help maximize target depth.
Stepping forward only after slowly sweeping the coil twice will help a beach jewelry hunter to thoroughly cover an area.
Lastly, using the Excalibur disc mode will help prevent a beach jewelry hunter from wasting valuable detecting time struggling to recover every scrap of metal junk at the beach.
Although the Excalibur pinpoint search mode may be a tad deeper than the disc mode, don't forget ferrous junk can also be detected a little deeper too.
For example, if you can detect good targets using an Excalibur 10 inch search coil up to 10 inches, why would you dig every piece of junk in all metal mode just in case a good target is in that extra inch or maybe two gained by running in pinpoint mode.
Gold is not always just out of discrimination range, I believe more gold is missed through bad search techniques and not being able to get to it before the jewelry hunting competition because of time spent digging ferrous junk.
Friday, November 11, 2016
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Collection areas at the beach
My last jewelry hunt was a productive one, finding a total of eight rings, five earrings and two pendants.
Only three gold rings, but thats an above average gold to silver or junk ring ratio.
Expect to find at least five or six silver or junk rings for every gold ring you find at a tourist beach.
The reason I chose the site, was because I had seen this eroded stretch of beach while filming previous videos in the area.
My guess is high surf probably prevented people from searching inside the water opposite the cut.
In a previous video I said how the water opposite the cut could be the place to search when the surf settled down.
From experience, I can tell you that if a cut beach is void of targets, inside the water is usually the place to search.
In my three hour shallow water hunt I could not take a sweep of my search coil without detecting a target.
This is one of my favorite shallow water hunting situations, a collection area where coins and jewelry have been washed into.
This type of collection area is often more productive to a jewelry hunter than a coin line at the beach, as an eroded stretch of beach will often have an area with a ton of targets.
Jewelry hunting is often about learning how to find the site within the site, and knowing how to take advantage of that site by hammering it hard!
A few weeks ago I detected a similar collection area with stacks of lead fishing weights and came away with several gold rings, including an old gold and silver coin ring.
This video shows some of the finds that came out of the recently discovered collection area.
https://youtu.be/OPsQAsTgVLQ
Target rich areas are not always at the busiest beaches, you may run across an old beach entrance or site that used to be busy back in the day but is not now.
I like to learn and know the history of the beaches I search, for example where beachside parking lots or hotels used to be, joining the detecting crowd fighting for sloppy seconds at heavily hunted sites is not my cup of tea.
When you find a productive collection area, search it for as long as you possibly can because you usually have a short jewelry hunting window.
The next day I checked the area out, increased overnight surf had covered the area with a thick carpet of sand.
In my opinion, jewelry hunters should go home with aching arms from digging targets, not tired legs from trying to cover heavily hunted areas before the competition.
Digging not walking, it should be obvious what action puts more gold in your finds pouch.
Only three gold rings, but thats an above average gold to silver or junk ring ratio.
Expect to find at least five or six silver or junk rings for every gold ring you find at a tourist beach.
The reason I chose the site, was because I had seen this eroded stretch of beach while filming previous videos in the area.
My guess is high surf probably prevented people from searching inside the water opposite the cut.
In a previous video I said how the water opposite the cut could be the place to search when the surf settled down.
From experience, I can tell you that if a cut beach is void of targets, inside the water is usually the place to search.
In my three hour shallow water hunt I could not take a sweep of my search coil without detecting a target.
This is one of my favorite shallow water hunting situations, a collection area where coins and jewelry have been washed into.
This type of collection area is often more productive to a jewelry hunter than a coin line at the beach, as an eroded stretch of beach will often have an area with a ton of targets.
Jewelry hunting is often about learning how to find the site within the site, and knowing how to take advantage of that site by hammering it hard!
A few weeks ago I detected a similar collection area with stacks of lead fishing weights and came away with several gold rings, including an old gold and silver coin ring.
This video shows some of the finds that came out of the recently discovered collection area.
https://youtu.be/OPsQAsTgVLQ
Target rich areas are not always at the busiest beaches, you may run across an old beach entrance or site that used to be busy back in the day but is not now.
I like to learn and know the history of the beaches I search, for example where beachside parking lots or hotels used to be, joining the detecting crowd fighting for sloppy seconds at heavily hunted sites is not my cup of tea.
When you find a productive collection area, search it for as long as you possibly can because you usually have a short jewelry hunting window.
The next day I checked the area out, increased overnight surf had covered the area with a thick carpet of sand.
In my opinion, jewelry hunters should go home with aching arms from digging targets, not tired legs from trying to cover heavily hunted areas before the competition.
Digging not walking, it should be obvious what action puts more gold in your finds pouch.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Build on a solid metal detecting foundation
Your metal detecting pace, sweep speed and search coil control are three solid foundations for a beach or water hunter to build upon.
When beach and water hunters contact me for advice on how to compete in heavily hunted areas, it is usually metal detector or search coil size related questions.
I very rarely get asked what is a good metal detecting pace or sweeping technique, and I have never fielded a search coil control question.
In my opinion, the best advantage anyone can have other another beach or water hunter at a heavily hunted beach is their search technique.
If you are really strict about the way you move across the sand sweeping a level search coil, it shows you have a good beach or water hunting strategy, instead of relying on stumbling across something good.
This video shows the way I like to use a metal detector at the beach, relying on solid beach hunting foundations.
https://youtu.be/o-D6MvV50XQ
Slowly and methodically searching an area, while sweeping a level search coil across the top of the sand.
If a metal object is within detection range in the sand I will detect it, I can also walk away from an area without ever wondering if I missed anything.
In my beach and water hunting books I like to say, it is not how much ground you cover, it is how you cover the ground.
I never check out other peoples metal detectors or search coils at the beach, I check out their detecting pace and search techniques, because they are the real measure of the competition.
It is not the speedy beach hunter covering the beach before you that you have to worry about, its the slow beach hunter behind you that is the real competition.
When beach and water hunters contact me for advice on how to compete in heavily hunted areas, it is usually metal detector or search coil size related questions.
I very rarely get asked what is a good metal detecting pace or sweeping technique, and I have never fielded a search coil control question.
In my opinion, the best advantage anyone can have other another beach or water hunter at a heavily hunted beach is their search technique.
If you are really strict about the way you move across the sand sweeping a level search coil, it shows you have a good beach or water hunting strategy, instead of relying on stumbling across something good.
This video shows the way I like to use a metal detector at the beach, relying on solid beach hunting foundations.
https://youtu.be/o-D6MvV50XQ
Slowly and methodically searching an area, while sweeping a level search coil across the top of the sand.
If a metal object is within detection range in the sand I will detect it, I can also walk away from an area without ever wondering if I missed anything.
In my beach and water hunting books I like to say, it is not how much ground you cover, it is how you cover the ground.
I never check out other peoples metal detectors or search coils at the beach, I check out their detecting pace and search techniques, because they are the real measure of the competition.
It is not the speedy beach hunter covering the beach before you that you have to worry about, its the slow beach hunter behind you that is the real competition.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Searching natural jewelry traps at the beach
Saturday morning I hit a beach for a 2.5 hour beach hunt, I was expecting some erosion with recent high winds and surf.
Unfortunately the main beach was sanded-in with no cuts, so I decided to search an area I have always done well at in the past.
The rocky outcrops away from the main beach area had sand remove from between the piles of rocks, making them interesting places to search for jewelry and coins.
Although this stretch is not as busy as the main beach, it sees its fair share of people snorkeling around the rocks.
Eagle eyed blog viewers may recognize these rocks from previous jewelry shots I have posted in the past.
This youtube video shows the moment I pulled the 14 K gold chain out of the hole, I stopped to turn on my GoPro hoping a gold pendant was attached, no such luck this time, but hey you never know.
https://youtu.be/MLFTX-qFagI
My initial plan was to search any cuts I saw at the main beach, cuts at a beach act as jewelry or coin traps, small or sometimes large vertical walls of sand that jewelry and coins get trapped against.
The rock piles I searched away from the main beach are also jewelry and coin traps, only you do not always have to wait for high winds or waves to make them productive.
In this case sand was washed away from between the rocks, but I have recovered plenty of gold chains and gold rings close to the rocks without any sand washed away.
I usually use a smaller search coil when looking for jewelry and coins close to rock piles, as they often have a lot of bottle caps and can slaw in and around the piles.
Rocky outcrops are natural jewelry and coin traps at the beach, and not just around the rocks.
Large rocks sometimes have cracks and small pockets that jewelry and coins can get washed into, this is the main reason I usually carry a pin-pointer with me to the beach.
Get ready for some serious fun if you search over rocks that were previously covered in several feet of sand.
I will try adding videos to all my upcoming beach and water hunting blogs, early days so please excuse my rookie video production and please subscribe to my youtube channel.
HH Gary
Unfortunately the main beach was sanded-in with no cuts, so I decided to search an area I have always done well at in the past.
The rocky outcrops away from the main beach area had sand remove from between the piles of rocks, making them interesting places to search for jewelry and coins.
Although this stretch is not as busy as the main beach, it sees its fair share of people snorkeling around the rocks.
Eagle eyed blog viewers may recognize these rocks from previous jewelry shots I have posted in the past.
This youtube video shows the moment I pulled the 14 K gold chain out of the hole, I stopped to turn on my GoPro hoping a gold pendant was attached, no such luck this time, but hey you never know.
https://youtu.be/MLFTX-qFagI
My initial plan was to search any cuts I saw at the main beach, cuts at a beach act as jewelry or coin traps, small or sometimes large vertical walls of sand that jewelry and coins get trapped against.
The rock piles I searched away from the main beach are also jewelry and coin traps, only you do not always have to wait for high winds or waves to make them productive.
In this case sand was washed away from between the rocks, but I have recovered plenty of gold chains and gold rings close to the rocks without any sand washed away.
I usually use a smaller search coil when looking for jewelry and coins close to rock piles, as they often have a lot of bottle caps and can slaw in and around the piles.
Rocky outcrops are natural jewelry and coin traps at the beach, and not just around the rocks.
Large rocks sometimes have cracks and small pockets that jewelry and coins can get washed into, this is the main reason I usually carry a pin-pointer with me to the beach.
Get ready for some serious fun if you search over rocks that were previously covered in several feet of sand.
I will try adding videos to all my upcoming beach and water hunting blogs, early days so please excuse my rookie video production and please subscribe to my youtube channel.
HH Gary
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Less is often more when using a metal detector with a screen
Metal detectors with screens are becoming extremely popular with beach hunters, I use one myself.
Although I only use the display readouts as a second opinion, I still rely on my ears when making my digging decisions.
When you use a combination of audio and display screen target information, it helps if you have accurate read outs.
This video on my youtube channel explains a few of the basic settings I use on the Minelab CTX 3030, towards the end of the video I explain my reasons for not having everything I could have running on the metal detector.
https://youtu.be/CEQfnbXwY2o
One of the things I have learned about using a metal detector with a display screen, is the more things you have running the more inaccurate your readouts become.
Target ID's become less accurate, it may cost you target depth and you could lose confidence in the discriminating capabilities of your metal detector, especially with jumpy display screen read outs.
You do not have to have every box ticked and running on the CTX 3030, by leaving a few options unchecked you may get better depth and definately get more accurate target ID's.
How you set your metal detector up should have a lot to do with the stuff you are searching for.
For example, why have a Deep option on when you are searching for fresh dropped jewelry.
Alternatively, you would have no need for hardly any target ID options if you are looking for deeply buried treasure coins or artifacts.
Those type of targets are probably going to be on the edge of detection range, a metal detector may struggle to identify deep targets and mistakenly reject them.
I believe someone once said, my fellow beach hunters ask not what your metal detector can do for, ask what you can do for your metal detector.
Although I only use the display readouts as a second opinion, I still rely on my ears when making my digging decisions.
When you use a combination of audio and display screen target information, it helps if you have accurate read outs.
This video on my youtube channel explains a few of the basic settings I use on the Minelab CTX 3030, towards the end of the video I explain my reasons for not having everything I could have running on the metal detector.
https://youtu.be/CEQfnbXwY2o
One of the things I have learned about using a metal detector with a display screen, is the more things you have running the more inaccurate your readouts become.
Target ID's become less accurate, it may cost you target depth and you could lose confidence in the discriminating capabilities of your metal detector, especially with jumpy display screen read outs.
You do not have to have every box ticked and running on the CTX 3030, by leaving a few options unchecked you may get better depth and definately get more accurate target ID's.
How you set your metal detector up should have a lot to do with the stuff you are searching for.
For example, why have a Deep option on when you are searching for fresh dropped jewelry.
Alternatively, you would have no need for hardly any target ID options if you are looking for deeply buried treasure coins or artifacts.
Those type of targets are probably going to be on the edge of detection range, a metal detector may struggle to identify deep targets and mistakenly reject them.
I believe someone once said, my fellow beach hunters ask not what your metal detector can do for, ask what you can do for your metal detector.
Monday, October 24, 2016
Searching old cuts at the beach
Unfortunately I never had time to go beach hunting this weekend, but I did check a few local beaches out to see what they looked like.
King tides have helped rearrange many of my local beaches and I ran across signs of beach erosion that probably occurred some time last week.
It was very windy and I made an impromptu video to show an interesting shell line a few yards down from the base of the old cut.
Many beach hunters mistakenly believe when a cut has filled in there is nothing to find, but that is not always the case.
The base of the cut is often the most heavily area at an eroded beach, but sometimes the most productive area is a few yards away from the base of the cut.
If jewelry or coins are washed into the area, they end up hitting the face of the cut and often get dragged out back towards the water.
I have found nothing at 6 to 8 ft cuts when they were first created, but found plenty of good stuff a couple of days later when the surf calmed down.
The following high tides often do not make it all the way to the cut, if you are lucky you may detect a "Coin line" deposited between the base of the cut and the water.
A coin line is basically a previous high tide mark with coins or jewelry washed up along the previous high tide line.
You can identify signs of previous high tide lines, by seaweed or shells washed up in a line on the beach.
The shells washed up along the shore in the impromptu video I made are from a previous high tide that happened after the beach was eroded.
https://youtu.be/4MGqBEXJSmk
You do not have to be one of the first people metal detecting at a cut beach to find stuff, you just have to know what signs to look for.
King tides have helped rearrange many of my local beaches and I ran across signs of beach erosion that probably occurred some time last week.
It was very windy and I made an impromptu video to show an interesting shell line a few yards down from the base of the old cut.
Many beach hunters mistakenly believe when a cut has filled in there is nothing to find, but that is not always the case.
The base of the cut is often the most heavily area at an eroded beach, but sometimes the most productive area is a few yards away from the base of the cut.
If jewelry or coins are washed into the area, they end up hitting the face of the cut and often get dragged out back towards the water.
I have found nothing at 6 to 8 ft cuts when they were first created, but found plenty of good stuff a couple of days later when the surf calmed down.
The following high tides often do not make it all the way to the cut, if you are lucky you may detect a "Coin line" deposited between the base of the cut and the water.
A coin line is basically a previous high tide mark with coins or jewelry washed up along the previous high tide line.
You can identify signs of previous high tide lines, by seaweed or shells washed up in a line on the beach.
The shells washed up along the shore in the impromptu video I made are from a previous high tide that happened after the beach was eroded.
https://youtu.be/4MGqBEXJSmk
You do not have to be one of the first people metal detecting at a cut beach to find stuff, you just have to know what signs to look for.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
Time for a change of pace
One thing I have learned about metal detecting is you have to think outside the box if you want to succeed.
Doing the same thing or using the same equipment all the time will come back to bite you, if you do not mix things up a little and adapt.
Beach and water hunting is often about change, not surprising really as the beach is constantly changing, two high and two low tides every day helps make that change.
Coastal storms or unusually high surf can completely change a beach, so it makes sense that you know how to adapt to searching a beach more than one way.
I will be changing my blog soon, adding beach and water hunting youtube videos showing how I do things differently to other beach and water hunters.
Many of my beach and water hunting techniques are site or beach conditions specific, meaning I do not search the same way every time I go beach or water hunting.
I jewelry or coin hunt to the site or conditions, not regardless of the site or conditions.
The metal detecting finds in the attached introduction video were found all over the beach and in many different depths inside the water.
Doing the same thing or using the same equipment all the time will come back to bite you, if you do not mix things up a little and adapt.
Beach and water hunting is often about change, not surprising really as the beach is constantly changing, two high and two low tides every day helps make that change.
Coastal storms or unusually high surf can completely change a beach, so it makes sense that you know how to adapt to searching a beach more than one way.
I will be changing my blog soon, adding beach and water hunting youtube videos showing how I do things differently to other beach and water hunters.
Many of my beach and water hunting techniques are site or beach conditions specific, meaning I do not search the same way every time I go beach or water hunting.
I jewelry or coin hunt to the site or conditions, not regardless of the site or conditions.
The metal detecting finds in the attached introduction video were found all over the beach and in many different depths inside the water.
https://youtu.be/W9DQphnB9g8
I always attribute my wide variety of beach and water hunting finds to using a wide variety of search techniques in a wide variety of areas.
Also using different metal detecting equipment to suit the site or conditions, instead of just searching one way using the same equipment all the time.
Every year I discover something that works better, both search techniques and equipment, sometimes I try doing or using different stuff and fall flat on my face, but the main thing is I always try to get out of my beach and water hunting comfort zone.
This year has been a heck of a year for me, a lot of metal detecting firsts and a lot to be revealed in the future.
I hope my videos will help you avoid becoming a beach hunting clone, searching the same way, at the same time with the same settings or search coil, every where you hunt for jewelry or coins at the beach.
In several of my beach and water hunting books, I write about people new to the hobby of metal detecting often making unbelievable finds of a lifetime.
It is often put down to beginners luck, but my take is that people new to the hobby create their own luck by searching in places other experienced hunters would simply overlook.
They often find great stuff using metal detecting equipment that leave experienced hunters scratching your heads.
At a beach with competition, sometimes experience can hold you back from putting your search coil over a find of a lifetime.
I will show you what I mean soon.
I always attribute my wide variety of beach and water hunting finds to using a wide variety of search techniques in a wide variety of areas.
Also using different metal detecting equipment to suit the site or conditions, instead of just searching one way using the same equipment all the time.
Every year I discover something that works better, both search techniques and equipment, sometimes I try doing or using different stuff and fall flat on my face, but the main thing is I always try to get out of my beach and water hunting comfort zone.
This year has been a heck of a year for me, a lot of metal detecting firsts and a lot to be revealed in the future.
I hope my videos will help you avoid becoming a beach hunting clone, searching the same way, at the same time with the same settings or search coil, every where you hunt for jewelry or coins at the beach.
In several of my beach and water hunting books, I write about people new to the hobby of metal detecting often making unbelievable finds of a lifetime.
It is often put down to beginners luck, but my take is that people new to the hobby create their own luck by searching in places other experienced hunters would simply overlook.
They often find great stuff using metal detecting equipment that leave experienced hunters scratching your heads.
At a beach with competition, sometimes experience can hold you back from putting your search coil over a find of a lifetime.
I will show you what I mean soon.
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