How to find valuable targets before the competition

Trusting in your metal detector and using a little metal detector discrimination will help you make the most of your metal detecting time at the beach.

The old metal detecting adage you have to dig it all does not apply to tourist beaches or other areas you are not likely to recover old artifacts.  

Metal detector technology has really changed over the last decade making it easier to reject objects at the beach you clearly know are not valuable targets.

I consider every piece of junk you dig at the beach to be one step further away from putting you and your search coil over a good target.

For years I have used my favorite metal detector the Minelab CTX 3030 to take full advantage of the competition at heavily hunted sites, where I know at least a dozen regular beach hunters hit those sites hard.

I know other people using metal detectors will not pass up digging quarters, dimes and pennies, so I leave them behind for other beach hunters because I did not become a beach treasure hunter to search for chump change. 

When I check targets on my CTX 3030 screen and interpret target audio tones I can easily tell if my search coil is over a wide variety of coins and I can pass on scooping them up.

You can have those I say to myself as I push on for platinum, gold and silver jewelry the high value targets I go to the beach hoping to find.

Yes I am sure I do miss the odd piece of silver too, but very little of the silver jewelry I recover avoids the scrapping process anyway.

Now I know more than a few beach hunters will be reading this blog thinking about hitting the comment button with a "What if you miss this or that" question, but seriously you cannot worry about missing the odd high value target by digging every piece of junk at the beach.

Digging hundreds if not thousands of small pieces of iron, bottle caps, hair pins, fish hooks, corroding pennies and chump change every year will not justify your metal detecting time wasted digging junk you really do not have to waste time on.

I make the most of my metal detecting time by only scooping probable high value targets at tourist beaches or other heavily hunted sites. 

I wonder how many people have followed me metal detecting at a tourist beach and mistakenly believed I was not that good of a beach treasure hunter because of the amount of coins I left behind for them?

Perhaps it was just a metal detecting ninja trail of clad coins, bottle caps and unwanted junk I clearly knew was not platinum, gold or silver,  thanks to well trained ears and a darn good metal detector with an array of discrimination bells and whistles.

Again, why dig junk at the beach when searching for platinum, gold or silver jewelry?

Cherry pick the good targets and enjoy the fruits of being a discriminating beach hunter, platinum and gold bands are some of the most common jewelry finds if you get to them before the next beach or water hunter. 

Remember, every piece of junk you dig at the beach puts you one step further away from what you are really searching for so the faster you learn how your metal detector responds to junk targets compared to good targets the better.

Use a metal detector like the Minelab CTX 3030 or Minelab Equinox with visual target IDs and excellent audio target tone IDs and you can set yourself apart from the beach hunting completion. 

You sometimes have to dig the trash to get to treasure, but only when you search for old coins and artifacts. 

Learn where and when to use discrimination to increase your chances of detecting and recovering precious metals at crowded beaches.

For more metal detecting tips and tricks check out my beach treasure hunting guides at www.garydrayton.com

    

In my opinion target separation is always more important than target depth when it comes to searching for jewelry at popular beaches.

The opposite applies to searching for old coins and artifacts at less trashy beach sites known for shipwrecks or beaches with a little history. 

It still surprises me just how much value is put into target depth at popular beaches by people searching for jewelry with a metal detector.

From experience I can tell you the hardest jewelry to detect is often the shallowest jewelry as if it is hidden in plain sight.

No doubt a lot of gold I have had the good fortune to recover at beaches was simply missed and left behind by speedy beach hunters or people swinging their metal detectors like golf clubs.

Perhaps some gold was also left behind by beach hunters who simply got bogged down digging deeper clad coins and junk instead of eventually running across the gold I detected.

I use search coils designed for target separation when I search beaches known to draw large crowds and I use my ears as my main discrimination tool.
I also never worry about what I am potentially missing by hunting in the all metals mode or sweeping an extra large pizza box size search coil, I concentrate on detecting shallow or partially masked gold.
A lack of metal detecting finds always has more to do with site selection, equipment choice and search techniques than beach or water hunting conditions. 
For example, I often use small sniper size search coils in very trashy areas of the beach to spice things up.
If you sweep an 8-inch search coil at a trashy beach entrance you will find gold a 10-inch search coil will simply not be able to detect. It makes more jewelry hunting sense to try to detect and recover shallow gold than deep golden  trashy areas of the beach.

Look at using a small size search coil as driving with low beam headlights in the fog, reading less is actually more beneficial in the long run.
Think about it, if you search heavily hunted beaches why on earth would you be concerned about deep targets? 

Skimmers take coins and the odd piece of jewelry at heavily hunted beach sites, but they cannot get it all. 

Fresh dropped shallow gold is often hidden when it is laying next to a bottle cap, clad coin or other undesirable object, you have to give yourself a chance to detect that gold on the first or second sweep across where the gold has come to rest. 

Two sweeps and step forward or as I like to refer to it, rinse and repeat beach gold prospecting. 

I believe there is always something to find if you find a way to find it, you just have to put your search coil over it in trashy areas of the beach.

You can winkle gold out of the most trashiest of areas if you learn how to sweep slow and low using a small search coil. 

Note to speedy local beach hunters, I am that guy you see as you walk onto the beach and the guy you see in the same place you returned to after you took your long walk. 

I can tell you from experience gold likes to hide right next to objects that help mask it from detection. 

For tips on how to find gold jewelry at the beach, check out my beach treasure hunting guides at www.garydrayton.com  

 

Reading the competition

I recently went to one of my my favorite treasure hunting sites only to find two people already searching the area, I am an early bird so it was a double surprise seeing the site being searched and other people knowing about this hot spot. 

The first thing I did was acknowledge the other people searching the site with a friendly wave, the second thing I did was go about my business haphazardly like I did not know what I was doing. 

My sloppy search techniques probably helped the other searchers feel at ease while I sneakily determined if they really knew what they were doing and if they were at the site for the same reason I was.

It turned out they were looking for the same thing I was searching for but they were going about it in a completely different way, which I give them credit for and I will for sure give it a try myself.

When you search a wide variety of sites you can be sure other treasure hunters know about the sites you search and you will run across other people searching for the same things you hope to recover.

I am a like a sponge when it comes to treasure hunting, I really like studying or trying to "Read" other people I see searching the sites I have success at or hope to be successful at. 

Every year I find something I can adapt into my search techniques even if it is only a small wrinkle that helps me to recover more or better finds.

As strange as it sounds I would rather see people who really know what they are doing at many of my favorite treasure hunting sites, it helps to keep me on my toes and sometimes I try doing what I see other people doing and it works.

I would say 2020 has been a very successful treasure hunting year so far because of new things Ive tried and adapted instead of just doing the things I consider to be corner stones of my metal detecting foundation.

Closely watching other treasure hunters searching your sites will help you decide if they know what they are doing or if they are just hoping to get lucky skimming over a search site.

Tell tale signs of "Skimmers" include meandering around using sloppy search techniques, using unsuitable equipment and covering the ground too quickly. 

The real competition for finds at a site tend to avoid eye contact and small talk as they search a specific area methodically, they are exactly the type of searchers you should learn to read if you see them at sites you know hold what you are searching for.

Over the years I have learned that the only real competition you have is yourself when searching a site, but it can be really helpful to study the way other people searching the same sites as you go about their business, especially if you can add something that helps you at those sites.

Another thing I have unfortunately learned is 90% of the people you see out there searching for treasures are skimmers, so when you do see someone who obviously knows what they are doing they stand out. 

Perhaps things that do not at first stand out, such as sticking to one small area of a site or carrying and using unusual recovery tools, like they know where to find and how to recover it.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I say if one person can do something another person can so keep your eyes on the competition and never think you know it all, learn and evolve to be successful. 

For more tips to searching heavily hunted sites check out my treasure hunting guides at www.garydrayton.com 

 

Tips on searching for lost rings

Every once in a while I get a call to action when a friend or a friend of a friend loses a wedding band, bracelet, ear ring or other piece of jewelry with sentimental value. 

So here a few things to take in account before you head out the door with your metal detector to recover wedding bands which are the most likely piece of jewelry to be lost.

Exact location

There is no exact location, the ring was lost and if the person knew exactly where they lost it the ring would be already be back on the persons finger. 

Believe me it is a very rare occasion when you detect a ring exactly where the owner said they lost it so get the best estimate of the area and be prepared to extend the search area by a much wider margin.

When rings come off fingers they flip, spin and often roll much further than you can imagine.

Add flowing water or a sloped bank to the mix and you can forget about the "I know exactly where I lost it" line.

Go small 

Lost ring recoveries are very rarely a lesson in heavy excavation, especially if a ring was recently lost. Avoid taking a gun to a knife fight by using extra large search coils and wide bucket scoops. 

The less heavy digging in the area you do the less chance you have of potentially pushing a piece of jewelry out of metal detection range. A small or regular size search coil will help you winkle out a lost object at a trashy site and a regular scoop or spade will help you retrieve it.

The less you disturb the search area the better, especially if the search area is a trashy site as you may move the ring closer to objects that could potentially mask it. 

Soft sand or mud is a nightmare when you are trying to recover a wedding ring and using sloppy search techniques, keep a tight search grid and keep your search coil moving in front of you. 

Search grid

Probably the most important thing in the whole lost ring recovery attempt is the search grid you use to help locate the lost object. I like to use a box shaped search pattern with the probable location in the center of the box, I then search the entire box maintaining a tight search pattern.

After gridding the box from one direction I will cover the same box shaped area from a different direction to the first search grid. If I do not recover the object I am searching for in the box grid, I expend the search as I know if the lost item was there I would have recovered it using a tight search pattern from two different directions.  

Following search attempts 

Not all ring recovery attempts end in success, especially if bad weather has occurred between the item being lost and your first recovery attempt. High or rough water can make a ring return difficult to say the least, potentially moving the ring away from the area or covering the item over in a thick carpet of sand or mud. 

I have recovered rings, chains and watches many weeks after I had initially tried to recover them, they had been covered or moved but remained in the immediate area. 

Metal detecting is often a game of inches and it only takes one or two inches of sand to make a ring close to the edge of metal detection range disappear until that sand is moved away and the ring is back in play.

Nice surprises

Every once in a while you get a really nice unexpected surprise when you search for someones lost jewelry, you find a piece of jewelry not connected to the search attempt. 

This has happened to me on numerous occasions and I have added a few jewelry hot spots thanks to searching for lost wedding bands. 

Recovering a ring for someone, finding an expensive diamond ring and a reward for the original lost ring, what's not to like about owning a metal detector right? 

Reward

Return lost jewelry for the love of feeling good and doing the right thing because that is the real compensation when you return lost jewelry to people having the misfortune to lose it.

I have located and returned close to $100K worth of lost jewelry to people without monetary compensation, which is one heck of a lot of good karma I enjoy to this day. 

There is nothing better than putting a smile on a fellow human beings face who thought they had lost something of sentimental value forever, it is one of the true perks of owning a metal detector.

Ive returned rings to happy owners who broke down in tears and Ive returned rings to people who simply turned around and walked away without even saying thank you. 

I have no shortage of ring return stories and I am sure I will have many more to look back on.

In closing, if you have a metal detector there will always be a chance to help someone out by finding lost belongings, locating property survey markers, utility lines, car keys, cell phones and all sorts of unusual things. For more tips on finding jewelry check out my metal detecting guides at www.garydrayton.com 

  

Thinking of getting into the hobby?

Here are three important factors for beginners to take into consideration before jumping in at the deep end, starting with researching sites, choosing the correct metal detector and using that metal detector correctly in a systematic way. 

Research 

In my opinion, research is the key to having success using a metal detector. From choosing suitable equipment to detect what you are searching for in the areas you search, to finding locations that potentially hold what you are searching for. 

If you do not do your research from the very beginning you will stunt your growth as a treasure hunter, it is important to have the right tools for any job and of course know how and where to use them. 

One of the worst mistakes someone new to the hobby can make is to go somewhere because other people search the site without knowing why. The same applies to using a metal detector because they are popular or the latest must have metal detector, research applies to search sites and treasure hunting equipment.

The what and where will help you to hit the ground running and give you time to learn the next basic foundation of metal detecting which is sweep speed and search coil control.

Sweep speed & search coil control

These two basics prevent metal detectorists from using bad habits including covering the ground  too quickly and raising the search coil at the end of each sweep.

The classic "Golf swing" you see so many newbies using, easily prevented by sweeping the search coil slow, low and level in front of you.

You will find yourself not moving forward until the end of each sweep, changing a walk into a step forward. 

A search coil kept level and close to the ground will not swing up at the end of each sweep if you keep it level thru-out the sweeping motion.

Sweep speed and search coil control help you to get the maximum target depth from your metal detector and it also insures you detect targets instead of walking over them.

If you use a metal detector with a VDI screen and potential ferrous and conductive target numbers, those readouts will be more accurate sweeping your search coil slowly over targets. 

Remember, it is not the amount of ground you cover its how you cover the ground!

Search patterns 

Talking of covering the ground, how you search an area is very important no matter what metal detector you use and where you use it.

It is always best to use a search pattern or search grid, sometimes a combination of different search patterns work very well in areas known to have productive sites.

Beaches constantly change so you have to adapt to those changes to be successful, what search techniques may have worked before at the very same site may not work now under different site conditions.

I am prepared to use at least three different search patterns when I walk onto a search site and I only decide how I am going to grid a search site after I see what the search area looks like.

There is no one way to search a site all of the time, especially as there could be a potentially more interesting site within the area you may miss using the same old search pattern.

Take baby steps as you join the best hobby in the world, a hobby that can change your fortunes if you take your time to prepare the right way. For more advice on how to become a Bobby Dazzler hunter check out my treasure hunting guides at www.garydrayton.com 

PS Happy wife happy life!

  

Location location location

Just like the real estate business if you want to detect and recover good finds you have to go where the good finds are, especially if you search tourist beaches for jewelry.

Notice I didn't add coins as I consider coins to be nuisance targets when I go searching for platinum, gold and silver at popular tourist beaches. 

These two gold Bobby Dazzlers are Bvlgari and Cartier rings, were recovered several years ago close to high end hotels. They are just a couple of the thousands of gold rings I have recovered from tourist beaches around the world. 

I had and still have the same jewelry hunting philosophy, location, location, location and quality over quantity. 

When metal detectorists flock to packed beaches full of spring breakers I do not let the crowds fool me, I head to my favorite bling bling sites in search of a good score not a clad coin count and a toe ring.

Jewelry hunting is similar to artifact hunting, you have to do your research and get to know your sites like the back of your hand, I never just show up hoping to get lucky I stack the odds in my favor. 

Just like treasure coin or artifact hunting you will get skunked more often than you would if you headed to the main busy beach areas, but when you do recover what you are searching for you can be darn sure it will be something special.

Diversions beach hunters spend way too much time fretting over are target depth, crowd size and beach erosion. These all things that matter very little unless you understand where to find stuff and how to do it.

Starting with target depth which is very overrated, if you hope to find jewelry at the beach news flash all popular beaches are now heavily hunted thanks to popularity of treasure hunting shows.

Jewelry hunting refers to searching for lost jewelry, but anything lost on popular and heavily searched beaches does not have the luxury of sinking beyond metal detection range.

Crowded beaches translate to more coins, bottle caps, pull tabs, but not always more quality jewelry.

Beach erosion multiples the above mentioned targets, but very seldom leads to big finds if you are searching the same sites everyone else is searching with a metal detector. 

If you spend the time to research where you are more likely to recover quality finds over a greater quantity of finds you will see less completion for finds and be more successful over the long run.

I rely on a lack of targets at many of my favorite jewelry hunting sites because it puts people off from returning, especially if they go an hour or two between signals and see very few people in the area. 

I try to add to their pain by always making sure I take every last piece of metal I can detect out of a good jewelry site, just in case a coin or a good sounding crusty bottle cap gives someone hope that the site holds something better.

After all these years I still enjoy the thrill of recovering something special at a site or in an area  that other metal detectorists totally misread and disregard.

Hands up how many beach hunters even think about people reading skills or go to the trouble of tracking down romantic beachside getaway places where couples cough cough! jewelry depositors hang out at the beach away from the crowds. 

Back in the day I would often get a call to search for lost engagement rings, designer watches or gold chains, I would find and return valuable jewelry lost well away from the busier sections of beaches.

With millions of visitors to Florida and the Caribbean there was always plenty of un-returnable jewelry in need of a new home.

Jewelry is where you find it, but nine times out of ten it is not waiting around for you very long where everyone else is metal detecting. 

For more Bobby Dazzler hunting tips check out my beach treasure hunting guides on my website at www.garydrayton.com 

Where the experts find treasure

Every area known for treasure hunting has at least one treasure hunter known for recovering good finds so why not find out where they are hunting right?

Not so fast as I assure you those secret locations are probably right under your nose, yes the very same places you already search with your metal detector.

I am a big fan of site reading skills and research which in my opinion are often the only reasons why some go home with the goods and others fail to recover anything in the very same areas.

For years people used to say I had secret sites I would only search at night to avoid prying eyes. In reality I searched the very same sites everybody else searched, except that I would put in the extra work to make sure I had a successful treasure hunt.

To this day my post treasure hunt time is spent looking back at what worked and what did not go so well during the search, learning so I can evolve and do better if possible.

I always start any treasure hunt off by methodically gridding a search area, sometimes from different directions according to the season, analyzing factors contributing to good finds such as the stratigraphy in dug holes, placement on the beach and the surf conditions before and during the recovery. 

If the find is modern jewelry I want to know why the piece of jewelry ended up where I recovered it, crowd placements even the nearest beach assess came into play.

All of these things I mentioned have to do with research and local knowledge of sites, assuming you would like to be known for finds not blog hits, likes or subscribers.

When I travel I always research the area I am going to be staying, what can I find and where can I find it and I know darn well a certain something has to be present in order for me to have a successful treasure hunt. 

That certain something could be as subtle as the color of sand, firmness under foot or even the organics you see around you depending on what you are searching for. 

What one man can do another man can do is one of my favorite movie lines, when you know where some form of treasure is located it just becomes a matter of duplicating treasure hunting success. 

It is not hard to figure out where local treasures are probably located, you just have to take the time to study what factors have to be present in order to recover it from the site.

Nine times out of ten a local expert recovered a good find at the very same sites you search, but under different circumstances more conductive to recovering treasures. 

Each treasure hunting site is different and what may have worked previously may not now so the way you adapt to changing conditions is an important part of the overall search strategy. 

Treasure is after all where you find it and knowing where it is often found is golden as long as your site reading skills and search techniques are up to scratch.

Luck is very overrated, ask any treasure hunter who is always in the right place at the right time. 

The guys who figured out where, why and what they have have to do be successful in the same areas you search. 

You can be successful too when you get past the idea of just showing up and hoping to get lucky with the treasure hunting crowd, fortune often favors the patient and the persistent along with the bold. 

Treasure hunting guides available at www.garydrayton.com