A noobs thoughts 1 month in.

[dsrtdwg1]

I have been MD'ing for about a month now, enough time to have gone through 3 sets of batteries on my Quick Silver and 1 set on my Pioneer 101. The QS was easier to start with, just set it on coin and go. Found lots of clad and 2 silver , found the silver under bleachers less then an inch deep. Couldn't figure it out at first.....duh...no watering, no lawn maintenance equipment and nobody stomping around under the bleachers. Something else I noticed, the areas that had been dug up and recovered (think new pipes when re sodding) tended to have more coins than other areas. Guess they would use a scraper to cover up the trenches.

My 2 detectors were bought on the cheap. I have started to use the 101 a little more now. Finding it gives less false signals than the QS.Been using all metal as I would like to find jewelry. Been searching the kids sand areas/ tot lots. Digging lots of tabs and foil but I understand that goes with the territory. No jewelry yet.

The goal is to become proficient enough to warrant the purchase of a nugget focused detector. I live in the desert and drywash an area 30 minutes from where I live so this would just be an extension of the prospecting I already do. With that said, I will continue park hunting, having a blast at it and if I have a spare hour or 2, I am out the door. I like my 2 swapmeet Bouny Hunters.

 

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[Phantasman]

You're doing it right, desert dog. The BHs you own are not very good for small gold nuggets. And 1 month still isn't long enough to pursue the wild trail of the Golden Goose.

Machines like a Fisher Gold Bug uses separate gain and threshold controls that help to zero in on the tiniest of gold particles. Nuggets aren't usually coin sized and higher frequency and gain adjustments are essential in successful gold detecting. Even using a sluice, you seek out the tiny gold the sand leaves behind.

Here is online info to help you get started.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/AdvanceNuggetHunting.pdf

Dave Johnson (designer of the Gold Bug) has some good info here on gold detectors:

Metal detecting technologies for gold prospecting

 

[releventchair]

Reads like you are off to a great start.
If you have nuggets as samples in a variety of sizes you can try your detectors out on them. Just need nuggets...l.o.l..
Bleachers can be a challenge. You did good to nail silver under them.