Is it really worth it anymore?

[AugustMoose87]

I may be off base, but I see the "negativity" all the time, it just isn't negative on its face. It's watching people like Iron Patch (no disrespect, it's just you did it 3 comments ago) brag about highly successful hunts while you struggle to find anything of interest. It's hearing people say "I got cheated today" because they dug a silver pocketwatch cover rather than a silver coin when he walked away with 4 coins PLUS a big chunk of scrap silver. This community CAN be great, but it can also be very frusterating to be bombarded by people who find more silver or gold or just plain goodies in a single hunt than you've found in your life, all while some of them complain about what a bad day it was. It's an insufficient understanding that that some peoples "lousy day" is someone elses dream hunt. Hell, in one of the first posts i made here I was chastized for being excited to find 100 year old shotgun shells. Yea, for people on the east coast or Europe, that would be lame. But for me, it's still the oldest dateable object I've found, and as such, it's among my favorite finds.

Is it worth it? That's for you to decided. If your doing it to get rich or make friends, I'd say no, not worth it. If you do it to get out of the house, experience a little history maybe, and just get some fresh air? Yes, totally worth it.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

...Seems like 99% of .... agencies say NO....

Do you mean "public agencies" here in CA ? How do you figure ? Are you showing up (or emailing or calling etc...) asking "can I metal detect?" If so, then me suspects you are a victim of "No one cared till you asked" phenomenon. Or are you speaking of having looked up laws/rules for yourself ? If so, how do you figure ? Because laws/rules that truly specifically say "no md'ing" are very rare here .

I'm in CA, and I hunt public land all the time. Everywhere I go, w/o issue. I have literally no time to hit all the back-burner sites I have on my "must try" or "must return to" list of spots on public land.

And as for the beach: If you're getting corona caps, then you're not hitting it after erosion. When mother nature pulls out the sand *just right*: There are no light objects left. Ie.: all aluminum, caps, foil, etc... are washed out. Leaving only the heavier objects on the inter-tidal zone.

 

[Truth]

I may be off base, but I see the "negativity" all the time, it just isn't negative on its face. It's watching people like Iron Patch (no disrespect, it's just you did it 3 comments ago) brag about highly successful hunts while you struggle to find anything of interest. It's hearing people say "I got cheated today" because they dug a silver pocketwatch cover rather than a silver coin when he walked away with 4 coins PLUS a big chunk of scrap silver. This community CAN be great, but it can also be very frusterating to be bombarded by people who find more silver or gold or just plain goodies in a single hunt than you've found in your life, all while some of them complain about what a bad day it was. It's an insufficient understanding that that some peoples "lousy day" is someone elses dream hunt. Hell, in one of the first posts i made here I was chastized for being excited to find 100 year old shotgun shells. Yea, for people on the east coast or Europe, that would be lame. But for me, it's still the oldest dateable object I've found, and as such, it's among my favorite finds.

Is it worth it? That's for you to decided. If your doing it to get rich or make friends, I'd say no, not worth it. If you do it to get out of the house, experience a little history maybe, and just get some fresh air? Yes, totally worth it.

 

[boogeyman]

Negativity here? Just remember, some comments come off as negative typed out without the tone & inflection of speech. Gawd knows this has happened to me a lot! Sounds good to your head & fingers but the world takes it different. If you're talking the hobby in general, look around you! The world is getting more & more negative. No matter what hobby or activity you choose there's going to be a herd of negative folks following you. You sound like a good person to me, so I have to ask Why worry? You're up researching learning detecting out in the fresh air getting exercise. That's more than most of the other folks! Do you really give a flip what the negative folks think to let them get you down? "You just have to have fun with it!"

 

[fistfulladirt]

Not worth it. I worship the almighty dollar, if I'm not making money every breathing minute, it just ain't worth my time.

 

[RW]

Negativity here? Just remember, some comments come off as negative typed out without the tone & inflection of speech. Gawd knows this has happened to me a lot! Sounds good to your head & fingers but the world takes it different. If you're talking the hobby in general, look around you! The world is getting more & more negative. No matter what hobby or activity you choose there's going to be a herd of negative folks following you. You sound like a good person to me, so I have to ask Why worry? You're up researching learning detecting out in the fresh air getting exercise. That's more than most of the other folks! Do you really give a flip what the negative folks think to let them get you down? "You just have to have fun with it!"

You got that right! I think some folks read everything as if it were a transcript in a court case. Must be utterly boring in their head. Sorry if that sounds negative.

 

[pepperj]

All better now, thanks Tom.

A canned hunt or I guess a seeded hunt, where an organization or club charges a fee to hunt planted silver coins/tokens for prizes.
I guess if you feel lucky (well, do ya punk?) you can win some great prizes. I was just amazed at the cost to enter such events.
Silver would add up, based on spot price so you could break even I guess.

It seems that you had a brush with life at an age where one is getting comfortable, and having a life changing health issue does change the way one thinks.
Going to a canned hunt is competitive trying to win a prize, get the money back, lots of people doing the same-I relate it to stress.
Everyone has their own reason for doing the hobby, and I'm sure that you had great reasons of doing it in the first place, and there must a great reason for you to be questioning if you should try it again.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I have to wonder why anybody would care what people say on a forum to decide if a hobby is "worth getting in to". I never felt the need to read all the fishing forums before picking up my rod and taklebox, or suss out the tone of posts from other hunters before taking my rifle into the woods.

The only thing that matters is WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

 

[Rick K]

Urban detecting for clad coins is a waste of time unless you are REALLY good at it, and even then it struggles to pay for gas and batteries.

If you have access to older sites, then - if you also have a keen interest in local history and such - it can be very rewarding in terms of local knowledge and perhaps even some valuable finds.

 

[releventchair]

2007 at the age of 44, found I had a hole in my heart, emergency open heart surgery 3 days later...
Took about 2 years to fully recover, lost interest in all my hobbies. Facing mortality sometimes does that....

Anyhoo... I do enjoy the hobby, loved it before. I may have come across a bit negative, but not my intention.
Thanks to those that pointed the above aspect out. I knew the answer before I posed the question, just took a "verbal" kick in the pants to open my eyes.

I will be attending the meeting of our local club in February ( used to be a member) and plan on going to Temple, TX treasure show in April.

Well then... having been running on a " second chance in life" , I can say that if detecting interests you again ,must try it to tell if it is worth it today.
Kept fun and treated like a simple pleasure you enjoy it instead of stress or hard labor.....

Some time-out/ breaks taken to soak up the scene ,or environment, can be great moments not experienced at home on a picture screen.
A too strong whiff of lilac in bloom ,or a manure spreader ,or a diesel truck ....almost distracting you....again.
As can an occasional recovery that stands out to you alone ,regardless of $$ value ; get in the way of your " hunt".

 

[Evilpope]

I love the hobby of detecting,,I wouldn't trade for anything else,the problem is it's a lot of so called detectist that mess it up for all of us not filling their holes in,detecting without permission,ect. Don't give up on it there are still cool places to hunt

 

[A2coins]

ill buy your old detectors ive been out with people who spend a day or 2 detecting and quit cause they dont find silver or gold i love the thrill of what you might find the next beep ill go 4 to 5 times and just find clad And be just as excited the next time at what i might find it takes a certain kind of person ya got it or ya dont

 

[Truth]

2007 at the age of 44, found I had a hole in my heart, emergency open heart surgery 3 days later...
Took about 2 years to fully recover, lost interest in all my hobbies. Facing mortality sometimes does that....

Anyhoo... I do enjoy the hobby, loved it before. I may have come across a bit negative, but not my intention.
Thanks to those that pointed the above aspect out. I knew the answer before I posed the question, just took a "verbal" kick in the pants to open my eyes.

I will be attending the meeting of our local club in February ( used to be a member) and plan on going to Temple, TX treasure show in April.

Well in that case WELCOME BACK!

P.S. I’m so so happy you made a full recovery [emoji1317]

 

[Keppy]

I have to wonder why anybody would care what people say on a forum to decide if a hobby is "worth getting in to". I never felt the need to read all the fishing forums before picking up my rod and taklebox, or suss out the tone of posts from other hunters before taking my rifle into the woods.

The only thing that matters is WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?

You know i never did know why people care what people say on forum's .

 

[Rookster]

Have someone hide your detector and your problem will go away.

 

[SurgTech57]

Well as a water detectorist how can it ever be not worth it! I swing my detector as I enjoy the eye candy and finding stuff is a double bonus. LOL

 

[Merle K Ramsey]

A good partner goes a long way to make the outings great!!

 

[Gare]

The mpre people out there detecting means less for us to FIND !!!