food for thought on new ones wanting to hunt in arizona

al-nm

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May 8, 2008
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Kind of mixed feelings on some posts i have seen regarding people asking about nugget hunting in arizona. I see some say join a club like GPAA and others saying dont waste your time its hunted out. Don't know about others who hunt in arizona but everyone i know there has filed claims on areas. And not one person do i know who doesnt pack a pistol. After all its legal in arizona to pack heat. For the most people are nice and will either invite ya to join in or invite ya to leave in a fast pace. Don't forget there are also those who dont like anyone. And the desert is a lot of territory to try to find someone if they disappear. For begginers i personally do recommend GPAA they are always opening new areas. And at least you have others close by in case your bitten by snakes or scorpions or any other things that like to share your sleeping bags. Guess all i am saying is do some research and asking first. Also you can be standing in a low area there and sun be scorching you, but off ten miles away is a cloud. Next thing you hear is a rumbling. If you hear it your probably to late. Get to high ground. More people loose lives or camps and cars due to flash floods. Could make your trip a lot more pleasant to be around others familiar with things there. In any case i wish ya all the luck on finding a nugget.
 

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Keppy

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Nov 19, 2006
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al-nm said:
Kind of mixed feelings on some posts i have seen regarding people asking about nugget hunting in arizona. I see some say join a club like GPAA and others saying dont waste your time its hunted out. Don't know about others who hunt in arizona but everyone i know there has filed claims on areas. And not one person do i know who doesnt pack a pistol. After all its legal in arizona to pack heat. For the most people are nice and will either invite ya to join in or invite ya to leave in a fast pace. Don't forget there are also those who dont like anyone. And the desert is a lot of territory to try to find someone if they disappear. For begginers i personally do recommend GPAA they are always opening new areas. And at least you have others close by in case your bitten by snakes or scorpions or any other things that like to share your sleeping bags. Guess all i am saying is do some research and asking first. Also you can be standing in a low area there and sun be scorching you, but off ten miles away is a cloud. Next thing you hear is a rumbling. If you hear it your probably to late. Get to high ground. More people loose lives or camps and cars due to flash floods. Could make your trip a lot more pleasant to be around others familiar with things there. In any case i wish ya all the luck on finding a nugget.
I see you are from New Mex. how is the gold hunting there and can you find enought Gold in Az.or New Mex to make it worth while to get a top of the line Minelab Gold detector?????...==Jim==
 

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al-nm

al-nm

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May 8, 2008
200
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new mexico
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Buying a minelab to me is a waste unless your going to be living out there hunting. Not downing it any at all. Just seems way to pricey for me. Can find nuggets with just about any decent detector. As for new mexico you better have good eyes and a small bottle to keep it in. Not much in nuggets found some have but mostly fines. As for arizona i havent been in a while just now getting back into things. Its a big state and still lots of gold there. Just like every hunting just need to be in the right place at the right time. If you want steady finds best to drywash. Its messy but can do that just about any place theres been water running before. Have seen some nice nuggets brought out of arizona just wish they were mine lol. I am more into relics and coins. But love to go when dear friends go. I enjoy them more then gold. Not sure about southern new mexico i know its prob the best. I am in the four corners so 20 miles any direction i am in utah arizona or colorado.
 

Keppy

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al-nm said:
Buying a minelab to me is a waste unless your going to be living out there hunting. Not downing it any at all. Just seems way to pricey for me. Can find nuggets with just about any decent detector. As for new mexico you better have good eyes and a small bottle to keep it in. Not much in nuggets found some have but mostly fines. As for arizona i havent been in a while just now getting back into things. Its a big state and still lots of gold there. Just like every hunting just need to be in the right place at the right time. If you want steady finds best to drywash. Its messy but can do that just about any place theres been water running before. Have seen some nice nuggets brought out of arizona just wish they were mine lol. I am more into relics and coins. But love to go when dear friends go. I enjoy them more then gold. Not sure about southern new mexico i know its prob the best. I am in the four corners so 20 miles any direction i am in utah arizona or colorado.
Well i have a Garrett Infinium and want to spend about 8 weeks in Az. and would hope to find enought nuggets to pay for my trip....is it improbable...or probable...==Jim==
 

Big Jeff

Greenie
Jan 22, 2007
16
0
7th circle of Hell, Tucson Arizona
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White's TDI
The soil in AZ will gag that garrett. I haven't seen a single person here use one and the local dealer doesn't even sell them. The gold in AZ isn't just lying around waiting to be picked up you have to work at it if it was that easy everyone would be doing it. If you don't know the area that you will be hunting in you are putting your life in danger. As Al implied everything in Arizona bites, scratches or stings. Killer bees, rattlesnakes and mountain lions are the least of your worries mexican drug runners will kill you for your truck. As far as paying for your trip, come on be realistic. I don't mean to be disrespectful or burst your bubble but you don't have a prayer. Al said "any decent detector will find gold" that may be true for an air test but even the high dollar DFX is useless out here unless you are in a neighborhood park. Unless a detector is specifically made for gold you are wasting your time. The Gold Bug II and The GMT are about the only vlf machines worth considering.
 

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al-nm

al-nm

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May 8, 2008
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new mexico
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thanks for correcting me on the any decent detector by that i meant just as you said. gold bug or GMT. Just meant no since paying 4 grand for a minelab. No way unless he has the luck of the irish will he make that detecting. :)
 

Keppy

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al-nm said:
thanks for correcting me on the any decent detector by that i meant just as you said. gold bug or GMT. Just meant no since paying 4 grand for a minelab. No way unless he has the luck of the irish will he make that detecting. :)
Then how about if i was to go to California to look for gold would i be better off........ And i am glad i found out about the Infinium.....i can always switch it for a Gold Bug..or a ..GMT....Jim
 

Big Jeff

Greenie
Jan 22, 2007
16
0
7th circle of Hell, Tucson Arizona
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White's TDI
Gadabout - Jim said:
al-nm said:
thanks for correcting me on the any decent detector by that i meant just as you said. gold bug or GMT. Just meant no since paying 4 grand for a minelab. No way unless he has the luck of the irish will he make that detecting. :)
Then how about if i was to go to California to look for gold would i be better off........ And i am glad i found out about the Infinium.....i can always switch it for a Gold Bug..or a ..GMT....Jim
I see in your avatar that you have an x-70 although I have never seen one of these I have heard they do very well in AZ for prospecting with the DD coil ( I think thats the prospecting coil) that will do you just fine. You might want to do what Al said and join GPAA. That way you have maps to gold bearing areas and most are fairly accessable. One thing to note about the "roads" in the remote areas here are nothing more than rutted 2 tracks and it's easy to get hung up in an area and have nowhere to turn around a quad is the vehicle of choice out here. I don't think Kalifornia would be any better.Not trying to run you off just don't want anyone getting in over their head in areas they don't know much about. AZ ia a brutal environment but is also very beautiful. Nugget hunting and prospecting are generally a hobby here and even the most accomplished nugget hunters have other sources of income. From what i've heard and experienced here it may take 6 months to a year to find your first nugget without an experienced guide. Just my 2¢
 

Keppy

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al-nm And Big Jeff .......Thanks a lot for the information and if you come up with any more info.i would be glad to hear it. Yes i do have the Minelab X-terra 70.........And the Garrett Infinium i thought the Infinium was a good gold detector for any place..I guess it is live and learn.Thanks again and any other info. you have i will take in.......................==Jim==
 

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al-nm

al-nm

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No problem at all just hate to lie to anyone and say go get rich quick. That happens to very few. You have to go in thinking of it as a hobby. Seen experienced hunters go out and find nothing. Seen people who never looked for gold or knew what it was carry out a fist size nugget. Is no gaurantee in this hobby. And as for the places being hunted out............. doubt it lol seen people going in places that had no clue just bought a detector and took off not even knowing how to use it. Be swinging the coil so fast and most times two feet off the ground. Would be nice if ya found things as fast in our hobby like they do on five minutes of television. Like they try to tell you to bad its not that simple they have crews working all those areas then they just go in to film it. What gold they show might of took them a week to find or more. I feel bad i feel like i may of discouraged you and wasnt my intentions. I wish you all the best in whatever you decide to take on. If you have the big bucks go for what your heart desires. If your on a budget go in and just do the best with what you have. Who knows you might be that lucky one. Then ya can buy a detector company and pay for all of us a nice hunt together. LOL No matter what you decide your going to meet some of the greatest folks you could ask to find. Your going to learn more from the old timers then you ever could wish for. Think thats happened to most everyone here. The saddest part is when you have to go home again.
 

Keppy

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al-nm said:
No problem at all just hate to lie to anyone and say go get rich quick. That happens to very few. You have to go in thinking of it as a hobby. Seen experienced hunters go out and find nothing. Seen people who never looked for gold or knew what it was carry out a fist size nugget. Is no gaurantee in this hobby. And as for the places being hunted out............. doubt it lol seen people going in places that had no clue just bought a detector and took off not even knowing how to use it. Be swinging the coil so fast and most times two feet off the ground. Would be nice if ya found things as fast in our hobby like they do on five minutes of television. Like they try to tell you to bad its not that simple they have crews working all those areas then they just go in to film it. What gold they show might of took them a week to find or more. I feel bad i feel like i may of discouraged you and wasnt my intentions. I wish you all the best in whatever you decide to take on. If you have the big bucks go for what your heart desires. If your on a budget go in and just do the best with what you have. Who knows you might be that lucky one. Then ya can buy a detector company and pay for all of us a nice hunt together. LOL No matter what you decide your going to meet some of the greatest folks you could ask to find. Your going to learn more from the old timers then you ever could wish for. Think thats happened to most everyone here. The saddest part is when you have to go home again.
Well i don't have the big bucks i am retired and get a small pension plus social security as you see i have the time but not big in the bucks..not in the poor house but not rich. I hunt for i enjoy it .....And at times it helps supplement my income.
 

Keppy

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TreasureTales said:
Gadabout - Jim said:
al-nm said:
thanks for correcting me on the any decent detector by that i meant just as you said. gold bug or GMT. Just meant no since paying 4 grand for a minelab. No way unless he has the luck of the irish will he make that detecting. :)
Then how about if i was to go to California to look for gold would i be better off........ And i am glad i found out about the Infinium.....i can always switch it for a Gold Bug..or a ..GMT....Jim

A good friend of mine is a gold prospector living here in California. All the gold he gets comes from Arizona. That should tell you something about gold prospecting in California - unless you own a claim and work it hard in California, you will be sadly disappointed. There are just too many people, far too many laws, and too much water this time of year make prospecting in California extremely difficult. The easy gold is long gone and any that washes out during the winter rains and snow melt in the Spring is usually going to wind up on somebody's claim. Claimjumping is not something you want to do. Prospectors and dredgers are not going to mess around with you, they paid the fees and did the work, so they aren't about to share gold with claimjumping strangers.

Do you know that BLM offices maintain records and information about public lands and those areas that have been claimed? Do you know the laws about prospecting in California waterways and when the fish are spawning? Many people think they can show up and get to work. It isn't that easy unless you're merely panning. Even then, you have to know the laws and whose land you're on. Best to do some homework and become fairly knowledgeable about the laws and restrictions in any state you intend to visit for gold prospecting. The laws pertaining to each state are different, even when involving federal lands.

Did you know that USFS lands do not permit digging? You may use a metal detector, but you may not dig. (Crazy, huh!) These are the types of laws that some of us have been fighting for years, but it's a losing battle. BLM will probably be that same way in the next few years. We're losing the right to enjoy our public lands.

Spend the $150.00 or whatever it is and join GPAA. You'll get a large book listing all the claims that organization maintains. You can camp on the claims, fish, prospect, metal detect, and maybe meet some other people with similar interests. Spend a small portion of the money you would have paid for a Minelab on the membership and go where you know you can detect or pan or drywash without problems. Be safe, not sorry.

Paying for a prospecting trip through nuggetshooting is about as difficult as having coinshooting pay for your trip. It's nearly impossible. BUT, having said all that, prospecting is something everybody should try at least once, just to get a better appreciation of what the oldtimers went through in 1849 and the Great Depression. Hard work, little reward, but oh so exciting when/if you find a picker.
:thumbsup:.......................TreasureTales .....if i go out west i will join the GPAA that would be the only way out there for me to go for i know nothing about Az. or Cal.......I did some prospecting up in Canada never got rich up there either but had a lot of fun.....I will say that panning was a back breaking chore untill i found out to find a nice big rock and sit down when i pan............
 

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al-nm

al-nm

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sad thing also about arizona. no water to waste most places only water is what you carry in. most places are done by drywash units. if you like to eat and wear dirt its not bad. and i am getting to old to go in and move a ton of big boulders to get to bedrock anymore. a detector is about the only way i will hunt arizona again. for three months after the last time drywashing i had bugs wanting to put tiny umbrellas on my rear end thinking it was a beach. and to think we brought back buckets of the dirt to check for fines in it. :icon_sunny:
 

barber

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my brother and I joined the GPAA several years back, and it was the biggest joke and rip off I ever saw.
 

Keppy

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barber said:
my brother and I joined the GPAA several years back, and it was the biggest joke and rip off I ever saw.
Well i thought i would give them a try but not for sure yet.And i feel about them like you do i got their books and videos and from watching them my thoughts was it is just a big money makeing machine for the owners.
 

AzSports

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Feb 16, 2005
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Still around Gadabout - Jim?

Perhaps your in Az by now.
For whatever it's worth, I live here in Tucson and would strongly suggest bringing that pulse Infinium to AZ. This is the environment that detector was made for, and it functions great. The vlf's just cant get through the iron the way that Garrett can.
I'd also say join the goofy clubs. Gold is found where the gold is. If your not living in the area, a local club like DGD or the GPAA chapter is a great place to get started. You'll get maps and someone to go with if inclined. At 30 -70 dollars a year for dues, honestly, how much of a rip off can that be?
Az is a great place to prospect. Come for the fun, not as an investment. Flash floods, the heat, snakes and all that are easy to overcome if you do a little homework or just ask someone still chasing the dream.
 

nuggetshooter323

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Jul 22, 2005
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There is some good info in all these posts, but I like AZsports post the best. If you want to nugget hunt, join the GPAA, bring that Infinium, and go. I would actually be more incline to the Infinuim than any VLF machine, because I've read in many place's that depth on the Infinium is comparable to a SD2200 v.2. Not bad for a machine at half the price of the Minelab. If you use a Goldbug 2 or a GMT, which are excellent machines, you can't get past the fact that they are VLF and they do not have the ability to penetrate minerlized soil like a PI unit. By the way, if you join the GPAA, you get access to around 50 claims in Arizona, which include claims in and around Rich Hill.
 

OroGrande

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Apr 1, 2007
85
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New Mexico
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White's MXT
Southern NM Gold. Come on down al-nm.
 

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Keppy

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Well....AZ Sports...& ..Nuggetshooter....I did not make it out there yet but as soon as i get rid of all these home repairs my wife wants and i had a lot of work this spring i could not get out of...I will make it out there and join the GPAA thanks for the information. i guess southern Az. is the best for nugget hunting?? I don't know but i will find out ....Thank you again for the comeback and info.............Jim
 

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al-nm

al-nm

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wow ORO nice ones there. wish i could come down this year doesnt look like anyones going to travel to far at all. :( but keep that gold coming in.
 

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