Organized Treasure Hunts

[urbss]

Hello,

I just found out about a Treasure Hunt that is being sponsored by a club that is only a couple hours from my home.

The 1st obstacle I must overcome is trying to convince my wife to let me go because it will be an expensive weekend. The registration alone is $190.00. Plus gas, food, a room for at least 1 night, etc.

Anyway, hopefully I'll be allowed to go, but I want to ask you all if you have ever been to one and if so if you have any words of wisdom.

I've never been to anything like this, so I have no idea what to expect. I have an ACE 250 with a standard and a sniper coil, a pinpointer, basic headphones and a waist-thing to put my finds into - and I am a complete novice (at least I feel like one).

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly helpful and appreciated.

Thanks,
Urbs

 

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[warsawdaddy]

Is it a seeded hunt? If you haven't been or seen one of these larger hunts,I would suggest passing it up.Try to find a club that has a smaller scale hunt for it's members first.Some of those larger seeded hunts can be kind of brutal for someone not experienced in them and that entry fee seems a little steep.Now I say this not knowing anything about the hunt you are referring to.This is just my opinion.Maybe someone else can give you better insight.Goodluck.

Check out this;
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,222464.0.html

 

[lafatlife]

That is a good question, I am interested in what others have to say as well.

 

[mark.]

Still interested?

Here's a few thoughts. I have more thoughts but my typing takes too long.

Try this. Get a large knife & head out into your backyard. Rope off an area…let’s say 30’ X 30’ with markers or string. Get about 50-60 dimes & take that knife *& bury them about 1” deep. Stick the knife in the ground PARALLEL to the ground, raise the turf slightly & squeeze the dime in the hole so that it’s flat in the ground as much as possible.
Most organized hunts will do this because they want you to detect/hear the targets easier.
Bury them in a pattern of some kind so that all the dimes are evenly buried on you area.
Then get your detector out with a digger ( small bayonet type knife works great ) & time yourself finding as many dimes you can within a 10 minute time frame.

Hint…..hint. You must be very fast & don’t waste any more than 10-12 seconds locating each target. Once you find it, throw it into your apron & move on. You can look at the targets later. The reason I mention using 10 minutes is……although you usually get 30-45 minutes per hunt…..…10 minutes is about all the time you really get in a real organized hunt.

If you can’t find 30-35 of the dimes within the 10 minutes, ( 3-4 dimes per minute ) you should pass on the hunt until you practice enough to achieve those standards I mentioned.
Otherwise…….you will be donating a lot of money to the hunt.
You also must realize that there are prize tokens in the field too. It’s usually pure luck finding one ( or more ) of those.

Having said that………realize these seeded hunts are like a big ol’ Easter Egg Hunt. The fastest kids get the most eggs. You must get fast enough to be one of those “big kids”.

Another factor is……….you’ll have lot’s of down time you can spend shooting the breeze with others, telling treasure stories, etc. & if some dealers are there, you can pick their brains about different detectors on the market today.
Here's one of the ol yardhunter in action: ( this is about 15 minutes into the hunt-notice folks in the background appearing like they are ralaxed. It's not that way within the 1st 10 minutes )


Have fun, & if nothing else, convince your bride to go with you & watch how a seeded hunt works, then take her on a shopping trip.

Women love that you know……Good luck…………see ya mark

 

[lafatlife]

3 to 4 coins in a minute How well do you fill your holes? Is and Ace 250 good for one of these hunts?

 

[mark.]

..........you really don't fill the holes that well. Try looking for the slit in the turf where the coin was placed in the 1st place. Targets are usually just under the grass. As long as you flip the grass back into the hole ( if you actually make one...you shouldn't have any holes, just flipped up grass & back down after recovery with some practice ) and step on it as you move on, you're OK.
Most targets are common silver, so, scratching them doesn't matter. They are still worth only scrap value. Tokens are used for more valuable targets at most hunts.

Regarding the Ace 250, it's generally a slow moving detector but that's for depth. Depth makes little difference during seeded hunts. I suggest laying a coin on the ground & run the 250 over it quickly & see what reaction you get. I have a 250 but haven't been to a seeded hunt since I bought it, so, I can't tell you how good it works or not.

Get out there & try the idea mentioned earlier in the thread. You may think you're pretty good within 10 minutes. After you practice a while, you'll beat whatever you found the 1st time by a mile.
Hope this helps.
Good luck..........see ya mark

 

[stoney56]

Also, some hunts are set up so that you can pick and choose which ones to try. Wife and I can hunt all the hunts for $240 (combined) or pick and choose. The prices have been going up though with the silver and gold prices.
http://www.threeforkstreasurehunters.org/nationalhunt.html

 

[Johnnysan]

Seeded hunts? Seems unseemly to me. Like those 'game reserves' that guarantee you'll get a trophy even if you can't hit the ground with a 12 gauge. I'll pass; I have better things to buy with my 190 bucks.

 

[lafatlife]

I suggest laying a coin on the ground & run the 250 over it quickly & see what reaction you get. I have a 250 but haven't been to a seeded hunt since I bought it, so, I can't tell you how good it works or not.

Get out there & try the idea mentioned earlier in the thread. You may think you're pretty good within 10 minutes. After you practice a while, you'll beat whatever you found the 1st time by a mile.
Hope this helps.
Good luck..........see ya mark

I would love to do that but right now with 8 inches of snow on the ground that is not feasible. What machine do you use on your hunts?

 

[warsawdaddy]

I suggest laying a coin on the ground & run the 250 over it quickly & see what reaction you get. I have a 250 but haven't been to a seeded hunt since I bought it, so, I can't tell you how good it works or not.

Get out there & try the idea mentioned earlier in the thread. You may think you're pretty good within 10 minutes. After you practice a while, you'll beat whatever you found the 1st time by a mile.
Hope this helps.
Good luck..........see ya mark

I would love to do that but right now with 8 inches of snow on the ground that is not feasible. What machine do you use on your hunts?

Tape your coins to the backside of a piece of large cardboard and try it.It will rest on the snow.

 

[robbuckalew]

I have a friend that did those organized hunts and he won 2 metal detectors in one day as well as a gold coin raffle.
He said it was great. I really could tell you how much he paid but I am going to do one this year.
If anything, it is a way to meet great people and have a good time.

 

[Lowbatts]

Open hunts are a riot! Get about a hundred people lined up around a field and blow that horn! As Mark says, after ten minutes you either hit a hot spot that everyone else has missed or pick up only a few stragglers. You should be doing three coins or more per minute, among them the prize tokens.

Follow those that aren't digging often, they're missing coins. The slit in the grass is the quickest way to the coin, digging kept to almost non-existant, just prying them out. Hunting knife the preferred tool. Pinpointing a must.

One problem with the ACE is Garrets are notoriously noisy (crosstalk) in close proximity to many other detectors.

Have an old 1235-X and my CZ-20, both are fairly quiet in the crowds andquick to pinpoint.

I've seen guys with older machines who are very accurate at just going after tokens, think the old Compass machines were best at this.

Do watch one of these and see how it goes then throw in for one or two if they allow walk-ons.

Remember though, it's a social event as much as a competitive event so have fun.

 

[mark.]

[/quote]

I would love to do that but right now with 8 inches of snow on the ground that is not feasible. What machine do you use on your hunts?
[/quote]

In the pic above, I used a Troy X5.
I've sold it since then & when I attend another hunt, ( I currently have only 3 decent detectors ) I would have to use the Tejon over the Tigershark & Ace 250..............see ya mark

 

[stoney56]

Lowbatts is right. But instead of following people who aren't digging much, I prefer to look every so often to see what section of the hunt area that still has people bent over digging and head in that direction. (Means still targets to be found). Something to remember is the larger the silver coin, bar, bullion, etc. the further apart they'll be spread.
Some hunts have made changes on their tokens-the ones I go to have silver dimes buried and amongst the silver dimes are silver dimes stamped with #'s corresponding to the prizes. I just dig and bag and check after the hunt. Most targets are pretty shallow-either on the ground or just under, so find out what the targets are and set the disc. just below that a bit. You can also adjust the sens. down pretty much too. That might help a little on the crosstalk. I myself use a Fisher 1236X2 that I switched over to hip mount--cuts down on the energy needed to reverse the coil sweep.

 

[luvsdux]

I thought I wouldn't care for this type of hunt until I attended one. As mentioned, you do have to be fast, but they are a hoot and you do get to visit with a lot of people in the hobby. Most also offer raffle tickets etc. for prizes as well as prize tokens in the field. I won a detector and a gold coin in my first hunt and (at least in the two hunts I attend every year) you get to keep all the coins you find except for the prize tokens which you turn in for the prizes, of course. My wife and I both attend and consider the cost in the same way we would a weekend fun trip or other way to spend money for entertainment. At least in these hunts there is some return and the chance for a good return. I highly recommend trying one at least once.
HH
Bill

 

[WheatbackDigger]

Seeded hunts...not my cup of tea ...like shooting fish in a barrel at a high price...I don't think there is a high enough return to fork over $190..factor in food, gas, and a hotel room, you are looking at the price of new mid-range detector or down payment on a higher range detector...I am a loner by nature...all those detectorist around me, would make me a bit antsy. Not trying to discourage anyone, this kind of detecting is just not my thing.