Night-time MDing

[Justadad1999]

Night-time MD'ing

Has anyone ever hunted at night (with permission of course) & following the code of ethics. How would you go about md'ing at night, what extra equipment in necessary, what kinds of places would you scout and has anyone ever held a night Md'ing contest?

thanks

Larry-El Paso

 

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[OnionRings]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

I went out tonight.

You don't need permission unless the area closes at night.

I try to go to parks with lights because I don't want to get jumped by some crazy guy.

I normally don't do as good at night because probing can become difficult at night and this slows things down alot.

A headlamp of flash light will help you pinpoint at night I don't run the light untill I get a good target under the coil.

Onion

 

[True_Metal]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

Not yet, but my buddy Bergie and I are refining just what we will need to do so.
A safe spot is #1! Parks are out for us around here (NYers)
One unarmed guy jumping me no prob, its a group of scumbags that we worry about. Private property with permission is the way to go if possible. You could take to the woods but might only do it in the colder months as detecting them in the summer or with the foliage might be all too weird (spooky wise)

A weapon is a must! Gun, Pepper spray, Knife or something with more punch than a digging trowel. Guns and spray out for us, (again NY) so a knife will have to do. You never know what you might encounter or what will encounter you. Read some of the "Chased by bull while detecting" stories here and you'll see what i mean.


A headlamp or some other efficent light system would be great, as would a backlit detector screen if yours is that type of machine.


So far thats about it. A few extras on top of your normal gear and you're good to go. I'm sure theres some more gadgets that would be nice, though i cant think of any right off hand. Experiment with your ideas and test them till you get the perfect system for yourself. I think thats half of the fun. 8)

 

[stoney56]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

If you do hunt at night, try to keep one ear clear of headphones to listen around you while hunting. Also try one of those cyalum lite sticks, they work great for light and be kept in pocket till needed or taped to stem above coil for constant light.

 

[TORRERO]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

I've done a lot of night hunting on the Beach, its pretty cool there, I've never been jumped and it beats the daytime heat
real well. Lows / Home depot, sell a lamp you can put on your head, with a stretch strap that holds it on,
this works great and frees up your hands, it also gives you a headach after about 2 hours.
I also hunted a field once in Virginia with a friend at night it was spooky.....
I had a DFX with a back light, we carried flashlights but did not want them on unless of an Emergency.
Be carefull of Holes, logs, anything you can see in the day that you can't see at night...
good luck,
torrero

 

[Justadad1999]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

Hello folks,

Sure do appreciate the feedback. Here in the desert, the evenings are much cooler so night hunting should be fun and interesting to say the least!

I've been reading everyone's posts and see a light of some kind mentioned? Is the a method of attaching a bracket & light to my/your machine and if so how do you do it and what do you suggest I use? Do standard flashlights "interfere" with the readings at all?

OH ONE MORE THING? Should the cable running from the coil to the reciever be "wrapped" around the shaft or do you somehow have yours running alongside (straight) to the reciever box & what's the effects of the difference?


Thanks all

Larry-El Paso

 

[TrpnBils]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

One point about the headlamp. If you can, get one with LEDs instead of a regular bulb. They'll last a lot longer, be brighter, and won't kill your batteries like a regular bulb will. I use them when I track animals at night or go backpacking and it hasnt' failed me yet. Wal*Mart sells a bunch of these, but they have a real nice one that has red LEDs(won't kill your night vision), white LEDs, and a halogen bulb for about $12. You can't beat that in my opinion. Good luck.

 

[foolserrand]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

I have been night hunting for years. I prefer it to daylight detecting. (less people=less bother).

I use a mini mag light that is sheathed in a rubber handle with a bead chain on it so i can wear it around my neck. The rubber handle is so that I can hold it in my teeth..... I find doing that makes it MUCH easier to aim than using a headmounted light. I also do not want to bring attention to myself by using a headlamp with a wide beam & walking around with it on , shining it everywhere my head turns.
I only turn my "neck light" on when i am recovering a target. I detect in the dark & in areas I KNOW there are no hazardous things like hidden wells, heavy underbrush etc etc.
I also have a detector with a backlit screen (very usefull for nighthunting). It is not hard (for me anyway) to detect in near complete darkness If i have to. I dont need to see every detail on the ground to be able to swing my coil. And on the occasion when my light has failed (batteries).... I can still recover a target fairly easily. In fact... one of my most favorite finds (my only diamond ring) was found by feel (along with my pinpointer). At the time i was specifically looking for pulltab/ring signals at a spot that I had already recovered nearly all coin signals.

I HAVE thought about switching to a led mini-magnight-sized flashlight, but i have yet to find one that is turned on via the twisting motion of the head of the flashlight which is VERY important to my "rubber sheath/handle on a bead chain" setup.

One thing I did a few years ago was to replace the regular green LED in my whites pinpointer with a white LED... effectively turning my pinpointer into a mini falshlight. I rarely have to use my "neck-light" anymore unless the target is REALLY hard to find.

 

[stoney56]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

The cyalum light I was talking about is purely chemical. You bend the tube, shake it an it glows either green, blue, orange, etc. The military sometime uses them-although Wal-to-Wal mart carries them in sporting goods. The tubes are plastic so there is no metal to interfere w/the coil. The light lasts about 8 hr. . Also I prefer to wrap my coil cable to stem and use velcro.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Re: Night-time MD'ing

I have been detecting the beaches at night for a long time during winter months. I don?t detect at night in the summer on the beach because of turtle nesting season. Pelican makes lots of good dive lights that I also use. However, the 2600 headsup lite is a winner for me both on the beach and below the surface.

http://www.pelican.com/lights.html