Why is it that a great find at the start of a hunt spells doom for the day?

[Sky Pilot]

Am I the only one this happens to? I'll get out of my vehicle at a new site and find a great coin or relic, and nearly ALL the time this happens, I won't make another good find at that site all day!! How many others has this happened to? Please relate! I CAN'T be the only one this happens to! Great hunting and good luck!! Regards, Richard.

 

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[thompy]

sorry dont have that luck, i find junk all day long and get my best comming out of the wood heading back to the jeep

 

[mick56]

That happens to me a lot. I stopped at the site of an old store, now it is just a grassy field. Turned on my 250 and found a 1965 quarter. It was the only find in the 2 hours I spent there.

 

[Sky Pilot]

Thompy, Hello! Well, as far as the charmkiller goes, I guess yours is exactly the opposite of mine! At least you end the day with a smile!!! Mick!! I KNEW that this must happen to someone besides myself!! I do this all the time also! As a matter of fact, my hunting buddy and I will darn near load up if one of us makes a find too soon!! Last month we had permission to search an old homeplace, (two actually), on his friend's place that I don't know, we call them Tee-houses here, because of the chimneys on both ends and the one set back in the middle, anyway it's been gone since 1920's?! built in late 1700's. Now, all week we were anticipating the hunt, it had never been detected, the man grew up there, so 6:00 am Saturday, we hit the field! With visions of capped bust, seated liberty, ect... filling our dizzy heads, I found a 1910 wheat right inside the gate, and... you guessed it!! The ONLY other coin that day was a 1955 penny! At 2:30, we called it quits. Shoulda left at 6:05!! Any theories as to why this seems almost a law of physics? I'd like to hear them, honestly!! Thanks for replying, folks!! I really wondered if anyone would!! Good luck and great hunting!!! Regards, Richard. P.S. Thompy, how is the child doing? Your niece, I mean. Have had her in our prayers, hope everything is still wonderfull!!

 

[littletwig]

My hunts generally end up looking like the old bell shaped curve. I usually start slow, get hot in the middle and taper off till I decide I'v had enough for the day. Some of the downhill swing could be that I just get tired of digging those pultabs.

 

[Sky Pilot]

'Twig, Hello! Thank you for taking the time to reply! When things start off "normally", that is how it happens for me also. Buuuttt, if something fine is discovered in say the first10 minutes of the hunt, the rest of the day is a write off for me!! Great hunting and good luck!!! Regards, Richard.

 

[jopher]

Been there ..done that.
Also had my share of hunting for hours without finding anything of interest, and then nailing a keeper on my way back to the car??

 

[Sky Pilot]

Jopher, Thanks for replying! I also on very rare occasion have found something good at the end of a hunt, and also found nothing but junk at very promising Colonial sites!! (I hunt them regularly, still, there MUST be SOMETHING there!!) Great hunting and good luck!! Regards, Richard.

 

[Dr. Ace]

Well, I can certainly identify. It's happened many times to me. In fact, another detectorist I sometimes hunt with has commented on the same thing. So you are not alone with this phenomenon. I guess next time we find something good right away, we might as well pack up and go home. Save ourselves some time! That, or quit and start the next hunt immediately so we can find something good again!

HH,

Dr. Ace

 

[savant365]

I had a site picked out that I was chomping at the bit to get to. Between work and bad weather and the distance I was finally able to make it to an old fairgrounds that was used for county fairs and picnics for at least the last 100 years. The first signal I dug was a beautiful 1896 indian head penny. I instantly had visions of silver dimes and silver quarters popping out of the dirt for the rest of the day. I was so excited and ready for the greatest decting day of my short career only to spend the next 5 hours digging nothing but clad and cans.

HH Charlie

 

[Sky Pilot]

Dr.Ace, Thanks for replying! I think your on to something! Get out, find a cool find, load up and go to another spot, on and on! Savant365, Thanks for the reply! I can definitely relate to that! My friend and I have a firm belief: If, after lots of trying or waiting to be able to hunt a site, we finally find the owner then the answer will be "no", and if it's "yes", then it'll be hunted to death!!! Also, have you all had this happen? You find a grand old house to detect (or several), and knock on the door (pick a door, any door!LOL!!) and go to it everyday for a month, at all different times, and NO ONE is EVER there? I must look like a brush salesman!!! LOL!! Thanks again for replying! Great hunting and good luck!!! Regards, Richard.

 

[treasuredog]

What gets me when you look for most of the day and you dont find hardly anything! Then you are just about to go home and find a indian head penny,when it starts to get dark. Then you dont want to go home but you have to because you are running out of daylight. No I dont have a flashlight with me either. Thats what usually happens to me.

 

[Sky Pilot]

Treasuredog, Thanks for replying! That sounds like the luck I would have!! And, also, when you return, if your luck runs like mine, you can't find the good spot again!! I have actually been searching, heard a fairly decent signal, take a couple of more steps, no good signals, TRY to return to the fair signal, find the flower, (clump of grass, bare spot, oak leave, ect.), that it was beside of, and NEVER find the signal again!!! Kick my own tail all the way home!! LOL!! I can definitely relate!!! Great hunting and good luck!! Regards, Richard.

 

[JP]

I would say 3% of my hunts end up with a surprise find at the beginning, which I know at that point my day is over.  The only silver 50 cent piece I found was found in the first 10 minutes.  I didn't find much of anything after.  The first time I took my GTI to try it out, the very first swing I found a Mercury dime.  I thought how easy but I've never found another one with it (I did find one at the beach with the Excalibur).  With that one Mercury dime that day I didn't find anything else worth much.  Also, just about every gold ring I found at the beach was found at the beginning of the hunt and with the exception of one time, I didn't find another that day.

Maybe lady luck doesn't follow me closely. 

HH

 

[leddel]

isn't it frustrating , this has happened more than a few times . this year my detecting buddy discover a couple of new cellar sites(old colonial) not on any maps out in the middle of nowhere , he takes three steps with his detector and out pops a early large cent in decent shape (boy the thoughts that go through your head about finding stuff ,wow) spent the next 5 hours at these sites and not one more decent item(let alone a coin)shows up , how could anyone pick it so clean in such a huge area . its crazy.then there are those times i've spent all of 6-8 hours not finding much of nothing and wondering what the h#@! am i doing wrong here when at the last minute out pops a nice coin or relic . very strange , i thought it was just me and my buddy this happened to.Dan

 

[Sky Pilot]

Dan, Thanks for replying! That's exactly what my buddy and I thought, but thanks to folks like you and J Potter who answer this post, I don't feel like the Lone Ranger now!! Great hunting and good luck!!! Regards, Richard. P.S. JPotter, I had a detector once, a Tesoro, by the way, that would find V-nickles, buffalo's and Indian heads, but only found 1 Walking Liberty half! NO other silver!? What was up with that, I wonder?

 

[gmanlight]

skypilot i think there is some truth to this I hunted a school not old 40 or so hunted about 1/2 hour

found a merc at 7in started to rain so want back later with detect bud nothing but clad

2 weeks ago 3 of us went to a well in the woods said to be old within 15 minutes one guy gets

a 2 center sweet !!!! 3in deep that was it all day whats up

 

[Sky Pilot]

Gmanlight, Thanks for replying! I don't know why it is, but it is beginning to seem like this is some sort of "phenomena"! I know that it isn't that we get carried away and miss targets, because that first good find lights the fire to make us search extremely well! A Merc at 7", and a two cent piece, man, those are good finds, you'd think that would be the tip of the iceberg!! Great hunting and good luck!! Regards, Richard.

 

[Lowbatts]

If I get a good target early on, I sometimes change my detecting methodology. Go into all metal mode and just pick out faint deep targets. After an hour or two of picking iron out of deep holes I get discouraged and go into shallow clad mode. On those days I do suffer that same fate. When I'm loosey goosey and don't get so fired up over an old find I can then hit another oldie if I get my coil over it.

 

[Sky Pilot]

Lowbatts, Thanks for the reply!! Maybe frame of mind has something to do with it. It still seems suspiciously like the fickle finger of fate intervenes occasionally, though!!! Great hunting and good luck!! Regards, Richard.