Are Open Organized Hunts worth the admission price?

[RLP5676]

HI Fellow Treasure Hunters!

I am fairly new to the hobby as well as this board. I noticed that there is an Open Treasure Hunt scheduled in the near future in my local area. The price of admission is about $100. Do any of you have experience with Organized Hunts? Are they worth it? They sound like fun but for $100 I'm not too sure. Thanks for your help!

 

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[Jason in Enid]

I depends on the details! $100 sounds pretty steep, but they might be burying some really great stuff, so maybe. I did my first competition hunt this spring and it was a lot of fun. I didn't win any prizes and I didn't get all my money's worth back in finds, but it was a learning experience, I met a lot of great people and I had a lot of fun.

I'm sure every club's hunts are unique, but here is a video of my first time experience....

 

[Sandman]

One of the best detectors for these hunts is the Fisher 1235-X as it will hunt with other detectors very near.
http://web.archive.org/web/20081121104238/http://thegoldenolde.com/favorog1.htm

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

One of the best detectors for these hunts is the Fisher 1235-X as it will hunt with other detectors very near.
http://web.archive.org/web/20081121104238/http://thegoldenolde.com/favorog1.htm

Sandman is correct, I took his advice and bought used 1235x for the competition hunts I attended and it worked fantastically...The freq shifter worked perfectly to counter interference from other detectors.

The Great Southern Shootout that was held at Daytona Beach for years had a $200 entry fee. I never left with less that my entry fee. On last one held I came home with $400 in price money and another $300 in prizes..

DT2016

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Nice video, thank you for sharing!

I have done a few of these hunts over the years and have done reasonably well. Here are a few (some you have covered) things to keep in mind

1. Choose a machine that has a very fast recovery (never had the pleasure of hunting a trash free space). I have used a both the AT Pro and Tesoro with very good success!

2. Turn down the power of the machine. Usually everything is buried no more than surface to 2 inches.

3. Choose a large coil for coverage.

4. Swing speed will depend on several factors: detector, coil size type of hunt.

5. Find out what will be buried during each section of the hunt (if they give that information) and if you wish discriminate everything else.

6. I used fast swing speed but a slightly slower walk, this allowed me to cover almost everything in my path. Note: I still covered a lot of ground, just more thorough that others.

7. The more refined your pin pointing skills are the faster you will recover goodies (practice in your test bed).

8. Use a pin pointer to locate a target (optional).

9. Most of all go there will only having fun. The goodies will come.

GL & HH

 

[Terry Soloman]

The answer is NO. Seeded club hunts raise money for the organizers. I have seen major prizes go to high ranking club members or their buddies too many times to think everyone has a fair shot.

Now if you want to see and be seen, lie and be lied to, these hunts can't be beat! Oh, and THE machine for competition hunts is the Tesoro Cibola, which has incredible recovery speed, and three different freqs to choose from (

14.3 kHz, 14.5 kHz, 14.7 kHz) when working around a dozen other machines.​

 

[YooperTrooper]

I depends on the details! $100 sounds pretty steep, but they might be burying some really great stuff, so maybe. I did my first competition hunt this spring and it was a lot of fun. I didn't win any prizes and I didn't get all my money's worth back in finds, but it was a learning experience, I met a lot of great people and I had a lot of fun.

I'm sure every club's hunts are unique, but here is a video of my first time experience....

Thanks for taking the time to make the video. I've wondered what these hunts were like. Looks like a lot of fun.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Terry Soloman]

This is a hunt I did a few years ago with a friend, and the prize silvers I got for finding numbered token. The other items - ring, earring and Silver quarter came from an old farm house about 30 of us took a bus to.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Terry, for the cost of rooms and food, that hunt look like it was more than worth the price!

 

[Terry Soloman]

Two-hour drive one way, $12.00 in tolls. Rooms from like 1955, but there was a Coke Machine in the hall. Food was OK. People were... strange. I won't do it again.

 

[Jason in Enid]

Two-hour drive one way, $12.00 in tolls. Rooms from like 1955, but there was a Coke Machine in the hall. Food was OK. People were... strange. I won't do it again.

OMG you had to drive an entire 2 hours?! How terrible! I spent 8 hours each driving and had no complaints. I understand these types of hunts arent everyone's cup of tea, but you seem to go out of your way to put down what many others enjoy.

 

[smokeythecat]

Monetarily, If you don't have to go far, I'd say yes. I joined a club in 2016, went to their hunt, came out with over 50 coins, with value 4 times the price of admission.

If you need a motel, forget it, unless you just want to go for the fun. I go for the fun. Finding stuff is fun too.

 

[Terry Soloman]

OMG you had to drive an entire 2 hours?! How terrible! I spent 8 hours each driving and had no complaints. I understand these types of hunts arent everyone's cup of tea, but you seem to go out of your way to put down what many others enjoy.

Stop picking a fight. I have the right to state my opinion. I am not making judgments about you or anyone else. Stop mocking me just because I like mayo on my Hot Dogs!

 

[Jason in Enid]

Stop mocking me just because I like mayo on my Hot Dogs!

Now you owe me a new computer, I just threw up on mine!

 

[kingskid1611]

I would do a club hunt if there were any around here in Oklahoma but I never know when or where they are.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I would do a club hunt if there were any around here in Oklahoma but I never know when or where they are.

I know there are a couple in the Tulsa area every year. Not sure if the OKC club holds one, and there is one down in Antlers. PLus more down across the border in TX.

 

[kingskid1611]

I know there are a couple in the Tulsa area every year. Not sure if the OKC club holds one, and there is one down in Antlers. PLus more down across the border in TX.

Do you have information on when these are or a place to find out for me. I am not far from Tulsa

 

[tcornel]

I love the hobby and finding things lost by generations past. The excitement of finding a large cent or looking up the history of a piece is what I like.

I don't really get into the planted hunts. Kind of like hunting fish in a barrel. Finding a mercury dime at a home site brings a smile to my face. I will put it is a coin sleeve and file it as one of my finds.

Finding 20 or 30 of them at a planted hunt means I now have something the price of the coins without any special significance.......just an asset. They go into a baggie to sell off some day!

If you want to do it for the camaraderie and making new friends then go for it. All too often the major prizes will go to hunt organizers, friends and family.

 

[whammy]

My wife surprised me with a hunt in Mass last year. How she got me up at midnight to go to ( heehee ) my sisters in Albany N.Y. at that time still makes me wonder, but we made it by 8:00 in the morning. I believe the entry was 75.00. I didn't make 75.00 at the hunt, but I had 75.00 dollars worth of fun and met some great people. Got some silver, and we got
silver coins as a prize for traveling the longest distance. In my humble opinion it was worth the money for the fun we had. I do believe we are going again this year along with 2 others closer to us. Good luck with your decision and don't forget to have fun.

 

[jjack9977]

Was that in Latham? I've been thinking of joining the club and doing a hunt, although I think I'd have to invest in a faster machine to have a good chance at anything.