Desert Gold San Diego ( where to start)

[Jerry311]

Im getting back in to Metal detcting agian and you like to look for gold on our deserts.
I live in Ramona the Deserts are not far from me, My Parents live in Julian so im going to check out around their yard also. I do know theres some places in the desert wehere some people dry wash I'd like to take my Minelab Gold Monster 1000 and see if I can get anynuggets.
Where is a good place to start looking. ? Ive got a Jeep and a Tundra I can get almost anywhere...

Jerry

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[KyleStar]

Welcome back to the hobby. One honest heads up first: your Ace 350 is a solid coin and relic machine, but it runs around 8.25 kHz, which is not a gold frequency. Desert gold nuggets are tiny and the ground is hot, so most folks hunting nuggets out there use a high frequency gold machine or a PI. You can still get started cheap by panning, which teaches you how to read a wash before you spend on another detector.

Research the land before you roam. A lot of ground around Julian and the desert is claimed up, so check claim status and stay off posted claims, and remember Anza-Borrego is off limits for prospecting. A local prospecting club chapter is honestly the best shortcut, you get access to club claims and learn the washes from people who already know them. And even now in October, bring way more water than you think you need. The desert does not care how short the drive is.

 

[Jerry311]

Im getting a Minelab Gold Monster 1000 with a smaller coil.

 

[KyleStar]

Nice call, Jerry. The Gold Monster 1000 is a great pick for that country, and the small coil is the right move for sub-gram pickers in tailings and bedrock cracks. A couple of things that helped me when I started nugget shooting: keep the coil right down on the ground, it loses depth fast with any gap, and swing it slower than you think, way slower than coin hunting. Run auto for the first few outings and dig everything that repeats, even the whisper signals. Hot rocks will drive you nuts at first but you learn their crackle pretty quick. Good luck out there, post what you find.