Doing well in club hunts?

[Monty]

I just attended my third club sponsored hunt yesterday and although I had a good time I didn't get my share of the planted targets. In other words, I didn't do too well at all. Part of it is because I am so darn slow and it seems like speed takes the prize in these contests. Although I saw many of them in use it just doesn't seem like those heavier top of the line detectors are the best equipment to use. I saw an awful lot of the light weight Tesoro detectors in use and they seemed to be way ahead in the speed category. If you intend to hunt a lot of the planted hunts yu will need something that not only is a very good detector but one that is really, really lightweight. Especially if you are an old fart and slow like me. The prizes are awarded by two different ways. Either the one that gets the most tokens or the one who happens to find a token marked as a prize token. So in the second instance luck has a hand in the winner. But still yet, the one who finds the most planted targets has a greater chance of winning a prize, so speed is still a key ingredient. I got skunked in the hunt for silver half dollars but I saw a 9 year old kid who had three almost before I got off the start line! He was swinging a Tesoro, but I couldn't tell what model. There were two guys there with the famous or infamous "Bigfoot" coils and they were able to cover a lot of ground, but I don't think they found any more targets than some of the faster hunters using normal size coils. So, for this type hunt I think you need special equipment to be competative. I know several of you on tnet go to club hunts so I would like to hear of some of your thoughts and experiences, what type detector you use and any recommendations.
I used my Garrett 2500 for the "deep" hunts and my ACE 250 for the other hunts. Monty

 

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[stoney56]

I think I saw that kid. He had 4 when it was all done and his brother had 2. Don't feel bad though. One of the Bigfoot users didn't get any halves. I got skunked on the gold coin hunt and only got 20 dimes and one token for batteries in the Main hunt. There was 130 people in the Main but with the price of silver where it is now, it's hard to put on a hunt and have a lot of targets out there.

 

[Monty]

Even with the price of silver what it is, I figured they had about $5200 to buy coins for the main hunt alone and that will buy a lot of coins. I realize the sponsoring club has to at least break even or even make a little profit, and there is overhead and I am not bitching about that. I am mostly just disappointed in myself and would like to have some advice and input from fellow Tnetters about how to fare better in the future. Monty

 

[borninok]

Hey Monty,

I hear what you are saying.....and that's why I'm apprehensive about joining any hunts. I've been at this for less than a year. Yeh, I'm an old fart just like you....wellllllll, you do have almost 6 years on me...LOL. I took up MDng as a hobby...after 4 heart attacks and a quadruple bypass, I wanted find something more to Life than proving that I'm better than somebody else. I'll tell you what.....whenever I finally get back to OK...I'd be proud to hunt with you any day of the year....over a kid that can zip/zap/zoom. Always remember what the good looking lady said to the "old fart"...."I KNOW you know how to treat a lady".
==Mel
borninok

 

[stoney56]

OK Monty I understand what you're saying. Great post idea, BTW. Here's a few techniques I try and use.

1) Don't start in the corners--reason being by the time you get out a little ways, the people on the left and right have already crossed in front of you.

2) I shorten the stem---it's not as tiring to swing a shorter shaft but there is a drawback. You have to be a bit more hunched over and the aches afterward can get to you. That's why I take a couple of ibuprophene about 30-45 minutes prior to hunting in the morning and then again during lunch break.

3) I run the disc. high (8-9) and the sens at (4-5). The coins are shallow for the most part and I don't have to deal with much trash. Granted I might miss a couple on edge or at an angle but I don't think I miss too many.

4) I run the biggest but lightest coil I have to cover as much ground as possible. A heavier coil will wear you out quicker.

5) I count the # of detector prizes in the main hunt and that tells me how many quadrants they've divided the field into. For instance, the last one had 6 detectors (4 Whites and 2 Minelabs). That told me the field was probably divided into 6 quadrants and 1 per quadrant. I try to line myself up in the field to hit at least 2 quadrants as quick as possible.

6) The edge of the field just inside the rope can be somewhat beneficial as everyone gets in a hurry at the start and takes a couple steps before they get the detector all the way to the ground.

7) After a while, look across the field. You'll see most are swinging but there will be a few small knots of people bent over digging--meaning there's targets in that zone. I try and start heading that way to help out.

8) Sometimes coins get buried in small groups of 3 or 4, not in the same hole but within a couple of feet of each other. So I competely circle the area when I come across those.

 

[Foilman]

For years I thought of buying a detector. When I finally got near buying one I went to a seeded beach hunt. I didn't know there was such a thing. I thought they were just gonna search the beach and thought it would be interesting to see what they would find and what machines they had. So my wife and I went and I learned a few things.

1) A big problem is some machines can crosstalk and make your machine pretty useless, due to similar frequencies.

2) duh! They seed the ground before the hunt.

3)At the hunt I went to it was obvious that the guy seeding was making mental notes where everything was. I thought, how can he be allowed to even participate?
When the horn went, he practically ran to the center doing a swing or two
once in a while to make it look good. This is probably a good technique, but it was obvious he was going where he threw the best stuff. Did he get it all, no but he got more than average.

4) Like anything else I think it could be fun, but after what I saw at this, no way I was going to join that club and have not entered one yet and probably won't

5) I learned that things go unfound and if I would have owned a machine I would have detected it after
they left. It was a public beach!

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Monty,

"I am mostly just disappointed in myself
and would like to have some advice and
input from fellow Tnetters about how to
fare better in the future. "
------------------------------------------------
"I saw an awful lot of the light weight
Tesoro detectors in use and they seemed
to be way ahead in the speed category."



have a good un.........
SHERMANVILLE

 

[Monty]

foilman, sorry our first outing wasn't fun for you. The hunts I have been in the main guy doesn't hunt, but several volunteers who plant coins do. I've often wondered how they fared. The prize tokens aren't seeded by participants, but the main "referee" alone plants the prize tokens usually. I think it would be very unfair if only one guy planted all the coins &tokens and then hunted also. I would have said something about it I think. But again I use to shoot match bolt action military rifles and several of the guys cheated by putting aftermarket aiming aids on their rifles . I reported this but nothing was done about it, so there you go. Monty

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

For years I thought of buying a detector. When I finally got near buying one I went to a seeded beach hunt. I didn't know there was such a thing. I thought they were just gonna search the beach and thought it would be interesting to see what they would find and what machines they had. So my wife and I went and I learned a few things.

1) A big problem is some machines can crosstalk and make your machine pretty useless, due to similar frequencies.

2) duh! They seed the ground before the hunt.

3)At the hunt I went to it was obvious that the guy seeding was making mental notes where everything was. I thought, how can he be allowed to even participate?
When the horn went, he practically ran to the center doing a swing or two
once in a while to make it look good. This is probably a good technique, but it was obvious he was going where he threw the best stuff. Did he get it all, no but he got more than average.

4) Like anything else I think it could be fun, but after what I saw at this, no way I was going to join that club and have not entered one yet and probably won't

5) I learned that things go unfound and if I would have owned a machine I would have detected it after
they left. It was a public beach!

Our club solves the hide & hunt dilema with the "planters" by either splitting the field in half (two planters - you hunt the opposide side from where you planted) or getting volunteers who plant but sit it out. There are "consolation prizes" in the latter case. Everyone leaves with some silver whether you find it or not.

 

[Monty]

I belong to a fairly large club and at our last "National" hunt we had people from all over the country. I believe there was over a hundred people in the grand hunt for all the big prizes. There are several that do nothing but make the circuit and do all the hunts that they find out about. They usually win some kind of good prize too and I would consider them pros. Then there is just dumb luck like one 14 year old kid I saw collect 5 prize tokens in one hunt. I heard him say it was only his second hunt ever. Then there is me plodding along at the back of the pack, mostly hunting once hunted ground and finding just enough to keep me interested. I bought a water detector last year hoping to hunt my clubs summer time water hunts, about once a month but something has always come up. This year the lakes were all way above their flood pool and hazardous to hunt so a couple have been cancelled. Our last one is in Sept. and it's still warm her up into October so I hope the lakes are down and I can make it. Monty

 

[Foilman]

Folks,
I don't mean to give this part of the hobby a bad rap. I am sure they could be a lot of fun if done in fairness. Nobody chimed in about the cross-talking. I thought there would be some discussion about that. Any tips?

 

[Monty]

I found a little cross talking interference from a Whites machine when using my ACE 250. Actually it made the Whites machine show a false positive, but my ACE only had some odd tones when very close. It disappeared when I was about or ten feet away. Ditto my GTI 2500, but I merely changed frequencies and it was no problem. The 2500 has 8 frequencies to choose from but the ACE has only one set frequency. Monty

 

[stoney56]

Folks,
I don't mean to give this part of the hobby a bad rap. I am sure they could be a lot of fun if done in fairness. Nobody chimed in about the cross-talking. I thought there would be some discussion about that. Any tips?

As far as cross-talk, there's not much you can do other than either move outside the chatter interference zone, have a machine that is adjustable frequencies, or at times I have just pressed the pinpoint button and listened to repeatable tones. I've noticed that cross-talk tones have a different sound compared to ground signals---just enough of a difference.

 

[luvsdux]

Been attending several competition type hunts per year for 6-7 years now. You do have to be pretty fast, especially in the first 15 minutes or so, after that the coins start coming fewer and farther between. My wife and I use Tesoro Silver Sabre umax machines and they are great for these hunts. They're light weight, have a very quick response time and pinpoint easily. Once in a while if we are too close to each other or another Tesoro, cross talk is a bit of a problem, but moving a bit usually takes care of that. However, if I were buying a machine strictly for these hunts I would probably purchase one with adjustable frequency capability. All in all, the hunts are a lot of fun and meeting other people in the hobby is a good part of it as well.
HH
Bill

 

[DeHunter]

Hhmmn, Yes, the only sponsored hunts I have been to are at beaches. I feel I do well. I have whites detector and some machines do give me interference more than others.
I usually look to find a side with the least people hunting, which is usually across from the start. Seems many people just do not want to walk that far or something..lol.. I pick a side, trying to get near the center of the side. After the whistle/horn blows, I quickly move to the center, to get away from all the interference. With the sandy beach, it is easy to scoop the coins, since my scoop has mouse screen which lets the sand out, but keeps the small coins. I have a hook to hang my scoop on my left belt when not in use. This allows me to switch hands with my detector when tired/needed. I also have a mouse- wire- screened container hanging on my right side, which allows me to dump and go quickly. Usually I do not even know what I have found. I just know it is not in the ground anymore.
After I have been in the center for a while, I pick a direction, which looks unused and move towards the outside, while everyone else is moving towards the center. After that I look for hot spots. I have been to 3 Federation hunts at which 2 produced a gold coin each and the third, 500 dollars cash and keys to a new car, which were not the correct keys..oh,well, it was verry exciting anyway...
I enjoy hunts and usually find my share, plus,......but there is always someone better/more lucky....I think we can help or deter our "luck" with good preparation or lack there of....

Hope you can glean something out of this..Happy Hunting