He (someone) beat me to it.

[The_Griffyn]

So we had some really big surf roll through here these past couple of days which finally died out. Being aware of it, I made plans to hit the low tide this afternoon here locally. As many of you know, I'm new to this hobby and have only had my detector for 5 days now. I got a backpack together with snacks and drinks for my kids, loaded them and the green machine into the truck, and arrived on site 1 hour before dead low. Fired her up, gave the kids the rules, and started the walk down from the parking lot. As we came over the winter berm I could see a vast expanse of freshly water-free sand and I knew I had timed it right. That is until I saw holes scattered about for 200 yards down the beach. Nearly out of sight I could see a real pro with a fully waterproofed rig coming in and out of the surf, up and down, zig-zag, and every other which way all over the path I had hoped to take. My little girl says, "Daddy, I think that man beat us to all the treasures."

Hoping that with as fast as he was moving he had missed some targets, I trudged my way down the beach. He didn't. All I got was a few bits of foil, a pull-tab or two, and a bobby-pin. I wonder what he managed to score?

I was really hoping to make a good find today but it was not to be. I did however enjoy a wonderful afternoon with my children which is reward enough.


-The Griffyn

 

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[EpsilonMinus]

Why didn't you just go in the opposite direction?

 

[The_Griffyn]

The beach south of the pier, where we were, get's the good surf due to some sand bars, so it experiences far more erosion and re-concentration of material than the north side. The other side is just a big flat bowl that doesn't seem to ever change.

I did end up going down there for the last 20 mins or so but nothing doing.


-TG

 

[The_Griffyn]

Thanks Rando. Two years of college level geology, and a healthy love for gold prospecting has it's benefits I guess =)

And yes, I'm very lucky in regards to my children. They are still young enough to think Daddy is cool. I just hope that as adults they will continue to love all things outdoors like I do.



HH,


~TG~

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Well you are certainly learning the harsh realities of competitive zones of md'ing locales If you're in a competitive beach erosion area, the hard-core guys don't wait till low tide. They are there "working the tide out" a mere 2 hrs or so after the high, and following it out. The reason is two-fold:

1) to be the first one there as the erosion results are being exposed following a coinciding of high tides and high swells (which is what produces erosion, and is usually accompanied with storm activity).

2) there are actually some beaches and conditions, where the goodies can get pulled all the way out, or go deep (below detection level) at the low tide time. For this reason, some beach pro's (depending on the "rules" of their particular beach) only hunt in the receding water itself, and will swear that that's where the best goodies are. Where I'm at (central coast in CA), I have not seen that to be necessary. I see just as thick a concentration of targets on the receded wet, that I would have gotten if I'd fought the receding surf in the same zone. But none-the-less, some guys like to hunt in the rolling receding surf, and believe the targets are at their shallowest and most abundant at that time.

As for your other observations:

a) You are right: just because this fellow (who you gathered to be a veteran at it) worked one direction, and you saw that he didn't work the other direction, doesn't mean that ...... therefore ...... you can get targets in the other direction. Because mother nature, after erosion events, groups the targets in specified zones. Pro's will walk right towards those zones, reading the beach landscape. They know exactly the beach features they're looking for: cuts, inverted scallop/bowl shapes, slopes, wet spots that are lower than the rest of the beach, etc.... They don't waste time hitting the high soft spots. And after each beach storm re-arrangement, there will only be so many targets in defined zones. The first guy there can conceivable clean it a pocket, leaving you to find another zone, or wait till another day, etc.... I have seen a parralel or pocket stretch on so big, and so far, that no one person can exhaust it in a day, but most of the time, the mother nature has certain settle zones depending on day.

b) just because the guy was "working fast", doesn't mean he was likely to miss stuff. A real beach pro. moves fast on purpose, to find the concentrations (sloppy zig zags, etc...). He's not looking for individual targets, at first. He's strictly looking for pockets. Only when he starts finding a few, does he slow down to determine if it's part of a pattern. Because if it's just a random one, he's going to resume the pace, and keep moving down the beach. And likewise when he's done, and working his way back to his car, he may appear to be sloppy and moving fast. But perhaps he was just on his way back to his car, swinging as he went. And as for the few light things you found behind him, perhaps it was out of the heavy zone. Ie.: sometimes mother nature groups things by weight. So if he's getting the heavier items (coins, keys, sinkers, etc...) in one zone, and then sees that by moving higher, or lower, that it becomes lighter targets (zinc pennies, foil, tabs, etc...) he's going to make an assesment to concentrate on the heavy zone, and skip the light zone. For example: If I start finding only zinc, foil, tabs, etc.. on the wet beach after a storm erosion, I will be out of there in a heart-beat (or skip that strata/level of the beach, etc..., and seek zones where heavier stuff accumulated). After a really good erosion event, there will be no light stuff at all. It's all washed out to sea in the zone where you're working. Heck, I've even seen times when there isn't even any zinc (because they're the lightest of coins). And since gold is dense and heavy, your odds to increase your gold take, would be to hunt where the heavier targets are getting grouped. Particularly where you start finding lead, because gold and lead are both dense and heavy.

 

[Sandman]

You still found a couple pull tabs and this is where a lot of the gold rings are in this range. As for being there "late," at least there was only one guy working the beach that day ahead of you. Best to learn more at beach hunting at http://www.nmhra.netfirms.com/pulltab/

Good Luck,
Sandman

 

[Burnt Chimney]

I can only add one thing to this thread , Never let the presence of another Metal Detectorist mess with your mind ! He can't find it all .

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Sandman, you say about pulltabs, that this is " where a lot of the gold rings are in this range." Yes, perhaps as far as conductivity goes, but not as far as density goes. When mother nature turns the ocean's beach into her own private riffle board/sluice box, the tabs and the gold rings will be far apart. Not in each other's "range" at all. For the random dry sand, where there's no rhyme or reason, then the tabs would be reason to suspect that the previous persons were missing potential gold targets.

 

[The_Griffyn]

Tom- Living here in Orange County (transferring this summer though) I've always seen guys her and there with detectors. Even though I'm new at this hobby, I have been a prospector/rockhound for most of my adult life. I simply applied what I knew in regards to placer deposits and the distribution of gold to detecting on the beach. I'm also a serious fisherman which added a few things in the knowledge department. I was looking for the shallow depressions that would concentrate "paystreaks" of finds, areas with more black sand than others, and any other possibility that might lead me to the rings. I had it all worked out but happened to be wrong on my timing. Which, was a good lesson to learn so early on in the game. Now I know to get there sooner and work my way out with the tide.

Also, I'm sure it doesn't help that summer ended a few months ago. I'd wager a bet that the end of summer is a certifiable bonanza if you can catch it just right. I'm not stressing about anything though. I'm just focused on learning and getting good. I have the day off on Tuesday since I have duty on Monday. Planning on going ghost towning or something. Anyone in SoCal area care for a day trip


-TG

 

[Sandman]

Tom, I only meant that many of the gold rings are in the pull tab range of conductivity as many detectorist disc them out and wonder where all the rings are. They are two different densities and can be found in different areas of the sand. Sometimes they tend to cluster together with like weighted and size objects. The other hunter was zig-zaging to find a pattern of like conductive articles.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Sandman, you hit inland freshwater beaches, right (I gather from your state's location). On the open ocean-facing beach, after the right storm/erosion conditions, the beach groups targets by weight and density. Much like a sluicebox would do, for example. And carrying that example on: the pulltabs would fly out of the sluicebox, while the gold rings (or nuggets, etc...) would be stopped in the riffles, right? Yet they each have the same conductivity. But they don't have the same weight/density. Therefore beach guys that read the landscape of erosion patterns (slopes, low spots, cuts, scallops, etc....) zig zag looking for patterns of like-weighted/density targets, not like-conductive targets. So for example, we might find those big pyramaid sinkers (that are mid to highly conductive), in with lowly conductive gold bands. 2 entirely different targets, when talking conductivity, but two very like targets, when talking density (gold and lead are similar on weight/density, which is why people practice with lead birdshot, when practicing panning for gold).

Interesting topic!

 

[DGDancer]

Hehh hehh, Yep never let it get to your head that the guy ahead of you got the goodies
first. I've found plenty behind others. I also use such experiences, seeing the other guy
work, to refine my own techniques. Besides if they are willing to talk to you its a good
opprotunity to network a little. The other observation you can make is the equipment used
and that can help tailor your own equipment. Tweeking and experimenting with these
kind of thoughts in mind is a prime way to learn.
Luck with those beaches.

 

[Sandman]

Tom I am stuck inland in Michigan now but have hunted up and down the east coast beaches for years. So I know what you are talking about. I also met Norm, the Golden Olde years ago. I meant like targets tend to clump with the same density targets, not the same conductivity. However if you are digging pull tabs you at least know someone didn't get their coil over it or they disc it out if they were over it at all since you tend to use as little disc at a easy digging beach if you want to find the good stuff.

What is nice about freshwater is the beaches tend to clump people closer together so targets are not spread out over the huge areas of sand that are at a coastal beach. Objects dropped inland in swim area don't have major tides and sand movement either and I find more targets per hour searching now. I also don't have any hungry saltwater marine life to nibble on me anymore while diving.