How Long Are Your Average MDing Hunts?

[MetalDetectorDude]

How Long Are Your Average MD'ing Hunts?

Of course I like to get out and MD as much as possible but I work full time and have a small child that keeps me busy in the evenings, so my hunts are manytimes on the shorter side in the AM hours when people are all sleeping before work.

My typical hunting time is about 1.5 hours.

What's your average hunt time?

 

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[team sidewinder]

In the summer could be 2-2 1/2 hours in the winter maybe 1. Really all depends on how much promise the area shows.

 

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[coinsareawesome]

Probably about an hour when I'm out on the beach, about 2 hours when I'm inland.

 

[Tired Rooster]

I work ALOT of hours, so time to hunt is not what I wished. But, when I do get out...which is maybe one day a week.....I will usually hunt 3-5 hours. Depending on how productive the site is. Occasionally, I will pull a 6-8 hour hunt.......those are the bets days!!! I love it

 

[Papalittle]

Until my batteries are dead, usually 5 hours.

 

[pjduff]

I work 2nd shift and don't get off till 11:30 p.m., so during the week I don't get out too much, maybe an hour or so here and there. On Friday night when I get off work and don't have to get up the next day, I usually spend about 6-8 hours out detecting, a lot of times till sunrise or in the summertime well past sunrise. Then on Saturdays, especially during the summer months when it's warmer at night, I can usually get 8-12 hours.

 

[cooper1841]

Pm you back 4 beaches and a State Park, all welcome Md'ers, lots of parks..........see you when it warms up!!

Sounds nice out there! I sent you a PM. Keep me in mind when you get around to doing some hunt in the Summer. I'm always looking for good places to hunt and meeting fellow treasure hunters.

Mike

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Only have Sunday mornings to hunt so it's 2-4 hours depending on finds or if I go to another site.
On vaca I can disappear for longer time but need breaks my back will kill me.

 

[Pointman]

5 hours is a good average day, but I will do 8-9 hours only stopping going between houses or sites. I've detected some weeks as much as 20 hours or more.

I spent years not detecting as a single parent, but last year I made it a point of spending time doing what I wanted to do which is detecting. Essentially, I became more selfish this past year,

 

[Muddyhandz]

When I was in my 20's, I would hunt on average 10 to 12 hours but sometimes in the summer, I would start at 9 in the morning and go until dark and then find a park with street lamps and detect until midnight! Not telling any fish tales here!
Now that I'm 40, I've slowed down to 8 to 10 hours a day.
Do I win a prize for having the longest hunting hours?
Yes, I do..... Carpal tunnel in my left hand from probing/digging/cleaning constantly and my right arm and wrist in pain (repetitive strain) from swinging a 5 pound machine through water, tall grass, etc. non-stop for most of my life.
And the grand prize.....
Advanced arthritis in both hands from refusing to wear gloves (hence the name Muddyhandz) and digging in cold, frozen ground.
40 years old and I finally realize I'm not invincible! DOH!
I'm an addict and I have a detecting problem......
Please learn from my mistakes!
Cheers,
Dave.

 

[DigIron2]

I try to make a day of it when possible

 

[BC1969]

When I am by myself typically 4-6 hours depending on when my knees say to me..we ain't spring chickens anymore, cut us some slack. Lol
When detecting with my wife we make a picnic of it and just detect off and on throughout the day.

Mike

 

[Pointman]

When I was in my 20's, I would hunt on average 10 to 12 hours but sometimes in the summer, I would start at 9 in the morning and go until dark and then find a park with street lamps and detect until midnight! Not telling any fish tales here!
Now that I'm 40, I've slowed down to 8 to 10 hours a day.
Do I win a prize for having the longest hunting hours?
Yes, I do..... Carpal tunnel in my left hand from probing/digging/cleaning constantly and my right arm and wrist in pain (repetitive strain) from swinging a 5 pound machine through water, tall grass, etc. non-stop for most of my life.
And the grand prize.....
Advanced arthritis in both hands from refusing to wear gloves (hence the name Muddyhandz) and digging in cold, frozen ground.
40 years old and I finally realize I'm not invincible! DOH!
I'm an addict and I have a detecting problem......
Please learn from my mistakes!
Cheers,
Dave.

I'm 41 and was wondering why my shoulders and elbows hurt all the time. I think it must be age setting in from all the working out I did when I was much younger and swinging my detector. 20 years in the military has left me a little rough around the edges I'm sure as well.

 

[lenjsr]

Lately about four hours a day , semi retired, getting carpel tunnel in my hands, they go numb after four hours sucks

 

[FLauthor]

That depends where you live or vacation. Back in June 1995, I traveled to Dawson City, Yukon Territory in Canada. To be on the safe side I approached a Royal Canadian Mounted Policeman and asked if metal detecting was allowed in this historic town. He told me he didn't give a d-mn, he was busy. That made my day so I hunted all over the place but didn't have the right metal detector, the ground was highly mineralized so I didn't get much depth. But I hunted from 6 PM till 1 AM and the midnight sun was still up. During June, there is about 23 hours of daylight up there, it never really gets dark. I found a few Canadian and US coins and graveled areas were everywhere. I'm sure if I'd had a Minelab XT18000 or the new Minelab Eureka, I'd probably done better. I've been to Alaska a few times and the same goes there during the May & June, it never really gets dark so you could snip for gold nuggets till exhaustion overtook you.

 

[Rookster]

First it depends on how far I have to drive to a place I have permission to hunt. If it is a city park, I like to get there(in summer) at first light because the later the day gets people start walking the part and asking bunches of questions. I like it early because I don't care for someone riding by to see its OK to hunt the area. I ask another detector guy one day if he thought it was OK to hunt this park and he told me, "Oh no, don't get caught in there." I ask the city clerk and she said, "Go for it Dude." So I told my detector friend, "Yea you better not get caught on that property." The have a Jewelry festival there every summer.

 

[RotZorn]

2-4 hours on days I plan to dig. But I make small trips to the park with the kids and ill grab the MD and hit the area around the swings a lot. It only takes about 15-20 minutes to thoroughly search and it actually yields a lot of clad finds. Idk it keeps me in practice.

This summer my hunting trips may increase in length, and I hope, frequency as well.

I changed jobs, and the new place I work dose not expect me to live there 72-84 hours every week. Being off on weekends will afford me the time to hunt more often, and more importantly- time to spend with my family.