How many holes do you dig now roughly?

[dirtlooter]

As I have aged and the health issues do their thing, I have gone from the all day marathons to 1-3 hours with 4 being a good hunt. Now, it can be as low as 50-60 holes and I am shot. Also depends on how far I have to walk and terrain conditions. Today, with the ground so wet, I hit the high ground which was mainly trash and cleared out mainly pull tab signals with a few better ones. The shot part is the knee and back, the longer I hunt, the more important that Sampson shovel is for me to get back up.

However, when the finds are decent, it is a little easier to hunt longer just because there seems to be some sort of hope of finding something really good. When I am wore out and starting to make my way back to the truck, I usually keep swinging but plan to only dig really good high tones...doesn't always work out that way but that was the plan. Sometimes I hit a good solid repeatable signal that I first ignore but still go back and dig it. After the last two hunts, I am reminded that Gatorade is better than just water. Yeah, I am trying to shed some weight to last longer but it has been slow at times as well.

 

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[CoinHunterAZ]

I only dig one hole per target, lol. Seriously though, I'm only good for 3-4 hours of detecting +/- and I'm beat. Use to be I could go all dang day digging like a fool. Gettin' old sucks in this regard.

 

[Ammoman]

When I get to old to dirt fish I will head to the beach where digging is a bit less labor intensive.

For now, a 10 hour 300 hole day is still possible but i pay for it over the next few days.

 

[Toecutter]

Im 38 and will hunt all day with a couple of breaks, If i can get a good 6 hour sleep I can go all the next day but alot slower and more tone sensitive after 2 hard days im ready for a couple days of break time... I have a above elbo amputation on my left side, the prosthetic really wears my back out after a while...

 

[smokeythecat]

For a relic site, maybe 30-50 because I can tell pretty much the type of stuff I'm digging with my Deus.

On the beach, it's easier so maybe 20.

 

[ticndig]

I have a site that's so full of trash I aim for 50 holes be it trash or treasure. so far it has paid off with 2-U S breast plates
and a colts powder flask , and a few bullets and flat buttons . trash can be as small as a speck of foil up to a 1940s car.

I guess I need to get a camera to show some finds.

 

[nomad 11]

currently ? none all i can do is dream. after my last bout of gout its left me incapacitated. my ankles hurt. and my right forefinger cant even bend normally. my digging hand too. bummer ! life is spiraling right down the terlet all i can do is read everybodys stories

 

[ticndig]

the best thing I found for gout is cherries , fresh , canned , juice . load your diet with cherries . and keep moving the best you can . keep swinging if only digging clad under the kiddie swings at the park.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I find that after 3 hours my mind gets tired of concentrating, so I keep my hunts between 1-3 hours. Maybe 10-15 holes an hour.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

currently ? none all i can do is dream. after my last bout of gout its left me incapacitated. my ankles hurt. and my right forefinger cant even bend normally. my digging hand too. bummer ! life is spiraling right down the terlet all i can do is read everybodys stories

Sorry to hear that, you've better in you yet. Maybe get a case of cans of cherries!

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

Im 38 and will hunt all day with a couple of breaks, If i can get a good 6 hour sleep I can go all the next day but alot slower and more tone sensitive after 2 hard days im ready for a couple days of break time... I have a above elbo amputation on my left side, the prosthetic really wears my back out after a while...

Curious if you need your prosthetic to metal detect or if it helps at all?
I am always inspired by people that thrive despite adversity.

Hopefully you are using something wireless and light like the XP Deus?

 

[Professor of Engineering]

In farm fields, I bet very close to 200 - 250+ holes in a long hunt. I usually dig everything and have been pleasantly surprised in many instances!

When hunting groomed areas, I'm very selective for the obvious reasons.

 

[IMAUDIGGER]

I find that after 3 hours my mind gets tired of concentrating, so I keep my hunts between 1-3 hours. Maybe 10-15 holes an hour.

Same here.

 

[Whyme]

As I have aged and the health issues do their thing, I have gone from the all day marathons to 1-3 hours with 4 being a good hunt. Now, it can be as low as 50-60 holes and I am shot. Also depends on how far I have to walk and terrain conditions. Today, with the ground so wet, I hit the high ground which was mainly trash and cleared out mainly pull tab signals with a few better ones. The shot part is the knee and back, the longer I hunt, the more important that Sampson shovel is for me to get back up.

However, when the finds are decent, it is a little easier to hunt longer just because there seems to be some sort of hope of finding something really good. When I am wore out and starting to make my way back to the truck, I usually keep swinging but plan to only dig really good high tones...doesn't always work out that way but that was the plan. Sometimes I hit a good solid repeatable signal that I first ignore but still go back and dig it. After the last two hunts, I am reminded that Gatorade is better than just water. Yeah, I am trying to shed some weight to last longer but it has been slow at times as well.

I'm just 55 but my knees have been bothering me for about 5 years. I hear you about using the shovel! I use my shovel to help me get to the ground and to stand. Sometimes I don't dig the iffy signals because of my knees and I wonder what I'm leaving behind. I cherry pick mostly but I figure in a 1-2 hour hunt I dig maybe 50 holes. And if the finds are decent I can manage maybe 75 holes! Some days I hunt in the morning, take a break and do some rc flying for a couple hours, then hunt late in the afternoon.

 

[RustyRelics]

I am 16, and as my dad says, "He's young, and has his health", I use my health to my advantage. I dig every single signal now, after I got a foil signal, and a one piece CS button came out. I must have dug well over 60-70 holes in three days at DIV XLIV. Many varied in size as well. I dug a 6 foot trench that was 2 feet deept, and two feet wide. I thought it was a musket barrel. It was a T-Post.

 

[Deep1]

I am 16, and as my dad says, "He's young, and has his health", I use my health to my advantage. I dig every single signal now, after I got a foil signal, and a one piece CS button came out. I must have dug well over 60-70 holes in three days at DIV XLIV. Many varied in size as well. I dug a 6 foot trench that was 2 feet deept, and two feet wide. I thought it was a musket barrel. It was a T-Post.

Wow, 16, that was nearly a half century ago for me.
You keep diggin, young man, you will live a happy, healthy life.
Cherish the time spent with your Father.

And I have been diggin longer than that.
I can still do an 8 hour hunt, thankfully, but it gets really painful the last hour or two. Don't do them often.
My average hunt time is 3 hours. Lately, I'm huntin 4 days a week.
I make myself get up and go dig somewhere, whether I feel like it or not.
If I'm really hurtin, I'll take a Goodys powder and that will dull the pain long enough for a hunt.
Once I'm out there, being one with my metal detector, I can put pain in the back of my mind.
When I'm detecting, I'm connected to it. No songs runnin through my head, not thinking about pain, yesterday, tomorrow or anything else.
It's meditation, yoga, some kind of Zen thing, mental, physical therapy and exercise.
The number of holes I'm diggin varies, if I'm huntin an old fairground I've been diggin for 30 years, I might dig 15 to 20 holes in 3 or 4 hours.
On the beach today, I don't know how many holes I dug in 4 hours but it was enough to fill a quart ziplock baggie I picked up, full of bottle caps and pull tabs.
Also found $1.38 in clad and a small gold earring.
I can no longer do other things I enjoy, lifelong golfer, no more, sold my big boat, no offshore fishing, shooting, too shaky.
For me, it doesn't matter hole many holes I dig, it's about the time I can spend detecting.

 

[tinpan]

Hi .Dig smart and not hard . You only got one spine . TP

 

[Hughett]

I would’ve gave up after the 1st foot of the trench. Good for you. I hope you kept the post. I would nominate it for a banner.

 

[Joe-Dirt]

I can go as long as day light permits, when my knee isn’t involved, I’ll dig 50-80 holes as I get better with my machine. When I’m on the beach, I’m good for several hundred

 

[RustyRelics]

It also depends on the location. I was hunting a very large farm field, so the targets were spaced well apart. If I was yard hunting, that would be a different story.