How to find rings on the wetsand?

[methevas2]

Ive yet to find a ring on wetsand. I can only ever really find a few coins. I have a minelab excal 2, I live in nothwest florida and detect at the beaches there on the ocean. ALL TIPS will be appreciated - thanks

 

[GatorBoy]

He even talks about lurking on different forums he'll probably read this eventually..
He bad mouths the forums and another popular blog writer while boasting about himself..
Apparently not taking into account that most folks don't put it all out in a forum.. Especially an open one

 

[The-Bone]

bigscoop,,,that is the best tip i've seen on this forum in quite some time! Thanks
TB

 

[tnt-k9]

I find rings in the wet sand purely by luck. When conditions are too rough for me to be in the water I'll skirt the shore just where the waters edge is touching. I would call this area the middle. Higher up or further inland the sand is soupy and spongy. Closer to the surf...well that's in the surf and can be a little tough.

My bottom line thought is. You'll find more stuff in the area you hunt most. I hunt in the water mostly so that's where I find things. Once in awhile I'll hit the dry sand and once in awhile I'll find something good. It all boils down to luck and timing. But then again I'm not nearly as experienced as some of the folks here.

Good luck out there.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Ive yet to find a ring on wetsand. I can only ever really find a few coins. I have a minelab excal 2, I live in nothwest florida and detect at the beaches there on the ocean. ALL TIPS will be appreciated - thanks

What settings are you using? What size coil?

The biggest trick to finding rings is getting your coil over a ring...

We will NOT go quietly into the night!

 

[seeker41]

the best thing you can do is , put in the time and effort experiment and dig!!!! eventually you will discover that many things you read on the forums are just not true, or at least not all of the time as stated. you cannot just do what they do, hunt your beach the same way they hunt theirs, hunt they same window of time that they hunt, etc: even if you use the same model machine they do your machine will most likely not act the same way theirs does!!! I am not one of the 10 percenters,.....("ten percent of the detectorists find 90 percent of the treasure") but I strive to be.
we can say go here, go there, do this , do that, at this certain time but the fact is you have to put in the time and effort, experiment, dig and learn.

chuck.

 

[bigscoop]

For two straight summers, nearly seven months out of the year, I watched my area beaches packed shoulder to shoulder with people and I just knew there had to be a lot of stuff, a lot of good stuff, being lost on these beaches, especially in that crashing surf. I tried everything imaginable to find all that stuff but with little success, I just knew I could find a way to beat all that sand, but it just never happened. Finally I came to the conclusion that it didn't matter how much stuff got lost if I couldn't get to it before it sank too deep to be detected. Today, I don't waste my time chasing gold in poor conditions unless I just have to go do some hunting. On my area beaches the sand is king.

 

[seeker41]

exactly!!!!!!!! I had to experience the same thing first hand over and over and over again before it has finally started to sink in even though I had read about what you describe. and I still cant really believe the lack of finds sometimes on a slampacked beach on a beautiful summer Saturday.

chuck.

For two straight summers, nearly seven months out of the year, I watched my area beaches packed shoulder to shoulder with people and I just knew there had to be a lot of stuff, a lot of good stuff, being lost on these beaches, especially in that crashing surf. I tried everything imaginable to find all that stuff but with little success, I just knew I could find a way to beat all that sand, but it just never happened. Finally I came to the conclusion that it didn't matter how much stuff got lost if I couldn't get to it before it sank too deep to be detected. Today, I don't waste my time chasing gold in poor conditions unless I just have to go do some hunting. On my area beaches the sand is king.

 

[bigscoop]

In the summer, on my area beaches, you can get in the troughs at low tide, that place where everyone is swimming and packed in like sardines, and you can hunt for hours without ever hitting more then a couple of pull-tabs and recent coins, and you can do this day after day. Then along comes a good blow and suddenly the beach is literally covered with clean/recent targets. So the targets are certainly there prior to the blow but they're just too deep to be accessed. I hunt barefoot and most often in the summer I can easily bury a foot up to my mid-shin. When something is lost here it sinks quickly, especially once the returning surf/tide begins to churn this sand, not to mention all the feet that have possibly aided the item's sinking. It just makes for some very difficult obstacles unless you can find some firmer bottom, which in my area is like trying find a flea on a Bigfoot.

 

[LootHunter]

How long have you been detecting the beaches? Is the beach you are hunting crowded? Have you run into any other detectorists?

I don't know about Florida but here the pickings are slim this time of year. Yea you might get lucky with an old coin but I don't even bother this time of year. My advice would be to practice with your machine and wait until the tourist season. Timing is crucial, head out at low tide or in the evening right when people have left. Work the towel line and the wet between the low tide and high tide. If you are finding coins you are on the right track, especially nickels...

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

Really?
I have several of Gary’s books, which I have read numerous times and retain for reference and that is not my interpretation – not even close. He advocates having a list of top producing beach and water hunting sites which he periodically hunts when conditions are right to increase chances of finding something good.

When he arrives late at an area which he wants to hunt, he looks for an area that was missed by the other hunters to increase his odds. Also, he carefully observes the other hunters and their equipment to determine their capability, search pattern and how fast they are hunting.

If you look at the pictures that go along with his posts and past finds, it is obvious that he is not bragging, but merely stating the fact(s).

You are right about him busting his hump. He is beyond competitive, highly skilled, dedicated and disciplined. I am greatful that he has shared as many of his secrets as he has. I know that I am a better treasure hunter for it.

Thats how its done I've been reading one guy who writes a blog.."hardcore....".. he seems to go on and on about how good he is at finding things in what is called bad conditions by most people.."sanded in".. I find it funny because while he's busting his hump to find something in the bad conditions most of us have moved on to where conditions are better to only go back and find things at that same place at another time.

 

[lookindown]

Really?
I have several of Gary’s books, which I have read numerous times and retain for reference and that is not my interpretation – not even close. He advocates having a list of top producing beach and water hunting sites which he periodically hunts when conditions are right to increase chances of finding something good.

When he arrives late at an area which he wants to hunt, he looks for an area that was missed by the other hunters to increase his odds. Also, he carefully observes the other hunters and their equipment to determine their capability, search pattern and how fast they are hunting.

If you look at the pictures that go along with his posts and past finds, it is obvious that he is not bragging, but merely stating the fact(s).

You are right about him busting his hump. He is beyond competitive, highly skilled, dedicated and disciplined. I am greatful that he has shared as many of his secrets as he has. I know that I am a better treasure hunter for it.

He also baits areas with pulltabs and nickels to keep other hunters away from areas he wants to hunt...he said it, not me.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Gentlemen do NOT attack other members.

 

[Sir Gala Clad]

Statements such as this have to be taken in context as to why and when they are done.
For instance it may be that other hunters were boxing him in and positioning themselves too cut him off from where he was going to hunt.
Such an action would be defensive in nature similar to an aircraft dropping chaff/flares to protect it from being shot down.
If I remember correctly, copper clad zinc pennies were/are often used for this purpose.

He also baits areas with pulltabs and nickels to keep other hunters away from areas he wants to hunt...he said it, not me.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

I like finding nickels. I hope someone seeds some in front of me......

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I appreciate any advice on beach hunting. If anybody wants to spread nickles on the beach in front of me. That'd be fine. Please no pull tabs. Cut up feet.
I've heard of a fellow MDer that would poop in a can and bury it in a spot he found a nugget. Payback would be if he redug that whole.

 

[DrJoePrime]

Lots of good advice already. Mine is pretty simple.

"How do you find rings in the wet sand?"

By looking for them!

Keep on looking and you'll be finding...as you improve your skills you'll be finding them more often...and every once in a while even gold rings.

 

[TheSleeper]

Take this time to "learn" it is not going to be easy nor fast, if it was you would see more out there hunting, humm come to think about it I do compared to the 70`s. Don't get frustrated or discouraged rings are what everyone of us hunts for and as time has passed become harder to find, due to all the hunters.

Everyone has given you great advice.

Few lil tidbits, Slow down, way down, till it takes you an hour to cover an area the size you would normally pass through in 5 mins, I have spent hours on a beach and not gone more then a block.
Second tidbit, use pinpoint dig everything you hear, I only use Disc when I'm tired or feeling lazy.
Third tidbit, You will never find it unless you get your coil over it, and sometimes as has been stated even if you do get your coil over it, its just too deep to hear.

The days of walking off the beaches with a showbox full of items is long gone, yes I said shoebox done it many times back in the late 70`s. Now you have to be meticulous you have to hunt harder and longer then the others out there, or find the secret sweet spots. Places where the current pulls items and stockpiles them waiting on you, but even they change.
The beach is just like the ocean, ever changing, no one hour is like the next nor one day to the next, worked the same area one day that gave great next day dried to nothing.

There are so many things one could tell you, so many it could fill 10 books and still not explain it all.

Relish each find like its a gift, cause guess what >>>>> it is.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Grid at low tide, go slow, keep your coil low (scraping the sand), and have a good location where the most people gather and swim. That's it. "If" the rings and chains are there, you'll detect them.

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

Glad to hear the go slow again.
I see people race along and cover a claim in a couple hours. Then there I am still maybe 100 yards away from start point. Maybe it's because I literally dig every hit. Even if I know it's iron according to tone and ID. But I stick with dig every hit.

 

[TheSleeper]

Terry, not trying to flame what you said, just trying to clarify it for newer hunters.

("If" the rings and chains are there, you'll detect them.)

Alot of the current breed of detectors, unless the chain is bunched up in a knot or has something attached to the chain, may only see the chain as a faint whisper, the reason being they see only "ONE" link of the chain and that is what they respond to.

Some of the older machines and/or speciality machines ie: the older BFO machines ( 70's White's coinmaster db) or the PI units, will see the chain as a mass depending on its size and report to its user as a valid target depending on the targets depth.
PLease do not quote me on this, but it is my belief that the current breed of gold machines will also see a chain upon its mass and not just one link also (please correct if I am mistaken).

Chains have become an enigma for us, we know they are there but most times unless it has a mediallion or is in a knot we never find them unless by luck. My last naked chain was an 18k very thin serpent, its signal was so faint on my excal ( note I did the peltor 105 mod years ago so my headphones block out most noise also) that if it wasn't in the middle of nite and dead calm I would not have heard it, and it turned out to be less then an inch down.

Disclaimer: Naturally the larger the individual links in a chain the more able your detector is at seeing it. Some of my other chains have had links the same size as ladies wedding bands, those still sound out loud and clear.