steve from ohio
Sr. Member
I won't promote!
I've been down in Florida for the last month. I like to detect for fun and profit. I have noticed a few things.
There are too many people now on the beaches with metal detectors. Too many in the water. Too many with dreams of finding a nice big gold ring or chain. Even their kids are hunting. Just too many. I no longer will tell people to give it a try. Never again. Not my job.
Was at South Beach in Miami. Got there early, or at least I thought. As it turned out, there were at least two dozen people detecting at the beach already at 5 am. Four people in the water and were in the water most of the night! It seems that everyone and their mother have a metal detector now. Just too many. And be honest. I am willing to bet that I am not the only one who gets a little bit peeved when you get to a beach to find it over run with people with metal detectors. I have noticed a bit of anger from the newer MD people as I say HI! They don't want any more people with metal detectors taking away their finds.
Several of the Gulf Beaches are loaded at sunrise with guys and women in the water hunting away. Some have been in the water for several hours hunting at night.
They are everywhere. Siesta beach had at least a dozen people hunting the sand on Monday morning. Hitting the volleyball courts and the towel line. I was going to hunt the water but there were 4 guys already in the water. It was still not even sun up. At 9 am. the parking lot was full at Siesta beach and the famous Siesta cruise, people driving around the parking lot looking for a parking space was in effect. The full parking lot but very few people in the water and almost no one on the beach wearing gold.
I have noticed that there are tons of pawn shops and "We buy Gold" businesses in Florida. They are everywhere! They advertise on TV. So what has happened since the price of gold and silver has shot up, people have sold off their bling. They are not wearing it in the water any more! So findings are mighty slim, at least from what I've seen.
I hunt most of the beaches on the Gulf Coast, Tampa area. Desoto, Siesta, Holmes, Venice, Clearwater, Lido...you name them, I was there. Hunting for hours and hours finding nothing this year. The years before, lots of rings and blings. This year, almost nothing. 4 Weeks of hunting the main and not so main beaches and just a little bit of clad and a few bobbles here and there. No gold at all.
Spent 4 days at the Treasure Coast. Hunted for at least 6 hours each day. The conditions at the Treasure coast is poor with lots and lots of sand. A few good storms and things might open up. I have hunted the TC in the past and have always found something...even if it was modern stuff. This year is different. I always go to the Mclarty treasure museum and talk to the guys there as they are MD'ers. They have pretty much given up hunting the Treasure Coast as the conditions are so poor. Not much modern stuff is being dropped as the beaches were empty even when the temps were in the mid to upper 80's. One of the days I had not one decent signal. It was detecting hell. Lots of can slaw and nothing else. It was a desert.
Getting back to the Gulf Coast, Before I hunt, I watch. I have noticed that there are very few people in the water. The water temps last weekend were in the mid 70's with air temps in the mid 80's. In the past, that combo meant lots of people in the water wearing lots of gold and silver. This year is way different. Not sure why. Maybe the oil spill and the use of Corexit? Not sure but it is very noticeable that there are not a lot of people in the water. And those in the water are not wearing gold. Probably sold off their gold to pay for the gasoline.
When I hunt, I often get lots of questions. Seeing how I am a water hunter, I get lots of the usual....Oh you can use that in the water? or How deep can you go with that? I often get the ....Oh, I've always wanted to do that comment. I no longer tell them to give it a try. Nope. Not any more. It's not my job to put more people on the beach to compete with me. It's not about competition. It's about finding things. And I won't be foolish to tell people to give it a try.
I tell them to truth. I tell them that up to about last year, it was a lot of fun. But now there is very little to find and that the economy has taken its toll on detecting. Modern gold is becoming a thing of the past as it has been pawned or sold outright because of the high prices. I tell them that now, you can find tons of pop can pull tabs and very little else. I tell them that they will have to spend at least a grand on a good detector with very little chance of a payback. I tell them that it takes dedication and lots of free time with a very small payback.
Yeah, you can say that detecting is more than finding gold rings or making the big find. It is about getting out and having a bit of fun. But it just isn't the same when you know that you just aren't going to be able to find what in the past was at least a hope. Now, with all the people on the beach and in the water, it just is not as fun as it used to be. Too many people trying to find what is just not there anymore.
Next year I'm going to forget about Florida and hunt the outer banks. At least I won't have to depend on modern people losing things that are not even going to be there as they have sold it off already. Or maybe get back to land hunting.
I've been down in Florida for the last month. I like to detect for fun and profit. I have noticed a few things.
There are too many people now on the beaches with metal detectors. Too many in the water. Too many with dreams of finding a nice big gold ring or chain. Even their kids are hunting. Just too many. I no longer will tell people to give it a try. Never again. Not my job.
Was at South Beach in Miami. Got there early, or at least I thought. As it turned out, there were at least two dozen people detecting at the beach already at 5 am. Four people in the water and were in the water most of the night! It seems that everyone and their mother have a metal detector now. Just too many. And be honest. I am willing to bet that I am not the only one who gets a little bit peeved when you get to a beach to find it over run with people with metal detectors. I have noticed a bit of anger from the newer MD people as I say HI! They don't want any more people with metal detectors taking away their finds.
Several of the Gulf Beaches are loaded at sunrise with guys and women in the water hunting away. Some have been in the water for several hours hunting at night.
They are everywhere. Siesta beach had at least a dozen people hunting the sand on Monday morning. Hitting the volleyball courts and the towel line. I was going to hunt the water but there were 4 guys already in the water. It was still not even sun up. At 9 am. the parking lot was full at Siesta beach and the famous Siesta cruise, people driving around the parking lot looking for a parking space was in effect. The full parking lot but very few people in the water and almost no one on the beach wearing gold.
I have noticed that there are tons of pawn shops and "We buy Gold" businesses in Florida. They are everywhere! They advertise on TV. So what has happened since the price of gold and silver has shot up, people have sold off their bling. They are not wearing it in the water any more! So findings are mighty slim, at least from what I've seen.
I hunt most of the beaches on the Gulf Coast, Tampa area. Desoto, Siesta, Holmes, Venice, Clearwater, Lido...you name them, I was there. Hunting for hours and hours finding nothing this year. The years before, lots of rings and blings. This year, almost nothing. 4 Weeks of hunting the main and not so main beaches and just a little bit of clad and a few bobbles here and there. No gold at all.
Spent 4 days at the Treasure Coast. Hunted for at least 6 hours each day. The conditions at the Treasure coast is poor with lots and lots of sand. A few good storms and things might open up. I have hunted the TC in the past and have always found something...even if it was modern stuff. This year is different. I always go to the Mclarty treasure museum and talk to the guys there as they are MD'ers. They have pretty much given up hunting the Treasure Coast as the conditions are so poor. Not much modern stuff is being dropped as the beaches were empty even when the temps were in the mid to upper 80's. One of the days I had not one decent signal. It was detecting hell. Lots of can slaw and nothing else. It was a desert.
Getting back to the Gulf Coast, Before I hunt, I watch. I have noticed that there are very few people in the water. The water temps last weekend were in the mid 70's with air temps in the mid 80's. In the past, that combo meant lots of people in the water wearing lots of gold and silver. This year is way different. Not sure why. Maybe the oil spill and the use of Corexit? Not sure but it is very noticeable that there are not a lot of people in the water. And those in the water are not wearing gold. Probably sold off their gold to pay for the gasoline.
When I hunt, I often get lots of questions. Seeing how I am a water hunter, I get lots of the usual....Oh you can use that in the water? or How deep can you go with that? I often get the ....Oh, I've always wanted to do that comment. I no longer tell them to give it a try. Nope. Not any more. It's not my job to put more people on the beach to compete with me. It's not about competition. It's about finding things. And I won't be foolish to tell people to give it a try.
I tell them to truth. I tell them that up to about last year, it was a lot of fun. But now there is very little to find and that the economy has taken its toll on detecting. Modern gold is becoming a thing of the past as it has been pawned or sold outright because of the high prices. I tell them that now, you can find tons of pop can pull tabs and very little else. I tell them that they will have to spend at least a grand on a good detector with very little chance of a payback. I tell them that it takes dedication and lots of free time with a very small payback.
Yeah, you can say that detecting is more than finding gold rings or making the big find. It is about getting out and having a bit of fun. But it just isn't the same when you know that you just aren't going to be able to find what in the past was at least a hope. Now, with all the people on the beach and in the water, it just is not as fun as it used to be. Too many people trying to find what is just not there anymore.
Next year I'm going to forget about Florida and hunt the outer banks. At least I won't have to depend on modern people losing things that are not even going to be there as they have sold it off already. Or maybe get back to land hunting.
Upvote
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--- nothing at all -- 
-- now you can go elsewhere and let me find my old spanish silver in peace since you will now be hunting elsewhere .-- I'm not even going to talk about the "non spanish" relics --like 1763 to 1783 english colonial & rev war stuff --seminole war era stuff and civil war stuff-- spanish american war era campsites --- thats out there.
I sell many detectors to the kids we teach in our program and the numbers should double this year if we are lucky. And a bunch of them live in Florida 
