Just how does one determine "success"?

[WHADIFIND]

Since the weather was getting ready to go south, (actually...I should say North!), I figured I might be indoors for a while. Sooooo....I thought I'd just pick one big field and go at it for one more day. This time, a more detailed and normal hunt.

Is success just finding? Or does it hinge on old coins/relics/jewelry? So what if all I find is quarters? Does that disqualify something? If I'm not finding nickels, does that make it, somehow, less of a "skilled" hunt? If I'm digging so many holes I aerate the whole field, is that no good? Or if I only dig a couple things by using the discriminator I paid dearly for, is that cheating?

Well, I honestly don't know. I'm guessing that "success" is measured individually. On a person by person basis. It just depends on how one feels at the end of the walk.

And brothers/sisters? I still can't say!

Cuz....all I feel right now is......tired!






And still, I believe that mason jar insert is the oldest thing I found today.

Thanks for the support!
And for peeking!

Night night! ZZZzzzzzzzzz.......

 

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[releventchair]

Success is getting out. And back again...
The recoveries are the frosting.

Years back I'd come up with a super duper setting.
Then....Just when it was to the overly confident stage , the next muti -site (though familiar area's) hunt turned up two memorial cents. (!)

Perhaps humility was the lesson that day.
But I'd made it out and back with recoveries.
And that can be enough sometimes....Just the basics can.

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[bowser]

i would say finding stuff like that and not backing outa the woods without your detector under the rear wheels

 

[CASPER-2]

if I get any sort of a keeper - I consider it a success-ful hunt
I went to a WW I camp site that has been pounded by myself and others since the 70s
not much left but I stopped by last year for an hour and got an IH penny and a couple of relics
and was happy I did not get skunked and got a keeper or 2 - stuff was down super deep so that
was a confidence booster too
Looks like you had good success

 

[xcopperstax]

To me success if finding something I like. I think everyone has their own version of it when it comes to metal detecting.

 

[OBN]

[h=2]Just how does one determine "success"?[/h]For me and many I would say, just getting out and enjoying. I do enjoy seeing treasures but the fact I can still get out is the Big Treasure.

 

[Trezurehunter]

For myself, success is any old coin or relic, on a hunt. Let's face it, that's why we are out there looking for history or anything old. Clad coins are ok, as they do add up to a dollar value. I could just do without digging them. I want old !

 

[jeff of pa]

Nice Hunk of Change

To me Success is anything that I Feel I must Bring Home & Not throw away when I get here.
Success
Be it a Rotting Zinclon, a Lead Sinker or a Treasure chest Filled to the Brim
and Success ! means I Made it Back alive too

b.t.w. Nice Hunk of Gold Too

 

[Argentium]

Everyone who responds to this question will likely have a different idea about a successful day metal detecting . For me , if I can take the entire day , go on a short road trip , hunt in a beautiful and quiet location - it's a success already ! If I can find an old coin , cool relic , a little silver - that just ices the cake !

 

[A2coins]

One find at a time success is being able to do something you love

 

[SD51]

Success is being healthy enough to be able to just get out and detect. Guess I'm saying that because I was very fortunate to not get broad-sided by a suv that ran right through a stop sign recently. I was lucky enough to look in that direction before pulling out and sure enough, realized this car wasn't going to stop.

That pile of clad will buy some pretty nice old silver coins.

 

[smokeythecat]

Success is finding something worth having...

 

[Jason in Enid]

You are WAAAY overthinking this! Its a hobby. As long as someone is having fun, they are successful. Some days I go out specifically looking for silver, hunt all day, find nothing old and go home frustrated. That wasnt a successful day. Other days I have the exact same result but I'm happy I got out in the beautiful weather and go home happy. That is a successful day.

Some days I hunt gold
Some days I hunt silver
Some days I go clad stabbing.
Success is up to the hunter.

 

[mddavis3]

I consider a successful hunt to include an old coin even in it is a 50's wheat penny, an interesting token, an interesting relic or a handful of clad. Anything that that makes me smile when it comes out of the ground. I just enjoy the time hunting with never knowing what might be in the next hole.

 

[BLK HOLE]

Well said! I measure success not on my finds but of the quality time I get to spend with myself without the pressures of the day.

 

[CRUSADER]

Simple, Results against Targets.

 

[ticndig]

dirt digging instead of dirt napping . on most of my hunts I find nothing but trash , I then ask my self what would I find sitting on the couch. just when I don't expect it I find something good. my joy comes from the time spent alone in the woods.

 

[Subterranean]

I once met a man who wanted to upgrade his state-of-the-art detector. He met a man with an old machine who just found clad. THAT man met a gent with no machine who wished he could gather enough change to buy a daily meal. Success, to me, is being thankful that you can do what you love, and love what you do, with the ups and downs included. BTW, you found gold and enough clad for a few Happy Meals (TM) , congrats Whadi! Sub

 

[eman1000]

I can relate to this post as well but for me I have now accepted that I get my "success" or sense of accomplishment from my own enjoyment. 98% of my finds have no real monetary value but have given me great joy when I found them. I've spent far more in detectors and equipment than I have found but I enjoy it.

I have a very limited amount of time to hunt so to have high expectations that I will have lots of finds like some of the people on youtube is unrealistic. I still enjoy watching them though but now I set me own goals and enjoy hitting them. There are hunts were I come home empty and some where I only find a little clad but a few times a year I get some nice keepers. Last year was a nice men's wedding band, very nice barber quarter, and about $100 in clad.

There a few times a year where I think to myself "why am I doing this when its below 30 degrees or raining, but I have managed to reduce that some by not making myself feel like I need to live up to some unrealistic expectation of what a "successful treasure hunter" is.

As far as the Nickel's go I have had a couple machines that I could hit nickels on all day, but were not ideal for relic hunting or even my favorite to hunt with. I'm not sure I equate finding Nickels with skill as both Whites machines I owned were spot on 19 VDI on nickels and I was fooled very little by trash. Now I do think shifting through hundreds of signals to find that one gold ring or earring takes patience, experience, skill, and some luck. A few of my best finds have been signals I almost didn't dig!

My goal for this year is to dig a lot more low tones regardless of results just to see what I've been passing up and to buy another machine of course. HH Eman