Just how many people quit on average?

DAA1234 · Sep 22, 2014

I was in my local Wal-mart over the weekend and wanted to see one of the Bounty Hunter Tracker IV's up close. When I asked one of the employees if they had any he said no and that he must have been asked over thirty times if they did. So my question is just how many people do you think start this hobby only to get frustrated after a few months and give up on finding that "Lost Gold"

Sandman · Sep 22, 2014

More people using Bounty Hunters for sure as these are just above a magnet. LOL Many people think they are gunho at first and after the third bottletop they quit. They want to believe the screen and it doesn't work that accurate and only shows the conductivity.

Diggin-N-Dumps · Sep 22, 2014

I think there are high numbers on the amount of people quitting, I know alot of people think because they see all these finds on TNet, that its a slam dunk when they go out . I myself thought it was alot easier than it really is.

But, This hobby isnt for everyone. Some people have Zero patience and give up if they dont find anything in a week. Which is great for me, there's already enough hunters in my area..lol

CoinandRelicMan · Sep 22, 2014

I would think that a Minelab Xterra, even the lowest one would be far better !!

DFX DAVE in M.D. · Sep 22, 2014

A similar question is how many people bought metal detectors and never started. I have talked with several co-workers and people that saw me out detecting and they said they had one new in the box, and never used it yet, lol.

DAA1234 · Sep 22, 2014

Thanks for the recommendations Guys. I'll probably start with the Bounty Hunter and go up from there if I find I enjoy the hobby. I'm sure I will but wanted to make sure I don't have a hundred guys and gals out there looking in the same area I am. I know I'll find lots of cans and bottle caps but those can be interesting too if you enjoy antiques. :-)

DDancer · Sep 22, 2014

It takes a pretty tenacious or just plain curious individual to pick up a detector and keep plugging at it pull tab after bottle cap after can slaw and zincie.....
Personally I've run into an handful of people who say they tried but found it to frustrating to bother with. I've taken a few out to give it a go and then the excuses started and they never showed up again.
In a Mac Donalds world where instant gratification is the norm to most people detecting is just another happy meal they get put off by when there is no toy in the box. That detector they bought is just another disposable box and their pie in the sky idea of instant gratification never materialized.

locater · Sep 22, 2014

Sandman said:
More people using Bounty Hunters for sure as these are just above a magnet. LOL Many people think they are gunho at first and after the third bottletop they quit. They want to believe the screen and it doesn't work that accurate and only shows the conductivity.

Sorry to disagree with you Sandman, But Bounty Hunter detectors are not as useless as you may think. My first new detector was a BH platinum, which is a Teknetics Gamma 6000 (a very good mid level machine) with a couple minor tweaks. Paired with a Fisher F5 11" DD coil, to this point, it has still found me my oldest, and smallest silver coin, an 1847 seated half dime. Although I now also have a CTX, I still own and use it very successfully.

DON'T BE SUCH A SNOB SANDMAN!!

I do agree, most people bail out within the first year.

OldJerseyGirl · Sep 22, 2014

Well, I have been doing it for almost two years. The digging junk is not so bad for me. Would I like to go out and find silver and gold every time? You bet! But, for me it is just being outside and getting away from it all. I don't think about my problems when I am detecting. Love it.
I would say I do get discouraged at trying to find places to hunt. I live where there are so many in the hobby. Hate it when I want to go out and have no where to go but the same old tired places. And also I like to hunt with someone. I know some of you don't, but I do. And most of the time I have to go alone.
I think a lot of people think every time you go out you find gold and silver. Those are the ones who quit, I think. Just not realistic.

Sandman · Sep 22, 2014

locater said:
Sorry to disagree with you Sandman, But Bounty Hunter detectors are not as useless as you may think. My first new detector was a BH platinum, which is a Teknetics Gamma 6000 (a very good mid level machine) with a couple minor tweaks. Paired with a Fisher F5 11" DD coil, to this point, it has still found me my oldest, and smallest silver coin, an 1847 seated half dime. Although I now also have a CTX, I still own and use it very successfully.

DON'T BE SUCH A SNOB SANDMAN!!

I do agree, most people bail out within the first year.

Sorry to give the impression of a snob. But I got you to respond. I've taught many people how to use them and the Bounty Hunter is the way to go if your not sure if your going to enjoy the hobby. Some have no patience or interest in what's in the ground. They are looking for a Profit per time spent. So Sad..but better for us as these are more likely to leave holes or mess up the place so bad that we all get band. :BangHead:

locater · Sep 22, 2014

Sandman said:
Sorry to give the impression of a snob. But I got you to respond. I've taught many people how to use them and the Bounty Hunter is the way to go if your not sure if your going to enjoy the hobby. Some have no patience or interest in what's in the ground. They are looking for a Profit per time spent. So Sad..but better for us as these are more likely to leave holes or mess up the place so bad that we all get band.

Hey Sandman,
I bought mine to find a pretty expensive ring given to my oldest daughter, which she had lost. She thought she knew the area she lost it. Never did find it, but, it was a great excuse to get back into MD'ing, which I did with my father, in the 1960's. Always thought about getting into it again, but, just never made the commitment, until my daughter lost that ring. I had some great times with my father, and found a lot of silver. It's kind of like riding a bike, I took right to it again. Better equipment this time around, just as much fun!

Keppy · Sep 22, 2014

Now some of those bounty hunters they are putting out now… Look a lot like there brother's...the Fishers and Teknetics .. Who knows they could work like them..They could be them with a different name..

hvacker · Sep 22, 2014

An expensive detector is like an expensive digital camera. Their not for everyone. Like the camera the high end detectors have a large learning curve and for most people that get excited finding clad are overkill. Just like an expensive digital SLR just to take snapshots.
I know a guy with a Whites that has a layer of dust on it.

Keppy · Sep 22, 2014

hvacker said:
An expensive detector is like an expensive digital camera. Their not for everyone. Like the camera the high end detectors have a large learning curve and for most people that get excited finding clad are overkill. Just like an expensive digital SLR just to take snapshots.
I know a guy with a Whites that has a layer of dust on it.

That is what i always said why pay $1200.00 and up for a detector just to hunt clad and to find a silver dime or silver quarter now and then..I do not know why they do it >.

RvPrepper · Sep 22, 2014

For a fact some people leave cause of the Stupid laws, I love RC Planes but the government has that so screwed up I just couldn't do it anymore, so I went to metal detecting before seeing they are screwing this hobby too, lucky for me I have acres and acres of desert to ramble through and lots of mnts.
My Bounty Hunter had lots of trouble dealing with the minerals around here so I went the White's.

fyrffytr1 · Sep 22, 2014

I have quit 20 or 30 times since I first began in the mid 70s! :laughing7:

Moresound · Sep 22, 2014

When I first started out I was doing the parks and such. Was getting a little bored with the same $5.00 to $10.00 of clad every time.
Then I moved onto cellar holes and never looked back.
Nothing beats finding old colonial relics and coins.

I think if I hadn't switched gears on type of hunting ... my machine would be hanging in the attic now.

scaupus · Sep 22, 2014

most people find out digging trash out of dirt is not how they thought they'd be spending their lives. The beeping is annoying, the swinging and digging causes tunnel carpel, tennis elbow, and frozen shoulder, not to mention neuropathy. They check all they've found for all that effort and it's a few blackened clad coins that won't even pay for one toll, if they weren't too embarassed to give the gal such ugly money.

What do you think they do then? Pick up the machine and do it again the next day?

justdon · Sep 22, 2014

What kills it for most people is the lack of instant gratification.I have a friend that bought a minelab etrac last october used it 3 times it has been in his closet ever sense.People think its a get rich quick hobby.

Pointman · Sep 22, 2014

I bet it is more people that a number can be put on that quit before they really begin.

I had metal detected in the late 70s with my dad. He never really found anything other than change. I remember how mellow dramatic this all was and I got bored easily. Fast forward to the late 90s and I bought my first detector, but I didn't know much about it or really how to pick out the finds. I only used it perhaps 6 times a year. I dusted it back off in 2006 and found my first wheat cent and started to detect a little more. In 2009 or so, I started to detect more and take it serious, but then I just didn't know where to go and was frustrated with finding a lot of junk and change. Only last year, I started to get real serious and research, door knock and purchase a lot of equipment. This was after finding more wheat cents and then getting enough nerve to knock and ask permission at this one house. To date this house has probably the best finds I have run into. I am talking seated dimes, mercury dimes, silver halves and tons of wheats. This was all it took for me to start up grading my equipment and take it REALLY serious. Going back to picking out the good targets, I only got really good at this less than a year ago, to a point of being able to find coins in aluminum and trash all because I really know my equipment after hundreds of hours of use. I can now talk with folks who have detected for 20-30 years and hang with them because of being fairly successful and mostly consistent for the last year and a half.
I get a lot of people who tell me that they are interested in detecting and then I offer them to swing my back up detector and then they loose interest really quick. I think that a lot of the people I deal with do not want to put the work into it and/or are intimidated to try. I used to get really self-conscious about even how I was digging a hole because I was teaching myself and had not really had anyone to show me anything so I understand where some of it is coming from.

It really boils down to a few variables to be successful:

Decent equipment, work ethic (includes patience) and good areas. Time on the equipment will only then improve an ideal situation even more.

My goals are fairly simple (although it doesn't always work) and that is to door knock at least once a week, swing every chance I get and try and find at least a silver dime every other week. This keeps me in practice with talking with people, knowing my equipment and making a goal of finding older areas.