Just how many people quit on average?

[jmaryt]

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"

"tons!" it really takes a lot of patience to be successful!
and this appears to be in "short" supply in today's world

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

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?

they do if they want to find something good eventually.i find that metal detecting is a lot like regular life,
you must continue to "fight" and persevere to be successful.any body can just give up,and many do,but ask yourself,
if i give up,then i have "zero" chance at being successful..remember!..any a**hole can just quit!..ANYBODY can do that,but
it takes a special person to keep trying,no matter what it is they are attempting to do...i'm just sayin'

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[jmaryt]

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.

outrageous strategy! this IS what it takes!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[MuckyBottles]

To be honest I do not know anybody who quit, for me I just evolve, I haven't picked up my machine in over one month..it wouldn't have mattered since the land I have been digging no matter how good your machine is it wouldn't get through the iron crusty soil.?

 

[BosnMate]

My granddaughter was out for a visit, and I took her out and she used either my MXT or the 6000 DI Pro, and she had a ball. So I bought her a good quality mid level machine, and they went home to Montana, and I don't think she ever took it out of the box. I would bet that the batteries have leaked and ruined the machine. I fixed her up with the works, pin pointer, digger, pouch, but I think the key missing ingredient is grandpa. To many other things for a teen age girl to do besides metal detect alone.

 

[mikeraydj]

My first detector was a Bounty Hunter Quick Draw 2. I was lucky and found a lot of clad with it. Enough to buy a Fisher F2. Then the F2 paid for my current F5. I was hooked right away. I do get frustrated sometimes, but never enough to stop swinging. I have been chewed out by people who think they own the parks, run off by a park supervisor, a groundskeeper, and 2 cops. But I still keep at it. When I am not detecting, I am studying detecting, reading posts, watching videos. For me detecting was love at first sight and have not looked back. Some of my family think I am a little obsessed and don't see my fascination with it. My brother has 2 detectors and they just lean against the wall in the corner. Some people don't get hunting, fishing, football, and sports in general. I think if it makes you happy and you aren't hurting anyone or anything I say go for it and don't quit.

 

[Boatlode]

For 40 years I found a ton of stuff with my old Bounty Hunter I, and it still works great. Finally upgraded to a Sand Shark, only because I wanted to search in the wet sand and water.

 

[CoilyGirl]

Yes those Minelab detectors the Xterra's are just one step above the bounty hunters … Your the snob not Sandman

Sorry to burst your bubble there Keppy but I found my rare Confederate belt buckle with a Minelab X-Terra 505 as well as a US shoulder plate and US puppy paw belt buckle with it. My mister's very expensive Fisher F75 had to be sent back for adjustments and he found a US shoulder plate with an inexpensive BH he was using as backup. I know a few people who have done very well with so called " inferior brands" but if we all had to wait before we hunted with the best machines many people couldn't participate. You're only as good as your know how and mastery of your machine. As for quitting this hobby,it has never entered my mind. You've just got to keep it all in perspective and know some days you're just going to find crap( as was the case yesterday)

 

[Boatlode]

Sorry to burst your bubble there Keppy and Sandman but I found my rare Confederate belt buckle with a Minelab X-Terra 505 as well as a US shoulder plate and US puppy paw belt buckle with it. My mister's very expensive Fisher F75 had to be sent back for adjustments and he found a US shoulder plate with an inexpensive BH he was using as backup. I know a few people who have done very well with so called " inferior brands" but if we all had to wait before we hunted with the best machines many people couldn't participate. You're only as good as your know how and mastery of your machine. As for quitting this hobby,it has never entered my mind. You've just got to keep it all in perspective and know some days you're just going to find crap( as was the case yesterday)

Bingo, CG. An experienced TH'er who knows his "inferior" machine inside and out will have more success than a greenhorn with the most expensive machine.

 

[MuckyBottles]

its 99.9% Research..you ain't gonna find anything if your not in the right spot..

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Bingo, CG. An experienced TH'er who knows his "inferior" machine inside and out will have more success than a greenhorn with the most expensive machine.

...You mean HER...lol But yes, you are right, I used to tear it up with my ACE 250..and thats about as bottom line as you can get with Garrett...I never stopped "learning" what it was telling me

 

[DDancer]

Whats with the detector brand bashing? Honestly I don't see as how it relates to how many people quit on average. The quality of the machine really has nothing to do with people quiting after they've chucked down their money and found out it takes a little more than a magic wand to realize it just isn't for them.

My own statement was more about the why's and only alluded to how many do quit. My guess is that about 90 percent of people quit within the first 3 months *if that* and maybe 2 percent of them return to try later for various reasons.
Of the 10 percent that remain maybe 5 percent are active after a year with the same machine 2 percent upgrade and 3 percent more closet the machine and maybe take it out a few times a year for something to do. Just my thoughts from observation over the years~ maybe we could ask to have it included in the questioner for the national census every 10 years

Cheap machines get results just like expensive ones in the hands of a tenacious and curious individual: however a person who puts down a hefty chunk of change is more likely to be more determined to succeed than the one who buys the Wal-Mart special. Disposable society pretty much sums it up on the low end while its considered an investment on the high end of detector prices.

 

[Fisher25751]

My first old coin came on the 8th or 9th hunt to a old school house built in the mid 1800's. Never quit on a place, to me a place can never be over hunted, just saying.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

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.

This hobby sure is not easy have to agree with you there ! Wish I had the spare cash to buy a backup E-Trac atm too much going on =)

 

[DAA1234]

I have to agree with the posts so far. It seems you can spend between $50 and $5,000 on just about anything these days. I have no problem digging up trash if you can find an interesting coin or two now and then. I think it's more of the thrill of the hunt and just being outdoors is what will do it for Me. Thanks for all the insights and suggestions. Maybe our paths will cross sometime in the future. :-)

 

[CoilyGirl]

its 99.9% Research..you ain't gonna find anything if your not in the right spot..

Spot on Mucky! Lucky for me my husband now has the time to research, I just show up with my crappy Minelab,heh heh.

 

[Escape]

People are always trying something new and quiting. You need sustained interest and perseverance to carry you through whatever you choose.

 

[ARC]

I quit everytime I do not find something good... then I start back again everytime I think I might find something.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Walmart=failure. BountyHunter=failure.
Walmart+BountyHunter=failure x 2!
Peace

 

[MuckyBottles]

Spot on Mucky! Lucky for me my husband now has the time to research, I just show up with my crappy Minelab,heh heh.

Most of my hunting is done in the library or online again you can have a 10K machine it's not going to find the location for you..you 7can't be lazy about this activity, put your time in researching an it pays off.

It's not the car it's the driver