Good to know digger.
So you're saying that if it discs out between a above nickel to below foil, you still have a chance for gold without digging tabs?
I know you said you dig it all, but just going by the info you've given
Digger
I too am interested in a little more explaining the question stoof asked.
I use a DeLeon. I get 30 to 42 all the time, thinking nickel, but always disappointed. Same with tabs, which have many numbers.
Okay donkey...I have put this stuff down before all over the net but it bears repeating so for both you guys...
Also I have posted this pic below before of most of my gold finds over the years.
The areas are marked or the numbers are from my Fishers.
There are 5 newer ones missing that range from foil up to tabs so I need to update this family pic.
Look at the areas and how many came in where.
Also there is a pic down there too of two different but similar channel wedding rings I have dug, both 10k men's with diamonds.
The yellow gold ring came in as a 35 on my Fisher, the very top of my nickel range and one more number I would be into tabs.
The white gold ring which is a few grams heavier and at least 2-3 sizes larger came in at that way low 24, just about the same area as a condiment package or just a hair above.
I will explain why below.
If one person finds gold because of changing their thinking a little due to this info I will be a happy man.
Many have told me this actually happened for them so I am happy to post this info again.
I too usually set my knob on my Vaq long ago at just below nickel on every hunt for months because I thought I would get most gold that way.
Then I read a post from a hunter on some forum somewhere that said the best thing he ever found in his career in this hobby was a foil signal.
This affected me deeply for some reason so I started lowering my disc little by little until it got real low at least barely above iron but even into iron using my Tesoros.
Magically I started to find a lot more gold after I did.
I still do it this way to this day with my Vaq or Compadre and it would be a rare hunt when you catch me with my F70 with my disc turned up any higher than 0 or 1.
With all my detectors I have dug small gold from the area just above where condiment packages come in or those stupid round freshness seals up to the lower zinc area where usually only can slaw lives a bit below the zincoln range.
One really thin 14k gold chain only comes in at iron, my Compadre picks it up at about 3" my Vaq with anything but the small sniper coil can't see it at all at any depth.
Luckily I was going after a zinc key that was attached to it when I found it so that made it easy but boy was I surprised when gold came up with that key.
On my Fishers with numbers those seals and condiment packages are usually about a 23 and I have dug gold rings starting at 24.
For that reason using my Fisher I rarely turn up my disc past 23 and a friend in Ohio who uses my setting advice doesn't either and he did come across a gold ring recently at 25...and then he thanked me.
Large 10k class rings are lower than a true zincoln at around 61-62 but these big rings, 5 of them for me so far, have all come in between 48-52, still zinc but low on the scale.
On my Tesoros this range will compare to just a hair past the foil mark up to 3:00 on the big stuff which for me is the exact area a zincoln also comes in.
On the big stuff using my Tesoros I never worry about if I get zincoln signals and missing gold if I don't want to dig them because big gold at that range does not sound at all like a zincoln...it is unique.
So unique that if you hear that tone once you will always remember it and you will always hope to hear that sound again sometime in your life.
I have heard it twice...the first time I didn't realize what it was but the second time it rocked me back on my heels and took my breath away so now it is now my holy grail tone.
Small gold rings and many gold chains will usually come in at foil somewhere and as targets get bigger they will go up on the conductivity scale but there are exceptions.
A friend was confused when he dug a very tiny gold ring so small it barely fit on the tip of my pinky finger but it still came in as a solid dime on every detector we ran over it.
No mystery, it was marked .999, solid gold so high karat stuff will come in higher.
I have found a couple of white gold rings too, big ones that if yellow gold of any karat at 10k or higher would have come in at higher ranges like nickels or tabs but because they were alloyed with another metal, probably nickel, they came in at 24 just like a really small 10k target.
Next time you think about passing up a foil target near that condiment package area think about that.
White gold alloyed with silver usually will come in at more normal higher ranges.
I can tell you all the gold I have found so far on all my detectors have all been solid hits from at least one way but also two on the ones I checked and on my Tesoros using my thumb up and then back down method all came in solid when I dialed back down...no noise, chatter, buzzes or even clicks from what I remember...they were just...there.
These were all relatively shallow at 5" or so or less...deeper gold may act a lot less stable but I will let you know about that the day I dig one.
These are the targets I always dig for that reason no matter where they come in all up and down the range and even in iron sometimes.
I once found a really tiny silver chain with my Compadre...at the R in iron it was there at the O it was gone.
Two of my latest targets I dug were in tabs so I definitely dig those solid tab signals too, it is just that tab area rings are usually the bigger variety which is not as rare as class rings but more rare than the smaller nickel and foil types I have run across which are usually woman's types...or for some reason I find more than my share of white gold men's rings there but some yellow gold men's rings too usually in nickel.
I dug a small 22 karat ring and a large 6.2 gram 14k religious medallion both that came in at a 41-42 which is a dead on beaver tail tab for me and a few others in tab range down to the double hole sta tab lower range so don't ever discount the tab area for gold....but when people say you have to dig tabs to find gold and for some reason don't mention or know it can come in way lower too it drives me crazy.
If I did what they said and just concentrated on that tab area when on the hunt for gold there are about 21 or 22 gold targets I would have never recovered.
Again I don't dig everything anymore, as a matter of fact I cut out digging about 80% of the trash I used to dig at the beginning because I changed over the years...I lost patience and energy doing that and time constraints came into play too.
Not saying anyone should do that, dig it all if you want I just won't do it that way anymore.
Funny thing us after changing and deciding to dig mostly just the solid signals I got, wherever they may be from iron on up, my volume of targets and quality still soared...including gold.
My anal nature about learning my tools and further exploring deep into target behavior, gold behavior especially, had a lot to do with my success.
Newbies probably won't be able to do it my way but if a dummy like me can learn to do it anybody can...if they want to.
Here are a few vids to illustrate my lower gold area points...
This was with the F2 when I hit a low nickel signal.
I said foil somewhere the first time I got it but the numbers were 28-30 which is below nickel on this thing and below that nickel mark on Tesoros too.
There must have been some trash right next to it masking this thing being a super trashy basketball court site because out of the ground it rose slightly and became a dead on nickel signal at 32.
This is the only live gold dig I ever got on film and the really funny thing is I called it, or hoped for it, before I dug it.
Unless I roll over a big gold class ring and hear that sweet tone again while filming I doubt that will happen ever again.
[video]https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=AuklvGoeuZM[/video]
Here is a lucky find, one of the first hunts using my new small coil on my Vaq just trying it out in some huge area I still rolled across some gold and noticed it.
[video]https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=FhPT55m2TOM[/video]
This was a cold day with my Compadre at another park.
I was tired by this time because I dug a ton of coins and a lot of trash around a basketball court looking for gold.
I was getting ready to leave but I hit the grass area right next to a picnic pavilion before I did.
It was super trashy, infested with foil, can slaw, pop tops and tabs so I just went into my digging just the solid signals that came in quiet dialing down, mode.
I dug very little here, just a few coins and maybe a couple of solid trash targets because you can't avoid all trash out there, some still comes in solid.
Then I hit this thing, classic signal that had no noise dialing down...it just appeared.
Fuzzy picture using my camera phone so hard to see the dial but I did mention where it came in...right on the L at foil.
[video]https://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=_KUzKZ9pOic[/video]
Dig what you want the way you want at any levels or conductivity you want, it is a hobby and not a life and death job, but if you look for gold in only tabs or even a little lower down to nickels please let me know where your sites are located....
I still haven't found quite enough gold just yet.
HH
