Metal detecting in the summer sucks.

[BladeRunner2019]

Between the heat, bugs, bees and ground that is baked hard as a rock, I am ready for Fall and Winter to get here. I guess I need to put more effort into finding some swimming holes/lakes to detect.

 

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[Garrett424]

I hear you but I LOVE the summer. I don't get poison ivy, mosquitoes don't like me and I'll take sweating over shivering any time. So far, we've had so much rain I haven't run into dry ground yet; but it's coming. That I can do without.

But, to each his own. Just know that when you're lovin' winter I'll be hatin' it. I don't even hunt when it's cold.
Plus the older I get the worse that cold feels.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

I hear you but I LOVE the summer. I don't get poison ivy, mosquitoes don't like me and I'll take sweating over shivering any time. So far, we've had so much rain I haven't run into dry ground yet; but it's coming. That I can do without.

But, to each his own. Just know that when you're lovin' winter I'll be hatin' it. I don't even hunt when it's cold.
Plus the older I get the worse that cold feels.

I forgot about the poison ivy/oak! I have to say, luckily I haven't had much this year, just a few spots on my arms. Oh yea, and the ticks! Hate those #$@# things. But I can understand people up north preferring the Summer as their winter hunting is usually pretty limited. It rarely gets cold enough in NC to keep me from hunting. As long as it's above 25 or 30 degrees I'm fine.

This past winter I did finally get a taste of what you guys up north have to deal with. We had a few days of rain and then a severe cold front came through. The ground was froze solid several inches down. Couldn't dig at all!

 

[Ogre1190]

I'm with you Bladerunner. When it hits 80, I just burn out so fast now. Years ago, it wasn't the case...could go all day in 90+ temps. I'm allergic to bee/wasp stings so I gotta be careful...but they haven't been bad in Northern IL so far this year. Hardly ever run into nasty vegetation so that's no problem. But the ground...Cripes! We've had so much rain here I'm sure I saw an Ark near Shabbona the other day. Digging is a mess right now. I've always liked and done my best in Spring and Fall, too. 😁

 

[Garrett424]

I forgot about the poison ivy/oak! I have to say, luckily I haven't had much this year, just a few spots on my arms. Oh yea, and the ticks! Hate those #$@# things. But I can understand people up north preferring the Summer as their winter hunting is usually pretty limited. It rarely gets cold enough in NC to keep me from hunting. As long as it's above 25 or 30 degrees I'm fine.

This past winter I did finally get a taste of what you guys up north have to deal with. We had a few days of rain and then a severe cold front came through. The ground was froze solid several inches down. Couldn't dig at all!

You do need to REALLY watch those ticks though.

I got Lyme disease last year for the second time (first in 2007). Really nasty stuff.

If you ever find a tick bite (which you often won't), take no chances and go get the medicine before it gets any traction. It will ruin your entire life until it's knocked out of you. The longer you wait the worse it gets and the more you'll wish you would just die; no exaggeration.

 

[Fletch88]

I can only stand it between about 5:30am - 9am. I work in the heat all week I'm not going to sweat and fight gnats on the weekend. Not to mention rattlesnake and cotton mouths prevalent at one of the ghost towns I hunt in winter.

 

[G.A.P.metal]

I don`t like to hunt were poison snakes are not many around here ,but the only thing that stops me is deep snow .
Gary

 

[Garrett424]

I'm with you Bladerunner. When it hits 80, I just burn out so fast now. Years ago, it wasn't the case...could go all day in 90+ temps. I'm allergic to bee/wasp stings so I gotta be careful...but they haven't been bad in Northern IL so far this year. Hardly ever run into nasty vegetation so that's no problem. But the ground...Cripes! We've had so much rain here I'm sure I saw an Ark near Shabbona the other day. Digging is a mess right now. I've always liked and done my best in Spring and Fall, too. ��

Same here.
We got another inch of rain yesterday. The rivers and steams were raging, which I love to watch but it makes digging a real mess.

On the upside, damp ground means higher conductivity and deeper targets. You gotta' take the good with the bad and focus on the upside.

I got up really early today and I'm getting ready to go hunt somewhere. I haven't decided on a spot yet but wherever I go it's definitely gonna' be muddy. I'm hoping that will work to my advantage.

 

[TheRingFinder]

You guys should count your blessings - Up here in Minnesota between frozen ground and cold, we get only a small window to hunt. I'll be out-a-here some day and never look back!!!

 

[CoilyGirl]

I have found some of my best finds in weather over the 90's so Summer is golden to me. I will say though that poison ivy always creeps up on me when I'm not lookin.

 

[BladeRunner2019]

You do need to REALLY watch those ticks though.

I got Lyme disease last year for the second time (first in 2007). Really nasty stuff.

If you ever find a tick bite (which you often won't), take no chances and go get the medicine before it gets any traction. It will ruin your entire life until it's knocked out of you. The longer you wait the worse it gets and the more you'll wish you would just die; no exaggeration.

I found a tick on me last week after a hunt. I think it was attached but I'm not 100% sure. I have been keeping an eye on the spot for signs of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Are you saying I should start treatment for Lyme right away? I wonder if my doctor would prescribe the meds without any symptoms.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Garrett424]

I found a tick on me last week after a hunt. I think it was attached but I'm not 100% sure. I have been keeping an eye on the spot for signs of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Are you saying I should start treatment for Lyme right away? I wonder if my doctor would prescribe the meds without any symptoms.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Keep a close eye on it for a few weeks. If you start to feel fatigued, achy, have a low grade fever and get a nasty headache that won't go away, seek help ASAP. If you let it go you can also get Belle's Palsy which is paralysis of one side of the face; which I got. Talk about a freak show. I looked like a stroke victim and my eyes were so misaligned I was seeing double for about a week. I swear it's horrible.

Also, keep a watch for any bulls eye rashes anywhere on the body. It can but doesn't necessarily appear at the bite site. Sometimes it appears and sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it can show up months after exposure.

It feels like a mystery illness and is often misdiagnosed. The first time they said I could have MS, Lupus and even Malaria. Many doctors are very unfamiliar with it and cannot easily diagnose it. The blood test has a high incidence of false positives and false negatives which further complicates things.

So overall, keep an eye on it and at the slightest symptom get treatment. You'll save yourself a great deal of agony and suffering. Fortunately it's easy to treat. The go to drug is Doxycycline but Amoxicillin will work too. You just need to take more of it and for longer cycles. The price of the Doxy has increased ten fold (surprise surprise). The Amoxicillin is still dirt cheap (for now).

When on antibiotics, always take a good pro-biotic daily. It drastically lessens the negative side effects of the drug. Antibiotics wipe out the good bacteria as well as the bad and you need the good stuff; especially in the gut. It's very important for the immune system, digestion and other things. Without good bacteria we can't live for more than few days. That's how important it is.

I don't know how prevalent Lyme is in your part of the country but on the East coast it's rampant. I only warn people because I don't wanna' see anyone suffer through what I had to endure.

 

[ivan salis]

my local weather report for the last two weeks -- starting at 6 am 75 degrees -- 90 + degrees by 9 am (heat feels like index 100) with massive humidity ... fast developing rain storms every afternoon --from 12 to 5 ...then muggy heat till sundown...rain and lightening storms at night

 

[McKinney_5900]

I found a tick on me last week after a hunt. I think it was attached but I'm not 100% sure. I have been keeping an eye on the spot for signs of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. Are you saying I should start treatment for Lyme right away? I wonder if my doctor would prescribe the meds without any symptoms.

Thanks for the suggestion.

You'd know if it was attatched. You're OK.

 

[The Aluminum Monster]

I can only stand it between about 5:30am - 9am. I work in the heat all week I'm not going to sweat and fight gnats on the weekend. Not to mention rattlesnake and cotton mouths prevalent at one of the ghost towns I hunt in winter.

Heh. I'm just the opposite. I work in a -5 to 0 degree freezer. I can FEEL myself thawing out when I am baking in the sun. It feels great to actually sweat.

 

[ALDEEZ777]

Suffering from fibromyalgia any day you can get up and going is a good to hunt. Just can wait ti get a new detector so I can hunt in the rain. Being medically retired from the military I have a lot of time to be bored. Sun snow rain sleet or wind I'm game. Oh was a mailman in Ohio for 12 years also.

 

[Ogre1190]

Oh...here's some tips re: Ticks. From the CDC...
http://www.cdc.gov/features/stopticks/
Be careful out there!

 

[Carolina Tom]

Hang in there BR2019! The mosquitos eat me alive, I despise them. Vermin.

Hopefully, we will start to get a little rain, to soften the ground. People that don't have red clay soil, have no idea how hard it gets in the summer. About (10) weeks until the fall season. Keep the faith brother!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Depends on your type of hunting, summer time along the coast is our prime hunting time..👍

 

[Fletch88]

I like the beach in dead of winter after all the depositors are gone and it's about 50-60 degrees. Very serene when you only see a few snow birds and wildlife all day