The problem with changing from coin hunting to nugget hunting is the mindset. Coin hunters will instinctively head for the locations where coins are usually found. This means paths, open areas, locations where it looks people might have walked or rested.
Nuggets are not people, they stop the first opportunity they get and could care less about paths, etc.
Get off the beaten path to begin with. That is a great place to find boot tacks, etc.
Without seeing the location it would be difficult to offer exact advice but gold sinks fast, so look for places that could be at or near bedrock. Check around rocks that are part of the foundation, meaning they are base rock still part of the mountain or location where you are at.
Exceptions would be if you are looking in a location where the gold was deposited for other reasons, such as glacial. Then you look where others look. Usually, there are tell tale signs of some sort. Sometimes it may be a sudden shift in dirt color indicating a contact zone. Maybe it is something as simple as a change of types of rocks. As an example, in one location I used to hunt, any round granite boulders were out of place rocks, but would show up in zones. Along with these rocks came the gold.
The point is, know the gold and how it got to where you will be hunting. That is part of the battle in determining just where to hunt. Many people, including myself at the onset, simply hunt areas that they think might be good and not hunt those that don't look right. This could be a major flaw since gold doesn't know your opinion or care for that matter.
Some areas are easy to read while others are impossible or nearly so. Even that is an indicator, though when you think about it. Usually, when you find one piece of gold, chances are there are others nearby. So, that is where you slow down and search carefully.
Coinhunters love to NOT dig junk but that is something a gold hunter knows he will have to do. As such, a gold hunter will usually dig out that "nail" to see what is also there. Worse yet, a nugget can disguise itself as a "nail" with a little help from certain rocks.
A good example of what I mean about digging trash is recently a friend of mine found his first three nuggets with a detector. In doing so, he dug over 75 pieces of other junk in his search. In some cases, the amount of junk my friend found is small compared to what he might have to dig up in another location. Two of his nuggets were buried with or near other junk items and not digging those items would have resulted in the nuggets being missed.
Patience and determination, again, are two words that a potential nugget hunter needs to both learn and head. Gold is very rare and difficult to find, thus it is going to usually take far more patience and determination that what is needed to find a coin. Worse yet, people can have "dry spells", meaning they may go months or even years before finding that elusive gold. Yes, I had dry spells, so I know what they are like and they are not fun.
Regardless, gold hunting can be both frustrating and fun. What makes it all worthwhile is when you do find that nice piece of of that yellow glistening material. No, it usually doesn't come out of the ground nice an pretty. In fact in most cases, it is difficult initially to tell it is even gold if found on land. So, don't get discouraged when you dig up a dirty lump that doesn't appear to be gold. My last nice nugget took some serious cleaning before the gold was truly obvious.
Good luck and happy hunting. It is tough but well worth it.
Reg
