Paid hunt sucked diddaly ucked!

[bearbqd]

I'll be nice enough and not name the group that put it together, that should be easy enough to figure out, but this weekends paid hunt was horrible. This hunt was pitched as if very few people have ever detected this place, but collectively the finds say different. In my opinion this property has not only been hunted before but SPANKED! Although over a hundred people attended, the twenty or so I had talked to by the third day had hardly found squat. You would think that having paid two hundred dollars a piece for the chance to hunt supposedly ripe civil war encampment areas would produce at least a handful of bullets for everyone attending that has a half decent machine. Again, the folks I spoke with had found nearly nothing like myself. Although Saturdays early winter storm kept most folks indoors most of the day, folks still had all of Friday and Sunday to hunt. At LEAST 22 hours of hunting time should have produced a good amount of finds. To my knowledge, it did not. I texted the coordinator on Friday to see if anyone was out in the weather and mentioned the lack of finds. He claimed quite a bit had been found. Prove me wrong, but I think the only finds were coming from $6,000 machines. Anyone on this forum attend and do well? My plentiful finds include, ONE smooched 3 ringer, ONE fired three ringer, two rivets pieces, part of a small iron buckle, ONE flat button, and a ton of farm iron.
I could have produced way more in 22 hours had I stayed home and not spent $200 on a paid hunt, $240 for three nights at a hotel, $50 in gas, and $50 or so in food. Hmmm, $540 for a couple bullets or stay home, pay nothing and probably get a lot more than that. I think I'll stay home next time. I'll get off my soap box now.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[MercMan]

A US boxplate
quite a few union Block I's
Script I with cs - this was a very nice button guy staying beside me found it.
I saw georgia,virginia and north carolina buttons.
2nd regt united states sharshooters Id tag
I think it was a 3rd corp badge sunday morning
Mississippi I and 2 more block I's found sunday afternoon in one of the front fields

That is all I know about.

It was about what I expected. If the field beside the fallen tree had been cut there would have been a lot more from that area.

 

[relichunters]

Yeah one of the problems with these paid hunts is that the finder of the land, will go and dig as much as they can first, and then offer up the remains to the group. It happens often.

I refuse to go on paid hunts and drive 2, 3, 5 hours away, and search an area already detected.

The only thing worse than that is seeded hunts.

By the way there are a couple of hunts that are really good and are legit in the united states some where 200+ detectorists show up. Tons and tons are found. By the smaller private ones are usually a bust.
I think one of the reasons is because many times you have to paid a large amount of cash to land owners for permission. So if you have a hunt that costs $20, well the most your going to get is probably $300. That is less than a weeks paycheck, it's impossible to pay $300 to hunt a battlefield, you might get a small camp site.

However if you paid $250 each, and had a total of $10,000 to give the landowner, you could have a piece of a battlefield or something very large. The items are 10X more to find.

 

[bearbqd]

Well, I'm glad SOMEONE found stuff. I'm betting that most of that was found with the six thousand dollar GPX's which most of us could only dream of affording. I know at least half a dozen guys had them. If I ever do another one of these it will be with the Diggin In Virginia folks. I know they are reputable and have good success.

 

[MercMan]

I know for a fact that quite a few of the buttons were found with a Fisher. Two of the finds above I am pretty sure was found with an MXT.

Here is a link to a few of the finds I did not list. http://www.justgodetecting.com/forums/topic37.html

 

[Iron Patch]

Paid hunts are mainly about three things.... making money, meeting fellow hunters, and making money. As for finds I have seen some produce a lot, and others so little it was pathetic. I definitely would not go to one of these expecting much, and to be honest for the ones that do produce my personal opinion is some are probably seeded. When you take in so many thousands it only takes a small % to buy finds for the hunt. 5k would easily do it.

Several years back the Treasure Depot did a hunt on land that the owner would have let you hunt for free 6 months before, and he had let people dig for years. So you can imagine how slim the finds were for that one.

 

[buzzgator]

I went on a paid hunt once called old dominion relic dig. I knew it was a seeded hunt and I dug over 60 targets mostly 3 ringers did find a few things that werent seeded. The food was good nice prizes and a great group of guys I got to hunt with. I proly neva would have went on one but my cousin was sort of a sponser he had shirts made up for it and invited me to go with him. I guess my point is its going to be what u make it, if u go in it expecting to find a plate or that elusive button then ur going to be dissapointed.

 

[HuntNdig]

this is simply why i would never pay to do a hunt, $540 for the trip is a terrible price for a little comradery. I would rather find locals and hit somewhere if my desire was to meet people. Sorry to hear the trip wasn't all it was cracked up to be...

 

[bearbqd]

Most of that $540 was paid for by my dear wife as a birthday gift which was Sunday. I paid for the food and gas. But yeah, it definitely was NOT worth it. I ALWAYS find a ton more than that when I've put in 19 hours of detecting. Bad choice on my part, but I foolishly had high expectations with the way it was pitched. I'm sure trying to get any of the money back would be an effort in futility.

 

[gleaner1]

Slim pickin's all 'round these days. Fee or otherwise. I cannot help to think that there are precious few places on earth not hit pretty damn hard with a tector.

 

[jeff of pa]

First Off if your Going to put that much out,
Your thoughts should be on Getting away to a new spot,
Meeting others, Swinging your Detector,
and Generally having a good time.

Not on Becoming rich. just "Hopefully"
finding some coin or relic,
as a Token of your Expirence.

if you want to have a chance to break even
& Have a Better chance
of Maybe coming ahead, Go to a Club hunt in your own town,
where they planted alot of silver.

I Don't think these Organized events are About
making your money back.

of course this is My opinion.

 

[pennyfarmer]

I second Jeff's opinion.

This whole entire hobby is not about making money. I would go on one of these hunts if I ever get the chance. I talk with people about my treasure hunts and one of the first questions I hear is "what is your most valuable item". I think don't you want to hear the story I want to tell you? Most of my favorite stories are about no treasure but the thought of treasures.

 

[bearbqd]

First Off if your Going to put that much out,
Your thoughts should be on Getting away to a new spot,
Meeting others, Swinging your Detector,
and Generally having a good time.

Not on Becoming rich. just "Hopefully"
finding some coin or relic,
as a Token of your Expirence.

if you want to have a chance to break even
& Have a Better chance










of Maybe coming ahead, Go to a Club hunt in your own town,
where they planted alot of silver.

I Don't think these Organized events are About
making your money back.

I wasn't looking to get rich or make my money back with finds Jeff. Like I said earlier, I would have been happy finding a handful of bullets. But since this sight was pitched in such a manner that it had hardly ever been hunted, had multiple winter encampments and other shorter encampments, I assumed wrongly that yeah, at the very least, I would come home with a pocket full of lead. It angered me further that so many people I talked with were getting equally skunked. I'm not looking to fully recover my losses. It just might be nice that since it was described in such a manner, that I could get a little compensation back. But I know that's not gonna happen. Just gotta lick my wounds, file away the lesson, and move on.
On a positive note, the location was beautiful (I would love to star gaze and meteor watch in that huge open expanse), I met some nice folks, I got to put the Jeep through more mud on the back trails than it's ever seen, and I got treated to the sight of three bucks foraging and play fighting with one another for over half an hour.













of course this is My opinion.
[/quote]

 

[metal mania]

I went on a paid hunt once called old dominion relic dig. I knew it was a seeded hunt and I dug over 60 targets mostly 3 ringers did find a few things that werent seeded. The food was good nice prizes and a great group of guys I got to hunt with. I proly neva would have went on one but my cousin was sort of a sponser he had shirts made up for it and invited me to go with him. I guess my point is its going to be what u make it, if u go in it expecting to find a plate or that elusive button then ur going to be dissapointed.

just curious was the seeding insider info u had or common knowledge

 

[buzzgator]

It was known by all and would have been found out quickly if it wouldnt have been known. You really didnt need a detector, half of myfinds u could still see the cut in the ground where items were planted. If MP hadnt of invited me and paid for me to go I wouldnt have done it. It was fun but I didnt go expecting anything great do ya know what I mean?

 

[RJH02]

So you are saying in your opinion that the hunt was seeded or do you know this for a fact?

 

[buzzgator]

The hunt I went on was seeded that is a fact! It was stated from the start as a seeded hunt. There were tokens planted and if u found a token u got a prize, everyone got a digger, pouch, and a t-shirt and they had several nice prizes detectors and I think I remember a nice box plate. The hunt I went on was NOT the same hunt the original poster is talking about. If I remember rite it was put on by or sponsered by Sgt Rikers relic shop? Not positive. I do know I had a good time just wouldnt have went if I would have had to pay myself.

 

[NewsMan]

I had enough to either do this hunt or go play a game of poker in West Virginia. Glad I decided on poker!!

 

[HuntNdig]

First Off if your Going to put that much out,
Your thoughts should be on Getting away to a new spot,
Meeting others, Swinging your Detector,
and Generally having a good time.

Not on Becoming rich. just "Hopefully"
finding some coin or relic,
as a Token of your Expirence.

if you want to have a chance to break even
& Have a Better chance
of Maybe coming ahead, Go to a Club hunt in your own town,
where they planted alot of silver.

I Don't think these Organized events are About
making your money back.

of course this is My opinion.

Maybe they shouldn't generate so much hype about the hunts they put on...MDing of course is a hobby we all enjoy and relax doing, but anyone who says they don't MD for the chance at some extra cash is full of it. We all have grandeur of that rare key date silver and gold rings etc... That doesn't mean its the only reason we do it, but it is part of the hobby.

 

[Jeffro]

Research is free, basically. Find your own spots to hunt.