Question of the Day with alittle humor.

[TexasRT]

Is it skill or is it luck, that is the question?
Although knowing your machine, the environment, the crowd patterns, and the way the sands change everything daily is all obviously important.
My opinion is, it all boils down to luck in the end. You can have a nuclear powered what-cha-ma-call-it, boosted by 8 optima car batteries with a 3' diameter coil and 1" monster cable feeding your subsonic headphones. BUT if you are not where the drop happened within the 200 square miles of beach that your hunting and you don't hit that 1" area that has the goodies in it, well then it is what it is.

Have more fun with it, and don't sweat the rest...
HH

 

[OBN]

Simple .............Skill (Wisdom),............. look at Over Kill Over Kill,........................................... Sorry, No offence OverKill

 

[TexasRT]

Simple .............Skill (Wisdom),............. look at Over Kill Over Kill,........................................... Sorry, No offence OverKill

I'm thinking 50/50, but that was a good example. Lol

 

[Les West Central Fl]

Knowing your machine well and listening for faint signals is very important but walking over the target is more important which is what I call LUCK.

 

[petersra]

IMHO, it is 90% skill and 10% luck. Even a blind hog find a peanut once in a while, but that happens far less often then the hog who uses his skill to search it out..... The blind hogs don't last very long either. HH, Ralph

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Here's a thought.......one day with "fluffy" in the water, going back to the car defeated, I run across a 14k white gold princess cut diamond ring, diamonds all over it! I took 5 to 7 steps, and thought, "hey waita minute, wedding rings are usually worn in sets, turned around, and BAM, there was the thin little nothing band, that matched it perfectly. hehehehehehehe. Fluffy said meow, two times!

 

[TexasRT]

Folks, let me point out that I did this just to have a little fun and see the responses.

I am in no way, shape or form taking anything away from the fact that there is skill involved in this hobby and the majority of the people on this site are very skilled and knowledgeable about what they do. And yes I know the next time I ask for help the response will probably be - how lucky do you feel today LOL


HH

 

[TexasRT]

Here's a thought.......one day with "fluffy" in the water, going back to the car defeated, I run across a 14k white gold princess cut diamond ring, diamonds all over it! I took 5 to 7 steps, and thought, "hey waita minute, wedding rings are usually worn in sets, turned around, and BAM, there was the thin little nothing band, that matched it perfectly. hehehehehehehe. Fluffy said meow, two times!

That's a perfect example of the 1" in 200 square miles I was referring to. You were lucky enough to happen upon it.

 

[pat-tekker-cat]

Yeah texas, but smart enough to turn around and go back too! Even though I was happy with the first ring and resorted if that was all I found that day, it was good enough. Ain't the first time that's happened either. I trained Fluffy good!

 

[lookindown]

Fiddy Fiddy......Skillful luck

 

[Killer Angel]

It's kinda like investing in stocks - don't confuse genius with a Bull Market.

Taking nothing away from the knowledge and skill of the hunters on this site, luck plays a large role. How else to explain rookie hunters hitting it big?

One day a few weeks ago my brother and I, both rookies, went home with three rings, two gold, one silver, while the 4 big dogs hunting the same beach, at the same time, got only silver coins. Which, by the way, we got those too. So, skill, yes, absolutely, but luck too.

So our lesson - Don't confuse finding three rings on one hunt with knowing what we are doing. Accept the present from The Beach Gods and move on.

 

[JoeSWFla]

Skill,experience,luck,and very much persistence.I know people who others think
lucky,but I've seen them hunt.They go at it with a vengence,for long periods of
time.Like fishing-the more you cast,the more ground covered,the more you catch.
Or as one man put it-"The harder I work,the luckier I get". HH Joe

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

While there are those who think you need to put the coil across the target to find it,they technically would be right. But the hunter needs to know where to swing the coil, otherwise time would be wasted just swinging in hopes to put said coil over a target. The random searcher will do his best to find the gold, they may even succeed. I can't tell you how many times other hunters put me on the goods.
You need to be very observant to others actions while hunting.

 

[seeker41]

it takes "skluck" and a little knowledge and effort doesn't hurt!!!!

 

[Lou from downunder]

Question of the day with a little humour?.... but hopefully some factual answers?

While there are those who think you need to put the coil across the target to find it,they technically would be right. /quote]
Only technically What.... really?

Its neither skill nor luck, its perseverance!

Hit a spot and work EVERY inch, thataway you will find EVERY (almost) target. No skill or luck involved. Its either there to be found, or its not. Then you move on to the next bit of turf and repeat the process.

This so called "working a tight, or loose or whatever W pattern" is another name for a casual walk along a beach, randomly waving a coil around. You would be lucky to cover a third of the beach that you walk over... and will only find accordingly. And yes I've heard all of the reasons for doing this.....
Which is why PI users can disparagingly claim to "walk right behind Excal users and pick up the goodies that they've left behind".
Totally true, but if they're also working the same "W" pattern I could walk right behind them with the cheapest VLF on the market, but as long as I cover EVERY inch of that same area I too will pick up heaps that the super deep PIs have left behind.
So which machine is the best? The VLF or the PI?
Answer.... The machine thats in the hands of the most diligent operator!

So is it skill... or is it luck Or maybe just peresrverance

And while I'm having bit of a rant....

"Be sure to dig those faint , whisper like signals!"

Why?

The suggestion seems to be that they are gold!

Why would they be? All objects, metals of various densities, plus other items, (I have uncovered band aids, or sticking plaster as you might call them in the US, many inches down while hand fanning sand away from a target) sink through the substrate over time.
The faint, whisper like signal is no more likely to be gold than a pulltab. By all means, dig these whispers, but not for any other reason than thats what a diligent operator does.

End of rant.

Lou.

 

[tabjunkie]

I consider it luck just to be in a position to be able to go out and MD at all.( health, finances, etc.)
In fact I believe it was luck that I even stumbled upon this hobby.

 

[UncleTom]

The harder I work the luckier I get!

 

[Dwight S]

The harder I work the luckier I get!

That's the quote of the day... Heck, a lifetime!!!! Nothing else needs to be said.

This goes for all aspects of our hobby.
Without work on research, you won't find where to go detecting.
Without working to learn the detector, you won't know what its telling you...