How was your first competition hunt experience?

[foolserrand]

I had been in the hobby about 2 years when I went to a local one a few years ago. It was my first & I considered myself an amateur detectorist at the time.? ? I only participated in 1 hunt because I had mainly gone just so i could see how a competition hunt was done.?
? I cannot say my experience was a positive one. I had brought a Bigfoot loop to use & I got a lot of dirty looks from a lot of the competitors. Stares of intimidation & the like. Before I came I even asked the hunt operator if using a bigfoot coil was allowed in the hunt .... it was.? ?
? Then when it came to the metal detector raffle..... it became known that the wife of the guy who organized the hunt had bought the majority of the tickets.? Guess who won the detector?.......... ?? ? ?

Even though I never liked the idea of a seeded hunt..... it was still interesting to see how a hunt was done.

I did not do well in the one hunt i participated in.

All in all I didnt enjoy it that much & have not been to another one since.

So how was your first competition hunt experience?
? ?

 

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[stoney56]

Although I usually go to the larger ones ut on by clubs, my 1st one was more of a learning experience and a chance to see what it was all about. Have been going to them for about 8 years now and average probably 3-4 a year. I still haven't won a detector yet but the silver adds up and on occasion will sell it to finance the next hunt. I know one gentleman that does well with the Bigfoot and nobody complains and others have been going for 10-15 yr w/o a detector although the prizes are pretty nice. I've gotten several nice gold coins that way.
Some people won't touch a seeded hunt and others go to every one they can find. Sometimes I meet new people and other times I renew old friendships.

 

[Monty]

If you are not quite an accomplished MDer and fleet of foot. planted hunts will not be your cup of tea. I have gone to one and my goal was to recover my entry fee. Not even close! But it was my first such hunt and I learned a lot. Also you will meet some of the legends of MD or semi-pros who follow the circut. You can learn a lot if you keep your mouth shut and ears open. I especially enjoyed watching the youngsters who participated in the various events. I was along side a 14 year old who tore me a new one competition wise. He had 5 silver tokens before I had one he was so fast. He was using an ACE 250 and I was using my GTI 2500! I did get my one and only silver dollar there, several silver rosie dimes and a hand full of wheat pennies. So, if you cnnsider it more of entertainment rather than treasure hunting you will enjoy it. If you expect to make a killing, unless you are very fast and an above average detectorist, and/or very lucky, forget it. JIM

 

[bk]

My first hunt was in Des Moines IA back in about 1980. They had a separate competition hunt. I thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. I placed second. My Brother-In-Law came in first.
Since then, I have not done well, but I continue to enjoy them.
There was a good book titled "Competition Treasure Hunting", written by Ernie "Carolina" Curlee, Published in 1979 by Ram Books.
There is some very good advice if you can still find a copy.

 

[Monty]

I must add that there are two types of competition hunts. There is one that is put on by individuals who do it for profit while the other is put on by a treasure hunting club to raise money for various causes. I would not intentinaly enter a for profit hunt if I knew in advance, but that's just me. You may have an entirely different outlook and that's OK. My club, Indian Territory Treasure Hunting Club out of Tulsa, OK puts on hunts that are not for profit. All the money collected for entry fees goes into supporting the hunt, paying for prizes, etc. My club is active in civic projects and contributes to a worthy cause in time and money. The club recently spent a couple of week ends restoring an old abandoned graveyard that had grown up in weeds over the years of neglect as an example. Even if I never recoup my entry fees I equate it with contributing to a worthy cause. Just a little PS. JIM

 

[Colorado Bob]

Jimmil,
I usually do the competition hunts just for the fun of it, and I have done quite a number of them. I remember one of the last that I did. It was a night hunt. If you have never entered one, then by all means do so. Anyway its dark and you have to carry your detector, your digging tools and a flashlight, no help allowed. This hunt had twenty targets buried, all silver rounds. A time limit of thirty minutes, and there were forty-four detectors on the starting line. Not very good odds. Anyway when it was over I ended up with four of the targets, I think that was fairly good considering the odds.

 

[stoney56]

One of the first night hunts I went on, like you said no flashlight-targets were broadcast thus no digging. They even put a couple of gold coins in the field with wheats taped to them. Anyway, someone got this brilliant idea to put Slime (which they got at some toy store) and put it on top of the target. Really gross when you get a signal, grab a handful, and wave it under or over the coil to see if you picked it up. Same person also used a couple of dried cow pies. I heard that they had the line drawn at a rubber snake.

 

[Monty]

If I had picked up a rubber snake there would have been more than slime left on the target! JIM

 

[bk]

Hey Jimmileo,
There were some great folks at that Des Moines hunt from the ITTHC club. I won't mention names, but I never met such wonderfull people.
Sounds like you have a great club. Your club must have been around forever.

BK

 

[Monty]

The club has been arouind for a long time and has an excellent reputation. We have members from all over the U.S. I am a new member and haven't had the opportunity to participate much but I plan on it. JIM

 

[stoney56]

BK, they also have a pretty neat website.http://itthc.com/
Click on Finds of the Month, Recent Cool Finds, and Outstanding Past Finds.

 

[bk]

Yah Stoney, I have visited the website, It's great. They find some awsome relics. The website is very interesting.
Thanks for the tip!
HH

BK

 

[pondmn]

I have been in a couple of small for fun competition hunts with local groups and had fun. I have entered the AMDA hunt for October in Laughlin, NV. My first hunt I used a goldbug2 and didn't do the best but had fun. The second hunt I used a Fisher 1236x2 and did better. My question is what do most use in this type of hunts. To me it seems simpler is better. Also what size of coil--is bigger better. I am using a 8 inch on my fisher coin machine but I have a 10 1/2. My primary purpose is to just have fun but I would like to do the best I can. Can you give any tips on the hunts other than hunt hard and hunt quick. Thanks Pondmn

 

[bk]

Light weight detectors with quick signal response and accurate pinpoint is the key. Good discrimination in my opinion is optional. Many times I have seen nickel targets used as tokens, so using high discrimination may not be a good idea. I would not recommend a coil larger than 8". Most, if not all targets are buried 1" or less.

 

[stoney56]

pondmn, I've found that with the 1236X2, I set disc. on 8-sens. at about 6-the silencer on and the thumb resting on the freq shift.
Most hunt fields are gridded into 4,6,or 8 sect. depending on the size and coins are divided into those sect.. If there are say a dozen new metal detectors as prizes, then 2 or 3 per section.
Most coins are either on surface or within 1" to 2" depending on who buries them. Most prize tokens I've seen are stamped silver dimes either painted or stamped with a # corresponding to the prize.
Try starting about 1/3 or 2/3 down the long side of the starting line and work across then zigzag back to the beginning side. Try bending at the waist if possible instead of getting on one knee to save time. Don't forget to work the starting line all around and above all, just put the coin/token in your pouch to examine later. As a little time progresses into the hunt, watch the field for areas where people are concentrated and digging as there will be pockets still undug.
Best of luck and hopefully you'll get a Top 40 Token if the AMDA has them.