Looking for SoCal Nugget Shooting Locations

[zoomie97]

New to Nugget Shooting, and gone out a hand full of times with my Gold Monster. At this time I have only been successful in finding trash. I am a member of GPAA and AMRA, but still having trouble finding seasoned prospectors who are willing to help out a greenhorn in SoCal. I hit the Lead Jackpot last weekend, but it is time to start finding some golden ground.

Looking for advice or clubs in the SoCal area to help boost success.

Appreciate your time and advice.

Craig

 

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[IDXMonster]

At 1300-1400$ an ounce,I’m not sure how many takers yer gonna get there Craig. Think about that carefully,as gold makes people do strange things,and always has. Once you have a location that YOU have found,it will have been ALOT of work and perhaps money spent...and you will want to guard it. And don’t think the “but I’d do the same for you” thing applies,because there’s just too much money at stake. I don’t hunt gold,I’m a coinshooter from southern Wisconsin. But even at that,when I find a really old site that produces very nice coins,I don’t always tell anyone about it,and I mean ANYONE. Some places I have,some places I never will. It was just too much work developing them to simply invite someone in to find that “find of a lifetime”. I understand that you’d like to shortcut the “finding a good place” thing. But unless you know someone VERY WELL and you have their COMPLETE trust....I might be your only response.
Good luck in your venture,it does sound like fun!

 

[oneguy]

You're finding lead and gold rings up the same so now all you gotta do is get the coil over the yellow stuff. Stuff is hard to find but it's out there and the Monster is pretty good at sniffing it out!!!!!!!!!

 

[63bkpkr]

zoomie97, First - Welcome to Tnet! This site is filled with knowledge which is shared liberally! Now as far as where to look, most of the time you should look where gold has been found in the past. Learn what the worked places look like be it an ancient mountainside or a lovely trickle of water/stream/river. Where the old timers, or recents, have found it is where you can find it!

Next, really know you machine so practice, practice, practice and if you can build yourself a test bed of targets so you become used to hearing them and seeing them on your screen.

Next, carry a known target with you and since you are looking for gold that target might just as well be gold. I use a piece of an old gold ring that I flattened and Solidly Glued it to a bright colored Poker Chip then I melted a hole through the poker chip and tied a piece of bright orange/red trail marker tape to it (so I could find it after I dropped it on the ground to check my machine "out in mineralized country"!). This sample gives you a target that you are used to hearing & seeing the results on your machine but now you are out somewhere where the background dirt and surroundings are different and you can see what your machine is doing with a known target. That is how I started learning my machine and if you follow Lanny's Thread "Bedrock and Gold: The Mysteries" right here in the Prospecting Metal Detecting thread he will teach you to use your machine and where to use it. It is a long read but worth it!!!!! Best of Success (eventually)...........63bkpkr

 

[trdking]

aren't we all?

 

[zoomie97]

(63bkpkr) Thank you for the useful information. I will check out the recommended string.

Funny how people really clam up about gold locations. I have yet to meet a fellow prospector at a club outing or meeting that looks like they have prospered from this hobby. Maybe that is a secret as well....Who knows?

 

[AllenJ]

Welcome to the forum zoomie97! There is a lot of good information on this site and 63bkpkr is someone to listen to. He's shared his experiences and I've found them very helpful in my quest for gold.

People do tend to clam up about exact locations and to tell the truth I don't blame them. While I'm pretty new to nugget shooting I use my experiences from hunting: find a good spot and tell one wrong person, it'll quickly become everyone's favorite spot! I have a few people I trust who know where I've found my one and only metal detected nugget, beyond them I'm not telling lol.

You have a good detector, you're finding small pieces of lead, you are doing that part right, now research areas and find one that has detectable gold. The gold needs to be both big enough and shallow enough for your detector to find!

Good luck and keep us posted on your finds.

 

[Mackaydon]

Welcome to TN !!
This site may interest you.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/clubs-hunts-california/23921-ventura-county-club-meetings.html
Don.........

 

[RustyGold]

Welcome to the forum from SoCal.
Loose lips sink your chances of ever going back to your hard won location without it being overrun by folks with good intentions.
Research some of the old periodicals and treasure hunting books.
Good luck!

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Welcome SoCal! I am a member of GPAA and I am going to join AMRA soon. Saving up for a sluice box now. I have been detecting beaches for years and now that my daughter moved to Colorado, I am going to be spending time up there. It can be overwhelming but let me share something with you that has really helped me with research- I listen to prospector radio app on my phone and The episode that was just on last week Sunday 02/24/19. A guy was sharing info on claims. But he went into some interesting things to look for and I am going to go back and listen to it tomorrow night and write down all the info he was saying. He was talking about how develope an eye for places that have recently been producing finds - signs of recent activity. Look for camping areas and camp fires that have seen a lot of activity. Check that episode out if you get a chance. I found that talking to people at gold shows and invite them to have a cup of coffee, lunch etc and establish friend ships with people, this can take a while. My Detecting buddy died few years back and I can see how difficult it is to establish these friendships. I know there are people out there that will talk about the different GPAA claims. I here them on that radio show a lot. I have reached out to a few and just visit a little. After a while from what I understand you end up meeting folks on those GPAA and AMRA claims and it’s important to have someone watching your back and vice versa cause as you know there some wild crazy situations we can get into.

 

[Grumpie]

New to Nugget Shooting, and gone out a hand full of times with my Gold Monster. At this time I have only been successful in finding trash. I am a member of GPAA and AMRA, but still having trouble finding seasoned prospectors who are willing to help out a greenhorn in SoCal. I hit the Lead Jackpot last weekend, but it is time to start finding some golden ground.

Looking for advice or clubs in the SoCal area to help boost success.

Appreciate your time and advice.

Craig

Where did you go look? I grew up in Simi and graduated from Royal high. I know So. Cal very very well.

 

[arizau]

Your membership gives you access to the club claims...start there. By using Welcome to Land Matters you can find nearby claims and most importantly areas that are not claimed and accessible to all if not otherwise restricted due to private property or some governmental laws. No one is going to tell you their honey holes but by research and boots on the ground on and off gpaa claims you may find your own...or maybe stumble on to someone else's if it is not on claimed ground.

Good luck