Luck or Skill?

[Monty]

Just wanting to provoke some thought while I am in the mood! How much of the metal detecting game do you think is luck and how much is skill? Reminds me of the old saying, "I'll take luck over skill anytime"! For me it has been mostly luck to this point. I dig a lot of iffy targets based on intuition rather than sound reasoning. I also pass up a lot of targets for that same reason and know I am occasionally missing something. I see a lot of posts to the affect that, " He was using a Gizmo Special detector and I came along behind him with my Roscoe Thriller detector and found thirty cents he missed". So what? Is your machine better than his? Some seem to think so, but I don't. Do you possess better skills at detecting? Perhaps, but not necessarily. Are you luckier than he was? Maybe. Did you elect to "dig everything" whereas he was discriminating out some signals? Very possible. Which brings us back to Luck or Skill? What do you think? Monty

 

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[Silver Fox]

Luck: An imaginary substance used as a substitution for skill. Luck is often regarded as a superstition.

Skill: A skill is an ability, usually learned and acquired through training, to perform actions which achieve a desired outcome.

I'm NOT superstitious but I AM skilled.

 

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[Silver Fox]

I can have lots of skill and search in a vast area for a 3 oz nugget for years and not find one. A beginner can come out and randomly find one the first time. There is a saying "gold is where you find it", meaning no one has been able to predict exactly where the gold is. So even though I'm using a lot of skill and best knowledge of where to sweep my detector, there may be randomness to where the gold is that reduces my choice to a guess. And someone else may guess better. I call them lucky.

[snipped some of your reply and mine]
I do not want to harp but what you say above shows that luck does not exist. You looked high and low but did not go in the area where a 3oz nugget could be found but it's still "there." Perhaps you didn't overlap your swings carefully. Along comes a beginner or ANYONE and they go to the area where the nugget is located and they find it. NO LUCK! Fortune, yes. But everything you did in your life and everything the finder did in his/her life brought you and him/her to the circumstances. Nothing outside of that occurred.

 

[RL OH]

Monty, I got to believe that it is about 75% luck and 25% skill for the first couple of years a person detects. After that, the ratios reverse. I am not the greatest detectorist walking, but I am so much better than when I started out. I seem to be able to use just about any detector and make a decent find now. It seems to me the people making the great coin finds are the people who have a knack for knocking on doors and asking to detect. Unfortunately, I am very uneasy doing that so I will keep pounding the parks. R.L.

 

[Monty]

Wow, this is an old topic brought to surface circa 2005! But I guess it's still a good debate. After another couple of years detecting, I have to agree with RL OH. When I first started detecting I blindly ran onto some great finds with sheer luck. I actually thought for a while that this hobby was easy! Now I see how hard it can really be and to score consistently you have to apply everything you know, read or have heard. I have seen several members who never learned that and eventually dropped out. I have got to the point I kinda' debrief myself when I get back from a serious hunt. I think about how I conducted the search, how could I have done it better and what mistakes did I make and what techniques did I fail to put to use even though I know I should have. Then perhaps most important is research. I have noticed that the better or more successful detectorists spend a lot of time just researching for new areas or likely places to hunt. When I get serious I do a lot of driving, looking at maps and knocking on doors. I haven't done that lately due to my health problems and it shows by my measley finds this year. I hope to improve on that in the coming months if my health holds up. Monty

 

[utah hunter]

100% luck. The more I go out and the better I know my machine the luckier I get

 

[Eu_citzen]

Luck: An imaginary substance used as a substitution for skill. Luck is often regarded as a superstition.

Skill: A skill is an ability, usually learned and acquired through training, to perform actions which achieve a desired outcome.

I'm NOT superstitious but I AM skilled.

Yes ok lets try it this way.

When you start out how much experience/Skill do you have? Since you have got little to no skill Luck is the only option left here, if we don't add "contacts/people" to the eqation of course.
People who can tech and help you that is or even some who aleady are skilled.

Luck is just and all day term, now if sience or math (or you) does not accept fine so be it.

Now as for nugget hunting this is a completely different ball game then "normal hunting".

Cheers.
Eu

 

[DaChief]

Serious hunters clearly are good at what they do based on skills that they develop over years. There is always a little luck involved but learning how to choose equipment, how to do research, how to obtain permission, how to read the land, and using good disciplined detector control and techniques doesn't come with luck. I have put almost 30 years into this hobby and I still try to learn from every outing and perfect my abilities. I am sure that if you just stepped out of your car everyday with no clue of what you were doing, you may at some point find an old coin, piece of jewelry, or artifact. I step out of my truck everytime I go out knowing I will find an old coin, piece of jewelry, or an artifact. There is a big difference and skill is it.

DaChief

 

[aladdin]

I believe that there's always 1 treasure left for me to find (one makes their own Destiny) and with that being said !! Only by the grace of the Treasure Hunting Gods Skill/Luck/Luckier and Luckiest . Yet none of these can exsist without Distiny from which we've come. Remember there is always 1 treasure left. Your distiny is yet before you ! go dig! Skill + Luck = work =The Fine !!!! One might say it is a form of Treasure Hunting Karma.

GOTTIT !!! !!!

 

[Marauder Dan]

skill or luck?? hmmm...not sure,but I know one thing,if you spend more time here at this forum then you do out hunting,your luck and skill level isnt gonna improve!

 

[extractor]

80% skill / 20% Luck Main thing I found is to realy understand the target area your swinging the coil around in.