Skunked - when to cut your losses ?

PI PETE

Hero Member
Aug 10, 2009
550
291
Detector(s) used
Excal_1000 / Whites VX3 / Shadow 2-Troy / & Infinium L-S/Garrett / AT GOLD
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I’ve pounded this place for 18 hours! One junker stainless ring and a pendant.

I’ve found a few beaver tails, countless melted globs of aluminum, fishing weights, two water logged cell phones, and a Bluetooth .. Signs of an old dock exist from lots of iron..

There was so much trash, I’ve removed 3 5lb. Buckets of trash, waters coming back up so I’m probably done till next fall.

Happy Easter 2018.
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I feel you pain buddy, you have more patients than me, I would have been gone 10 hours ago. Good luck with your next trip.
 

I was also in this same situation yesterday! I was hunting a former brothel, also filling a 5 gallon bucket with aluminum, when a neighbor stopped over and says he'd been watching us off and on for the last several hours and decided then to let us know that the site had 6-10 inches of fill added back in the 70's. Was super frustrated since the site held so much promise. I would have stayed right there with ya, not giving up hope.
 

You should spend your time at beaches that you KNOW people go to. Big crowds usually mean bigger returns on your time. Also may depend on how much competition you have there. Other detectors
 

You should spend your time at beaches that you KNOW people go to. Big crowds usually mean bigger returns on your time. Also may depend on how much competition you have there. Other detectors

Hey Tommy, these are words of wisdom.
I dot know about Pete, but we're I am in nova Scotia I still have snow in the yard and the beaches only seem busy from mid June till August, I think this season me and the nox are going to look at some fresh water beaches, as In theory the water warms up quicker than the Atlantic and hopefully there may be some more booty.
 

I would of welcomed some junk yesterday.
6HR hunt at the ocean and this is all I got digging everything with the NOX.
It was one of those days you wave the scoop over the coil over and over again to check and see if the detector is still working.
 

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Everything you have there is light, large, or both. If you are digging targets like this, it's usually all you are going to find no matter how long you dig, because the beach is either sanded in, or not an ocean facing beach (so it's mud not shells, and has no hard bottom). I detected a bay one time.. I dug almost 3 feet deep, reached down deep with my foot, and felt the side of an aluminum FISHING BOAT. That was when I realized I would never ever not in a million hunts find a ring at this beach, unless I was standing next to the guy when he lost it.

You sure have determination... imagine what you'd have done in 18 hours at a producing beach!

I just noticed you did mention a few fishing weights, so maybe your spot wasn't all bad, but maybe not a jewelry wearing crowd?
 

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You must be near me, lol. I now realize why the guy sold me his Surfmaster when he did. After the hurricane he figured it would be a long while before things improved.
 

Fill dirt has ruined many a good site. I hit a park yesterday and found a few clad coins and part of some kid's tractor, but only lasted about 30 minutes.
 

Had the wife towing my scoop for me today. Is there a metal detecting tale about bringing the wife along being bad luck? I know she can't win on a scratch off ticket to save her life but today was like "hello, testing". At one point I had to have her toss a coin on the beach to be sure my detector was working. Only found a quarter and a deck screw.
 

Whimper, whimper, whine, whine.. :skullflag:
 

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Whimper, whimper, whine, whine.. :skullflag:

Terry, with pictures, you show just the right proportions of junk recovered, and the good stuff...!
And getting skunked once in awhile, is a HUMBLING experience, that can either make the TH-er
a quitter, or steel one's resolve, to hit it even harder the next hunt...!
...NEITHER of you guys will quit though, because you know that its only a matter of time
and place, that you-will-find-treasure...!
 

Terry, Where did you find all of those beautiful pristine pull tabs? All I find is gross awful looking ones :tongue3:
 

Being new to beach & water detecting, also a Pulse Induction detector my lack of target wasn't the wife but a mistake of mine. Seems my aging eyes had the pulse timing up, realizing this tonight and air testing it this way puts my search depth at about 1".
I'm angry at myself for missing this and the thought of covering as much area as we did but after all the reason I got the PI detector was to get the Mrs. some exercise.
 

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Everyone: love this story line since many Newbies think you're going to find gold the first time out and are disappointed when they come home with all this junk, that most of us experienced MDers see every day. Perhaps we should post more of our usual finds, with the quarter being the best find of the day! PI PETE and Terry are on the right track showing the ratio of good finds to junk. I spent 17 hrs in the cold water recently over 4 days and came away with about 1 coin/hr with no gold, no jewelry and nothing much else but junk. When people ask on the beach about MDing, I tell them the truth that if you're out here expecting BIG finds you're going to be disappointed. But, if you're out for a good time, some exercise, fresh air and a wonderful venue, than MDing just might be your ticket. Of course, it sure is nice when you do find gold.
 

Thats true... when people ask me what the BEST THING I'VE EVER FOUND is.. I say EXERCISE.

Ok well sometimes I tell them a solid gold human ear. lol
 

I agree. Just getting away and doing some dirt fishing and taking your mind off day to day challenges is wonderful. Seeing a flight of geese or an osprey with a fish in it's talons or a juvenile bald eagle is treasure of the highest value. Gold and silver are just icing on the cake.
 

Everyone: love this story line since many Newbies think you're going to find gold the first time out and are disappointed when they come home with all this junk, that most of us experienced MDers see every day. Perhaps we should post more of our usual finds, with the quarter being the best find of the day! PI PETE and Terry are on the right track showing the ratio of good finds to junk. I spent 17 hrs in the cold water recently over 4 days and came away with about 1 coin/hr with no gold, no jewelry and nothing much else but junk. When people ask on the beach about MDing, I tell them the truth that if you're out here expecting BIG finds you're going to be disappointed. But, if you're out for a good time, some exercise, fresh air and a wonderful venue, than MDing just might be your ticket. Of course, it sure is nice when you do find gold.
Im with you, there are no bad days at the beach...some are better than others but they are all good...no matter what I find.
 

I would of welcomed some junk yesterday.
6HR hunt at the ocean and this is all I got digging everything with the NOX.
It was one of those days you wave the scoop over the coil over and over again to check and see if the detector is still working.

Man, I hear ya. I've had a couple of whole days in the Gulf surf (5-8 hrs) recently waiting for a signal to dig, any signal, I'm not picky when, you're right, you put the coil next to the scoop just to make sure the dang thing is really working...and it is. Gotta take the bad with the good and I, for one, can't complain, overall.
Happy Hunting
 

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