Well worth watching if you are planning on getting rich in Nome

yea I saw that ! Big eye opener for sure..
But I'd add this to your comment .its possible to make it in nome obviously some do . But I'd say if you struggle in the lower 48 to support your family or make a living You can only expect it's going to be more difficult there..
Back to the tug boat story .. This is more to this story than it being hard in nome.. This fella could not make anything work!
I think his problems stemmed from more than it being difficult there .. You have to be capable of working on your equipment and repairing it with little to no parts and make so,e preparations befor you go. And long befor you drive a tug up there ya need to visit and learn just what it's gona take to get the job done...
It certainly is not the get rich scheme so many fools chase ... But I think a lot of that is the way the tv shows lay it out ..
They don't give a realistic time line as to how many hours these folks spend digging or dredging ! . They just some it up in a hour...
They never see the 80 plus hours that these folks put in .. Just digging digging digging it long and boring work ..the fun wears off quickly..
I take a lot of folks dredging and usually after about a hour there done ... The young men seem to last the longest. But they still want to shut down every 30 minutes and try to do a clean out ... Lol or at least look for that 4 lb nugget they missed.
 

Thanks discovery channel, for plaguing the minds of the less fortunate. Thats what it is, A.D.D. attention deficit disorder America, made to think this gold finding stuff is easy every day. For me, Prospecting as a hobby is what I want to keep it as. Prospecting as my living is just not sustainable. Want to make money? make a better gold trap and patten it and sell to prospectors. It is what it is.
 

I am sure that some do, most don't. Just a cautionary video on what happen to those who think they can make a better mousetrap from their easy chair. I would love to try it, but I have one college and another two years from enrolling and it is not in the cards, but on my bucket list.
 

Thanks discovery channel, for plaguing the minds of the less fortunate. Thats what it is, A.D.D. attention deficit disorder America, made to think this gold finding stuff is easy every day. For me, Prospecting as a hobby is what I want to keep it as. Prospecting as my living is just not sustainable. Want to make money? make a better gold trap and patten it and sell to prospectors. It is what it is.
A.D.D no not at all ,most of your A.D.D Folks own and run a business .. Look at most of the successful people in the world and you'll find most of them have or at least have what we call A.D.D. ...And there's no fault on discovery Chanel for where these so called less fortunate folks end up ! They have there choice as the rest of us do on how they want to live and what they want to do with there life ! I see droves of folks lined up every week to play lotto Alway looking for the get rich scheme ... Jack up on dope and booze as many of them are ... So tired of of people place ing that blame on everybody els .. It's a fact that we all make the choices we make and have to live with the results we settle for .. It kinda like the hate the rich man game ! Well the rich man doesn't take from the poor because the poor have nothing to take ! You have to believe that there's a fixed amount of earning out there to buy into this and that's not the case.. Most rich folks make a lot on making life better for the masses and in most cases making life cheaper . And giving many of the lower and middle class a opportunity to do something with themselves .... Many of the poor would do so much more if they would stop blaming there problems on everybody and everything but themselves.... Yea I know it's hard ! Fact is it's hard for everybody the one's who when just don't quit until they win ! And usually they get up and go after something els ... Over and over ... They rarely lay back and roll in the money .. As a challenge is about much more than money ! It's about doing the impossible . That which so many give up so easy on!
 

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Thanks discovery channel, for plaguing the minds of the less fortunate. Thats what it is, A.D.D. attention deficit disorder America, made to think this gold finding stuff is easy every day. For me, Prospecting as a hobby is what I want to keep it as. Prospecting as my living is just not sustainable. Want to make money? make a better gold trap and patten it and sell to prospectors. It is what it is.

You folks have got to stop refering to prospecting and mining as a hobby. The courts and greennazis are using that phrase as a reason to disqualify our rights under the 1872 mining laws. IT IS NOT A HOBBY BUT A WAY OF LIFE!
 

You folks have got to stop refering to prospecting and mining as a hobby. The courts and greennazis are using that phrase as a reason to disqualify our rights under the 1872 mining laws. IT IS NOT A HOBBY BUT A WAY OF LIFE!
maybe for u ... But for me it's about having a good time.. Burning off some steam ... I'm afraid if I did it for a living I'd end up at ting it...
 

Great story about what happens to the inexperienced guys.... i got a kick out of the fact john took the guy out on a working boat and put them on gold and put the gold in the box ....this guy should have started up with something much smaller he said he wanted to dive so why make a dry land operation when he could have made a smaller more cost effective dredge
 

Great story about what happens to the inexperienced guys.... i got a kick out of the fact john took the guy out on a working boat and put them on gold and put the gold in the box ....this guy should have started up with something much smaller he said he wanted to dive so why make a dry land operation when he could have made a smaller more cost effective dredge
dont believe that tug belonged to him ... And with that in mind it was probably because the tug opportunity was there and sometimes people think bigger is better....in this case it just made a bigger failure ..
There's droves of these things every year from what I understand .. And some a lot more costly than the loss of this tug...
Truthfully is very lucky he was recused !
 

You folks have got to stop referring to prospecting and mining as a hobby. The courts and greennazis are using that phrase as a reason to disqualify our rights under the 1872 mining laws. IT IS NOT A HOBBY BUT A WAY OF LIFE!

You are absolutely right B H prospector :icon_thumleft:

As far as anyone calling their small scale mining venture a hobby is concerned...........

Those of us who have been following the concerted efforts by radical so called environmentalists to put an end to our rights to prospect for and mine minerals given to us by the 1872 mining laws are now faced with a semantics dilemma.

Even though this may not be a way of life for you..........
We ask that you please replace the words "hobby" or "recreational" with the words "small scale miner" or "small scale mining"

Fact is, hobbies and or recreation have no protection in court under the 1872 mining laws. We are fighting an uphill battle the way it is without giving the wackos any more ammo to use against us.

There is nothing wrong with having a good time or enjoying small scale mining even though it may not be paying off for you as a second income.

I'm not trying to do anything here but educate and raise the awareness of other small scale miners about what we are up against in court for the good of all of us.

Please, we all need to work together on this and be part of the solution and not part of the problem.


Respectfully,
GG~
 

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Pretty good video on how to go about mining bass akwards :icon_thumleft:
He's not the first and I'm sure not the last one to put the cart in front of the horse.

Spend all you have taking unproven unfamiliar equipment to a place you've never been and try your hand at something you've never done before and expect success.
Sound familiar, pretty much describes the Hoffmans of Gold Rush fame. :tongue3:

GG~
 

Whew! That video was quite a wake-up call. All the best laid plans...
 

Want to make money? make a better gold trap and patten it and sell to prospectors. It is what it is.

Can't BGT's already done it. Guess I gotta keep the day job.:BangHead:
 

Pretty good video on how to go about mining bass akwards :icon_thumleft: He's not the first and I'm sure not the last one to put the cart in front of the horse. Spend all you have taking unproven unfamiliar equipment to a place you've never been and try your hand at something you've never done before and expect success. Sound familiar, pretty much describes the Hoffmans of Gold Rush fame. :tongue3: GG~
are you referring to Todd Hoffman and the gold rush snow?
Lol
 

First off I will say that I enjoy my rights under the mining act of 1872 as a small scale miner and will continue to do so for as long as I can! As far as the whole bankrupting by tugboat fiasco, that is no different than what miners have to face on a daily basis. All miners get faced with difficult challenges, (usually daily) that must be met and overcome. Granted these are usually small things but if you can not overcome these small things you won't have the experience, skills and decision making process to overcome the larger ones. Selling gold in a Gold Shop may not qualify you to be a successful gold miner. What does qualify you is being able to row a 80' gold barge with a gigantic spoon...

GM
 

I will never go to Alaska, I know I'd never make it due to age and such. However, there is gold in my little creek, not much, and I can always go to North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia and pan at one of numerous places. I figure most people who go to Alaska don't make it rich.
 

I will never go to Alaska, I know I'd never make it due to age and such. However, there is gold in my little creek, not much, and I can always go to North Carolina, South Carolina or Georgia and pan at one of numerous places. I figure most people who go to Alaska don't make it rich.
iv gotten filthy rich doing it down in Alabama and nome is next on my list.. But then the riches I'm finding are the great times with my oldest boy and friends! So I guess your riches are where you put your values...
 

I found the goodies in penny bags these last two weeks. Gotta love those double dies.
 

I think the two things that killed the project were 1) underfunding and 2) bad timing. "Doing" Nome should be a TWO YEAR startup process. Year one is planning and TESTING the equipment. Like put some steel pellets or bb's on the bottom and see if the dredge gets them, and then the NEXT year start out at the beginning of the season to go to Nome. Or Wherever you want to go.
 

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