What I learned on my first beach hunt.

Sherpat

Full Member
Feb 3, 2016
149
283
NJ
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Compadre
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I only started detecting this year, after the wife gave me my Tesoro for Christmas. Because of the weather (freezing nights well into April keeping the ground too hard to dig) I haven't been able to hunt all that often in the woods around my house.

However, we are part of a lake community. Lake Barry is very small, with a nice little beach, playground, and picnic area all compressed into an area about a hundred yards long and 30 yards wide.

A sign went up the other day that the beach was to be cleaned up and re-sanded over this weekend, and they were looking for volunteers. There was a large pile of sand on one end of the beach already, and that would be layered over the old sand in time for Memorial Day.

I figured it would be fun to try my Compadre in the sand, especially before the new top went on and buried everything deeper. I stopped in the clubhouse and asked permission...and nobody had ever heard of anyone wanting to do that before, so they couldn't give me an answer. So I just went over to the beach and did it. I was alone, except for a guy fishing, and no one came out to object so I guess it was ok.

I had a blast! It was the first time I'd been able to detect in something other than rocky ground with heavy undergrowth, and not frozen either. Even if I hadn't found anything I would have counted it worth it just for the excitement. As it turned out though, I did come out with a handful of change (and a discarded spoon, woo hoo!). Nothing other than recent stuff - a few quarters, dimes and pennies - but as I said, I had a blast.

And this is what I took away from the experience:

1. I have to learn to discriminate. That little Tesoro finds EVERYTHING, no matter how small, no matter how deep (well, that's what it seemed like to me at the time). Until I get more experienced and learn what I should ignore, I'm gonna probably be spending waaaay more time madly chasing after every BB, pen nib, and bobby pin than I should.

2. I really really REALLY want a pinpointer. I can absolutely see why they are so popular, now that I've seen how many objects are absolutely invisible even when they're right there in the palm of your hand. Boy would one of those save me a lot of time.

3. I'm gonna need a heavy duty washing machine, I can tell.

4. I have to be more methodical in how I traverse terrain. I spent too much time meandering, and probably missed spots even in that relatively small enclosure.

So that was it, basically, other than maybe reinforcing my immediate enthusiasm for the hobby. It was as much fun as I was hoping it would be, and I can't wait til I can get out there again.

(Oh, and in the meantime...the next day - this morning in fact - I did volunteer to help clean up the beach and spread the new sand. Gotta give back, y'know?)

I also want to say: this forum has been a great resource for me, filled with helpful people and knowledgeable souls. I don't think I would have been half as effective if it weren't for the tips I've already received from both perusing old posts, and asking new questions over the last few weeks. Thank you all. Very much.

Tom
 

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#1. Only discriminate out iron during a sand hunt. Scoop everything else.
#2. Yes! Get a good pin pointer
#3. What are you washing?
#4. To cover an area without gaps, overlap your swings slightly and drag your scoop or shuffle your feet, so, you can tell where you've been.
Also, be careful who you ask and how you phrase your questions when getting permission. It's much better to look up the rules yourself than to get an arbitrary answer (and personal bias) from someone who may have an anti-detecting stance. If there are no posted rules regarding detecting, just do it with care and leave the place like you found it.....less the treasure of course! :laughing7:
 

#1. Only discriminate out iron during a sand hunt. Scoop everything else.
#2. Yes! Get a good pin pointer
#3. What are you washing?
#4. To cover an area without gaps, overlap your swings slightly and drag your scoop or shuffle your feet, so, you can tell where you've been.
Also, be careful who you ask and how you phrase your questions when getting permission. It's much better to look up the rules yourself than to get an arbitrary answer (and personal bias) from someone who may have an anti-detecting stance. If there are no posted rules regarding detecting, just do it with care and leave the place like you found it.....less the treasure of course! :laughing7:


Thanks very much for all that, CudaMark! Very much appreciated.

Lol...to answer #4: EVERYTHING. Ok, maybe not that bad, but I do think I'll get a pair of Lewinski's to protect my knees. My jeans were pretty soggy after all that kneeling, and because of all the rain recently the sand was soggy AND the water table was just below the surface in many areas. I looked like I'd just done a forced march through Okefenokee Swamp by the time it was all over. Wifey was...amazed...to put it nicely :laughing7:

Yeah, point well taken about who/what/how to ask for permission. I've taken all I've read about that very, very seriously. I only asked in person because nothing in our lake community by-laws says anything about it. And the fact that no one there - including the president of the association, whom I met the next day at the cleanup and asked - knew either, made it a safe bet that I'd be ok. Fortunately this is a pretty laid back place, and no official hackles were raised. So I think I'm on the right side of the right group.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to pass those tips on to me! All the best :thumbsup:
 

Oh, you're just getting dirty, eh? :laughing7: Welcome to treasure hunting! I went from working on vehicles to detecting, so I'm actually cleaner now! :laughing7: For future reference, if there are no specific rules about detecting (they're silent on the subject) then it's not prohibited. Just go ahead and detect using good recovery practices and you should be fine. If someone in confirmed authority asks you to stop, do so, and try to find out nicely what their objection is, and where it's written that it's prohibited.
 

Oh, you're just getting dirty, eh? :laughing7: Welcome to treasure hunting! I went from working on vehicles to detecting, so I'm actually cleaner now! :laughing7: For future reference, if there are no specific rules about detecting (they're silent on the subject) then it's not prohibited. Just go ahead and detect using good recovery practices and you should be fine. If someone in confirmed authority asks you to stop, do so, and try to find out nicely what their objection is, and where it's written that it's prohibited.

That's great advice again, so thanks again! And I had to laugh at you transitioning to a "cleaner" pursuit by taking up detecting :laughing9: Well done!
 

I agree with Cudamark if there are no signs prohibiting detecting then go for it. If they tell you to stop politely ask them if there are rules against it but don't push it. I was told to stop in a cpl different places and there are no laws or regulations against where I was but I complied and apologized for being there. It appears you are now hooked and if you are it won't be long before you find enough clad to afford a pin pointer but if you count the cost of your gas you will never be able to afford one...lol

4 of the 5 detectors I have were paid for with clad and rings I found not counting the gas I used going hunting. My sand scoop and E-Trac haven't paid for themselves yet but working on it.
 

I agree with Cudamark if there are no signs prohibiting detecting then go for it. If they tell you to stop politely ask them if there are rules against it but don't push it. I was told to stop in a cpl different places and there are no laws or regulations against where I was but I complied and apologized for being there. It appears you are now hooked and if you are it won't be long before you find enough clad to afford a pin pointer but if you count the cost of your gas you will never be able to afford one...lol

4 of the 5 detectors I have were paid for with clad and rings I found not counting the gas I used going hunting. My sand scoop and E-Trac haven't paid for themselves yet but working on it.

Thanks for seconding the permission tips. That sounds like a great strategy.

Yeah, I'm saving for that pinpointer right now, although I doubt the $1.37 I came away with from that beach hunt is gonna put much of a dent in it, lol. Money is very, very tight right now. I'd like to get that Makro that's been on sale in the "Classified" section for a while, but I don't have quite enough yet. Hopefully it'll still be available when I strike that hoard of lost Inca gold (that's buried in North Jersey for some reason).

Good for you that your finds are helping fund your hobby! That's really awesome :icon_thumleft:
 

Hey Tom... I laughed at the "Heavy duty washing machine."

I now regularly hunt at lunch in my work nice work clothes.. no getting dirty. The key is having a nice pouch for your trash and stuff, and using a cheap knee guard. I get mine at Harbor Freight for about $7 a pair, and I only use one knee. I kneel, dig up and stand up and go.

I even use black nitrile gloves (the heavy duty kind you can reuse) to keep my hands clean. Gloves off, knee pad off, and I'm ready to go back to work.

Cheers!

Thanks very much, Skippy. Great advice, all of it! Gotta get me one of those pouches now....

:)
 

Every time you get out there is a learning experience. Just keep doing what you're doing and soon enough you'll know exactly what that machine is telling you.

And yeah, a pinpointer is a Godsend. Once you get one you'll never be without it.

And yeah, I lurked on this site for about a year before I finally got a detector. There is a wealth of information here and plenty of folks who are more than happy to help you along.
This site is almost as addicting as hunting treasure.
 

just in case no one told you, finding gold and silver is NOT quite as easy as it appears in videos ( or for that matter, in some of the threads here)


soon you will join me in my hatred of those who post gold and diamond rings they find all the time on the beach!
 

just in case no one told you, finding gold and silver is NOT quite as easy as it appears in videos ( or for that matter, in some of the threads here)


soon you will join me in my hatred of those who post gold and diamond rings they find all the time on the beach!

I can't speak for anyone else but my good gold and silver finds I post here are those more "uncommon" finds that merit pics and posting. It's sort of a "reward" for all the time and effort that goes into finding it. It's not like you just go out, start swinging and pick up gold and silver on every hunt (if only).

I never post pics of the mountains (and mountains) of trash I dig for every gold and silver piece that may show up. I assure you there is WAY more trash than treasure. It's just the nature of the hobby.

I've dug two gold rings so far this year (since late February). I've probably dug an easy 500 (at least) pull tabs for those two rings. The only way to find gold is to always be willing to dig anything in the pull tab range. If you pass over the pull tabs you'll pass over the gold on those rare occasions that it actually shows up.

On the upside, when it does appear you immediately forget about all of that trash for a little while.
Then it's back to swinging and diggin' up more (and more, and more) trash.

So, please don't hate. One day you'll be posting some fantastic treasure and the rest of us will be drooling over it and wishing we had that kind of luck.
And so it goes.....
 

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