More often than not..................

[Elton]

A lot of we detectorists get lost in the competition factor of detecting.

That is a real shame. Detecting is a great "hobby".. and fun to do.

Remember when you bought your first detector. You could not wait to find the next penny.

Think back how much fun that was, and how you anticipated just going out to detect.

Now most of us want the most expensive detector on the market. If we don't find 20 pieces of Silver a day it was a bad day etc. etc. etc.

I'm not saying there is anything wrong with wanting to find Silver, Rings, Gold, or any number of other valuable items..That is a good thing.
I am saying that should not be our primary goal when we go detecting. We should enjoy what we are doing, and love the hunt. If we strike a valuable target..Yaaaaaaaaaaaa even better. Why not try to go back, way back too when it was a fun, and relaxing hobby for you, me, and most everyone who ever bought a detector.

Who has the right to say you gotta find Silver every hunt, Who's to say you should buy a better detector, Who's to say you can't just enjoy your hobby..Go detecting and have fun..

I'm not going to say that. In fact this year I am going to go back and start doing just that..Have fun..How about you ?. Are you with me?.

I have friends who won't go detecting unless they have some 100 year old sight to detect... Some place their almost guaranteed to find old Silver.. They used to love detecting.. wanted to go every time possible.. Where do we change ?? What makes us change ?...

Let's revive the "Hobby" aspect of detecting.... let us encourage others to do it for fun..

Thanks for reading. I hope you all know what I am trying to say here.

 

[Larry (IL)]

Some good points El but except for a few who do this for a living, I think all of us metal detect for the fun of it. I know some people who only go to competition hunts on the weekends and travel through several states to do it. They have fun. For the last several years I have hunted primarily for older coins, the gold and clad finds suffered but I had fun. I know many who hunt all day for a Civil War bullet..... the list goes on and we all have fun. What is fun varies.

I feel sorry for the ones who feel that they have to be better, if not the best, than others, have the best machine (in their opinion), find the most and have the need to let others know. To them, being the best is fun, not so fun for others.

 

[LuckyDig]

Not sure about everyone else but I personally enjoy finding a long lost toy car treasure than finding a coin spill. Clad spends but that little toy car goes into my personal "Treasure box". The little long lost treasures (toy cars, cheap jewelry, pocket knives ect.) hold more value to me than the big dollar items. I'm not saying that I wouldn't mind finding that 3 carat diamond solitare ring but my favorite ring found to date is a pot metal and enamel smiley face ring..my wifes favorite is the small diamond and gold band...she just doesn't see things eye to eye with me all the time.

 

[mudpuppy]

OK, I'll have a go at this topic! Being less than a year old to this hobby, I find great motivation on these posts. Especially looking at high end loot! If there was nothing to see here but hotwheel cars and Chucky cheese tokens, forget it! Having fun is part of being successful at aything we do, being highly motivated, either through competition or greed for high value targets or a huge take of clad is OK! Who would go salmon fishing with a zebco 202 and 8 lb line for the fun of it? One of the most appealing things about this hobby is the chance to find and cash a major score!
My wife has gotten more jewelry from me since I started this last summer than in all our 30+ years together, and that helps me get out and look for more! Sometimes I dont want to go metal detect, but I FORCE myself into doing it, and once out and swinging, have a great time! A fellow cant find big loot sitting around in the living room!

 

[D&P-OR]

Elton & Larry------I think both of you guys have made EXCELLENT points here!-----To Patsy & I, this metal detecting hobby is the GREATEST (most fun) hobby in the world!!---I'll admit,early on (for several years) we did put some pretty tough (hard to meet) goals on ourselves in regard to hunts, hrs. put in & finds that we wanted to make.----Sometimes it would take us a day or two to just to get rested up from a streak of hunts that we had done (and we were younger then than we are now). ----But we have met MOST of those goals that we "self imposed" on ourselves.----We had fun doing them though & look back on them and talk about them & the great experience that they were.---We both cherish those hrs. & quality time spent together on those hunts, nobody can EVER take those memories away from us.---So yeah, it was fun in that sense but it was ALSO a lot of hard work! -------Now-a-days, we "operate" at a much more leisurely gate and are having fun (a blast) now to.------The other day we were hunting a park and got over about half of it and stopped to eat lunch in the car around noon time.----We were setting there & I looked at Patsy & said--"this is supposed to be fun, not torture, do you want to do the other half of the park tomorrow or the next day"?---She said, "yeah, that'll be fine".So we went on back to the motor home having had fun (a blast) with that mornings hunt.---But then we are retired & can pretty much "call our shots" when we hunt or don't hunt.----Some people have to squeeze there hrs. of hunt time in (due to work, family obligations, etc.) in order to have their fun detecting and I respect that.-----As for us, we do (for the most part) still try to pick sites where we have a chance of finding BOTH old and new targets.-----I guess the bottom line is"---treasure hunting (just like life in general) is what you make of it. (and the fun you have there-in)--------Well, we're headin out now---gonna go have fun 'tectin the other half of that park! --------Del & Patsy

 

[Mike Hillis]

Elton, I'm kind of a focused. When I go Bass fishing I'm hunting Bass. When I go Crappie fishing I'm hunting Crappie. When I go Trout fishing I'm hunting Trout.

Same thing when I'm detecting. I go out with a target in mind. If I'm clad hunting I'm looking for clad. If I'm jewelry hunting I'm looking for jewelry. If I'm hunting old coins I'm looking for old coins. If I'm prospecting I'm looking for raw gold. Sure I'll keep any jewelry I find while clad hunting, and yes, I'll keep any clad I find while jewerly hunting but the GOAL is what I'm after. If I met that hunt's goal then it was a great hunt. If I didn't meet the goal then it was good to get out but the overall hunt was a bust.

Now, I do go out and detect new sites, but I still have a goal in mind in that I'm learning the new site and how it fits into my other detecting goals.

That is just me.
HH
Mike

 

[dewcon4414]

I used to run marathons for the Army. There were always the elite or those who want to be. It became a way of life rather than .. my only goal was to finish. There are different stage of hunters... those that have to BE THE BEST and other are just glad to have a day out hunting clad. Im like Larry in that im not a real clad hunter... BUT like today if there isnt anything there and a few of us get out ill dig what rings up and have a blast at the end showing off my clad and junk. I have NO bad days metal detecting... dont mind sharing my spots....dont mind helping a beginner.... and dont care what you are hunting, i just want to go. After 17 years i still find every hunt a blast and the finds unpredictable.

Dew

 

[jim tn]

Like Larry, I think most of us that pursue this hobby consider it to be fun. Certainly, there are the elements of challenge, self gratification, and for some, achieving goals, but it is still all about the fun. I hunt almost every day and by the time I get home, I am already looking forward to tomorrows hunt. I know I am having fun. HH jim tn

 

[slingshot]

Elton, I'm kind of a focused. When I go Bass fishing I'm hunting Bass. When I go Crappie fishing I'm hunting Crappie. When I go Trout fishing I'm hunting Trout.

Same thing when I'm detecting. I go out with a target in mind. If I'm clad hunting I'm looking for clad. If I'm jewelry hunting I'm looking for jewelry. If I'm hunting old coins I'm looking for old coins. If I'm prospecting I'm looking for raw gold. Sure I'll keep any jewelry I find while clad hunting, and yes, I'll keep any clad I find while jewerly hunting but the GOAL is what I'm after. If I met that hunt's goal then it was a great hunt. If I didn't meet the goal then it was good to get out but the overall hunt was a bust.

Now, I do go out and detect new sites, but I still have a goal in mind in that I'm learning the new site and how it fits into my other detecting goals.

That is just me.
HH
Mike

ESPECIALLY Crappie fishing!

 

[Elton]

Somewhere along the line some of us loose that "fun" factor... It becomes a total competition thing..

 

[jmaryt]

anticipation!..it is the one word i would use to describe my almost 34 years of hunting!
the "possibility" of finding something real good is what keeps the "juice" movin' so to speak!
with the advent of these new digital circuit designs,the hobby certainly has a bright future!
all sites are "'still" spillin' their treasures!..i'm just happy i'm a part of this!..the timing couldn't be better!
retired,and gettin' out almost every day now!..whoops!..i mean when the "nasty" white stuff disappears!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

 

[Furious T]

Elton, I see your point about the "competition thing". I guess we are all different, and so we get our enjoyment (from whatever we do) in different ways. I am not, and never have been a competitor, (mainly because I'd always get beaten); no doubt about it, I'm a dreamer, and love thinking about what I might find...but I dont EXPECT to find it. I still get a thrill out of just finding stuff (although pulltabs and bottlecaps have sort of lost their "shine" for me). Have said that I'm not a competitor, I still like to keep records of what I find and where, so maybe, in that way, I do compete with myself. Because I dont have expectations of what I will find, I dont get disappointed and still enjoy the thrill of the hunt. I think there may be a lot of us who, because of some disability or injury, are just happy to be able to get out there at all. Detecting is still the best way I know of de-stressing (for me), and I think that if someone gets stressed by going detecting, that is the time to give it away. Just my thoughts. HH

 

[mudpuppy]

And talk about good for you! I bet I've lost 15lbs too. Getting outside and exploring places, deep knee bends, concentrating, meeting all sorts of people, researching potential areas...Its just all about good clean fun. I had no idea about how much stuff people drop, and wondering who they were, what they were doing, even finding a dog license is sort of cool, was this a good dog? was he chasing a deer or something? I would definitely recommend this sport to a parent that wants their kid outside exploring and dreaming of hidden treasure. Maybe a kid who has trouble concentrating in school would really benefit. I have had the priveledge of returning two class rings this summer and hearing the stories of how they were lost. Some finds are just plain odd, like finding a foreign coin way out in a spot that there is no way it should ever be. I do think that if a person sets some really high goals, and focuses up for each hunt, prepares, etc. sooner or later you will find something of great value. I used to spend a lot of time fishing, but there were days when you came home with nothing! No matter how well you were prepared. This sport, you never come home empty handed!
This is a really big planet, and a fellow only has so many years to try to cover it all, and very few years of time, health, and enough money for gas.

 

[rlchntr]

The fun aspect for me is getting out in the woods and fields (I'm strictly a relic hunter in central Va.) and enjoying the hunt while surrounded by nature and wildlife. I also try to put myself mentally back in time after finding, say, a pocket of dropped Civil War bullets surrounded by fired bullets, trying to imagine what those soldiers were going through. Oh how I love this hobby!

HH

- Gary

 

[Mike Hillis]

Best Crappie fishing in the WORLD is Proctor Lake, Tx in late February. Talking 2 and 3 and 4 POUND Crappie. Jigging from the creek bank in the holes of the tree roots. Fish so big that once you hook one you can't get it through the hole you are jigging.

Not bad out on the lake itself either :clsoedeyes:

HH
Mike

 

[Hotcz70]

What I have typed below in my signature says it all for me.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I enjoy being out in a nice park as much as the finds sometimes.Its always good to make great finds and little competition can be fun as long as you don't take it too serious.Though most of my hunts the Journey is as important as the Destination. HH Ron

 

[Jim West Pa]

the treasure that i found in '04.
[attachment 187923 Nov.jpg]

The smile on this gals face,( my girlfriend at the time, now my wife ) over findin her first target, a simple iron coupling,
is the absolute greatest treasure i ever found. And i didn't even git my fingers dirty
If i get the chance to jist git out and swing a coil it matters not to me what i swing it over.
As Elson would say... " life is good " .

As Uncle Pren would say.. " never measure wealth in dollars "

 

[D&P-OR]

I was just thinking about this during a "dry spell" while we were out hunting the other during day. -----ONE of the things that makes this hobby so great (and fun) is that young & old can paricipate in it, handicapped people can participate in it, you can use as least expensive (or most expensive) equipment you like etc.------Also, comes to me that the "fun factor" can vary with an individual (as you age or your health changes).----What was fun for you (the way you hunted/participated) in this hobby ten yrs. ago may not be as much fun for you now.-----But you can ADJUST and STILL have fun (a blast) for your personal situation/preference now.------Does this make any sense to anyone?---I have a hard time putting into words my thoughts sometimes but I know what I'm TRYING to say (I think). ----I just know "they" are not going to get my detectors until they pry them out of my cold dead hands----because I am STILL havin fun!!!!------Great post Elton!-------Del

 

[Larry (IL)]

n/t