Night hunting???:goodnight:

[metalmedic]

Never night hunted before....as it begins to heat up here in Florida, it sounds like a good idea. Anyone care to share stories of there experiences night hunting? Do you get hassled by anyone?

 

[Oldguy]

I love night hunting, I've never had a problem, but I only hunt where I have permission. Most parks close at dark so they are off limits. I use a headlamp, more than enough light and the new LED ones don't seem to attract bugs.

 

[kaolinwasher]

is that not when the Gators & snakes are out and hard to see?

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Several years ago while on vacation at virginia beach I went out on an early morning 430 am hunt..some drunk came up to me and asked if I had found any gold. I hadnt and not really sure of this guys motives I said in the most surly voice I could , no I havent .do you have any on you?? He didnt hang around....

 

[Tom_in_CA]

So peaceful. So serene. Less griper busy-bodies to deal with Don't use any lights (no headlamps, etc..). Just let your eyes adjust to the stars and moon (pick fuller-moon nights, if-need-be). Because if you use any sort of lights , your eyes/pupils will become adjusted to JUST THAT beam. That includes back-lights for your detector. Turn it off. Lest you become blind to everything else around you.

You can carry a penlight flaslight on a lanyard around your neck, to turn on to look at dates on coins, etc....

 

[MarkCZ]

Few have done as much night hunting as me, except maybe for some beach hunters.
Bug spray,
The headlamp is good but I may at best just use the red LED to search with and I put reflective tape on my coils (remember I'm not talking about hunting a beach) Then when I dig I switch the headlamp over to it regular light to dig and retrieve targets, then switch back to red to search.

In a little more rougher terrain I have the option to use a very low power single cell LED detector mounted light that doesn't cause night blindness (or very little), not every night is starlit when I hunt.

Mark

 

[metalmedic]

Nice setup Mark!! Aside from beach hunting where would one hunt in the dark? Some beaches are only open from dawn to dusk. I guess anyplace that doesn't have a night rule? Would you hunt vacant lots in an old part of a downtown area...if you were brave enough?

 

[MarkCZ]

No! not in a rough part of town!
Years ago I used to hunt what we called "Curb Hunting" Curb'in that is the grass strips along side of the streets in the nicer, older parts of the city (Not New York New York) Now that hunting has pretty much ended, but I did a lot of it. I worked evening shift and got off work at 12:30am and I could hunt until just before sunup.

Now, my plan is to do some night hunting at our local city park, the park has an upper side that's not along side the city streets. Yes, its shut down or closed at night, but that to traffic, the park isn't really closed to passer byers, in other words you can walk around the in the park all you want, but its close to gatherings, parties, outings, and the like. At night they don't post "No Trespassing" signs. So, in the low lands you might find some thugs wondering around up to go good, but that highlands is more remote and not so likely for any wonder's rooming around.

Next would be some private property with permission.
Now the best reason for me to night hunt was to beat the summer heat, I found that in the very hot Mid Day Heat the detector was WAY more unstable, but at night it was very VERY stable, I could run much higher settings and the target responses from coins was much better as well. Most of the silver coins I ever found I found at night.

Mark

 

[Goldstrike]

I'm comfortable detecting until it gets too dark to see what and who's around me. It always seems that the bad guy's, drunks, druggies and the like come out when the sun goes down.....kinda like coachroaches lol!!! Seriously though, I would feel more comfortable if I had a CCW license but because I don't, you won't find me out there in the dark unless I was detecting with another adult as a backup. Seeing as I usually work alone, that probably won't happen though!
I am aware of detectorists in England who are serious enough to use night vision achieving great sucess in finding amazing finds during the night time hours.
I love beach detecting but would only consider detecting during the night with a buddy.

 

[MarkCZ]

I'm comfortable detecting until it gets too dark to see what and who's around me. It always seems that the bad guy's, drunks, druggies and the like come out when the sun goes down.....kinda like coachroaches lol!!! Seriously though, I would feel more comfortable if I had a CCW license but because I don't, you won't find me out there in the dark unless I was detecting with another adult as a backup. Seeing as I usually work alone, that probably won't happen though!
I am aware of detectorists in England who are serious enough to use night vision achieving great sucess in finding amazing finds during the night time hours.
I love beach detecting but would only consider detecting during the night with a buddy.

I would also recommend a buddy!
good point.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

You did ask for stories, well here goes. (This Is A True Story)

One night after work I decided to go curb'in this area is very near our city park, maybe two blocks away. I park my car near the corner,
Its a little drizzling rain, but not bad, most of the corners are where the street lights are. (it 1:00am)
I get out of the car and put on my gear,
Headphones,
White nail apron, (that went very well with my tan corduroy pants)
I stepped onto the grass and start detecting, all was well for awhile!
In a little bit a city police officer pulls along side the curb and puts his spot light on me,
In the next few seconds he is busted out laughing!!
He calls me over to the car, the best he could while dying laughing and says "You won't believe the call that came in on you" "Dispatched radioed that there was a person in their underwear at 1:00am sweeping sidewalks in the rain" he was still laughing uncontrollable went he drove off! LoL

That night I moved on, I knew what had happened, one of the nosey neighbors saw my headlights when I pulled up and stopped, that got there attention, they watched me get out of my car and reported to their best ability what they saw. I learned a lesson that night, after that when I would go night hunting I would park at one end of the block, just grab my stuff and walk to the other end out of sight of the nosey-ies and detect back to towards the cars that way everybody was happy.

Mark

 

[skookum]

Hi,
Stumbling around in the dark with no light on as Tom in Ca suggests, I

 

[mudpuppy]

Beach hunting at night is easy, relaxing, productive, comfortable....though I will say it takes some time to get comfortable being out at night, most of us that enjoy it have no doubt spent a majority of our lives being out at night on other various pursuits, trapping, bowfishing, what have you..so it was a natural and not at all disconcerting thing to go detecting at night.....I like "the Dead Hours" the time frame between 2am and 5...you should not find any other people out and about, or awake...the early night is still too "busy" for me, (see Goldstrikes post)...but the dead hours are peaceful, and your ears become your primary sense instead of your eyes...and we hunt with our ears... I hunt with no light for the reasons Tom-in-Ca mentioned..., probably because thats how I operated in my past, even checking traps...your feet find their way....your body really becomes super tuned when it cant use its eyes...I do have a small LED clipped to the front of my shirt just in case...it can deter anybody by shining it in their eyes if it comes to that...and thats why I have it....yeah, theres a few stories I'd like to tell, but I'm already late to get out and find something! Good luck this weekend boys...big full moon pulled up some silver!
Mud

 

[mudpuppy]

Well, I'm back. Pulled a Merc at dawn within an hour of logging off!...

Ok, so night hunting, specifically beach, since Metalmedic lives in Florida, I am assuming thats what he intends to do...another plus is the coolness at night, and if a fellow cant take much sun or crowds, its Perfect! Ample parking too...I got rousted once by the "beach patrol" whos function seems to be to insure theres no unseemly naughtiness going on, I had no problem, after a conversation, we agreed its good to have a responsible old guy out there to take care of business in those lonely desolate hours..all the street cops around here know me, and its a good idea to make yourself and your vehicle known to them as well...

Find a safe place to park, you hunt heads up, not looking down, and keep your head on a swivel, try to do a big wide comfortable sweep, like a 270 degree arc, and turn around often...generally you are safe, since without a light, nobody can see you, and you can see things they cant...push comes to shove, go into the water, where you will be unmolestable except for the "Man in the brown suit" or Mr.Ray, been my experience from years of hunting them, the fish are asleep in the dead hours...(they do feed right at dusk and into the 12-1:00am time frame)..scooting along with your coil out in front should stir Mr. Ray up and out of your path...

If you target certain areas, it can be quite profitable, early worm thing, from the droppers of the night before, you need to know where the drinkers go for a swim after the bars close, good easy stuff there!...Also, be prepared to stumble across a stiff...I nearly did one early morning, some guy jumped off the pier the night before, vanished and washed up...sand cat guy beat me to him by 100yds..we get furious rips, and when somebody goes missing, everybody on the beach makes a chain holding hands and searching in the heavy rip and surf, tragic, yes, but a lot of rings get accidentally pulled off as you can imagine,...so watch the news...[attachment 290958 cross2.jpg]

In the Summer I hunt the beach in the dead hours until sun-up. After sunup, the flies come pouring out of the dunes and will flat eat a fellow, bug dope or not! A guy can walk all night in the dark..looking back at my records, last July I figured I walked over 100 miles of sand in the dead hours, plus, my Wife never even knows I'm gone! I'm at home with a pot of coffee brewing as she is waking up. Anyway, you can get really hooked on just night hunting..its hard to hunt in daylight after you do...Nighttime is wasted by most of the World...
Mud

 

[skookum]

Hi,
Never heard of any sensible trapper checking or setting his traps at night.
A guy could very well step in a set trap himself, especially if they

 

[mudpuppy]

Hmmm...never once had any problem out at night checking or setting traps...'course, I've been at it since I was 13..so thats only 40 yrs or so of experience talking here..and that includes some year round work as a damage control contractor in 3 States...when I was young, a guy had to check traps before school, skin flesh and stretch, and I just carried that pattern on through...anyway, theres not a leg hold made that is gonna hurt a guy by "stepping in it", maybe a bear trap? not even a #4 or #5 double long spring would grab a guys foot?, I trapped smaller things..like beaver, rats, raccoon, coyotes, 'cats, fox, mink...etc....largest traps that MAY have posed any danger to me were 220 and 330 conibears...but setting them is all muscle memory after a while....snares are the ticket, no danger at all, and a guy can carry alot of them, still, to be a responsible and profitable trapper, you gotta go check asap, every day, which means in the dark, all sorts of weather, no excuses...yes, I have fallen through the ice plenty of times, no harm done, but that seems to be the thing that will kill a guy quickest out checking traps at night or day, my greatest fear was getting up on a moose in a beaver swamp and getting stomped down into the mud, black bears always run away, I never carried a firearm on the trapline, just a club...so I was very quiet and invisible, just like I try to be while detecting...falling through the ice and not being able to get back out in a hurry is probably the big thing..

To get back on topic, night hunting on the beach is easy...you just scoop up the ping and pop it in your pouch and keep hunting..you have a good idea what the ping is by the tones and feel of it...the bummer about only hunting when theres a "good breeze blowing", means its an onshore breeze, and that means big surf and rips, nearly impossible and very unsafe to hunt...the best days are when theres an offshore breeze, the water is flat and easy to hunt, but at sun-up the biting flies come pouring out of the dunes and tear a guy up..I doubt you know any sensible trappers, or any trappers at all, so dont jump up and talk smack...some of us working men cant afford to hunt all day in the bright sunshine like you obviously do, with a butler along to hold an umbrella, carry water, and scoop your finds for you! But, I guess what ever makes you happy, to each his own..
Mud

 

[MarkCZ]

Well, some people have a different idea of,
Night time and just being dark out,
and,
DARK or in a place that is totally absent of light like a mile or so back in a coal mine or a cave! here is true "Darkness" total absents of light! without a light of some kind the human eye sees NOTHING!

now outside of those places we normally live in a light polluted environment, from mood light, to stars, to off distance building lights, street lights, factories, beaches often times has hotels and motels so in those places the next thing to true darkness would be with a total power outage and very heavy cloud coverage. Other than that its really only night time, yes, its seems dark at first if you just walk out from being inside a well lite environment, but as your eyes adjust to the "night time" you can see outlines and shapes, your hands and the nearby terrain.

The darker it gets the more effective a tiny light is, like the single red LED of a headband light, it don't attract a lot of attention, including bugs, it gives off enough light that very close by objects can be seen, like your coil, your feet, the path your walking and in scooping up sand that would be more than enough light for that, now dirt digging is another story, that's when I just switch the headlamp over to its regular white light, as soon as I bag the find I switch back to the red and in a few seconds my eyes re-adjust back to the lower light.

Now for beach hunting the detector mounted headlight would be great! its not in your face enough to cause blindness and would help to just see the ground right around the coil so you could see stuff that's just laying on the ground with good detail (trash and the like).

The last time out at night for me in the park I was by myself, its was quite, it was a normal night time darkness, but its can get a little spooky (creepy) when your totally alone, you have your headphone on and there is that concern that somebody is going to mug you, or the every EVIL Jason might wonder by So, for this reason I find it way more confronting to have a buddy with you.

I have an offer!
I'll offer up a total of "Three" of those detector headlight mounts and the lights with batteries! for free (shipping included).
One to the "title Poster of this thread" and the other two to first that PM me with a mailing address.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

okay, "metalmedic" has his detector driving light spoken for! two more up for the taking? first come first serve! The little lights are easy to came by via fleebay, its those clips I use, they closed my work place down and put me out of work so I got all of them I could find in the close down/clean up.

You know I guess some people have had more of a night life than others, like me, for 25 years I worked evening and basically lived midnight shift, so very little of what I did I did in the daylight other than sleep!
I have gotten of work at 12:30am and me and some guy would get out in the parking light throw boomer rings!!! believe me done right they will come right back where your standing!!! it was dark one night, there was these High Pressure Sodium parking lot lights, we had painted this one boomer ring some sort of orange color thinking we could see it better, he throws it, ten feet from his had and its GONE! were looking, listening, in an instant he yells DUCK!!!! it went about two feet over our heads in our ducked position!

On the end of our warehouse at work was a Very Large Wall, after work and a tennis ball we would play wall ball until daylight, go home and go to bed.
I've gotten off work at 12:30am drove 25 miles to Huntington and metal detected until just shy of daylight, packed up and went home and went to bed.
Many time my family would go night fishing.
Night crawler hunting (real worms that craw in the ground)

I would come home and work until daylight on inside remodeling projects, the police has been called on me for that a couple of times.

Now, I can see how day minded 'Only' people don't see the sense of any of that and that's okay, but I've noticed in recent times that even road crews are now working at night! less traffic, better temperature's, yes they need lights, what I'm saying is at night is not as bad as the day thinkers has it pictured to be! Night hunting it different, its not for every place, a buddy helps! many places are great to hunt at night.
Ball fields are one! take a buddy, don't use a lot of BRIGHT lights flashing all around it will attract a lot of attention, take a buddy.
Beaches seems like a good place to hunt at night.

The druggies and their crimes are more likely a problem in the lower income side of towns and cities, here we have area's now referred to as "Little Detroit" its not safe to even drive through these places in your car in the day time with the windows rolled up and the doors lock, you still could be shot! would I metal detect even close to places like this NO!!! not any time of day or night!!

Good grief, I need to fix something in my last post LoL! (word correction in red)

(I wrote in the above post) The last time out at night for me in the park I was by myself, its was quite, it was a normal night time darkness, but it can get a little spooky (creepy) when your totally alone, you have your headphones on and there is that concern that somebody is going to mug you, or the ever EVIL Jason might wonder by So, for this reason I find it way more comforting to have a buddy with me.


Mark

 

[khouse]

I night hunt sometimes especially when starting late and it just gets dark on me. Last night was no exception. I was hunting a friend of mines home he has for sale and is empty. I've hunted this house for the last 5 years. Last night I got started about 7pm and it got dark on me. So about 9pm the woman next door shines a light on me and says "are you looking for something?" All I said was "yes" I guess that wasn't good enough? She said "don't you need permission?" I said "yes". She then said her and her kids were scared of me hiding in the bushes. Now she's standing just 20 feet from me saying all this. She said "don't you think it's strange digging in the dirt at night?" I said "no". I said I've been here 2.5 hours and I did start when it was light out. She said "I saw you when it was light out" I said so now your concerned? She said I should have let her know I was detecting at night and started raising her voice. I said I'm here with permssion and if you don't like it call the Police. She said she already did. I said where are they then? She said I'm calling them again. I said tell them to hurry up! She stomped off. About 5 minutes later 2 cops come up behind me with light on. They said they got a call about me. I told them I had a confrontation with the neighbor. They asked me if I found anything? I said no. Then they asked me to call the owner so they could talk to him. I dialed and he spoke with the owner. Then he said be careful and have a good evening. I hunted about 30 minutes more.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I don't mean to be .... uh .... "sexist", but ..... I can believe that story