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Setting Realistic Expectations for Ourselves in the Field

A

Andy Sabisch

Active member
A number of forum members have contacted me since I first posted some of this information on the forum and more recently after I did a column for Lost Treasure Magazine on the same subject.

Treasure hunting has gained in popularity of late due to the ever-increasing prices of gold, silver and other precious metals. Heck, with a silver dime approaching $3.00 in melt value, it
 
My wife and you must be on same wave length my goals are 200 hours coinhunting,300 hours fishing,300 hours hunting,25 hours mushroom hunting,50 hours model airplane flying,200 hours bottle digging,100 hours NFL viewing.1000 hours big screen tv quality time.I was told my goals were unrealistic.Good post Andy it is getting harder to hunt but the machines are getting better and the small coils work great in junk.I do miss the late 70's made more money coinhunting with old garrrett groundhog than I did at my real job at 5 bucks on hour and that was considered good pay in 79 and I hit every small town on the map within 4 hour drive never was told to leave.I never thought I would see another run on silver after the hunt brothers ran silver and gold up years ago.
 
Nice to see some other old timers on here and I remember the good old days also. I started detecting in 1962 took that old machine with me on my honeymoon and that machine was junk but it did find shallow coins. Next machine was Garretts grey BFO no discrimination; get a target probe with an ice pick if you touched something you dug if not moved on; of course back then most coins were silver and wheats.
The best place I ever hunted was a swimming area that you paid to swim there. The brother in law got permission he used to work there. The lake was down and the bottom was dry out half way to the end of the dock and you could go almost to the end of the dock in the water and keep the unit dry. The bottom under 2 inches of loose dirt was clay and so all coins were only 2 inches at most. Retrieval was quick, no holes to fill. The next coin from the last was no more then 6 inches away. Between the 2 of us we recovered over 750 coins that day and a lot of jewelery. The best coin day I have had in the last 3 years was 71 none were old (no E-Trac then). This year to date with about 30 hours in I have 108 coins, 3 are wheat cents and 1 silver Roosevelt dime also 1 .925 silver and 1 18K gold ring.
It is just good to get out. Takes my mind away from my problems for awhile, always a good thing.

GOOD HUNTING
 
wise words andy lets not lose the enjoyment factor i was truly thrilled when i came back on wednesday with a gilt button and a nice yet to find out metal stud as i love the research it keeps the old brain matter active thanks for your time in writing the article and happy hunting to you all
 
Andy, that was perfect. All too often folks (including myself) see what others are finding, and feel like they are coming up short. The fact of the matter is that the stuff has to be there for you to find, you have to get your coil over it, and you have to determine that its something you want to dig. If it was easy, everyone WOULD be out there looking for the $3 dimes. Thanks for the article.
 
Andy, thanks for the great points you made (and your great books!). At times looking at others finds can be frustrating, but it also shows the possibilities that are out there. I try to learn from what others say, and apply those tips whenever possible to my own hunting. I have seen my finds increase dramatically since I first started out with a Garrett Ace 250. Even now, with the E=Trac, I find that only about 10% of my coins are 'keepers'. However, that has increased from less than 2% with the Ace. Some of that comes from knowing where to hunt, some with experience hunting, but most of it because of the great machine the E-Trac is.

This is a great forum, and I appreciate all the posts!

HH,

Bruce
 
I think this is an especially appropriate post in the E-Trac Forum. Most people talk themselves into a top of the line machine by anticipating the value of all the stuff they are now going to find, because of the new machine. Certainly there are some that do make that once in a lifetime find and ecplise the cost of the E-Trac in one dig but most everyone will continue to plug away, picking up a piece of silver here and there.
In all reality, a minimum wage job will pay for the machine just as fast as your average numbers listed above.
That being said, it is still an excellent investment in recreation and relaxation. Metal Detecting also prompts local research, which broadens your knowledge base and opens the door to new contacts and friendships.
I also like to look at the long term value of the hobby, compared to other activitys. The other day I took my Daughter to a "Matinee" movie because admission was only $2.00 apiece. I bought a large popcorn to share, a couple of sodas and a box of candy. The total for the "reduced price" movie was $22.00. The movie lasted for about an hour and a half, which means that it cost me $14.66 per hour to attend the movie with my Daughter.
So, if I went to the Movie Theater ,once a weekend, with my Daughter, the cost would be $1143.48 per year.
Don't misread the value I place on time with my Daughter, only know that most other hobbies are more expensive per hour than detecting and there is always that chance for a "Pay Day".
Most of all, enjoy your time out. Relax, appreciate the friendships that have developed because of the hobby and don't have a "Bad Day" because you didn't find the Mother Lode.
 
Thanks for the info. It puts things in a proper perspective.

15 Coins/items to recover in an hour would be an extremely brisk pace. I would be happy with six an hour, (that's 6 good finds, not counting junk).

HH to everyone from a Newbie in the hobby. I will be doing this the rest of my life.

God bless
 
I Agree with everything said here too, and LNF, has it right, 15 targets an hour would be awesome! I have been with the ET for two years now and am still learning and trying to get the maximum performance from this machine. It is easy to fall into bad habits, get careless when tired, whatever, and let good targets stay in the ground. I did it just this past week and am hoping to get back on the property soon ( a ghost hole), what was I thinking?! Good Luck everyone and HH, Terry in San Diego
 
Well said :).
I too remember the old days when you could fill your pockets with silver, indians,and even a 2 cent piece
every now and then in the local parks.
I love the way you broke it down so, people know what they might be able to expect.
The only thing I would like to add is, that we need to take our time with the holes we dig.
I know this will slow people down a little bit but it sure will help in keeping us able to hunt our public places.
We should not be able to see where we dug after the target is in our pouch and, we are on to our next one.
HH everyone GL
Dan
 
Thanks Andy for putting it so well, I am happy anytime I go out with my wife to hunt. I enjoy hunting with my nephew and my friends, that is the most important thing, sharing a good time together. If I don't find a keeper and my hunting partner does I am happy, we shared in an adventure and we had success. The few times I felt "mopey" because I was the "only one" not finding a keeper are few and far between now. There are still great coins and artifacts to be found out there it is just a little harder and happens less often. That should not take away our joy of getting out and hunting. I have read some wish that they had started back in the early sixties when all they found was silver....but think about it there was nothing special in finding it then. If you didn't find Indians, Barbers, Seated coins etc you were not being really "sucessful". Heck in 20 years people will be as happy finding a copper memorial as most of us are finding wheaties, it is all a matter of time and perspective.
 
n/t
 
Howdy old timer (Andy) like you, I have been hunting since 1960. Radio Shack BFO ( what a trip). My best day ever was over 300 silver coins, with a Fisher 1266X. Old miser's hoard at a construction site, silver dollars, halves, quarters and dimes, no nickels or pennies. When hunting with friends in the 70's and early 80's, if you came home with less than 20 silver, you had a bad day:detecting:. Now, if you get 3 silvers a day, you are doing real good. I have learned just enough Etrac-ese to find mostly junk, I came from an Explorer II to the Trac. And there still is a huge learning curve. What with the way they flipped the screen 180 degrees, I hunt by sound, as those numbers are real crazy, especially the FE numbers. You sure put things into perspective in your post. Before I bought Mr. ET, I had a friend bring his to a small area in one of my favorite parks that I was sure was hunted out, well let me tell you, he pulled 3 mercs. and a few wheats, from about 11 to 13 inches deep. I had been digging mostly 7 to 9 inchers from there. That convinced me to buy an Etrac. Plus, I got your book, and I run your "old coins" program. I am just not used to silver not being hammered up in the upper right corner:stars:. HH.......NGE
 
Thanks for the post Andy !
For me ...this forum has been a great place to learn more about our hobby - learn about our machines and share stories and photo's of finds with some real nice people.

Hope everyone has a great season ! --- Mark
 
Its still LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Central Utah can yield tokens that sell for several hundreds of dollars and they are found all the time. I hope to pay this baby off with a few good finds..if not..I am having a blast looking. Its alot like going to Las Vegas...the chance is always there you will win the big one...keeps the blood pumping..when that fun is gone I will hang my detector up..but I dont see that happening anytime soon...Good Hunting
 
Very well said Andy
This is a great hobby and very rewarding in many different ways, the most rewarding for me is my hunting partner he will turn 90 this year so he is a wealth of information of life in general of a time that most of us will never get to experience. He is a go getter and can detect almost all day, you would be amazed. This is one of the things that make this hobby so fun and enjoyable. I have learned not to compare finds or get upset that I don't find anything like the guys back east do. Like one of the other guys said location location location and I am very pleased with what I get out of the hobby.
Thanks again for a great post.
Bill
 
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