steve herschbach and others ?

[Rebel1]

For someone just getting in to nugget hunting what would be a good detector? The Tesoro Lobo ST with auto ground tracking, The AT Gold, Gold Bug Pro, MXT, or some other? Only interested in a VLF machine at this time. Looking for a good machine for the begining Gold Nugget hunter. Any and all advice appreciated.

 

[steve herschbach]

The Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Garrett AT Gold, Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold, Tesoro Lobo, and White's MXT are all general purpose detectors strong on gold that will serve a beginner well. What will make the difference is not which one of them you get since they all have roughly similar performance. What will matter is doing your research, getting onto good ground and persevering. Finding gold nuggets with a metal detector is difficult and you really have to apply yourself to it in order to be successful. Best vet while learning is to dig everything. You will fund lead from bullets. The smaller the lead and the deeper it is will be how you know how well you are doing. If you can detect small lead at depth you will find gold when you get over it.

Good luck!

 

[Rebel1]

Thank you for the reply Steve. I appreciate your insight.

 

[hershey1]

You might want to read Steve's reviews on machines for gold prospecting at the top of the forum. Very good information. HH It is gone. What happened Steve?

 

[steve herschbach]

I unpinned it.

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?27,1773244

 

[Hoser John]

Thanks for repin as have sent it/refered many for the wisom within as unbiased-John

 

[DannyB1954]

Yes thank you Steve, I don't know how many times that I have read it. I have had a number of machines, but still looking for the magic one. There is a gold club that I belong to that has a claim near me. I am certain the money they collect from dues far exceeds what they would get by mining the gold themselves. The yellow stuff is a bugger to find. I know how to play 4 songs, but I have 6 guitars. My metal detecting goes about the same way. My expenditure on detectors far exceeds my income from finds.

I have a buddy that has some small gold samples, and I tested my Whites MXT on them. It did pick up the larger ones, but still nothing at the claim. I bought a used Whites GMT. It picked up on some of the very small samples, but still nothing at the claim. I then bought a used Fisher CZ 7a Pro because it has dual frequencies. Still nothing at the claim. I sold the MXT and got a V3i. I hope by now that you are having a good chuckle at me. Well, just got a used infinium off of ebay and haven't had it out past my front yard yet. Maybe I also need a TDI, a ATX, a Min Lab 5000 and a gold magnet.

Someone asked Tomas Edison how he felt failing so many times when trying to make a battery. Tom replied that he never failed because he learned something every time. I think that I have learned that I just like metal detectors. To me it is almost magic to be able to tell that something is hiding where people can't see it. And at the very least I am providing a great public service collecting pop tops and bottle caps at the park. I might even start a collection of bottle caps to see how many different ones that I can find that still have a logo on them. Eventually they may even be worth more than the zinc penny collection I have.

Happy hunting to all.

 

[bigelow]

I use a Lobo ST and have hunted for many weeks now only to find many boot tacks, some birdshot (good sign) and lots of wire and small metals. No nuggets yet. After park hunting for a few years and finding lots of gold rings, I find nuggetshooting quite discouraging so far. I know one day I will "get it" but for now I have to take breaks and drywash or highbank lol


They claim the Lobo ST is easy to use, I find it frustrating at times because its seems too sensitive and hot rocks are such a pain in the butt. I have always been a beep and dig hunter and dig every target, so that isnt the problem. The lack of videos on the Lobo is discouraging as well. It would be nice to have a sound sample of what we are listening for, since you can actually hear the Auto ground balance at work, some faint targets get confusing.

 

[Hoser John]

Metal detectors are akin to women and marriages--one man's pleasure is yet another ungodly nightmare. Stick with the one your with because they ALL have a learning curve and takes many hours to master their quirks. Nugget shooting is the most expensive,travel mandatory,dangerous and toughest physically to endure. Not 10% stick with it for all the above reasons as REAL WORK with heat,bugs,snakes,nasty terrain,long drives and dangers galore...so cool..what a adreneline rush-lotza luck as in nugshooting patience is definately a mandatory requirement-John