northoceanbeach

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  1. Yeah, I have no expectations I will make a living out of it. But I would like to spend some really long trips out to the mountains hunting. I'm not in Hawaii anymore, now I'm in Northern California and Oregon. I love road trips! What kind of preowned detector should I be looking at? Something that is pretty up to date, but not the new $6000 offering. How does a gpx4000 work? I saw there was one that ended just over $2000 on ebay with a lot of coils and accessories.
  2. I am surprised I still have my screen name, I haven't posted in what seems like forever! I would like this year, to get back into gold mining, and learn how to nugget hunt with a metal detector. I have some amateur experience with pans, sluices, dry washing and small dredges, and at one time got a mid range gold detector, a lobo supertraq that I started learning. However shortly after getting the detector I moved to Hawaii and the soil there is so volcanic and full of iron, I wasn't able to really get much practice in. Just a little at the beach, but this detector wasn't really set up for salt water either. So while I may know some about how gold gets to where you find it, and have some places in mind I would like to go, I am a detector newbie. I think more than anything, two things have changed since I thought about it last. A. Gold was in the $300's last time I looked for it and it really wasn't easy to make a living doing it B. I am hoping metal detector technology has improved. If I remember right, the Minelab sd series and the newer Gp3000 were THE detectors, so for those that could afford them and were looking for big nuggets deep. So how are things these days? Gold isn't at it's peak but it's not too bad compared to $330! And what is the best detectors and coils to use these days? Are there new areas that are popular? I know once I get good enough, I need to discover new places, but where do people go these days to learn and have some hope for success? Is it still Arizona in the winter, Alaska in the summer if you can afford to get there, and random places like Rye Patch NV the rest of the year? Where should I start planning my first trip after I get outfitted?
  3. I was looking, just at wikipedia articles about gold found in Alaska. Particularily the southeast from Juneau to Ketchikan. Now, I am a beginner, but I know to successfully nugget hunt you have to have nuggets. And certain placers have more lode gold, certain tiny placers, and certain placers have nuggets big enough to shoot. I'd like to know if anyone has been up to SE Alaka and if they had any luck and also whether there is suspected good MD'ing grounds there.
  4. Hi, I was going to get a minelab sd and kayak from ketchikan, see what I could find, in hard to get to places. What I'm wondering is how much tereritory has been gone over in a detector? I know the old timers went over most everthing, and it seems like in alot of the popular spot down here(cali, ari., nevada) quite alot has been detected. But what's it like up there, especially if I kayak somewhere where there are no roads. Think it would be worthwhile? Or is this what alot of people already have done and I would be just reworking ground. Thanks.
  5. So the gold there is not just anyone's who finds it but like government property or something? I kinda thought there might be some rule against it, otherwise I'm sure I woulda heard alot of people going down there. But I wasn't sure. I also thought maybe people, since it keeps being emphasized that it's just a hobby, maybe people were happy just to go out in their own backyard.
  6. Anyone ever go detecting in Mexico? I know they have a history of tins of gold but I hear no talk of anyone going there. Some of you are in Yuma and thats a stones throw away so you ever head farther south? Perhaps they have rules there where you can't detect. I tries looking it up but it's hard to even find the history of gold rushes in mexico. How about Sonora or Baja?
  7. now, I understand that up north you are winding down if not done already. But I'm sure lots of you are itching to go all year long right? Are there places like arizona or new mexico, or even places in socal or nevada where you can go in the winter? I'm not sure how low those mountais get snowed in but I would thing you could go year round.
  8. uh, yeah, so....now that that's out of the way, c/mon people! I want some averages!
  9. Ok, sure. I live in Hawai'i. I spend one summer with tools, a backpack dredge and sluices and looked for gold and gems around the west and it was really fun. I like the desert. I like the solitude and nature. I like to look for ghost towns. I like to explore mines. I miss these things living here sometimes. I think looking for gold is best because I need a reason to be out there. Even if I don't find anything. I don't like to hike. But I like to hike if I'm lokking for something. Say, I wouldn't go looking for a deserted beach. But if I was looking for a hidden surf spot I would then go looking for that deserted beach and whether there were waves or not it would be fun. I hope you see what I mean. I bought a Lobo ST two years ago and I was going to practce on the beaches here and then that summer buy a minlab and go to the mainland. But the Lobo was junk, the beaches too mineralized and salt wet that it wouldn't find a coin more than 2-3 inches down. I took it into the forest to a old homesite but all the lava rocks made it go crazy constantly. THese are everywhere. I don't know about your hot rocks, but you can go anywhere that the ground inst' at least 1/4 lava. So I ended up selling that detector and I moved to Maui, never going to detect for gold. But I still want to, i haven't forgotten and now, soon it is time. I can't lie and say I don't hope to make enough looking for gold that I can pay for my trips, but you know, we'll see.
  10. oh! of coarse. Those are all things not to be taken for granted and I do appreciate being reminded. But those are the givens. I know the beauty in nature and the feelings I may get from bangin' around the desert. BUt what of you I ask doesn't dream at night that he won't find a nugget the size of his fist! And whether you do or don't that's part of it. In the spirit of those that came before we all dream. I'm sure in 1849 there were men in Kansas asking their buddies how much they might expect to make if they came west. Just as I am asking you here today. We all want to know what possibilties, even though they are but possibilities, lay before us. I may find alot some or I may find none, and I know I may find none, but I would not regret it if I didn't. But if I but did! So I don't have a detector now and I'm not in the desert so I wonder and dream what may lie ahead.
  11. I have decided on getting either a 2100 or 22. I hear from some that with upgrades some of you think it is every bit as good as a GP or nearly. What upgrades exactly are you talking about? What are the costs of them and where have you bought them? Thanks much.
  12. Hi, wanting to get into the hobby I was curious as to how much gold many of you find. Say you go out for a two week outing to your favourite location. On AVERAGE, how much in that two week period do you think you might find. I understand that you may find none, or you may find a lot, but if you took all your time over your nugget career what would you say was your average?