How many hours between finds

Hi everyone!
The first time I ever hired a detector was probably 4 years ago. A gpx5000 from coiltek in maryborough.
Put in a solid 6 hour first day for 2 pockets full of junk. The second day was much shorter but I managed 2 small nugs .3gms each. I was hooked!
Since then I have had my very own eBay special, whites coinmaster, Garrett groundhog, Garrett ads deepseeker(all vintage), a whites xlt rainbow coil and finally I got myself a gm1000.
I have put in what must be hundreds of hours mostly with the gm in all the likely spots for absolutely NOTHING!
After another Saturday morning of shotgun pellets .17 air rifle pellets and .22 casings I'm beginning to lose hope
But it had me wondering, how many hours between finds or for your first Find??
Some words of inspiration Please!
:brokenh:

You have to walk over it. Sounds like you might be flogging a dead horse.
Try and think outside the square and find a spot less pressured, that might mean an extra hours drive or more, but there is heaps of history to be found on the net. I work areas that were know for other minerals associated with gold. Often you can find places where gold is known to be, however its not economically viable to mine it. These are the kind of places you need to be. Do some research and sooner or later you might find somewhere that has not been hit by everyone!

Or..you can get the new SDC 6000

I know of prospectors who have taken decades or years to find their first golden target.
Its not as easy as U Tube channels or prospecting stores make out!
Despite detector technology been so good these days, its the actual strong participation rate by 1000s that's
making the gold harder to find day by day.

The Monster isnt the easiest stick to wave around, but where you wave it helps.

Ignore the meter, get a test piece and tune the ear for what it sounds like, its almost like someone rubbing a balloon.

Use the larger coil. Then really work any milder spots thoroughly. Just like the SDC you have to keep its snout in the trough all day. If your banging good targets in a likely area then the chances of a gold one showing up are higher (proof it hasnt been flogged and vacuumed over).

The Monster will get specis, nugglets, and fly poop no worries, you just have to be right on top of it though. Shift a few branches, rake and restore, just make sure you are 100% positive whatever area youve done is done. If theres no surface gold at least you can be sure you gave it the best chance. The GM and gold rewards patience, and whether its a new machine or a new area its always the first one thats hardest to wrestle out.

If that doesnt put a rev in your motor give me a couple weeks to get my workload under control and come visit my way (Whroo/Rushworth) and we can pop that cherry for you bud. :Y:

Solid Luck said:

Or..you can get the new SDC 6000

Click to expand...

I am getting quite desperate! Maybe the sdc and 6000 just to be sure

Thanks gang!
I have an 8yr old, a 6yr old, a wife and a German wire haired pointer.... if there is one thing I have it's patience!
I'll slip on the bigger coil and keep on keeping on. I figure if I'm getting small shotty pellets my ear is doing it's job... like you all say i just have to walk over it.

:goldnugget:

Average trash to gold ratio on the forum is 100/150 trash per nugget.

I wou,d guess for every trip have done i would be1 nugget per 7 hours detecting

I only suggest the larger coil as you should get an improvement in depth and overlaping coverage, the smaller coil is better for tight areas and hotter ground as the signal generated by ground noise is less to overcome. Used in combination they are both acceptable coils for their purpose.

As AF pointed out I think my gold count was roughly 50g of lead on the GM before snagging a picker, and even with the SDC I went nearly 600g of shot for 3.2g of subgrammers. As stated earlier my go to was to clean the area free of targets and to be sure everything the coil went over was picked clean.

OldGT said:

The Monster isnt the easiest stick to wave around, but where you wave it helps.

The Monster will get specis, nugglets, and fly poop no worries, you just have to be right on top of it though.

Click to expand...

This is what always got me about the GM...will it also be ok for larger nuggets? I mean, if it can hear the small stuff, surely it will also hear the larger nuggets that may be a little deeper?
I'm just thinking of getting one as well.

FastR1Red said:

OldGT said:

The Monster isnt the easiest stick to wave around, but where you wave it helps.

The Monster will get specis, nugglets, and fly poop no worries, you just have to be right on top of it though.

Click to expand...

This is what always got me about the GM...will it also be ok for larger nuggets? I mean, if it can hear the small stuff, surely it will also hear the larger nuggets that may be a little deeper?
I'm just thinking of getting one as well.

Click to expand...

Not the most qualified to answer but here is my laymans go at it. Could the GM locate a large nugget? Yes. Will it go deeper on a larger target? Yes. Will it locate a deep nugget? Unlikely. The GM is a capable machine but expectations need to be managed with a vlf designed to target subgram surface gold.

I swung a Whites GMT for a while knowing it was pretty limited where I used it, but it was still better than not going out at all. At its price point the Monster will get you out and retrieving gold targets, but for deeper and larger gold you would be better served with a PI.