Man-made finds -removing/etiquette/skulduggery

[Maldonite]

I've been taught to dig every signal and if its say a bullet or piece of forged iron to bag it and remove it from the area. This strikes me as sensible as when the next fellow (which could be you) comes along with next year's detector he's more likely to get gold faster. It also strikes me that it proves that prospectors leave the bush a better place by say ridding it of toxic lead.

What I don't understand though is why when going over ground that clearly looks recently prospected you find so much rubbish on the surface. Do some people just throw their non-gold finds back on the ground? I've even been in a dry creek bed where there were fresh zinc nails strewn about the place; it got me thinking -was someone trying to frustrate fellow prospectors by laying down decoy targets to waste their time and encourage them to move on?

Thanks for any advice and strategies on the matter.

 

[7.62marksman]

It is a sorry world but it is true that some out there just throw the rubbish for other people to take away
It has been known that some even go so far as to bury metal in their toilet pits for us to find and dig up
And don't fill their holes in
Yes it has been known that some idiots will spread nails or that type of stuff around to hopefully get rid of other detectors and they just more on
Much the same as the greenies use to spike trees before the loggers came in to cut trees down (yes i have seen it done)
Not a lot anyone can do about clowns like that
You just need to soldier on and work through it

 

[Maldonite]

OK then just carry on and set a good example yourself it seems. I suppose if it does look like an obvious deterrent then that could well backfire too

 

[old hand]

Another thing that pisses me off you start digging a target ,once you start you discover its a old detector hole but there is a target there so it has to be checked out, once out its lead or bullet case or some other rubbish. Why do people do this ,if they end up finding some gold near by the hole area needs to be detected so the stuff they have buried has to be re-dug regards john :N:

 

[Chuky boy]

Plus I've found plenty of gold thrown out of old holes and underneath layers of rubbish. Last year I picked up two pieces lead shot and 1 shotgun casing and found 6 nuggets underneath. I know one bloke on this forum who unearthed a 9oz piece about 1inch deep in an unfilled hole. Just shows, sometimes gold sounds like trash if it is large enough.

 

[isolation]

I'm definitely guilty of walking away from a big target after a long day of digging rubbish, who knows what I've left behind

...But if I've dug something, I always take it with me, I don't understand why you wouldn't :|

 

[Shaenae1]

Another thing that pisses me off you start digging a target ,once you start you discover its a old detector hole but there is a target there so it has to be checked out, once out its lead or bullet case or some other rubbish. Why do people do this ,if they end up finding some gold near by the hole area needs to be detected so the stuff they have buried has to be re-dug regards john :N:

I am in now way saying that this type of behavior is acceptable but I actually find this to be helpful because when you see filled in or unfilled holes in the same area without junk in them one could only assume that there was gold pulled out of there and probably by a lazy detectorist hinting that there could very well be more gold to be found.

 

[old hand]

I always back fill my hole for that reason not to give away where I have been detecting, the other day I came across a raked spot ran the coil over it and ended up with a give me I cannot figure out how they left it there ,but i always say what detector were they using how good off a operator were they and I have often found deep targets that's been missed on racked ground regards john :Y:

 

[nucopia]

I have come across places where the detector holes are left open and some one has buried their tin cans and rubbish.. Some times its frustrating and annoying and sometimes I wonder if its deliberately done.

 

[kanga1934]

came across an open hole got big signal it was a 26gm nug kanga1934

 

[Ridge Runner]

One of the pit falls of Gold detecting is you have to dig everything, coin and relic hunting is a lot easier, discriminating out the junk is a big help but some times you get fooled but you can't go digging all the junk on coin and relic sites because you would be there for ever, I did a meter square in my yard once and it took me over 4 hours to get all the junk out, I soon gave up on that idea.

 

[ProspectorPete]

I always back fill my hole for that reason not to give away where I have been detecting, the other day I came across a raked spot ran the coil over it and ended up with a give me I cannot figure out how they left it there ,but i always say what detector were they using how good off a operator were they and I have often found deep targets that's been missed on racked ground regards john :Y:

My only 2 gold finds so far with new 4500/14x9 evo combo have come from previous raked areas, well worth going over thoroughly and like you say John, you don't know who was there before you and what detector/settings/coil they were using, also what the conditions of the day were.