LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Hey Everyone, I took a drive yesterday and went up to a location I've hunted a several times in the last few months. When I first found gold in this area, I was using the GPX and 15" coil. I went home that day with six nuggets for 3 grams. Many of the nuggets were deep and there wasn't much trash found. It left me thinking that I wasn't the first detector in there, but probably the 1st in several seasons. On the next trip in there, I was able to score 5 nugs, but they started getting smaller. Then I thought trying out my new 19" EVO would be good idea. The first nugget with it was under some rocks I rolled out of the way. The 1 grammer on the 1991 quarter's lower right was found at least 15" down in a sandy 'blow-out' spot. The dink in the center was found with the 8" commander after my arm got tired of the 19"er. Like a lot of areas, the subsequent trips have brought fewer rewards. Time to deploy the SDC.... Hope you all are staying safe. Sorry some of my pics are blurry. Luke 19 1 4 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
oneguy 98 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Nice pics...nice gold!!! I noticed some pvc on the front of your SDC...would that be a mod you made for a stand?? I just bought an SDC and haven't had a chance to get out with it yet (snow) but it looks like the machine will have a hard time standing upright or level without some sort of homemade stand??? thanks... 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 40 minutes ago, oneguy said: Nice pics...nice gold!!! I noticed some pvc on the front of your SDC...would that be a mod you made for a stand?? I just bought an SDC and haven't had a chance to get out with it yet (snow) but it looks like the machine will have a hard time standing upright or level without some sort of homemade stand??? thanks... My SDC came with a 'Doc's Gold Screamer' protective cover. The PVC is a component of that cover and does help keep the machine upright. Another thing that helps is pushing the coil down 'flat' when you are digging/retrieving your target. You'll have to run your scoop over the coil anyways, so it's a good habit to form. Plus it will help reduce EMI and keeps the coil to the soil so the SDC ground balance can stay tuned. Good Luck out there when the snow melts. Luke 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Morlock 1,613 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Nice finds. Congrats. It must be great to get away from all the other BS going on. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 14 minutes ago, Morlock said: Nice finds. Congrats. It must be great to get away from all the other BS going on. It was great. Had to take the opportunity while I could. Don't know what next week will be like. Might be awhile before I get out there again. We've been home all week. Kids had spring break but we didn't go anywhere. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nugget108 1,654 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Awesome nuggies Luke!! Well all of our big game tags are submitted, the weather is changing, the ice fishing is no more, and baseball is officially closed down for the year. Our prospecting and coin season starts next weekend. Cant wait to get out again. Good job Luke. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 23 Author Share Posted March 23 Thanks Dan Looking forward to seeing what your clan brings home in the 'harvest' this season. Good Luck out there. Stay safe. Luke 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nugget108 1,654 Posted March 23 Share Posted March 23 Haha thanks Luke. You too, stay safe out there. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andyy 1,057 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Cool Luke. Now why couldn't we find all those last time we were out? LOL. Glad to see the only virus you are still fighting is the gold fever. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fishing8046 324 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Thanks Luke, those are some beauties. It seems we share less and less these days. I can't think for all of us but can't thank you enough for letting us be some small part of you hard work. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 1 hour ago, Andyy said: Cool Luke. Now why couldn't we find all those last time we were out? LOL. Glad to see the only virus you are still fighting is the gold fever. Well because I'd already found most of them. Remember on the hill, when I waved my arm out towards the west? 25 minutes ago, fishing8046 said: Thanks Luke, those are some beauties. It seems we share less and less these days. I can't think for all of us but can't thank you enough for letting us be some small part of you hard work. Happy to share and hopefully lighten things up a bit. 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LowPoint 1,244 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Nice looking gold Luke,....should have let me know and I could have brought in the Z-7000 to go real deep for ya. Maybe all these rains will help ya out as well. Gary 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 21 minutes ago, LowPoint said: Nice looking gold Luke,....should have let me know and I could have brought in the Z-7000 to go real deep for ya. Maybe all these rains will help ya out as well. Gary Thanks Gary The rains did help in shifting the sands enough to make some of those 'dinkiest' finds possible. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Trailertrash 243 Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Nice going! That one gram piece at that depth is pretty impressive. I found an old Levi's button at a measured 16" with my 4500 and the NF 17x13, but signal was juuust barely there. Was the deep one fairly obvious with the 19? Keep at it! Regards, Kyle 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted March 24 Author Share Posted March 24 15 minutes ago, Trailertrash said: Nice going! That one gram piece at that depth is pretty impressive. I found an old Levi's button at a measured 16" with my 4500 and the NF 17x13, but signal was juuust barely there. Was the deep one fairly obvious with the 19? Keep at it! Regards, Kyle Thanks Kyle. I think it might have been an 'iffy' until I moved some of the sand with my shoe. Then it was there. Not loud, but I was expecting it to move and be trash before the bedrock started showing. I had to widen the hole because the sand kept falling back in. It was sitting down there on bedrock. I wasn't expecting it to be gold when I first heard it. Gold is where you find it. The 19" is a good coil, just tougher to wield. You'll quickly discover how many 'narrow' spots there are. The bushes are closer together as well. But I don't often find nuggets at the bottom of sand traps so there's that. Your Levi's button should give you good confidence that you are doing the right things with your detector. Juuust barely there, and it could have been a gold nugget. Good Luck out there ! 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boulder dash 1,239 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Excellent going Luke!!! I'm glad your still getting out . Some nice pieces there sir.. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
adam 3,114 Posted March 30 Share Posted March 30 Nice to see a nugget hunting post in the Gold Nugget Hunting forum !! Well done Luke , those are some great pieces! 2 1 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Patrick in Havasu 394 Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Beautiful gold Luke. Reflects your hard work. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 On 4/4/2020 at 1:16 PM, Patrick in Havasu said: Beautiful gold Luke. Reflects your hard work. Thanks Patrick. It's my favorite kind of 'work'. Here's some more 'work' I've done recently. I was able to escape the lockdown and hike out to a 'new' gully for some exploration. After 5 or 6 trash targets, I located a spot where the 'sounds had piled up'. I wouldn't have called it a target signal when I first started to dig. But after scraping the larger rocks out of the way, a nice target response was heard. Once the hard pack was exposed, the chances for gold went way up. The nugget was large enough to pinpoint with the edge of the coil, so I was able to carefully brush the dirt away until the shiny peeked out. I had to go back and get my backpack and phone so I could take some pics. I guess I made a little video instead. Enjoy !! After this first, largest nugget of the day, I was able to scrape up 6 more bits. I found the long skinny one up on the side on a bedrock bench under some tufted grasses. Turned out there were three other targets there as well. Four nuggets out of that 'hole'. The last two nuggets of the day came out of another spot that again started as a 'bunch of noise'. I just keep kicking the noises aside until there are none, or a metallic target pops up. In that case, there were two. Ended a fantastic day with 7 pieces for 2.6g. There's still gold to be found.... Luke 20200411_100855 - 1.mp4 10 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nugget108 1,654 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Nice nuggies Luke, great job!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Morlock 1,613 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 9 hours ago, LukeJ said: Thanks Patrick. It's my favorite kind of 'work'. Here's some more 'work' I've done recently. I was able to escape the lockdown and hike out to a 'new' gully for some exploration. After 5 or 6 trash targets, I located a spot where the 'sounds had piled up'. I wouldn't have called it a target signal when I first started to dig. But after scraping the larger rocks out of the way, a nice target response was heard. Once the hard pack was exposed, the chances for gold went way up. The nugget was large enough to pinpoint with the edge of the coil, so I was able to carefully brush the dirt away until the shiny peeked out. I had to go back and get my backpack and phone so I could take some pics. I guess I made a little video instead. Enjoy !! After this first, largest nugget of the day, I was able to scrape up 6 more bits. I found the long skinny one up on the side on a bedrock bench under some tufted grasses. Turned out there were three other targets there as well. Four nuggets out of that 'hole'. The last two nuggets of the day came out of another spot that again started as a 'bunch of noise'. I just keep kicking the noises aside until there are none, or a metallic target pops up. In that case, there were two. Ended a fantastic day with 7 pieces for 2.6g. There's still gold to be found.... Luke 20200411_100855 - 1.mp4 You're on a roll... Very nice finds as usual. Congrats. Why don't you post photos of all those gallon jugs of nuggets you've filled up over the years. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 22 minutes ago, Morlock said: You're on a roll... Very nice finds as usual. Congrats. Why don't you post photos of all those gallon jugs of nuggets you've filled up over the years. Gallon jugs of bullets and tin, maybe. The thing that I always ponder, is how much gold was there when people first starting looking for gold?? What I mean is, if I'm able to go in and spend some time and come out with 7 pieces, then how much did the 'first guy' get? The other thing I always think as I'm leaving to go home. "There's no way I just found the last nugget." Luke 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gilaoro 318 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Luke, You and I think alike ! And I have often went back to the site of a previous find and found more! ? Different machine? Erosion ? Deer kicked it in? Just wondering ? I learned long ago to never make the statement Oh, That place is cleaned out ! Max 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LukeJ 2,075 Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 1 minute ago, Gilaoro said: Luke, You and I think alike ! And I have often went back to the site of a previous find and found more! ? Different machine? Erosion ? Deer kicked it in? Just wondering ? I learned long ago to never make the statement Oh, That place is cleaned out ! Max I often feel like I'm going to places that others before me have said, "That place is cleaned out." After several seasons, and things get moved around a bit, there's a little bit more to be found. If there was any there to begin with.... When the gold to trash ratio is good, that's another indicator to me that it was hunted before. If you're only finding small trash that's fairly deep, then I think someone else has been through and picked up a lot of the 'surface trash'. I wonder what number and size of nuggets were found then too. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Au Seeker 3,092 Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 6 hours ago, LukeJ said: Gallon jugs of bullets and tin, maybe. The thing that I always ponder, is how much gold was there when people first starting looking for gold?? What I mean is, if I'm able to go in and spend some time and come out with 7 pieces, then how much did the 'first guy' get? The other thing I always think as I'm leaving to go home. "There's no way I just found the last nugget." Luke If that first guy had a modern metal detector he would of found buckets full, no gallon jug for him!! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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