35 gold targets in about 5 years hunting for me.
All found with 4 different detectors...an F2, F70, Vaquero and a Compadre.
As stated, you will increase your chances if you hunt higher percentage sites when you find them, my favorite sites in order are...
Perimeters of basketball and volleyball courts, especially basketball courts and routes traveled between these courts and parking lots.
Grass filled islands that divide up large parking lots especially at high schools and colleges.
Picnic areas especially around pavilions.
Here is the logic.
Around those courts players take off their shirts, jackets and whatever else and put all these belongings in nice little piles around these courts.
Then they take off their jewelry and put them in these piles for safe keeping.
When they are done playing they sometimes forget they put that jewelry in there and when they pick up those piles some jewelry drops out there or on those paths on the way back to their cars.
I have found about 8 gold rings, one gold bracelet and one gold medallion around these courts plus several silver rings and necklaces so far.
People walking over those islands they pull keys out of their pockets and other things come out of those pockets and for some reason jewelry seems to drop off.
At schools the students do this plus also sit on these things and hang out when not in class.
4 or 5 gold rings and tons of silver jewelry have come out of these for me.
The picnic pavilions are where more people hang out in parks than most other places.
A couple gold rings and silver too in my collection from these sites.
Lots of gold in all kinds of areas in the parks I hunt, some from out of the way or in wide open spots, but when I am on a serious hunt for gold these are where I aim.
Tot lots seem to be great for others but for me so far only one gold ring out of this type of site, still trying though.
Around those courts I cherry pick on the first few times I hit them, then I keep returning and slowly dig every signal over time because these are usually the most trashy sites you will ever hunt and masking is a huge problem.
Several times I have gone over these court areas and didn't find jewelry till the second or third time through, a few times when I began to dig every signal.
Most other areas I don't dig it all because I don't have the time, patience or energy to do that anymore.
What I do dig are any and all solid signals I come across because all my gold targets so far have come in exactly that way.
I have read others say gold for them has come in jumpy or not so solid but I can't speak to that because every one of mine has come in solid so far.
All my gold has been 6" or less in depth, mostly less, deeper gold could be way less solid I assume.
As far as my way of getting those solid signals with my Tesoros, I do it by getting a signal and then thumbing that knob up past the fade out point and then back down till it comes in and I listen.
I don't doit the way Tesoro says in all there manuals by thumbing up to the fade out point and I haven't done that for years because I be live this way is way more accurate.
Targets that just "come in" with no noise or very little, clicks, crackles or fuzz are all dig me targets, those that come in with a lot of noise or even just several clicks before they firm up I usually leave in the ground because most of the time those types are trash for me.
Nickels are weird, could be a bit noisy and don't always hold fast to these rules like all other coins usually do but luckily gold in the nickel area seems to.
Again l will state all my gold rings found with my Tesoros have just come in totally solid with no noise...every one so far, anyway.
This might not be the same for others but in my experience it has for me.
If you are lucky enough to come across a big gold ring, a man's class ring type, that is a special sound that is unique and different than any other sound you are ever likely to hear.
Clear and sweet and sustaining...once you hear that tone you will never forget it.
Smaller but very high karat gold will probably come in the same way I also assume, but I have only found up to 14k with my Tesoros so far.
All others I have found below that 3:00 area on the disc knob where those large gold rings came in have been solid and clean with sharp ends but no different sounding to me than any other good targets like coins.
I have found gold from areas on the disc knob pointing to just below the F in foil on up to that 3:00 zinc area so I rarely turn up my disc knob higher than that F in foil unless there is a ton of small foil to deal with and then that knob moves up to just past the F in foil in sites like that..
I have found many rings between the F in foil and that nickel mark so I never hunt for gold with my disc that high into or near nickel.
I used to hunt at just below that nickel mark but as I turned that knob down I found lots more gold rings.
Not all garbage comes in choppy, but about 80-90% for me usually does and when I changed to digging those solid signals almost exclusively my trash amounts went way down but my gold target and other good target volumes rose.
I am not saying everybody should hunt like I do and I still might miss a few doing it this way but my gold amounts satisfy me so I am still doing it and I will continue to do that till I figure out a better way.
my mate is always coming up with ideas not to dig junk and find gold don't think its working 
think like a ring 
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