:ausflag:Detecting for a living!

[Dyna_Willie]

Nugget is diversified, he salvages, recovers, and finds. Actually he is living most of our dreams. Imagine if all you had to do for a living was swing it. Now there is more to it, I know he has to make trips to the salvage yard, and be some what of a salesmen to sell his finds and his services. You go Nugget!

 

[BH-LandStar]

He likes to swing it swing it...He likes to swing it swing it...he likes to shwing it!!!
bad spoof of a Madagascar movie song...lol

nugget finds enough gold and silver to support himself...I only wish I could...lol...

HH,

BH-LandStar

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day Nugget.
I've heard of a few people in Sydney detecting for a living. One couple in particular, go out for about 4 hours a day and find enough to live on. I don't know their background, as I found this out from the guys at the Miners Den in Parramatta (Sydney)
I spent a week in Sydney over Christmas, and packed my Ace, with the results you see in the Photo.($252 for about 34 hours of hunting.)
[attachment 79360 2007_1209Sydney070011.JPG]
so I know it is possible. I think that it would be important to change your mindset to be successful as you have done. Have you thought about hunting in school grounds. In N.S.W. they are considered enclosed grounds, so if you want to hunt in them, then you need to get permission from the Principal. I've done this in 3 school's where I live; 2 said yes and one said no. The one that said no, I was eventually able to go into after a bit of negotiating (I got a phone call from them as I own a fairy floss machine, and they wanted to use it). I find between $80 and $125 at these sites, hunting from between 10 to 15 hours.
I hunted down at Berliegh Heads beach back in October, when I took the family up there for holidays. Pulled up $60 over 8 nights hunts.
I heard a rumour that the Aussie gov make bring out a $5 coin for general use down the track. Found out from another detectorist, but couldn't find out where he found out. If true, you might have some more competition.
Looks like you are doing something right there, keep it up.
Mick Evans.

 

[Chivas Regal]

Hya Mick:

It's great reading the posts from all you guys hunting year long in hot sun!! But what about gold nuggets? Ever tried that and if so, how did you get on. Surely, this form of modern propsecting could produce a livable income?

Cheers

John H

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day John.
I actually live near a gold rush area and almost all the local club members hunt the yellow stuff. When I first thought about taking up the hobby, I had gold hunting on my mind, but after talking to a workmate, I decided to hunt for coins instead. A decision that for me, was a better choice. My first detector was a Tracker 4. About the time I bought it, my friend had moved out of the area, and I had nobody to get advice from. I didn't know about detecting forums at the time. Didn't even own a computer then. I hunted with the Tracker 4 for 2 years, till about the time the X-Terra's came out. Due to my lack of knowledge, which caused much frustration at not knowing how to get the best out of the Tracker, I sold it and moved on. I did buy the small coil for it though, with the intention of trying it out on gold, but have found that there is no gold bug in my system (lucky me).
Mick Evans.

 

[Chivas Regal]

Hello Mick:

I've got a Fast Tracker, which I've had for over three years. Not the world's most sophisticated piece of kit, but it sure can find coins! All it really needs I think is a more robust build, especially on the stems and lower end. The electronics are fine. I think that when the times comes and it's completely cream-crackered, I shall stay with BH and move up to something a bit more powerfull. Not sure what, but need something with a bit of depth on salt water sand at low tide. Some here reccommend a PI unit. Any ideas mate?

Regards

John H

 

[nugget]

Hey Mick, you been poaching on some of my hunting grounds! HA HA My first Diamond ring over $2,000 (2,500) was 5 minutes into an all day search at Burliegh Heads!!!!! My mate had the Soveriegn with the 15" WOT coil, I won. Mindset is important, [size=large]believe[/size] you will be sucessful and you will be! Next time your up this way give me a PM and I'll come and meet you, I've got 2 young kids too mate, maybe I'll show you a few little hot-spots too. Live your dreams! HH regards Nugget.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Sounds Good. I hit the Flea market site near the beach as well. Only covered about a third of the site though. Thought I'd leave some for you. ended the Holiday with $105. Never got to hunt on the main beach at Surfers' .Would love to hit it during Schoolies week. You would find an absolute bucket load! We didn't get to take the kids to Dreamworld last trip. Sounds like a good excuse to go again. I'll see what develops and let you know if we come up again. Even made a special trip into Brissie, so that I could check out the Bounty Hunter importer while I was up there. That was a trip worth making. He was the chap that I bought my first machine from.
Mick Evans.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

If you are looking for a specialised detector for hunting on wet sand without needing a waterproof machine, Then my first choice would be a GT Sovereign. I had an early sovereign just after I owned the Tracker, and again, struggled with it for a while, but this was because I was hunting in trash filled parks and had a poor general knowledge. On a beach, it would be a lot easier. They will give you more information than a PI machine, but still punch down just as well. You can also get larger coils for them as well, but I wouldn't go over 15 inches, as coin sized targets will be missed if you did.
Mick Evans.

 

[nugget]

Yeah Mick, I do like the soveriegn GT, however I have enough tools for the work I do at the moment! Besides the missus would skin me if I got another one just yet. The soveriegn is a great unit, no mistake, and my old friend got a Patriot meter sent over from the states. He pulled it apart and put a new target ID meter backing readout over the provided one, a lot of work went into the correct calibration etc, but it works sweet. He can find 50c pieces about 14to 16" deep, my Infinium can get them at 17 to 18" no sweat. I'm mainly looking for the very deep expensive jewelery with it! I am currently doing a lot more shallow surf and diving with it to get highly proficient for any course that I run. Did you run into an old English bloke named Les who detects at Burliegh? He's a good bloke, but hard to get away from once he gets talking! If I get another Minelab I think I'll go with the Explorer SE, which would suit the search and recovery side of my business better. Talk to you later. Live your dreams! HH regards Nugget.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day Nugget. I hoped that you would say something about the Infinum as that will give Chivas some good info to consider. The Infinium would have been a close second choice. Being water proof, you can relax a lot more about having the detector exposed to the salt air. The SE Will be a good choice for that type of specialised hunting. Just be aware of the slimline coil though, they have a tendency to false. I have an old XS and although I have plotted our coins on a piece of covering clear plastic on the smartfind screen, I found that my "cheep detectors' ran rings around it for the ability to tell a screw cap from a coin. The Ace with the large coil also hunted deeper than the Explorer with it's standard coil, in the dry sand. Mind you though, The SE with the VCO pinpoint will improve on your ability to tell screw caps apart from the coins. Screw caps scream louder.
I know what you mean about buying more detectors Addictive little blighter's aren't they. I've only just convinced myself, that I don't need a GTI. Took some convincing though. Something else I hate, is being ignorant of what a detector can do when in the hands of an experienced operator. That's part of the reason I caught up with Dave Cooper. Apart from having a serious drooling season in his shop, I got him to show me how to pinpoint properly with the Tracker 4. he makes it look easy. I would never have thought to pump the detector up and down while pinpointing. I'm still not sure why he did that, but it seems to work. He also showed me the sort of depth that you can get out of it. I thought he was pulling my leg till he gave a demo. Not bad for a cheapie.
I didn't get to catch up with Les, but heard about him from a lady that goes down to the beach every morning. She is a retired lady by the name of Ann Vought. I would be very surprised if you hadn't met her yet, as she makes a point of meeting people. She is quite an interesting lady. She mentioned that there was some unpleasant goings on up at the main beach at Surfers. Have you come across that when detecting there?
I did meet another fellow there though. He is a Real Estate buyers agent. Quite a nice fellow. I don't remember his name, but he had just gotten into the hobby and had bought a detector from K Mart. It is exactly the same one that Jack Lange is pushing for a lot more money.Although it's a cheapy, it seemed to do alright in the dry sand and the chap was having a wag of a time. I gave him a few pointers and enjoyed talking with him.
Better go.
Mick Evans.

 

[nugget]

Hi Mick, I probably have met Ann, I meet so many people it's hard to remember them all. RE: tracker IV depth, people don't believe me when I tell them how deep I get coins and stuff. David also done an air test with me one day using my standard 8" coil. He waved a 10" coil about 4ft from the 8" and it blasted out a signal! Go figure. I see lots of bad stuff happen up at surfers, seen a young bloke smashed in the head from behind with a steel bar, I rang the cops who have a office in the mall about 300 meters from where it happened, they said he won't press charges and did'nt even attend the scene. I made sure the guy was all right, and when he woke up not long after, he would'nt let me ring the ambulance. I've seen all in brawls with about 10 people going at it at once with a couple unconcious on the road and in the gutter. I had a small group of young blokes, late teens, hassle me one night about not being drunk, this was at schoolies, what was I rah rah, I told the one bloke who hassled me most that, I'd end up in jail for smashing his head in and breaking his bones so "P" off cause I'm an agro little "B". He soon shut up and left. The threat was enough. I always carry a buffalo digging tool, which I have sharpened to a razor edge, you would have seen them in David's shop up here. I don't dig with it, its only for protection, plus I always carry a pocket knife on my belt. I've never been scared on the beaches etc, I can take care of myself a little, a legacy from a rough life earlier on. I will only detect at schoolies with someone with me from now on, I got the wife and kids to consider and I'd prefer not to have to fight if I can avoid it. Besides nowdays they gang up like dogs it's never a clean fight anymore. I see groups of people smoking dope every time I detect there. I find used needles, booby traps of glass and darts and assorted other nice stuff, Plus more. Even most of the other detector operators ignore you, I say g'day and they look at you like you've got 2 heads and don't bother to say a word, plain ignorant! Oh well it takes all sorts. RE: Jack Lange, your right about those detectors, plus his wide sole detecting boots with no steel in them. They are only Red backs, and you can get them much cheaper at any work centre. All right Mick I'll sign off now and talk to you later. Live your dreams! HH regards Nugget.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

It's a shame that people have forgotten how to simply smile and say G'day. It makes a big difference. That still goes on here in Dubbo. Instead people are simply becoming fierce. They don't know the grief that they are giving themselves.
If you have picked up $30 grand with the T4 and you use the infinium more, then you're doing alright. I wouldn't be running tuition classes though. It can work against you.
I'd better go, as this thread has gotten long enough. It's been a pleasure meeting you here. If you have last July's edition of Gem and Treasure (2007 Annual) you will see a picture of my mellon on the back cover, with the finds that I'd made over a three and a half month period.($500)
Catch ya.
Mick Evans.