Rick,
Expect to have a blast. Providing that is, you don't spend your time in frustration trying to pinpoint your target. "speed of detection and recovery is what it's all about" is indeed correct. Learn how to pinpoint with that V3 a.s.a.p. Go to the local sand box. Throw 20 pennies out and then find them over and over again. Recover them faster and faster.
The day of the hunt. You want to have a pouch you can just throw your targets into. Time is targets and targets are everywhere. I had a pouch with velcro to keep it closed. Not a good choice. You don't want to fiddle with opening or closing your pouch. Just grab a target and put it in the pouch quickly. Look at what the target is later.
You need a scoop to collect the targets. I suspect most targets are just under the sand. Ask at the hunt. If so, pinpoint, scoop, move to the next target. You should get the target in the first scoop if you got your pin pointing down. Chances are you won't need a monster scoop, but instead get one that is comfortable to use and strong enough to dig deep if necessary. Quality of the scoop counts.
If you can't pinpoint the target right away, move on, pass it up and find the ones you can because you can rest assured that those who are practiced with their pinpointing will be finding it later. Go after the ones you can get and then come back to the harder ones. The faster hunters will get both if you spend valuable seconds, yes, seconds fiddling with one you can't quite pinpoint. After the first 15 minutes, all the easy ones are gone and it's time to find the harder ones.
Practice, practice, practice on those 20 pennies in the sand box going faster and faster. The bonus of this practice is these improved skills are used in your everyday MDing as well from this point forward.
I go to the hunt at Farragut State Park in Idaho every Fathers Day in June. It's the best. I encourage everyone to go. It's a big campout of MDers in tents, campers, motor homes and in hotels coming together for a great hunt. Last year I flew Southwest Air into Spokane ($50/each way), rented a car ($75???) and slept on the floor of a friends motor home and had a fun weekend. It was less expensive than paying for gas to get there from Southern Idaho. Won some nice prizes. Hotels are near by for those who don't want to camp. The Northwest Treasure Hunters Club (NWTHC) has been putting this three day hunt on for 30 plus years. Sign up now. MDers come from all over. You'll be amazed how fast the good hunters are. Practice, practice, practice speed and pinpointing to assure you have a good time at your hunt and once you got the bug, go to this hunt in June also.
HH
