Defunct Lake Park

[pineapple]

Well I went back to the defunct Lake Park all by my lonesome today. Headed out about 8am and got there close to 9:45. I took my BH TR, Fisher CZ-70, and the T2. My intent was to use the T2 and if I wasn't doing well since I am still working on that special setting that I feel will yield the most gold jewelry. If not doing well, I would switch over to the CZ and get closer to the water since we have a cold front and the gators were out of the water and nestled in the weeds thus allowing me to get closer than I have been. Didn't see any snakes so I took it they were hunkered down somewhere trying to keep warm. I too was a bit chilly with the wind kicking around 15-20mph and the temp though around 55, the chill factor made it seem a lot colder.

I was almost an hour into my hunt and maybe on about my fifth adjustment before I got my first good hit. As I dug down to the target I had a good feeling about it since it was as good as they come. Sure nuff up popped a purdy ring. Wasn't maybe 20mins later I pull another from about 20ft from where I had pulled the first. I pretty much had covered the little opening I was working so I made my way through some brush looking for another open area that would give me enough room to work in. I found one and was sure glad of it cause I didn't like making my way through the brush knowing the gators were up in there too. I was strapped with my .45 though still don't like upsetting them critters.

I was maybe 1/3 of the way through this area when I got another hit then it disappeared. I swept the spot again and all I could get was a broken tone. I flipped over to AM and picked it back up though it was there it was faint. I kept sweeping it till I could get a good fix on it at which time I pulled the pinpoint trigger and zoomed in on the target. Once I zeroed it I flipped back over to disc to confirm, this time disc picked it up and based on the VDI I felt good that it was jewelry gold, jewelry that is, the yellow stuff that we all try to seek out. I dug down to the target and popped up another ring. I would have sworn it was going to be something else other than a ring. I again finished out this particular area and had to move again. This time as I was making my way through the waist high heavy brush I did run up on one old girl (gator approx 11ft) bathing in a little clearing. As Much as I wanted to detect that spot I decided to let her have it and made my way through more brush in search of another spot. I finally came across another clearing maybe 10x20 and decided I would hunt it. It was a ways back from the water line though I could see where people could have laid there since it was a little higher than most the other spots thus would had been a great place to lay back and take in the sun and watch the kids play in the water. I was maybe 1/2 way through with this spot when I got another good hit and this time I didn't have to keep sweeping it to get a fix. This one came in clear and stayed between two numerics as strong as ever. I dug to my target depth, circled the hole with my Auto-max and pulled myself up another ring. This made four total. I think I was having a harder time finding clearings than I was the finds. I worked maybe three or four more small clearings with no luck. I was getting hungry and I was cold so I figured I'd give it up and head home. Besides by the time I make it home it would be right at 6pm anyway. I packed up my gear and headed home. When I arrived the first thing I did was throw the rings in some warm water wish dish detergent to soak while I fed my fish and other critters. About and hour later I came back in took the rings out of their bath and soft scrubbed them with some toothpaste. They all came out nice and shiny as you can see below. Life is good and so is the T2!

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[Spiff]

Love all your posts, Pineapple, thanks for all the info, and... Great finds! Am up to $225 in Cabelas gift certificates, and $50+ in Cabelas reward points, so making progress towards my T2.

I'd like to pose the question that is most on my mind regarding the T2 to you: With my BH Land Star (or my Whites Classic II for that matter) I've resigned myself to the theory that if I want gold, I have to dig everything. The only indication I get is a low-tone and a reading in the "ring range" which also encompasses foil, nickles, pull tabs, and screw caps, I've scored one 14k ring with a the dig-everything method, and a couple more 10K rings when on auto-notch, that read solid as nickles.

With the T2's numeric ID can one get a pretty good idea that a target is gold prior to digging? Don't 10K, 14K and 18K fall into different ranges? Are pull tabs, screw caps and the like, far enough away in VDI readout to discern the difference?

Thank you very much.

 

[jeff@middlesex]

Great stuff Pine, what super spot you have.

 

[pineapple]

Spiff, Don't believe there is any detector on the market that could isolate gold from foil or aluminum to the point where you could accurately distinguish it from one another. You asked about the different gold purities (i.e, 10, 14, 18k) relative do they have a different VDI. My answer would be yes and no. The reason I say this is it is really based on mass, density and size of the ring or any other piece of jewelry. On my BH TR I used to look for specific VDI readings within a two digit spread that would indicate to me that the probability of it being a ring or piece of jewelry had a real high probability. I always and I mean ALWAYS profile my find to make sure I get the best pictorial representation of what lies beneath before I dig it. I too will always jump between Disc and AM since these too will give you some indication of just how close a spread in the VDI it is giving you. On the T2 because the depth indicator is not so accurate on targets less than 3in in Disc, I do the same (switching over) only because in AM it as accurate as you could wish for. So I do so more as a depth validating procedure.

The settings which I am using works real well at this particular though when I tried the same at another lake it didn't work as well. I believe too it is all in where you are. If there aren't finds to be made in the location you're at you just aren't going to find anything. I use a two numeric spread on the T2 with settings which I won't disclose right now only because I am still refining them and as I noted...each location has it's own peculiarities. Because I don't want to dig everything, I key only into those numerics that I feel are the best serving me. I have noticed one thing though and that is that most the rings I have been finding are between a size 6-8 and are not large in mass. That tells me that if I am going to find any with larger mass my settings do have to be changed somewhat. I have resided to the fact that when I finish up finding all the rings that are falling within that spectrum, I will adjust for the larger ones. I just don't want to make a spread so large that I will be digging all kinds of stuff that I don't want. I am a firm believer in focusing my hunts to a specific group thus affording me a better overall find ratio. It's much easier for me to concentrate on one target range at a time than to try the "bless me thou and dig all" thing. Just isn't my cup of tea. Besides I don't believe my knees would hold up bending up and down so much. As you will soon find out the T2 is super sensitive and allows it's user to really get into the weeds (no pun intended) when it comes to variable settings. There are so many considerations we have to make when setting up that I truly believe many over look much of the obvious. But the bottom line is where you're hunting. If the place is rich in finds you'll do well, if not, then the hunt will be a mediocre one. Research and discipline too plays a big role. If you're not willing to spend the time developing detecting techniques and doing some research to weed the good places out then you'll only get out of detecting what you have put into it. I hunt my routine places (schools, parks, ballfields, boat landings, etc.) during the week for clad to subsidize my love for the hobby and save my weekends for the places I have researched that shows promise. My routine places take me in a 50mi radius of my home and I'll try to hit one or two per day contingent upon how much time I have. For the most part is is 2-3hrs after work during this part of the year, and maybe 3-4hrs during the summer months. Weekend hunts normally range between 8-12hrs depending on how much driving time I am doing. These too will take me anywhere from 50-300mi from home if I feel the place has good potential of yielding some great finds. Sorry this reply was so long but no one can say I am ever at a lost for words! Good luck to ya at reaching the T2 mark with the Cabela certificates.

 

[James N.D.]

Nice Rings! Keep pounding away at that site and hope to see more finds like that. Good Luck and HH.