New to the hobby

[kidtweezergeezer]

I just purchase a Minelab Sovereign GT and wondered if I could get some advice on beach hunting. I am new to beach hunting and all I have found so far are a few pennies and some assorted junk. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Silverstar_Lawman]

Congrats on the Sovereign You made a good buy. I'll try and help answer any questions I can, lots of people here and the beach hunting forum can and will help out.

 

[thinkin2]

Hi, kid, welcome to the forum and metal detecting. You sure picked a winner for a metal detector. The Sov GT is without equal unless you want to get into the water imo. Tell me, where are you at? What beaches are you hunting on and what is the sand and overall beach like? Does the beach just slope down toward the surf or are there any areas that are lower during low tide that hold pools of water? The ocean beaches are ever changing and with these changes the finds can be good or nothing depending on the sand build up. This usually changes the most in winter on the east coast when the storms and rough surf can either take sand out or bring it in. One thing I did when I first got mine was take a few targets, different coins and different gold and silver jewelry of different sizes, and spread them out in my backyard. As I passed the coil over them I noticed what kind of tone the detector made on each of the items. If you do a search you will find settings to tune your detector to. Actually you don't have to search too far as I think these things have been talked about recently. Just look at several days worth of posts. The only other advice I can give you now is to go very slowly. Don't get in a hurry and try to cover the entire beach. Work the coil slowly and when you start hearing signals and digging coins and other items then really slow down and cover that area really well. You will soon come to recognize deep or shallow targets and which ones produce different tones. Most of all just enjoy being out there and be patient. The good finds will come and you will be hooked forever like the rest of us. Best of luck.
Jerry

 

[mick]

I agree. I just bought a GT and used the basic settings posted in this forum. I went out and started finding stuff right away. I haven't any gold rings yet but only because I haven't put my coil over the top of one. The GT is a great machine and easy to use. You made a good choice IMO.

mick

 

[kidtweezergeezer]

Hi Jerry,

Thanks for the information. I am in North Carolina and the beach where I currently scour for items is fairly flat. I already tested for the diff. tones as you suggested and that seems to help. I am turning up a lot of aluminum (bottle caps, pull tabs etc) and I am guessing that is just part of the process of metal detecting at the beach and elsewhere. For me metal detecting is the journey and any valuable finds would be a bonus. That being said, I would think that hunting at low tide would be best. Thanks again for your input. It is much appreciated.

Donald

 

[thinkin2]

I live in the Charleston, SC area on James Island, about six miles from Folly Beach, so our beaches should be very similar. I like to get down there around two hours before low tide and hunt until the tide comes back in and pretty much forces me in. Don't restrict yourself to just low tide. Often you're going to find that cuts will form high on the beach as well as low on the beach with sand buildup between them. Try hunting just above the cuts. When you start making finds, really slow down and overlap the area very carefully. It's funny how the finds will sometimes just be concentrated in certain areas. Winter is the best time, imo, as the storms and rough surf really change the beach, often taking lots of sand away making older, deeper finds detectable when they weren't before the storm. Keep and eye on the weather forecasts, especially the marine forecast, and really check the beaches after strong northeast winds and high surf. Best of luck and enjoy the hunt. Great finds are coming your way.
Jerry