X-TERRA70 nugget shooting reports?

[Blood Sweat and Beers]

X-TERRA70 gold prospecting reports,where are they?
Is it that the X-70 cannot be successfully used as a small nugget detector.Can it compete with the stlobo or the MXT? IMHO i dont think so.

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi,

At least three nuggets were found at my mine at Moore Creek this summer by a visitor with an X-Terra 70. We have horrible hot rocks, and previously the only VLF units I have found that can even be used at the mine without constantly sounding on hot rocks were the Fisher Gold Bug 2 and Tesoro Lobo.

Here is what Dan had to say about the X-Terra at Moore Creek "All my nuggets came from just west of camp down to Nevada Gulch. I used the stock 11" DD coil on a GP3000 for 9 of the nuggets. The stock coil is my favorite for Moore Creek, lightweight and easy to maneuver through the brush. The other 3 nuggets were found using the Xterra 70. High grading dig holes got me 2 of them, another Xterra nugget came off the runway in a real trashy area. The more I used the Xterra the more I liked it. I predict the Xterra will become the detector of choice for hunting trashy locations like Ganes Creek."

Dan is one of the best nugget hunters I have ever had the pleasure to observe when it comes to technical capabilites. He puts me to shame with his ability to pull nuggets out of ground detected by dozens of other hunters.

Some other serious nugget hunters discuss the X-Terra 70 at http://www.nuggethunting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2664&hl=terra

I am one of the biggest MXT fans out there, and did a great deal to establish its reputation as a nugget machine. However, at our mine it does not do very well as it is hard to get it to shut up with all the hot rocks. The Lobo in disc mode set at 1.5, of the Gold Bug 2 in iron disc mode, or the X-Terra 70 in coin mode set to reject ferrous all do a good job of rejecting the hot rocks while still hitting non-ferrous targets.

Note that a VLF unit set like this does not see through the hot rocks. They are rejected, and so nugget near or under the rocks are masked.

I think the reason you are not seeing lots of reports about nugget finds with the X-Terra is simply because it is not marketed for that use and few people are using it to nugget hunt. In my opinion the unit is certainly capable enough for the task. Next time I'm up at my mine I'll give it a serious go with the X-Terra 70 and see what I can turn up. But you have to realize I'd be setting aside my GP 3500 to do so, and there is no way the X-Terra can hold a candle to my GP 3500 when it comes to nugget detecting in seriously bad ground.

For most people in most areas looking for a good multi-purpose unit that is strong on gold, I'd still tend to recommend the MXT as it has a superb coil selection. But I have to disagree with your assessment that the X-Terra 70 is not capable of giving the MXT or Lobo a run for their money. Its prospecting mode is quite powerful and the coin mode handles tough hot rock areas quite well.

Steve Herschbach
Steve's Mining Journal

 

[BarnacleBill]

I see pictures on your website of you nugget hunting with full ear cover headphones on. Are there those large brown bears in the area you're hunting? If yes, do you feel safe with full ear coverage, and I also didn't seem to notice any weapons on you, not even a heavy caliber sidearm.

Like I said, a tenderfoot question.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi BB,

I was born in Alaska and have lived here my entire life. Bears are a fact of life here, and thousands of people encounter thousands of bears on a regular basis. In the case of somebody getting hurt as a result, 99.9% of the time it is the bear, as last I looked hunters shoot over 3000 a year in Alaska. In virtually all other cases the bear wanders away, hopefully not before you get a photo. Lots of people actually hope to see a bear while visiting Alaska.

I live in Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, and we have a resident bear population. There is no place in Alaska you can go and get away from bears. I usually encounter a few every summer. Here is a photo of the last one I saw this summer...

Black bear at Moore Creek

Given that we have lots of bears, and quite a few people, eventually you do have a few conflicts. Someone gets mauled or killed. But believe it or not more people are mauled or killed by dogs in Alaska than bears. True fact.

So do I carry a gun in case I'm attacked by a dog? No. Do you? Probably not. So no, in general I do not carry a weapon when I'm out and about in Alaska. Sometimes I do, usually on those rare trips where I am entirely on my own for a week or more hundreds of miles away from help of any kind. I do always keep a bear gun in camp, as the biggest problem regarding bears is that they can tear up a camp or equipment. If that is the case they may need to be disposed of.

And I usually do use full headphones. Sometimes I do not, but my main concern usually is about the cord hanging up in brush, not bears.

The thing about a bear attack is it is a bloody, gruesome thing, and so the media really plays it up when someone gets hurt by a bear. They never mention the peaceful encounters, leaving people with the impression that if you run into a bear, it is going to attack you. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Your odds of being involved in a bad way with a bear are very slim. They are wild animals, with the potential to be dangerous, and so they deserve great respect. But there is a difference between respect and unreasonable fear.

Anyay, long story short is I find it unfortunate the number of people I have met who are so afraid of bears it keeps them from being able to really enjoy Alaska. I ran into a nice couple on the highway awhile back, who were afraid to drive anywhere off the highway for fear of bears. They seemed to think the highway was some kind of safe zone. I told them how much they were missing, but ultimately they just decided they could not risk it. Sad.

Here are a couple interesting articles about bears in Anchorage:

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/7472942p-7249123c.html
and http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/bears/story/7473706p-6737851c.html

Steve Herschbach

 

[Chuck@TreasureHut]

Below is a report by one of my customers on his X-Terra 70. Cyril is an accomplished detectorist, with many years of experience:

HERE IS A TESTIMONIAL JUST RECEIVED FROM A RECENT MINELAB X-TERRA-70 CUSTOMER, AFTER GETTING THE MACHINE HOME, AND HAVING SOME TIME TO GET FAMILIAR WITH AND TEST IT. CYRIL SMITH IS AN EXPERIENCED HUNTER, IN ALMOST ALL PHASES OF THE HOBBY:

[attachment 35321 CyrilandDetector320.jpg]

Here is a little bit of a run down on the detector so far. I spent some time air testing the X-Terra's Coin/Jewelry mode on a lot of known targets, including a few nuggets that I have found. I have also used the X-Terra in the field hunting several times. The audio response from Minelab detectors is significantly different than say Garrett, Tesoro and White. It takes a little time to learn the detectors language. So far I have found well over 100 coins (all modern) a nice sterling silver ring and bracelet and a old Colo. Retail Tax Token. I don't think any of the targets were much over 4 inched deep. As I learn the sounds and ID readings of the deeper targets I know my target recovery depth will get a lot deeper. It has plenty of sensitivity to get down deep.

The mineralization here in the parks and schools in Colo. Springs is really not very high and I find that I can run the sensitivity in the 20 to 24 range and not get a lot of falsing most of the time. I really like the wide range of the sensitivity control. I have been hunting in pattern 1 almost all the time. The detector ground balances very well. The Auto ground balance works well but I normally ground balance manually. The Track setting also seems to do a good job. I typically operate in Fixed ground balance just to insure that the Track does not balance out a deep signal.

[attachment 35320 CyrilGoldNuggets.jpg]

I tested the Prospecting mode out in my back yard using some of my gold nuggets. I buried them in the dirt in my test area. I was surprised to find that it would pick up my 1.2 grain test nugget at almost an inch under the dirt. It picked up my 4 grain nugget at about 3 inches deep and my 12.8 grain nugget at almost 6 inches. I was using the stock 9" concentric coil, Fixed ground balance and the default Prospecting mode Sensitivity and Metal Mask settings. I really expected the metal mask to take out the small 1.2 grain test nugget. The Double D coil at 18.75 kHz should improve this a some and it should make a very respectable gold nugget detector. It might even be as good or better than some of the dedicated gold nugget detectors on the market. We will see about that later this summer here in Colo and in AZ next fall.

I am very pleased with the detector so far. It is very light weight and if it performs as well on the beach as it has so far in the Coin /Jewelry and Prospecting modes it is definitely the closest thing to a universal detector that I have ever used. If Minelab would add a back light on the display and make it waterproof to 200 feet. I could sell a whole bunch of my detectors.

I just thought you would like to know my impressions of the detector so far.

God Bless,
Cyril

Hope what Cyril had to say is helpful. He has since purchased the 5"x10", 18.75kHz, DD coil for the X-Terra 70, and is quite pleased with the results on small gold!