Baby Beach in Orange County, CA

[Tom_in_CA]

I don't see the point in being snooty. I've been put onto some GREAT locations simply because I was willing to talk to people and swap info.

Ok, sure. I agree with you that, most of the time, md'rs tend to reciprocate with tips of where-the-action is. But other times, some beginner md'rs *could* tend to let YOU do all the heavy-lifting. While they don't do their own scouting & research. They don't mean any harm in being a "sponge". It's just that they never get hardcore into it. So the hardcore hunter ends up feeling like he's baby-sitting .

And when it comes to beach erosion hunting : While it's true that there could be fabulous zones where the real estate is so vast and large, that multiple hunters aren't going to exploit it (before it sands back in a few days later), yet in other times : The zone is concise & defined with limits/borders. So while that might be fine & dandy for 2 hunters in-the-space of a low tide time cycle, yet if there were 4 or 5 hunters there, there wouldn't be enough space & targets to go around.

Also : While I personally don't mind if someone else finds a goodie that "I could have found if I'd kept my mouth shut", yet : Other hardcore guys do mind that. So for example, in land hunting : I've taken casual friends (just anyone who corresponds with me on the net) to exclusive elite sites (that took a LOT of research to locate). And I've seen no less than 6 gold coins (+ reales, seateds, buttons, etc...) get found that way at "my" sites. That *technically* could have been mine, if I'd "kept my mouth shut", and hunted strictly by myself or with a single close ally. Yet buddies of mine chide & scold me for brings a veritable "stranger" to sites that we cherish and should have "worked solely by ourselves".

So I can see both vantage points : The "snooty" type, and the "loosey-lipsey" type. I don't fault my "snooty friends" . Because they've certainly "paid their dues" with hard-knock-lessons. But I also see that md'ing isn't strictly about goodies for oneself. So there's pro/con. I don't fault either side.

 

[TheFrood]

But instead just read the article I wrote. See when high tides coincide with high on-shore or cross-shore swells (which would mean S, and SW swells, for So. CA beaches). And on-shore winds. Then go out and see if you see any of the tell-tale signs of erosion. Eg.: Cuts, slopes, scallops. It's all right there in my article.

I did read the article actually. It was a great guide... Like a beginner gold prospecting guide but geared for beginning beach metal detectors...

Actually it looks like a lot of the same spots that fishermen look for to find where perch tend to congregate along the shore are also where you want to be MDing...

 

[KOB]

Ok, sure. I agree with you that, most of the time, md'rs tend to reciprocate with tips of where-the-action is. But other times, some beginner md'rs *could* tend to let YOU do all the heavy-lifting. While they don't do their own scouting & research. They don't mean any harm in being a "sponge". It's just that they never get hardcore into it. So the hardcore hunter ends up feeling like he's baby-sitting .

And when it comes to beach erosion hunting : While it's true that there could be fabulous zones where the real estate is so vast and large, that multiple hunters aren't going to exploit it (before it sands back in a few days later), yet in other times : The zone is concise & defined with limits/borders. So while that might be fine & dandy for 2 hunters in-the-space of a low tide time cycle, yet if there were 4 or 5 hunters there, there wouldn't be enough space & targets to go around.

Also : While I personally don't mind if someone else finds a goodie that "I could have found if I'd kept my mouth shut", yet : Other hardcore guys do mind that. So for example, in land hunting : I've taken casual friends (just anyone who corresponds with me on the net) to exclusive elite sites (that took a LOT of research to locate). And I've seen no less than 6 gold coins (+ reales, seateds, buttons, etc...) get found that way at "my" sites. That *technically* could have been mine, if I'd "kept my mouth shut", and hunted strictly by myself or with a single close ally. Yet buddies of mine chide & scold me for brings a veritable "stranger" to sites that we cherish and should have "worked solely by ourselves".

So I can see both vantage points : The "snooty" type, and the "loosey-lipsey" type. I don't fault my "snooty friends" . Because they've certainly "paid their dues" with hard-knock-lessons. But I also see that md'ing isn't strictly about goodies for oneself. So there's pro/con. I don't fault either side.

This describes me very close. I tend to flip flop though especially when on a losing streak. But it all boils down to is there are no more "secret spots". With GPS , phones , etc , everyone could find any location with very little work. I used Thomas Guides extensively back in the day. The key with both formats is you still have to have your scoop in the sand for years , if not decades to know beaches inside and out. And that takes a big part of your life. That's where paying your "dues" comes into play. And some , not all , want to skip that process.