Beach detecting seemed like a waste

needler420

Elite Member
Joined
May 1, 2011
Messages
1,016
Location
Florida
I went detecting at Daytona beach on the fourth of July right by the pier to crabby Joe's. I spent a few hours detecting and all I got was one penny and a bottle cap. I couldn't believe among thousands of people there was no more change or trash in the spots I detected. I did see other people detecting out there. Which makes me think beaches are hit too hard despite the constant flow of traffic from people.

I kept having to take change out my pocket just to test my detector thinking it's not working right. I mean I'm walking by hundreds of people at a time and no change.

I feel less motivated to try beaches now. I don't live that close and I've had better luck on the side of random roads.
 
Daytona can throw you a beating at times. Lots of guys hunt that at night. Can't really judge any beaches here after the hurricane that pulled the dunes down. Changed everywhere i hunt for the worse.
 
I went detecting at Daytona beach on the fourth of July right by the pier to crabby Joe's. I spent a few hours detecting and all I got was one penny and a bottle cap. I couldn't believe among thousands of people there was no more change or trash in the spots I detected. I did see other people detecting out there. Which makes me think beaches are hit too hard despite the constant flow of traffic from people.

I kept having to take change out my pocket just to test my detector thinking it's not working right. I mean I'm walking by hundreds of people at a time and no change.

I feel less motivated to try beaches now. I don't live that close and I've had better luck on the side of random roads.

Man , I know the feeling . My beaches hadn't given me much in ages and I gave up on them . Unfortunately , my last two nearby land fields are going to be redone and then I'm going to have to go back to the beaches . Possibly I may be giving up all my equipment and leaving the hobby .:(
 
Many of our meters down here have gone to those new cellphone "pay parking apps" or to credit cards. People don't need to carry around change like they used to so its impacting us in those areas. Just like new age metal junk rings have impacted the amount of gold ones being lost. Its just the way of the game now.
 
It can get ffrustrating at times. I know your pain all too well but 1/2 of this hobby is perserverance and patience. It;ll come but not when you want it to but only when it wants to. Hang it there is all I'm saying.
 
I have found rings there every time I go. How do you work the beach?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I have seen beaches so sterile .... that you have to throw a penny on to the ground, wave over it, to EVEN SEE IF YOUR MACHINE IS WORKING. And then I've seen other days where you can't take a swing without hearing multiple beeps. Sometimes multiple coins, per scoop in your basket, for an hour straight.

The trick is: Erosion. If the beach is eroding out (and especially if it goes down to bedrock), then mother nature puts all the targets into concise easy zones :) Otherwise, it's like you say: Random fill sand, random modern flukes, lightweight bottle caps & foil, etc....

Trouble is: It's a science-unto-itself to figure out when those "oh-so-nice" erosion days will occur. Sometimes an entire year will go by, when I see no appreciable erosion on our beaches. You just have to learn the science of reading the surfer reports. Eg.: Swells, winds, tides, etc.....
 
Dry sand hunting is a waste of time where i am, and wet sand and water are hit or miss depending on how many people where there recently or erosion events. If you can find a nice wash out you can easily get 50 years worth of accumulated goodies.
For beach or water hunting the best equipment is a good set of eyes and experience to know when to put in the extra time or just go for a cup of coffee instead...
 
Tell you Man..Beach Hunting is a massive effort and about a complete waste of time anymore...Its the TOUGHEST duty for the least amount of predictable payback there is in this Sport...a guy can do better busting totters than beachsweeping...All this changed just in the last few years!

Its different Nowadays...Think.......If somebody loses a really valuable heavy gold now a days, on the dry sand...they simply dial up a RingFinder, or flag down some wandering detectorist, and the damned old Jiminy Cricket hops on over there for the easy retrieve! "Here you go Sir! No, No thank you, No money accepted, just doing my good deed for the day!" :mad::laughing:

Finding Wild lost Gold or even fresh dropped clad on the beach is a declining and nearly immediate modern day anomaly...Nobodies carrying clad, nobodies wearing much gold, and if they are and happen to lose it, they simply dial up or flag down a detectorist to come to their rescue!....

I kept track a year or so ago sweeping the towel line at a popular heavy beach every morning... down and back.... I walked over 100 miles on the beach in July alone!..before Sun-up! barefoot!...I got some towels and empty cans....Nothing of note to report otherwise...Nothing worth walking 100 miles for! Smoking even!

I doubt people will be doing much drysanding for gold in the coming years....the Noobs do of course...so Its fun to salt out a bunch of splitshots and pulltabs on my way to the water!:laughing: Gives them something to do..throw out a few wheaties every now and then, junk rings, stainless steel washers, even nickels...let them figure it out...took me a couple of years and several pairs of feet!
 
Tell you Man..Beach Hunting is a massive effort and about a complete waste of time anymore...Its the TOUGHEST duty for the least amount of predictable payback there is in this Sport...a guy can do better busting totters than beachsweeping...All this changed just in the last few years!



Its different Nowadays...Think.......If somebody loses a really valuable heavy gold now a days, on the dry sand...they simply dial up a RingFinder, or flag down some wandering detectorist, and the damned old Jiminy Cricket hops on over there for the easy retrieve! "Here you go Sir! No, No thank you, No money accepted, just doing my good deed for the day!" :mad::laughing:



Finding Wild lost Gold or even fresh dropped clad on the beach is a declining and nearly immediate modern day anomaly...Nobodies carrying clad, nobodies wearing much gold, and if they are and happen to lose it, they simply dial up or flag down a detectorist to come to their rescue!....



I kept track a year or so ago sweeping the towel line at a popular heavy beach every morning... down and back.... I walked over 100 miles on the beach in July alone!..before Sun-up! barefoot!...I got some towels and empty cans....Nothing of note to report otherwise...Nothing worth walking 100 miles for! Smoking even!



I doubt people will be doing much drysanding for gold in the coming years....the Noobs do of course...so Its fun to salt out a bunch of splitshots and pulltabs on my way to the water!:laughing: Gives them something to do..throw out a few wheaties every now and then, junk rings, stainless steel washers, even nickels...let them figure it out...took me a couple of years and several pairs of feet!



All I can say is you must be going to the wrong beach. I totally disagree. Targets are everywhere dry, wet and water.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
When the conditions are just right, anyone can find treasure on the beach (you don't even need a detector!). When the conditions are bad, anyone will struggle to find much. When the conditions are somewhere in-between, that's when experience, persistence and equipment are the keys to success.
I believe that the future of beach detecting is still very promising. True, people don't wear as much gold as they used to but there is still plenty out there and it is being lost everyday and has been for decades.
The beach is always changing. Lost items get buried and uncovered. They get swept out to sea and pushed up onto the shore. They can move up or down the coastline incredible distances. Much of it stays out in the water, or buried under several feet of sand, or hidden in the rocks or masked by the mineralized black sand only to occasionally get within reach of a metal detector.
Technology is also getting better. More gold chains, deeper targets and small jewelry items are being found and even more will be found as newer high-tech detectors become available. High iron and trashy areas are also getting more productive as a result of these advances.
Several years ago I felt that the beaches were all but hunted out and that there was way too much competition out there to find much treasure. Since that time I have found more than I could have imagined, all on popular, heavily hunted, Southern California beaches. I'm looking forward to many more years of beach detecting in retirement and I honestly believe that my best finds are still ahead of me. :yes: GL&HH!
 
Ya well you just keep telling yourselves its a waste of time. The less hunters i see out there the better. As far as coin...... i do find several hundred dollars worth that pays for equipment....but i wouldnt miss them. You spend a lot of time hoping one turns into something different once scooped. Its the hunt guys....... its finding something and being surprised. Most thats in it for the money or trying to make a living at it quickly find its a time waster to them. I used to do a lot of dirt hunting..... old homes, fields, even gold hunting in the winter. Those guys get excited if they come home with an IH and a couple of wheat pennies. As they say in Texas...... cowboy up and get out there.:lol:
 
Ya well you just keep telling yourselves its a waste of time. The less hunters i see out there the better. As far as coin...... i do find several hundred dollars worth that pays for equipment....but i wouldnt miss them. You spend a lot of time hoping one turns into something different once scooped. Its the hunt guys....... its finding something and being surprised. Most thats in it for the money or trying to make a living at it quickly find its a time waster to them. I used to do a lot of dirt hunting..... old homes, fields, even gold hunting in the winter. Those guys get excited if they come home with an IH and a couple of wheat pennies. As they say in Texas...... cowboy up and get out there.:lol:



I agree with you. One thing I don't like it's seeding the beach with garbage for new detectorist to find. We spend a lot of time taking the garbage off the beach.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The bummer is the open miles of sand before you with no identifiable structure signifying a potential holding area...Sure theres the towel line, fire pits, walk ins, and the basics, but flinging coil across miles of random dry sand is one hell of a task...A guy know on a Sportsfield or a totlot where the drops will be...and its easy in and out with pay all the time...on the sand its a real unknown...still, I hunt it, on account of I have miles of it right close by..I am just saying I dont like it and its tough duty!! But a guy HAS to do it with all this so close by...
 
The bummer is the open miles of sand before you with no identifiable structure signifying a potential holding area...Sure theres the towel line, fire pits, walk ins, and the basics, but flinging coil across miles of random dry sand is one hell of a task...A guy know on a Sportsfield or a totlot where the drops will be...and its easy in and out with pay all the time...on the sand its a real unknown...still, I hunt it, on account of I have miles of it right close by..I am just saying I dont like it and its tough duty!! But a guy HAS to do it with all this so close by...




Dry Sand....That's gonna be 95% of the issue
 
dry sand is a big problem because anyone with the cheapest detector can hunt for fresh drops.

Wet sand and water are your best bets, but you have to watch the weather and conditions. You can be sanded in and barren on day, and down to hard-pan the next.

For people who dont live next the the beach, you can only hunt the days you visit and hope you get lucky.
 
Daytona can throw you a beating at times. Lots of guys hunt that at night. Can't really judge any beaches here after the hurricane that pulled the dunes down. Changed everywhere i hunt for the worse.

What he said.
Though 2 of my more recent good finds were due to persistence.
It's not quantity but the quality of the finds that matter to me.
Use whatever you can to stay motivated. The good find will come.
Enjoy the scenery and realize how many other people would love to be doing what we do.
 
Back
Top Bottom