All beaches are not created equally

johnwon00 · Mar 20, 2018

I live in Jacksonville, FL and hunt on the beaches there and find it a fun and easy detecting process. We are on vacation and camping at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. I spent hours on the beach over the past couple days and only have a few pennies to show for it. The beach has a lot of iron on the beach, especially in the rocks, but not much else of interest to the detector. It's making for a bit of a frustrating time with my detector.

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DbblTap · Mar 20, 2018

johnwon00 said:
I live in Jacksonville, FL and hunt on the beaches there and find it a fun and easy detecting process. We are on vacation and camping at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina. I spent hours on the beach over the past couple days and only have a few pennies to show for it. The beach has a lot of iron on the beach, especially in the rocks, but not much else of interest to the detector. It's making for a bit of a frustrating time with my detector.

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In the north east, MD is hard work and the harder you work, The less you find.

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Viaqua · Mar 20, 2018

What part of the beach are you hunting?

I always hit what I call the "Pig Trough" first. Its the area where all the Snowbirds and Tourist sit along the top of the beach and lose and drop most of the loot I find like watches, bracelets, neck chains and coins.

Second I hit any areas where they have been building Sand Castles or digging around, I have found many rings that fell off fingers while they were digging in the sand.

Last thing is along the surf. Usually a few coins, sunglasses and occasional ankle chain that has washed back up and buried under the waves.

Not withstanding the usual amount of bottle caps..

DbblTap · Mar 21, 2018

Viaqua said:
What part of the beach are you hunting?

I always hit what I call the "Pig Trough" first. Its the area where all the Snowbirds and Tourist sit along the top of the beach and lose and drop most of the loot I find like watches, bracelets, neck chains and coins.

Second I hit any areas where they have been building Sand Castles or digging around, I have found many rings that fell off fingers while they were digging in the sand.

Last thing is along the surf. Usually a few coins, sunglasses and occasional ankle chain that has washed back up and buried under the waves.

Not withstanding the usual amount of bottle caps..

I hit the eroded areas first then work south and north of that area.

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georgeinsc · Mar 21, 2018

There are three beaches in the Charleston area and currently all three are Duds as far as finds. I worked hard for four and a half hours on Monday and found 20 zincolns, 1.30 in clad, the usual key, two junk ear rings.

I have heard that Hunting Island management charges a ten dollar fee to be able to detect the Public Beach.

johnwon00 · Mar 21, 2018

Viaqua said:
What part of the beach are you hunting?

I always hit what I call the "Pig Trough" first. Its the area where all the Snowbirds and Tourist sit along the top of the beach and lose and drop most of the loot I find like watches, bracelets, neck chains and coins.

Second I hit any areas where they have been building Sand Castles or digging around, I have found many rings that fell off fingers while they were digging in the sand.

Last thing is along the surf. Usually a few coins, sunglasses and occasional ankle chain that has washed back up and buried under the waves.

Not withstanding the usual amount of bottle caps..

I am staying at the campgrounds, so I hit the shell line heading away from the lighthouse and then down by the old dead trees half way toward the lighthouse. There is no dry sand line this week and with wind and rain a couple days there are no beach goers, just walkers at the shore line. We pulled up some big sinkers by the trees most recently. My Tesoro tiger shark doesn't mind the beaches at home, but I can't discriminate out the amount of steel pieces in the sand here and have to detect by sound. It amazes me how many 1/4" x 1/4" pieces of metal I ran across.

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johnwon00 · Mar 21, 2018

georgeinsc said:
There are three beaches in the Charleston area and currently all three are Duds as far as finds. I worked hard for four and a half hours on Monday and found 20 zincolns, 1.30 in clad, the usual key, two junk ear rings.

I have heard that Hunting Island management charges a ten dollar fee to be able to detect the Public Beach.

There was no charge to detect. I went to the ranger office and they had me write my name and address on a form which is a metal detecting permit and that was it. The form states that I will follow their rules. The rules are no detecting at the lighthouse and you need to turn jewelry into the ranger for their lost and found... They let you keep coins. I found a whopping 18 cents and about 5 lbs in lead sinkers. LOL. That is the worst results I've ever had when hunting anywhere before.

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DaviDs · Mar 22, 2018

johnwon00 said:
...That is the worst results I've ever had when hunting anywhere before.

A couple weeks ago I was at Jax beach. Saw at least 30 folks out swinging machines. I stopped and asked two of the guys if they were part of a group, and they said no. Just a busy day.

Gosh, only thing worse is trying to go to Micklers or Villano. Tiny beaches with just as many MDs. Heck, you'd think with all these folks, the beaches would be cleaner. But nope, I watch these old guys and snow birds dig a hole and leave the trash next to it.

DaviDs · Mar 22, 2018

DaviDs said:
Jax beach... at least 30 folks out swinging machines.

FWIW, another MD buddy and I were discussing how many folks hit JAX and St. Augustine beaches. Between the two of us we counted the following:

55 people claim to hunt weekly and live within a short drive
42 people claim to hunt weekends and live within a 90-min drive
150 (est) snow birds stay here at least 4 weeks a year
??? unknown quantity that detect as they pass through the area

People continue to lose their "stuff" and I've found some of it too. But as forums discuss lack of targets, I truly believe their isn't a decline in the amount of targets but rather an increase in popularity of the hobby, e.g., more competition.

I stayed at place in South Florida for a mini-weekend vacation and brought along my CTX (which has stickers covering up the name). I left early in the morning to go hunt. As I walked by the bellhop, he said "Good luck" and then said, "hey, thats a CTX isn't it?" I stopped to talk and learned that I was the fourth guest to leave by 6 a.m. to MD ... and third guy with a CTX.

Anyhow, keep at it. I don't think there are any virgin beaches.... only small lapses in time between when beaches are hunted.

johnwon00 · Mar 22, 2018

DaviDs said:
A couple weeks ago I was at Jax beach. Saw at least 30 folks out swinging machines. I stopped and asked two of the guys if they were part of a group, and they said no. Just a busy day.

Gosh, only thing worse is trying to go to Micklers or Villano. Tiny beaches with just as many MDs. Heck, you'd think with all these folks, the beaches would be cleaner. But nope, I watch these old guys and snow birds dig a hole and leave the trash next to it.

Yeah, some people are bad about not picking up the trash. I normally try to go in the evening to avoid the morning crowd of detectors. I guess that's what you get when you live where so many people want to retire.

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DbblTap · Mar 22, 2018

johnwon00 said:
Yeah, some people are bad about not picking up the trash. I normally try to go in the evening to avoid the morning crowd of detectors. I guess that's what you get when you live where so many people want to retire.

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I am the bottle cap pull tabs and old pull tab beer can finder king. When people ask did I find anything I reach in and pull out a half dozen bottle caps and they laugh and leave me alone.
This is just me but if I find nothing of value and pull garbage out, I am still clearing my head and away from work and that can be priceless.

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All beaches are not created equally

johnwon00

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DbblTap

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Viaqua

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georgeinsc

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johnwon00

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