After researching until 1 AM last night about beach hunting tips and strategies, I was pretty excited to try out the new "grid an area" technique. After 10 minutes of hunting, a surface quarter! 3 minutes later, another quarter! Wow, this is going to be a great day! Not so fast. From there I didn't find a good target for around 1.5 hours! Then, don't ask me how I found it, but I was very surprised when I saw the date of the penny I dug up. 1946! Then, 3 minutes later, a dime! 3 minutes later, another dime! Then, I went another HOUR without finding ANY good targets! All of my finds were on the dry sand, 2 quarters, 2 dimes, and a nickel. A whopping 75 cents. I tried the wet sand for about 5-10 minutes and the detector was completely silent. I was surprised at that. I went where the rocks and shells where because I thought that maybe some good targets got washed up around there. Not a SINGLE beep. I might give it one more shot, but if I get skunked again, I'm done. I'll wait to get home so I can detect on the grass.
Day 2 of detecting NJ beach, 75 cents in 3 hours! I even ignored the bottle cap signals!
- Thread starter tvg1231
- Start date
TheMaddMan
Elite Member
At least you weren't skunked. Or worse, just bottle caps and can slaw.
Don't ignore bottle caps... I've found a few gold that sounded exactly like a bottle cap. 
CoiltoSoil
Elite Member
I use to hunt Wildwood beaches a lot, I gave up. I hate sand, I burn easily, I hate the ocean water, and beach goers love to be annoying. I generally only hunt woods and fields now where there is no one around to bother me. 
I always tended to do beast in the wet sand on NJ beaches, that is if you have a muti-freq. or PI detector, if not stick with the dry sand along the areas where most people lay out during the day.
I always tended to do beast in the wet sand on NJ beaches, that is if you have a muti-freq. or PI detector, if not stick with the dry sand along the areas where most people lay out during the day.lats
Junior Member
You came up with a 1946 penny. That's a great find. There aren't many of them around and you found it on well hunted beach. You should be overjoyed. It's not all about finding gold and bling. It's also about the challenge of discovering something old, hidden and unusual. Some of my best finds have no monetary value at all but I enjoy looking at them. Remember, it's a hobby - not a job.
dewcon
Quality Control Expert
Now if i could talk a few of the hunters i know to give it up after a couple of dry runs my hunting would improve. Locations differ...... and of course you found more targets in the dry sand..... about 100 to 1 good vs bad. I agree if you are in it for the gold..... then you best be out there at least 5 days a week and 5 hours a day like some i know. Sometimes its nothing more than timing and luck. Sorry Crum...... im still not digging those shallow bottle caps, at least not with an Xcal. Beach hunting aint nearly as much work as dirt hunting. I did it for years and for the like of me i cant remember why a wheat penny excited me so much after digging how many holes, checking how many targets, and still spending 5 hours in that trashy park trying to be careful with the grass in that packed down ground.
Dew
Dew
bobbulge
Elite Member
Those bottle caps are probably the gold rings your missing out on...
tvg... the competition is intense down there... I'd say you are doing pretty good ...
my advice upgrade your machine.
my advice upgrade your machine.
Gold Digger 2
Elite Member
sounds like its not for you,,,,,,don't mean it in a bad way but you are setting expectations too high,,,,,its not a paycheck,,,,never will be again,,,,,,years ago it would have been,,,,,,I didn't hunt back then but know some that did,,,,, In fact I can remember in high school never seeing an MD on the beach, warter or sand,,,sure hope some day it gets back to that,,,,,BUT, with 10,000 baby boomers retiring every day, I don't see that any time soon unfortunately,,,I myself grew up here fishing, the water and beaches, sooooooo, its a great way for me to enjoy myself cause I just like the beach and the water that much,,,,GL HH
Gold Digger 2
Elite Member
Dew, I think you and Connie need to get another RV and live in it again,,,,,,just think how much fun that was traveling all over the country and hunting them parks,,,,,
GL HH
Kapi
Forum Supporter
Briman05
Elite Member
You should try south wildwood
Yeah the sand here gets raked right after midnight till about 7am and they go over it several times.... Kudos to the serious water hunters cuz that's where the good stuff really is. I watched a guy hunting the dry and cut with his ATP for almost an hr while I ate a pizza on the boardwalk yesterday before I walked down to see how he was doing... about a buck n a half in clad. Best part was when I heard the lifeguard blowing his whistle like the sky was falling and waving at someone to get inside the flag. I looked and there was a fully armored hunter about 20yds out with his excel and he flipped the lifeguard the bird I looked at him and gave him thumbs up and he pointed to his find floater and gave me thumbs up.... guess that told the story...
I looked at him and gave him thumbs up and he pointed to his find floater and gave me thumbs up.... guess that told the story...
