Tell us the tale of your best hunt ever...

[Crumble]

Piggybacking on the best find ever thread... would be cool to hear about everyone's best hunt. What did you find? What made it memorable?

I'll start:

Two years ago, big storm coming in. I saw that high winds, big waves, and heavy rain were hitting a particular beach that rarely gets eroded, decided to give it a shot. I get to the beach, roads were flooded so I had to park about a mile from the beach and hike in. Once I got to the spot, it looked ok... but not really great. Maybe a 3 foot cut, but noticed a lot more black sand than normal.

Turned on my metal detector (Infinium LS) and started hearing targets everywhere. I spent about 6 hours digging non stop in the pouring rain, and pulled up 9 gold. Not a single other person showed up the whole time I was there.

Decided to hit it the next day with the Deus 2, before it sanded back in. Still raining but much lighter rain this time. Dug 14 gold in about 8 hours. There were points where 3 targets in a row were gold... I was on cloud 9.

All of this was in an area about 30 yards long, on either side of it there was barely any targets.

Went again the next day and it was sanded back in...

It was about 50 grams of gold total, not the most valuable day (two days) I've had, but by far the most memorable.

I'm patiently waiting for this beach to open up again. You will notice in the pictures that all of the gold was light weight (no wedding bands, no class rings, etc.)... there is a layer of heavy gold down there waiting for me. Just have to get there in that 12 hour window when it opens up.

What you got?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Dang Crumble, that ^ ^ is going to be hard-to-beat ! And since you posted this on the beach forum section of FMDF, I assume you meant : Best beach hunt ever (as opposed to land-hunts):

One of my memorable days was like yours. Albeit with hardly any gold jewelry, since this was at a dog-walkers /kite-flyers/surf-fishermen type of beach, not a "swim beach". So there were tons of coins and fishing sinkers, but a really poor ratio of gold jewelry.

It was during the 1996-97 El Nino event : A certain beach here in Monterey Bay had been eroded down to bed rock /hard-pan , in one area. And there were targets EVERYWHERE. Every single swing of the loop was giving multiple beeps. Often time each scoop had more than 1 coin. Just literally as fast as I could dig ! And super dangerous , as the swells that day were like 20 to 25 ft. Meaning that EVEN THE LOW TIDE was seeming to come all the way to the base of the cut. Doh !

Because once mother nature has stripped away the sand in a certain spot, then : There's no more SLOPE (incline/grade) for the surf to climb up. So it seemed as if , even in the super low negative tide, that : I had to watch my back. Doh !

I ended up with 466 coins that day. Of which one was a 1914 s $2.50 gold coin, 46 silver coins, and over 100 wheaties. But alas, only a single gold ring. Since, as said, this isn't a swim-type beach. But hey, I wasn't complaining about the $2.50 gold piece

And the only reason I didn't walk away with 1000 coins that day, was that I had arrived, at this beach, AFTER the zenith of the low tide (I'd been scouting other beaches that morning prior to this one). So when I got there, the tide was ALREADY about to be coming back in. I thought about it later, and realized that if I had started at this beach, and "worked the tide out" (to get the entire bell-curve of the low-tide), that I would certainly have pulled 1k + coins.

 

[KOB]

Piggybacking on the best find ever thread... would be cool to hear about everyone's best hunt. What did you find? What made it memorable?

I'll start:

Two years ago, big storm coming in. I saw that high winds, big waves, and heavy rain were hitting a particular beach that rarely gets eroded, decided to give it a shot. I get to the beach, roads were flooded so I had to park about a mile from the beach and hike in. Once I got to the spot, it looked ok... but not really great. Maybe a 3 foot cut, but noticed a lot more black sand than normal.

Turned on my metal detector (Infinium LS) and started hearing targets everywhere. I spent about 6 hours digging non stop in the pouring rain, and pulled up 9 gold. Not a single other person showed up the whole time I was there.

Decided to hit it the next day with the Deus 2, before it sanded back in. Still raining but much lighter rain this time. Dug 14 gold in about 8 hours. There were points where 3 targets in a row were gold... I was on cloud 9.

All of this was in an area about 30 yards long, on either side of it there was barely any targets.

Went again the next day and it was sanded back in...

It was about 50 grams of gold total, not the most valuable day (two days) I've had, but by far the most memorable.

I'm patiently waiting for this beach to open up again. You will notice in the pictures that all of the gold was light weight (no wedding bands, no class rings, etc.)... there is a layer of heavy gold down there waiting for me. Just have to get there in that 12 hour window when it opens up.

What you got?

I probably just had 1 of my best hunts ever as far as $ goes. But a very memorable hunt was on the EXACT BEACH YOU HUNTED about 30yrs ago. Got 29 rings , 14 Gold , 5 had stones. The big part was it was after work in only 2.5 hours. Massive surf , Massive overhead cut and getting pinned up against it. Completely drenched. You could see targets falling out. Including falling firepits. To this day , I still watch it. And haven't seen a cut like that running deep up that beach. Plenty of flooding and the sand being pulled down though.

 

[SwinginDigginPA]

You beach guys are killing it!
I'll have to start beach detecting soon. Closest beach for me is 70 miles away, that kinda sucks.

 

[Cfmct]

I can't pick one hunt, I have had a lot of successful hunts of 4 or more gold in one outing, the time I scored 4 gold rings 2 were diamond rings in 45 minutes with my PI PRO, or 5 gold rings multiple silvers with my PI PRO hunting a ground down slope, I went on a group hunt with 4 others they hunted the water, I found washed out spot loaded with rusty bottle caps at bottom of slope ended up finding 7 gold 6 were rings with my GT, or hunting with OBN, Fsa46, PI JOE, Cupajo and scored 4 gold in our hunt with my GT, and then finding the remains of a swim platform and hunting it day after day multiple gold every day hunting with my Dual Field, 3 times I scooped and brought up 2 gold each time in the scoop I ended up with over 60 gold there, after Sandy found a spot that gave me 5 gold first hunt in the rocks, 4 gold next hunt followed by 3 gold then hit it when I could and ended up with 17 gold in an area 4 feet wide by about 60 feet long 4 gold were eyeball finds a 18k old gold chain a 14k bracelet and 2 18k earrings were all eyeball finds. Those were the hunts I pulled a few single gold teeth.

I have most of the pictures but you all have seen them before.

 

[OBN]

Best hunt 2020, 8 gold rings

Best month 37 gold rings in 12 hunts July 2019

Story behind these hunts, same spot. Old beach from the late 1800s to about 1970.... Discovered after taking a few friends too it late June 2020 while I did reconn. Put them in a area I had dug silver and v nickels, then I went out deep and worked as far off shore as I could get during a fair lowtide. First time found silver, second trip back found silver and a gold band.. then all went crazy the deeper I got....lasted about 9 months, over 150 gold rings. Storm came thru March 2020 and it was gone.

 

[Cfmct]

Best hunt 2020, 8 gold rings
View attachment 626205

Best month 37 gold rings in 12 hunts July 2019
View attachment 626206

Story behind these hunts, same spot. Old beach from the late 1800s to about 1970.... Discovered after taking a few friends too it late June 2020 while I did reconn. Put them in a area I had dug silver and v nickels, then I went out deep and worked as far off shore as I could get during a fair lowtide. First time found silver, second trip back found silver and a gold band.. then all went crazy the deeper I got....lasted about 9 months, over 150 gold rings. Storm came thru March 2020 and it was gone.

A gold ring a day, keeps the doctor away I'm jealous of your 8 gold I shouldn't be though, you hunt in a fish bowl

 

[SwinginDigginPA]

 

[Fishincontrol]

Yeah, just wow!

 

[metaladdict]

My best was pulling a 22k+ necklace and a gold 14k ring out of a totter!

 

[Crumble]

Best hunt 2020, 8 gold rings
View attachment 626205

Best month 37 gold rings in 12 hunts July 2019
View attachment 626206

Story behind these hunts, same spot. Old beach from the late 1800s to about 1970.... Discovered after taking a few friends too it late June 2020 while I did reconn. Put them in a area I had dug silver and v nickels, then I went out deep and worked as far off shore as I could get during a fair lowtide. First time found silver, second trip back found silver and a gold band.. then all went crazy the deeper I got....lasted about 9 months, over 150 gold rings. Storm came thru March 2020 and it was gone.

Damn! I would literally be hitting a spot like that every free moment I had.

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

18K White Gold Tennis Bracelet with 7ct of Diamonds - $12,000 Retail
Hit the beach on Dec 26th 2025 and it was early morning; 6:15am, about an hour before sun rise. I planned to hit the wet sand and water. As I worked my way toward the water, I got a very deep hit along the blanket line. The signal was weak, but the 2-D plot on my Manticore was centered on the middle line. My first scoop of sand from my gigantic sand scoop yielded nothing. I plunged the scoop deeper into the hole. As I shook out the sand, I noticed the bracelet hanging half way through a hole in the scoop. I grabbed it and pulled it out much like pulling a night crawler out of the ground. I could see it was white metal w clear stones, but because of darkness could see little else. I placed the bracelet in my neck pouch, where I place valuable finds, but fully expected the bracelet to be junk, like many tennis bracelets that have come before.
I hit the wet sand and water for 4 hrs and except for a Tungsten wedding band and a few coins nothing else surfaced. Met a fellow Detectorist and we chatted about the bracelet that I found and we both agreed that it was probably junk. I didn’t even bother to take it out of my neck pouch. I hit the sand on my way out and found a very nice silver and Cz ear ring.
Driving home, I decided to look at the bracelet at a traffic light. At first I could see no marking, about to conclude it was probably junk. Then, I saw “AU 750” on the clasp; 18k White GOLD!!! If it is white gold (still skeptical), I figured, it also must have real diamonds. When I got home I told the wife that I found her a Christmas present but first had to clean it up. I checked to see if the stones were real – Bingo! To make matters even better, I measured the diamonds and they’re close to 1/4ct each! Seven ct total weight!!!
A quick search on Google soon revealed that the price range for a similar bracelet was $10 – 15,000 with several retail establishments offering a similar bracelet for $11-12,000. If I am not mistaken, the 18k white gold tennis bracelet with 7 ct of diamonds is the most expensive target that I have found at least in the past 15 yrs of hunting Florida beaches.
Given the depth of the target, I’d guess about 12”, and that it was on the blanket line on one of the most hunted beaches in the World, I figured that the bracelet was probably buried by the owner for safe keeping and lost. Data from an Insurance group reports that 4% of lost jewelry on the beach is the result of people burying the valuable in the sand. Another 14% of people place valuables under the blanket or towel or even a rock. The final contribution to the Find is that I was running the Manticore with a 15” coil – maximizing the probability of discovering a DEEP target that is notoriously hard to detect with a metal detector.
My wife loves the bracelet and didn’t mind the late Christmas present.
Happy Hunting

 

[Cfmct]

18K White Gold Tennis Bracelet with 7ct of Diamonds - $12,000 Retail
Hit the beach on Dec 26th 2025 and it was early morning; 6:15am, about an hour before sun rise. I planned to hit the wet sand and water. As I worked my way toward the water, I got a very deep hit along the blanket line. The signal was weak, but the 2-D plot on my Manticore was centered on the middle line. My first scoop of sand from my gigantic sand scoop yielded nothing. I plunged the scoop deeper into the hole. As I shook out the sand, I noticed the bracelet hanging half way through a hole in the scoop. I grabbed it and pulled it out much like pulling a night crawler out of the ground. I could see it was white metal w clear stones, but because of darkness could see little else. I placed the bracelet in my neck pouch, where I place valuable finds, but fully expected the bracelet to be junk, like many tennis bracelets that have come before.
I hit the wet sand and water for 4 hrs and except for a Tungsten wedding band and a few coins nothing else surfaced. Met a fellow Detectorist and we chatted about the bracelet that I found and we both agreed that it was probably junk. I didn’t even bother to take it out of my neck pouch. I hit the sand on my way out and found a very nice silver and Cz ear ring.
Driving home, I decided to look at the bracelet at a traffic light. At first I could see no marking, about to conclude it was probably junk. Then, I saw “AU 750” on the clasp; 18k White GOLD!!! If it is white gold (still skeptical), I figured, it also must have real diamonds. When I got home I told the wife that I found her a Christmas present but first had to clean it up. I checked to see if the stones were real – Bingo! To make matters even better, I measured the diamonds and they’re close to 1/4ct each! Seven ct total weight!!!
A quick search on Google soon revealed that the price range for a similar bracelet was $10 – 15,000 with several retail establishments offering a similar bracelet for $11-12,000. If I am not mistaken, the 18k white gold tennis bracelet with 7 ct of diamonds is the most expensive target that I have found at least in the past 15 yrs of hunting Florida beaches.
Given the depth of the target, I’d guess about 12”, and that it was on the blanket line on one of the most hunted beaches in the World, I figured that the bracelet was probably buried by the owner for safe keeping and lost. Data from an Insurance group reports that 4% of lost jewelry on the beach is the result of people burying the valuable in the sand. Another 14% of people place valuables under the blanket or towel or even a rock. The final contribution to the Find is that I was running the Manticore with a 15” coil – maximizing the probability of discovering a DEEP target that is notoriously hard to detect with a metal detector.
My wife loves the bracelet and didn’t mind the late Christmas present.
Happy Hunting

Nice bracelet, but I wouldn't give my wife that, I would sell it and enjoy the money myself

 

[itsaring!]

You beach guys are killing it!
I'll have to start beach detecting soon. Closest beach for me is 70 miles away, that kinda sucks.

Sometimes we do a lot of driving just checking beach conditions. And wear out vehicles. Last week I burned 70 bucks in gas spot checking beaches. Get home and used Facebook to look at beaches if you know beach photographers who post. I went to the wrong beaches. Lol. Fwiw in PA. Check any swim area that old timers used. We have gators here. So I take my chances with sharks.

 

[itsaring!]

I can't talk about a couple of mine. But one hunt back when I was married I could only hunt 3 hours including travel. Wasnt worth the brow beating. Old gold and silver everywhere in the water. Had to leave and still caught hell from the wife. Couldn't go back a couple days. Went back and it had filled in. That beach filled in in 2013 and still hasn't opened back up. Got divorced that year. So that was better than the hunt. Lol.

 

[OBN]

Damn! I would literally be hitting a spot like that every free moment I had.

I hit it 12 times that July, the only reason I did not camp out there was the tides and winds had to be just right.

Like this week, I have about 10 spots I can hit, high tides and strong winds dictate where and when I can get out... to where I need to find gold. The last 4 days have been high tides with bad winds.. Not good... the next 3 days are going to be almost perfect. See how all goes, three days straight might do me in.. think I can swing two ..

 

[Cfmct]

I can't talk about a couple of mine. But one hunt back when I was married I could only hunt 3 hours including travel. Wasnt worth the brow beating. Old gold and silver everywhere in the water. Had to leave and still caught hell from the wife. Couldn't go back a couple days. Went back and it had filled in. That beach filled in in 2013 and still hasn't opened back up. Got divorced that year. So that was better than the hunt. Lol.

Lets do some reminiscing Larry... tell us about the poison ring you found then lost you know where... do you still think about it?

 

[Charly-in-CT-RI]

My heroes!

 

[itsaring!]

Lets do some reminiscing Larry... tell us about the poison ring you found then lost you know where... do you still think about it?

Is losing it in a divorce really losing it? Lol! Yeah I think about that ring quite often. Been looking for that style ring and have never seen an example made like it. It probably got scrapped. Actually still my favorite find.

 

[Compass]

Piggybacking on the best find ever thread... would be cool to hear about everyone's best hunt. What did you find? What made it memorable?

I'll start:

Two years ago, big storm coming in. I saw that high winds, big waves, and heavy rain were hitting a particular beach that rarely gets eroded, decided to give it a shot. I get to the beach, roads were flooded so I had to park about a mile from the beach and hike in. Once I got to the spot, it looked ok... but not really great. Maybe a 3 foot cut, but noticed a lot more black sand than normal.

Turned on my metal detector (Infinium LS) and started hearing targets everywhere. I spent about 6 hours digging non stop in the pouring rain, and pulled up 9 gold. Not a single other person showed up the whole time I was there.

Decided to hit it the next day with the Deus 2, before it sanded back in. Still raining but much lighter rain this time. Dug 14 gold in about 8 hours. There were points where 3 targets in a row were gold... I was on cloud 9.

All of this was in an area about 30 yards long, on either side of it there was barely any targets.

Went again the next day and it was sanded back in...

It was about 50 grams of gold total, not the most valuable day (two days) I've had, but by far the most memorable.

I'm patiently waiting for this beach to open up again. You will notice in the pictures that all of the gold was light weight (no wedding bands, no class rings, etc.)... there is a layer of heavy gold down there waiting for me. Just have to get there in that 12 hour window when it opens up.

What you got?

Hey C! If you remember I was hunting about a mile north of you that first day and saw you and your treasure on your way back to your car. I remember you saying that your arms felt like they were going to fall off from all that digging that you had done. I was exhausted from already having hunted all day but still walked south to your spot to check it out. Black sand and high conductor targets everywhere but by the time I got there I had no energy left to dig and the walk back to the parking lot was brutal.
My most memorable hunt was actually 4-5 hunts in a little over a week of high surf and extreme tides in September of 2022. It was the first time that I hunted with my Whites TDI Beach Hunter primarily in "Ground Balance" mode in a target rich, wet sand environment. I focused on digging mostly low conductor targets and skipping clad coin signals to increase my chances of finding gold jewelry and I wound up with over 20 pieces of gold during those hunts. It was such a thrill to cherry pick the low conductors when the targets were so plentiful. I did scoop out well over 200 nickels but if I had dug all the clad it probably would have worn me out to dig over a thousand more holes.
What made this week even more memorable was having 2 friends new to detecting with me. They just could not get over the abundance of targets under the right conditions.