Hunt in prime time on a beach?

Longshot

Junior Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
67
Location
South Jersey
Do the majority of us hunt early morning or evening when the beachgoers have left, or just get right into the mix? I can imagine that it would be hard to hunt on a crowded beach, and maybe it would bother some people.

Today the low tide is about 2pm.. the sun is beating down and its probably crowded.
 
I hunt low tide, high tide or in between. There is no right time to hunt. Your results will be good anytime. Yes low probably will give you your best shot but never let the time of day stop you. I never let the populationon the beach stop me from detecting.


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Depends
I was hunting a RI ocean spot at night and would push the gate up to park and did this for years then one day the rangers said I wasn't allowed to do that.
I said but I am allowed to hunt here and thought during the day wasn't allowed and they told me to go ahead and hunt during the day prime time.
When I thought about it more it really came down to them not getting their $20.00 parking fee I am guessing.
 
Hunting the beach when people are there will cause problems for you as they think you are there to help them find what they lost. They get rude and nasty and down to the stupid questions like "I lost my ring go find it and I will give you half" when we all know the truth.
Just after they leave is primetime to hunt.

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I will not hunt closer then 20 feet on dry sand from where people are located during the day. Wet sand, I'll hunt anytime bur prefer to do it in the morning or later in the afternoon.
 
Depends
I was hunting a RI ocean spot at night and would push the gate up to park and did this for years then one day the rangers said I wasn't allowed to do that.
I said but I am allowed to hunt here and thought during the day wasn't allowed and they told me to go ahead and hunt during the day prime time.
When I thought about it more it really came down to them not getting their $20.00 parking fee I am guessing.

RI beaches I have hunted all hours. Beaches there never close. As you found out, some of the parking lots close. You just need to find one that is open or drive into the lot via the exit.
 
I normally hunt early morning..... you can just get more of the beach covered properly. When crowded.... you can see from the peoples faces you are in their face...... and almost hear them whisper..... PERV.:laughing: Its like dealing with a wild animal..... never make eye contact.... and back away slowly. But like hunting in higher or lower tides...... when there are a lot of people....it makes you hit those areas that rarely get hit..... that can pay off.
 
I normally hunt early morning..... you can just get more of the beach covered properly. When crowded.... you can see from the peoples faces you are in their face...... and almost hear them whisper..... PERV.:laughing: Its like dealing with a wild animal..... never make eye contact.... and back away slowly. But like hunting in higher or lower tides...... when there are a lot of people....it makes you hit those areas that rarely get hit..... that can pay off.

LOL! You know I think that's true for men, that they back away from you etc. but as a woman I think they show their true colors and approach me with great curiosity and tons of questions. I think many would like to ask men, but mostly are afraid to.
 
I tend to go at any time, especially for fresh drop season but that area we call the towel line I like to hit right after the crowds leave, so usually evening. I also love early morning before the crowds come. But I also detect prime time right around them too, which to me isn't too smart but I can't help myself :)

I always thought it would be smart for those of us that detect to NOT go out in front of the crowds because when they see us the first thing they do is touch their chain to make sure it's still there and then their ring or their pocket. By seeing us they may be thinking, "what might I lose and how to I make sure I don't lose it' and in many cases take appropriate actions to put the goods away safely. I can't help but wonder if by hunting in front of people do we cut down on the number of accidental losses a bit. BUT.. regardless I just hunt in front of them anyway. If I get too close by the stares I just joke "We split anything right here 50/50 right?" They usually laugh and have never called me out on it :)
 
During the summer I hit the beach just as the eastern sky starts to lighten. I want to be busy detecting when the sun comes sneaking up out of the ocean. I detect until the crowd starts arriving Some days it is noon and some days it is 10 or 1030. When you cant swing a coil without hitting some one is not the time to be on the beach. Week days are the best as far as crowds go.

I rarely detect late in the evening as I am not comfortable being on the beach with people that I can not see and determine their intentions. Eastern beaches can be No Lights due to turtles nesting.
 
I prefer to hunt early mornings but when the tides are very low in the evening I will switch it up. I have hunted in crowds but do not like it if I can avoid it.
 
Stay away from sun bathers. That is their personal space. Wet sand and water. Wear headphones. Ignore the jerks. Talk to the people that are nice. Watch out for kids.
 
Most Florida beaches are busy.

I go prime time due to life's constraints.

I choose low tide as much as possible. Not because there are more finds, but because it allows more space for hunting. When there is a high tide + a (higher) low tide, the depth of the beach is reduced by around 50 feet give or take plus the actual surf area.

This compresses the beach goers quite a bit, and the density makes it tougher to hunt. It is almost impossible to work "a line" ...as you have to zig zag and weave. Skipping a lot of ground because it is occupied.

When it is a low tide with a (lower) high tide...people spread out a lot more and there's generally a very wide area of wet sand to hunt.


I usually go late afternoon, early evening...so I have highest chance to recover a fresh drop from the busy day. Not by design, but that's how it works out. Night hunters get the next shot at the beach.

The early morning guys are working an empty beach that has been hit by folks like me, then the night hunters. That's the down side. The plus side for them is, they get the emptiness of the beach that the night hunters do...but with sunshine to hunt better. So they might be making up for it by having better conditions, even though they're technically the "third wave" ...I doubt that's the reasoning, over the years the only early morning hunters I've seen are older folks, and in general, they operate best early for a variety of reasons....
 
Inquring Minds want to Know!

Now...other than crowds, the biggest challenge are the talkers and inquirers....Don't get me wrong, we love to be social, we don't mind for the most part - but at times it can get excessive when approached by dozens of people asking the same questions....and some just want to chat on and on. We only have so much time to hunt, and it takes time to get down to the beach - and chit chat burns up a lot of time. We don't intend to be rude, but at the same time, we have to value our time.

Common questions:

"What's your best find?"

"Anything good today?"

"Do you ever find anything?"

"What are you looking for?" <-- This one bugs me.

"Is that a metal detector?"

"How much does that cost?"

"How long have you been doing this?"


As someone already mentioned.... #1 thing is avoid eye contact. Look busy and focused.

#2 If they establish contact, never answer their questions with anything remotely intriguing. Don't tell them you scored a ring last week...just opens a can of worms. Best to answer that you've found nothing. I sometimes say, just bottle caps and junk (which isn't a lie sometimes lol).

#3, Body language. If they establish contact...answer quick, be short and keep hunting while talking. This gives the non-verbal signal that you're not chatting. If you stop, or take off your headphones or whatever...you're doomed to get multiple questions!

#4, There's always the option to ignore. Whether that is blatant ignoring, or pretending to not hear them (headphones help with this) ...avoidance is sometimes the best option.
 
No body gets it all....so I’m not to worried about whose been there. I think I can show enough gold to prove my point. You just have to do a little more grinding out there. It’s a matter of who get the coil over the gold.
 
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