The thing is, you gotta find a rig that suits you and your dirt...something you have confidence in and begin to understand...And then dedicate yourself to learning its language as well as the language of the dirt...You gotta be serious even starting out on this trek...This aint like Golf or pickelball! We are tracking Humans through Centuries of time...
If I had to start all over, living in KY and putting myself in your shoes, I'd be getting the Patriot with the 11"dd coil, a screwdriver, a small hand trowel, a 24 pack of cheap alkaline DubbleA's from Sams Club... a $1 nail apron from the lumberyard for a finds pouch..and a decent set of cans like the GreyGhosts...thats it...roughly $600 into it...Pretty much how I roll to this day...
No kneepads or pinpointer..I would not quit until the full 24 pack of batts are depleted...about a year, so I know I gave it a yeomans shot....If I could not suceed by then, then this Sport aint for me, and I'd sell my gear for about half what I paid for it and move on to something else...so Yeah, I'm out $200 tops...Which aint a bad loss for a Hobby considering!!
Choosing a first good rig is very important for you to maximize your finds and fuel your passion for this sport, and the Patriot can do it...Just saying, we all have our own personal style and unique audio recognition gifts...the Pat is adjustable enough to get you in the ballpark in order to figure out what yours are...
I'd be running the Patriot rig in DP tones and about half power, like a 52 sens, 1 disc, -3 thresh....and commit to putting in some time behind the coil without changing the settings for at least a month.....pulling as many targets in the shortest amount of time to familiarize myself with what the dirt and targets are saying, thereby condensing your learning curve...concentrating on each and every find, making a study out of why and how come this particular target was in this location, its depth, age, etc....
So its very hard for us to make accurate recommendations...too many variables...Ultimately, your success depends upon you...you start out with a decent rig, you have a very good chance of making this Sport something successful, profitable and satisfying...
Then, I'd take the left over $400, from my $1000 budget, set aside $100 for gas, $100 for scratchoffs, $100 for cigarettes, and $100 for beer...Yeah...thats exactly what I'd do if I had $1000 to piss away and didnt know diddly dink...Or I'd take up golf, and piss the full $1000 away in one shot...or go to the casino and put it all on red...
I will add, Kentucky is a really good Jump off point for a Dectectorist to live!! You can easily blast up into Indiana or Ohio, TN, hell..East Coast, Gulf Coast,..Temperate and a whole lot more year available for Hunting! You can make stinky trim just on clad and pay off your gear in short order if a fellow lived in Kentucky and simply punchin' munchkins chip kicking totters!!....You know what I'm saying?....
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