how do you guys beach hunt, do you work out a pattern, or do you meander. also, do you guys hunt in the water, or near firepits. any help is appreciated guys.
HH
Daniel

I'm still pretty new at this, so I can't say that it's the best way.

So far, I've had the best success on the beach by actually following a grid or lines pattern. I've found stuff meandering, but if I can find two quarters by wandering through an area, how much better would I do if I really hit it?

yea, i seem to find more coins workin an area, but all jewelry have been wandering

Hey Dan,

It's always a toss-up between wanting to cover lots of ground (sand) or follow the more regimented sweep of a grid pattern. Quite frankly, my better days at the beach have come from taking the slower, grid-pattern approach. I'm not sure why exactly, but I've seen ample evidence that my take is usually better focusing on a particular area than trying to take in the whole beach.

HH,

Dan

Dan, I used to wander all over the beach, with only a little clad to show for the effort. Now I work a pattern and the finds are alot better. When I first started at San Clemente the daily find was around $2 -3 dollars in clad. Now I bring in $ 9 to 13 dollars in clad and a ring or two. My vote is work the beach in a pattern.


H Vern2sjc

Hi Vern and others,
it's me Nikita previously known as SoCalNative....(new forum = new handle)! how have you been? Vern, did you change metal detectors or just your method of hunting? meandering vs. following grid? I haven't had much luck this summer, and i want to blame it on my machine, "White's Classic 1" but more than likely it comes down to user error and impatience! What do you think? I'm going to take it in to Pedersen's and have them look at it.

as always HH.
Nikita

hi, im relatively new, and i went to the beach a couple days ago and met another metal detectorist, (<spelled correctly?)and he told me about this place. looks fun! i recently bought this XLT and in 2 days i found 2 gold rings. this is sooooo fun! i found both rings in sandboxes, and at the beach, just a few coins, i need a sand scoop.... anyway, can you guys tell me a good XLT beach program? or is the jewelry/beach a good enough? what can i change to make it more sensitive to small objects, like rings, small earrings?

keep on keepin on!
travy

Welcome Traviswhite. :beers:

Whereabouts in CA are you in? Which beaches do you go to?

I don't have an XLT so I can't help you on that. Since you've already found
gold with it, your discrimination is about right. The only other parameters are
pre-amp gain and sensitivity, consistent with a steady threshold sound.

There are other XLT users here and I am sure they'll give you more info.

wow you people are nice. i was at huntington beach last week im pretty sure. i want to check mothers beach, cause of the.. umm... whats it called? oh yeah, the daycare is over there and TONS of kids a day. think about it... kids=money/mild jewelery= :) lol now we need a formula.... i think it will look like this..... kids+$=:) <<< looks good?

grid pattern works best. in the wet sand, I usually find the metal stuff on a narrow line across the beach. I isolate this line by looking back at the stretch of beach I already hunted. its pretty after you work your first couple hundred of yards. then I reduce the width of the grid pattern to about 15 to 20 feet and work my way across the busiest beach front.

scout the beach during regular hours and identify the busiest areas. come back in the wee hours of the morning or late afternoon and grid those same areas.

if you dont have the time, have a look at the surf cams and identify the hot spots from there!

hh. bing

Welcome to a GREAT Hobby....

When you have plenty of Beach Property to work... Gridding is the most effective.
I face the water as it's easier on the detector's filters.

With the XLT.... accept as much of the numbers as you can to increase your depth and ability to hear some of the finer gold jewelry.

If the Beach shows cuts or debris lines, I'll follow them and scan parallel to the water's edge.

The idea is to avoid covering the same area twice.

Use proper scanning methods which includes overlapping the 950 coil.

I also like using the White's Approved Jimmy Sierra Bigfoot Coil, as this differential based loop cancels out over 85% of the Ground Noise BEFORE it reaches the pre-amps and amps, improving signal to noise or depth.

Use a sand basket/scoop for efficient target retrieval. My company, Trans Bay, produces a NON-Metallic with Short, Med, Long Handles ($24.95 to 39.95).

Good Luck and Good Hunting.

Hello,
I just bought a used Surfmaster P I from one of this forums members yesterday.
Tried it out at Sierra lake beach, what a wonderfull detector, found several coins and a fishing lure in just a few minutes. Sorta used the grid method described in previous posts, helps keep track of the ground you cover. I think I will stick with this, its easy, makes sense and it works.
Only one problem, I searched the same place a few days ago with a different detector and, I was just randomly wondering around but did not find much and had some false signals (VLF detector). The Surfmaster P I must work better as there is black sand layers as you dig down and I mean dig! This unit was signaling items at 8 -> 10 inches.
Happy with the detector and met a very nice person who recommended this forum, can't get a better deal than that!
Thanks to all,

- timberline -

Welcome to the forum timberline, what was the other detector you were using?

Hi Cearnan,
My original detector is a Garrett GTAX 400, which I like and am still learning how to use properly. I have found lots of coins eith it, very shallow 2" max depth. Have had it give many false cofusing signals at my local lake beach. Did locate some coins though. When digging in the sand there are distint layers, someof which are black sand?, any way I have some problems in this area. I have detected by and old house foundation and found the sewer pipe, water pipes, metal toys and coins. So overall I am happy with this detector, but way more happy with the the Surfmaster P I at the lake, but it detects deeper and I find pull rings and coins and fishing lures. It searchs deeper 8 to 10 inches, is the normal depth of stuff, where I alredy searched with the Garrett.

Do you know what the "warn" thing is about on my lfirst post?

Thanks,
- timberline -

Welcome timberline! :D Read this link about the warn thing:

http://forums.kinzlicoils.com/index.php?showtopic=176