3 years in this hobby and only 5 sub grammers, have you guys got any advice to have more "success" ?

[VicGoldHunter]

So yeah i was quite a fool thinking that i would be able to pay my detector off in gold shortly when i bought it in 2019 but nah i love this hobby and its one of the best things i've discovered getting out into nature and the hunt for gold is like nothing else.

BUT i would honestly love to have just a little more success on my outings, by now after 3 years in the game im pretty confident i know what im doing and having the machine "dialed" in properly. But im just a little confused why im just not picking up anything on my outings, It has to be the locations im going to thats all i can put it down to, i go LOW and SLOW all the time and even bought a sadie and spo1 last year to increase my chances of picking up anything but still nothing. Oh actually first time out with the sadie and spo1 i picked up 2 small bits and was over the moon in a flogged out joint in castlemaine but been back there 4 times and nothing. I even had a year break as i was just tired of never finding anything.

Dont get me wrong im not thinking this is some easy to do thing. i know gold is extremely rare and why its so valuable so im not under the illusion im going to be finding nuggets left right and center, i just think for the effort and amount of times im heading out something isnt adding up here. Is it me, my 4500, my coils or am i just in the wrong places most of the time?

whats odd is the best bits i've found (2 decent 0.8 grammers) literally on my 3rd outing in a creek wall so thats funny to think i had that luck when i probably had no idea what i was doing

I also hit up heathcote a fair amount as its pretty close to me but i cant even find rubbish there most of the time so i think im just wasting my time

 

[Greg_wilson]

You need some one on one tuition. Anyone can dig a signal, not everyone can dig a murmur, a glitch in the matrix, a nothing but a nothing that pulled me up.

 

[Jaros]

Persistence pays in the long run-just enjoy being out there.

 

[aussiefarmer]

Larger nuggets that are easy to find were cleaned up with early detectors , you need to dig every signal , you need to scrape the surface flat on every warble murmer and false.
You need to understand smaller gold is way more common than chunky stuff.
Get out of the old diggings , run deep settings and deep coils if you can't find trash those areas are flogged.
Alot of gold feilds never had plus grammers.
Once I get exhausted I don't dig screaming signals so God only knows how many bigger nuggets I have missed.
Its a mind game and old habits come back easily with continued disappointment, spend half your detecting time searching areas that don't seem likely near where your brain keeps taking you.
I would guess 70% of detectors sold don't pay for themselves, many give up before they find much, it is hard work and really somedays it seems personal, the key to me is I am happy to find 1 tiny sub grammer per trip and all others are just a bonus.

 

[Moneybox]

Pe

So yeah i was quite a fool thinking that i would be able to pay my detector off in gold shortly when i bought it in 2019 but nah i love this hobby and its one of the best things i've discovered getting out into nature and the hunt for gold is like nothing else.

BUT i would honestly love to have just a little more success on my outings, by now after 3 years in the game im pretty confident i know what im doing and having the machine "dialed" in properly. But im just a little confused why im just not picking up anything on my outings, It has to be the locations im going to thats all i can put it down to, i go LOW and SLOW all the time and even bought a sadie and spo1 last year to increase my chances of picking up anything but still nothing. Oh actually first time out with the sadie and spo1 i picked up 2 small bits and was over the moon in a flogged out joint in castlemaine but been back there 4 times and nothing. I even had a year break as i was just tired of never finding anything.

Dont get me wrong im not thinking this is some easy to do thing. i know gold is extremely rare and why its so valuable so im not under the illusion im going to be finding nuggets left right and center, i just think for the effort and amount of times im heading out something isnt adding up here. Is it me, my 4500, my coils or am i just in the wrong places most of the time?

whats odd is the best bits i've found (2 decent 0.8 grammers) literally on my 3rd outing in a creek wall so thats funny to think i had that luck when i probably had no idea what i was doing

I also hit up heathcote a fair amount as its pretty close to me but i cant even find rubbish there most of the time so i think im just wasting my time

Perhaps your detector settings are letting you down? How well do you know your detector? Do you know that you are using optimum settings or has something changed and you are not aware of the problem?

If you don't know go back to Factory Settings, that's just a long press on the On/Off switch to turn the machine on. When you hear the beep take the option "All Settings". Then make sure your front switches are as they should be - Coil, Mono or DD (always fit and run Mono where you can)- set ground balance to Fixed, timings to Enhanced and search mode to General.

 

[Dog Ranger]

Don't despair as this becomes your worst enemy. Tired or feeling despondent like it's a waste of time, then pack it in for the day as you need to feel "on 'it" to be on it. This is probably the best part of finding even the smallest piece, as it rejuvenates your enthusiasm and spurs you on. I know some who swung for two years and not found a piece, another first trip landed a five ouncer. Another who found a ten ouncer and then in their next four trips did not find a thing? Myself I've been away for a month and found gold within the first 10 minutes of coil on the ground and thought, damn this is going to be a boomer of a trip. Seven days later not another piece to show. Nature of the beast
Noted in a post you placed that you commented that you don't even find junk ? This to me would suggest that MB is on the money in that your machine is not set up correctly? I think most would agree that they never have a problem finding junk. More fuggets than nuggets is the norm

 

[Aug]

in a flogged out joint

Maybe this is part of the problem… course it’s not easy to find non-flogged-out-joints but having a go outside the usual areas can be very rewarding

How often do you go out an detect? You said 3 years but if you only spend a few hours every month you might only have the same amount of experience, knack, familiarity with the whole process as some body who got their detector and spent the next one month detecting 8hrs every day.

Also if you want help here, take a moment an list every one of your settings on both front and back for us, maybe something is totally out of whack.

 

[Davent]

Do you have a test piece? A small bit of gold in a pill bottle?
Every now and then when you are not getting a target, chuck it on the ground and wave your detector over it at varying heights, just to reassure everything is working right.

 

[Hawkear]

Even when you are in a known goldfield one of learned skills is being able to "read the ground". Gold is usually in motion both laterally, moving from its primary (or secondary) source and vertically, sinking below surface level under gravity or by alluvium build up.
The first part of reading the ground is to have an educated guess as to where the gold in a run of diggings came from and imagine the gold moving between that source and into the gully over time. That would suggest an area to detect.
The second part is to consider the vertical issue. At a guess I think a smallish coil seeking out smallish nuggets in ground over 12 inches deep (maybe even less) would be unsuccessful. So you would need to imagine the deepening soil profile from hillside to the gully and imagine where that soil profile would be 12 inches or less. If in doubt even consider deepening one of your holes to the end of the soil horizon to be sure.
These two considerations should narrow you search areas considerably and potentially save a lot of wasted time.
If you want to go deeper looking for bigger nuggets then bigger coils should be considered but then remember that the number of nuggets diminishes rapidly in an inverse multiple ratio according to their size.

 

[Teemore]

I'm fortunate that I've found 100's of small sub gram bits. These were found for a couple of reasons, 1, there weren't as many out there detecting. 2, I'm able to get out at least once or twice a week. 3 I was using a SDC and knew it's signals very well. 4, I now use a 6000 and in 6 months have yet to miss out on gold on any trip.

I also use my old GPX and happy to say it's the only machine that's got gram plus pieces for me (so nothing wrong with your detector) ...... DaveNT mentioned a test piece, I suggest go one better and bury that test piece (at various levels) at whatever goldfield you're detecting in, try it so that it's almost or not able to be heard in your enhance settings .... then switch to "Normal", you might be surprised how loud your previous inaudible target is now. Sadly Normal can't be used in many locations if you can't put up with the noise.

Another thing to do, unless your in obvious shallow surfaced areas, is to use your pick to dig down into some virgin ground, if there's more than 3-6" of topsoil then pinging targets will be difficult .... stick to areas where the "pay" layer is close to the surface (unless you're using larger coils).

Remember that any visible diggings will have been done by many before you ..... you either need to be better than they were, remove branches/litter/ etc, get into more difficult areas, on hands and knees if necessary, or try areas away from the obvious .... finding these and deciding where will only come with field experience.

Whatever, don't ever give up, you're obviously finding some gold so you're ahead of a lot of others out there.

As for Heathcote ....... it's my boogie area, I missed out there many times when I started 8 years ago and have only been back once, recently with the 6000 and was rewarded with 2 small bits.

Never give up.

 

[Gold Mbr2020]

Great info above which I found useful too. Understand your frustration VGH very well and I too have a 4500. However I have found 99.9% of my gold with the SDC2300 in just over 2yrs in the hobby and only 1 tiny bit in ironstone with 4500 in the past 14months. I spend a lot of hours at diggings from Graytown to Castlemaine and everywhere in between. I did an air test with a 0.23gm flat piece and really only got a good signal 2.5in and below with 4500 in Enhanced, Fixed Rx9 and Stab 05. Was better in Normal but ground is too hot to detect in Normal where I was. Is that ok with a 12x8 NF? I was expecting it to scream up to 6in or more. Suffice to say, due to only finding junk with it, it spends most of its time in the car. Have not found anything over a gram, (almost; 0.94) and most are under 0.3 gram and all with the SDC. Haven't hit the oz mark yet and still a way off paying for my gear too as a lot of us are no doubt. Victoria being relatively small and hit hard since the 70's I assume, makes it that much harder to find now I guess. Remote areas in WA and Qld seem the best places now. Met a bloke a month ago from Qld in Heathcote that has a SDC and Z 7000 and has paid for them several times over. But that's in over 20yrs and Im 18 yrs behind. Still finding it so it keeps drawing me back out there, which is the main thing. Good luck

 

[Moneybox]

The size of the nuggets will limit your detection with the GPX4500. It cannot compete with the SDC when you get those very small nuggets but if you are finding 0.5g and bigger it will reach much deeper.

I almost always run Rx Gain 12 and Stabilizer 16 regardless of the coil fitted. I will try Normal from time to time but usually can only run Enhanced. One of the greatest things of the 4500 that is miss on the 6000 is the manual tuning. If necessary (and it usually isn't) I'll do a retune and then tweak it manually throughout the day. This is particularly useful if other detectors are nearby. I can usually get the GPX4500 down to within 5m of the SDC2300 without any interference at all. This is impossible with the GPX6000.

 

[user 22230]

Great info above which I found useful too. Understand your frustration VGH very well and I too have a 4500. However I have found 99.9% of my gold with the SDC2300 in just over 2yrs in the hobby and only 1 tiny bit in ironstone with 4500 in the past 14months. I spend a lot of hours at diggings from Graytown to Castlemaine and everywhere in between. I did an air test with a 0.23gm flat piece and really only got a good signal 2.5in and below with 4500 in Enhanced, Fixed Rx9 and Stab 05. Was better in Normal but ground is too hot to detect in Normal where I was. Is that ok with a 12x8 NF? I was expecting it to scream up to 6in or more. Suffice to say, due to only finding junk with it, it spends most of its time in the car. Have not found anything over a gram, (almost; 0.94) and most are under 0.3 gram and all with the SDC. Haven't hit the oz mark yet and still a way off paying for my gear too as a lot of us are no doubt. Victoria being relatively small and hit hard since the 70's I assume, makes it that much harder to find now I guess. Remote areas in WA and Qld seem the best places now. Met a bloke a month ago from Qld in Heathcote that has a SDC and Z 7000 and has paid for them several times over. But that's in over 20yrs and Im 18 yrs behind. Still finding it so it keeps drawing me back out there, which is the main thing. Good luck

Keep in mind you may spend 10k on a Z but will probably sell it for only 3K less so to re coupe your money as such is probably only an ounce all up. Born and bred in the Maine and the area especially in recent years has copped a fair flogging, Even seasoned blokes I know from Bendigo are not finding a lot over a gram. For the bigger stuff could only suggest to go West or North to more remote areas. FNQ gram+ are more frequent than sub gram I have found.

 

[ozboy]

You need some one on one tuition. Anyone can dig a signal, not everyone can dig a murmur, a glitch in the matrix, a nothing but a nothing that pulled me up.

Thanks for that. ... now the obvious question... where can you or is the best place for 1: 1 tuition?

 

[Moneybox]

Thanks for that. ... now the obvious question... where can you or is the best place for 1: 1 tuition?

That would depend on the region you are in. You can place that in your profile so that others get a better understanding where you are coming from.

 

[oldtimerROB]

There is lots of gold still left in Victoria only its 2 to 3 meters deep. Dig a hole 3 meters down in between the old holes and you can wash out the wash dirt and get an ounce of gold.Why its still there is the oldtimers did not consider this as worth the trouble.

 

[Ron Wanless]

Do you have a test piece? A small bit of gold in a pill bottle?
Every now and then when you are not getting a target, chuck it on the ground and wave your detector over it at varying heights, just to reassure everything is working right.

that i need to do as my goldmonster 1000 starts screaming "GOLD" almost at any metal and now the neighbours are scratching their heads as to why their yard is full of holes ( kidding) but yea i do need a test piece

 

[Mackka]

Most detector shops will have bits for sale. I bought mine from a disposal store in Browns Plains , my seniors moment has forgotten the name, maybe, Uptons or similar. Mackka

 

[Moneybox]

One of the problems we run into at times is going with all the advice we've been given. In particular the places where gold should be and the geological features that lead us to gold.

When we go to a new area, and we often do, we usually aim for somewhere where gold has previously been found. The reason for this is because these old areas have served us well over the years and I soon get bored on new ground where I can't find gold.

I couldn't count the number of times when we've parked the bus and I've grabbed the detector and said to Mrs M "I'm going to get a bit of gold". I usually do this in the first few minutes after we've stopped because it'll take her a few minutes to get the kettle on an prepare a snack. My trick is to head out the door and walk a straight line across the goldfield deviating only for obstacles that I can't swing the coil over. My success rate in getting a nugget in those first few minutes would be better than 90% because I've rarely returned without gold.

The answer is in not choosing where to poke the coil. I swing at everything within that metre wide strip that I walk. Too often we deviate from our intended path because the grass is always greener on the other side. The most notable time was when we pulled up at the Welcome Stranger monument in Victoria. It was still a bit of a joke at that time but I popped out of the bus swinging the GPX4500 while heading for the monument and sure enough out popped a nugget. We spent the afternoon there pulling little nuggets out right up the slope.

When I find that first bit that's usually where Mrs M gets started working thoroughly with the SDC2300. Sometimes she doesn't move for days if it's producing enough to keep her occupied. By then I've usually got another spot set aside for her to play in and I head off to the more rugged difficult areas. The end result is that she will usually get lots of little bits and I'll get a few larger ones.

 

[Hawkear]

So yeah i was quite a fool thinking that i would be able to pay my detector off in gold shortly when i bought it in 2019 but nah i love this hobby and its one of the best things i've discovered getting out into nature and the hunt for gold is like nothing else.

BUT i would honestly love to have just a little more success on my outings, by now after 3 years in the game im pretty confident i know what im doing and having the machine "dialed" in properly. But im just a little confused why im just not picking up anything on my outings, It has to be the locations im going to thats all i can put it down to, i go LOW and SLOW all the time and even bought a sadie and spo1 last year to increase my chances of picking up anything but still nothing. Oh actually first time out with the sadie and spo1 i picked up 2 small bits and was over the moon in a flogged out joint in castlemaine but been back there 4 times and nothing. I even had a year break as i was just tired of never finding anything.

Dont get me wrong im not thinking this is some easy to do thing. i know gold is extremely rare and why its so valuable so im not under the illusion im going to be finding nuggets left right and center, i just think for the effort and amount of times im heading out something isnt adding up here. Is it me, my 4500, my coils or am i just in the wrong places most of the time?

whats odd is the best bits i've found (2 decent 0.8 grammers) literally on my 3rd outing in a creek wall so thats funny to think i had that luck when i probably had no idea what i was doing

I also hit up heathcote a fair amount as its pretty close to me but i cant even find rubbish there most of the time so i think im just wasting my time

Hi VicGoldHunter.
Has been just over a year since you posted your thread. Haven’t heard back from you since despite a number of people offering some help with advice or suggestions.
Have you found anything noteworthy since?
We’d love to hear?