Okay - so against my better judgement, we went back to the devils forest, this time armed with the SDC 2300 and 5000, both with small elliptical coils to get some swing-ability.
We went deeper into the beast and spent half the day in that area. The plan was executed; prepare and hike in BEFORE detecting to keep us on track and in shape for a long day.
Mistake 1.) Forgetting my neck and back issues regardless of any "plan"
Mistake 2.) By comparison, the 5000 detected so much more ground noise, iron stone/hot rocks etc...it became annoying
- the GPZ was much quieter.
We drove (light blue) through a camp area that turned into a washed/surfaced area before we found ourselves driving up a creek bed! Then marked our waypoints, hiked (light grey area) further up the creek and turned right into the scrub.
I'm not for one moment suggesting it's not worth the visit, but today cemented the predicament my body's mobility finds itself. It's all open flat-ish land for the foreseeable future. Still, we have only scratched the surface in this forest noting there were other more accessible areas to investigate.
I dug a few shot gun pellets. The wife had more success with the 2300 not experiencing the ironstone and ground noise as much, but spent her day digging mostly lots of tiny trash.
That bush is so thick, I tripped a few times and bush held me up before I could fall any further. Also, there was more evidence of detectorists among that bush than I thought given how thick it was.
There were random old timers diggings that had bought up much ironstone and gravel - places I can see gold might want to hide among. The lower areas, and creek bed leading out were mainly clay wash with patches of gravel.
Who knows, you might find me posting again that I ventured into this region in the future. But for now - my back and neck have said to give it a break 8.( I'd want to be looking at areas of less ironstone or use the 7000 with smaller coil, easier forest, and smarter planning....
