Tips & Tricks
136-150

136. Mosquitoe Problem? When the ground finally thaws out in the Midwest, my wife and I take 250mg vitamin E. daily It really helps Keep the bugs off of our tender bodies.. Does not help much with flies on the beaches, but is almost fool-proof against mosquitoes. Also good for good looking hair and nails.

137. Many times you will find yourself faced with vast expanses of open pasture, knowing that SOMEWHERE out there, an old house once stood. Let Mother Nature give you a hand in locating it. A light blanket of snow will obscure the ground cover, and allow you to see irregularities in the terrain, such as foundations, trails, and roads, that had been hidden from your sight. Make notes, or if possible, plant marking stakes to help in finding these areas after the snow melts.

138. RESEARCH: Pay a visit to your County Assessors office sometime, and ask about aerial photo's of your county. They are a GREAT tool for locating old homesites, roads, trails, or other potential hunting sites. The photos are easily cross-referenced with tax records for finding the current owners, and copies can usually be purchased for a few bucks. They will make an invaluable addition to your reference library.

139. Whenever I am granted permission to hunt a site, I ALWAYS leave an old coin or two with the landowner, even if they tell me I can keep everything I find. This has never failed to secure future permission, as well as jarring the owner's memory about other sites I may try. Even if I have to return later with an old wheatie or mercury dime, I like to leave them with a coin from the year their old house was built. It's a small gesture on MY part, but it means a LOT to them.

140. Research can be the most boring job of this hobby. When I go to research anything no matter where it is, or what it is, I take along a video camera. At a library if you find a book or paper or anything you can just video it and take it home and view it when you have the time. When you go to a site take the camera along and take a video of it and study it when you get back home and see if you are missing something. All VCR's have some sort of counter on them and you can make a log on that tape of the map, paper, or any article or site that you have found. On top of that you have a record of the research that you have done. Reading off of the TV is much easier then that little print in the books or papers that you have been looking at. It saves time and money, no copying costs. Set your video camera up some day and tape yourself hunting and see what you are doing wrong. This will show you if you are keeping that coil level, are you overlapping that swing, or what ever else that we all do wrong. To me the camera is the best tool that we have for this hobby, until something better comes along. The Video Camera will cut down on that age old rule of 90 percent research and 10 percent hunting makes for a good hunt.

141. NUGGET HUNTERS To all you nuggeters out there, here's a good one that I foregot. I think that in our hurry to hunt we don't use enough. It's a test nugget. Don't have one, well get one fast, or better yet make one out of those little nuggets that you have found. Don't make it so big that any body could find it . This tool needs to be small and hard to find, lets say in the 1/2 to 1 grain size. Now we need to start to use this tool,and thats what it is, a tool to help you find gold! How many times have you been out detecting and said to your self I wounder if I could find any thing here in this hot ground. Is a little light going off yet? Throw down that test nugget, if you can hear it, ok if not, retune the detector tell you can. Also for you newbes, when you get to where you are going throw down that nugget,listen to it,thats a sound that you want to hear out in the field, remember it, tune to it and find it out inthe field too. Hope this helps, and good luck to you.

142. Do you love to fish as well as metal detect? Do you have one of those great fishing vests with all the little pockets and a few big ones? Great! Your all set then! Make the vest pull double duty. I do! I wear mine all the time metal detecting. I use the left side for "trash" targets as I always take out what I dig. I use the right side for my "good" targets. Those small pockets with the pull over velcro flaps are exellent for holding your coins, rings, earrings, etc... and because of the shut flaps your "good" finds will not fall out no matter how much you bend over to dig! They are also very light weight so you do not over heat with them on but yet they provide a little protection on those mild windy days. Try it!

143. FINDING SITES: Building contractors can be a great source of info when looking for newsites. I have helped one contractor in my area locate property marking stakes on a couple of occassions, in exchange for him letting me know when an old house is being demolished. Often you will be able to hunt these sites before, as well as after their work is done. Due to the fact that these houses are being totally demolished, I have never had a property owner refuse me permission to hunt. When seeking out these contractors, it's a good idea to have pre-printed business cards made, announcing yourself and your services. This is a bit more professional than a scrap of paper, and they will be more likely to see you as offering a service, rather than just looking to hunt for fun.

144. Often when looking at a new site, the obvious can escape your attention. I find that by taking pictures of a new site, I can often spot clues later. Certain growth patterns in the trees or foliage can define the outline of an old homesite, and the presence of certain types of plants and trees will show that there was a home in the area at one time. I find that the single-use, disposable cameras work well for this, as they take good shots, and handle a fair amount of abuse well.

145. You carry spare batteries with you, right? Well, you should! However, caution should be exercised when carrying these spares in your pocket, particulary 9 volt, or packs with 9 volt style connectors. A coin, or other metal object in your pocket can easily short across the battery terminals, causing the batteries to overheat. Not only does this drain the batteries, but the potential for explosion, leakage, or at the very least, a nasty burn, is very real! Place a small strip of electrical tape over the battery terminals before heading out, and avoid this danger.

146. The areas I hunt have a high percentage of clay in the soil. This is nasty stuff, sticking to even stainless steel diggers. To make the digging, and cleaning my tools easier, I often carry a small bottle of oil. Old used motor oil works just fine. A few drops on my trowel or knife, and it slips easily through the clay. Only use this trick where turf damage is not a problem, as the oil tends to kill the grass. However, at old homesites or in the woods, it will definitely make your hunting easier.

147. COIN hunting vs. NUGGET hunting, well, gang they are two different animals. I do both and I wouldn't think of taking my Soverign out to nugget shoot. And likewise, I wouldn't take my GoldBug out to coin hunt! When nugget shooting you want no discrimination. Out in the desert, where I hunt, there are lots of minerals and iron in the soil. Small gold nuggets would be lost with any kind of discrimination. In gold country there will be less trash than most coin hunting spots. To find small gold nuggets in the 1 to 2 grain size, and that will be your bread and butter, you will need to dig all targets. You will just have to dig some 22 shells, some old rusty boot tacks, sometimes. You wouldn't want to skip over and miss the little nuggett. All good coin detectors with ground balance capabilities will find nuggets in the 1/4 oz. size or bigger. But how about the little ones, no way those machines just can't do it. They aren't made for that. A coin is larger than most nuggets that you will find. So I say that you have two different machines. They both have their specialties, use the one that is suited to what you want to hunt.

148. Finding property owners. In the past I've found sites that I had researched the history on and finally located in the field but was often unable to find the owner of the property by asking neighbors in the area. I discovered by going tthe Tax Assessors office located at the county seat of the county the site is in, that finding the owner is easily done. Just tell the clerk the approximate area it's located in and they can show you on their property maps who the owner is. Copies of the maps can also be purchased for under a dollar.

149. Like some of you, I carry a spare detector along and suggest that the land owner hunt with me. This really works great - well, almost great. On one trip, when we had hunted for a couple of hours, I found a lot and he found nothing. He was one sad puppy. I did not get a return engagement. I suspect he thought I passed off a sorry detector on him. Well, I solved that problem. Now I take along a Mercury dime and plant it so he will find it. May not be ethical, but it really works wonders. You should see the land owners face when he uncovers that dime. I always get a invitation to come back. Just hope my supply of Merc's holds out.

150. Hunted out spots . I love to hear people say that . In a place that has been well hunted , there my be good gold left ! Most people that nugget shoot in the desert don't take the time to look under or near cactus . It can be painfull , but if you take your time and do it right the rewards can be great . I have found lots of nuggets under small cactus and or under spiny tree's . Give this a try and I think you too will find gold that others have missed .