Tips for a first time gold nugget shooter .....
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I will be going on a desert trip soon to seek out gold nuggets with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 and a Garret pro pointer AT.
Most of the area is covered in iron trash , except for a couple canyons way off the road that seem the be clean of the iron trash.
My plan is to search all of my dry wash diggings (from the last month or so) and others newer dry wash diggings in the area as new ground is exposed by the digs. I will also be scanning the exposed (cleaned) bedrock, but my fear is it has already been gone over. I plan to hit hard the off road canyons that seem to be free of trash.
One question I have is ..... in a good looking area, do you remove over burden FIRST with hand tools say 6 to 8 inches of it and then scan the shallow dig ... seems like a way that would get you deeper especially if some else had already detecting the area.
Any other tips, suggestions, or comments are much appreciated, Chris
Comments
This image shows some virgin land I dug last week. I did find bedrock. I did find gold. I plan to scan that dig and that area. Most of the good looking bedrock in the area has already been exposed and cleaned by dry washers. Should I scan the hillsides or just stay in the valleys.
Looking at that photo I would recommend that you climb that hill with your detector.
All those cracks are perpendicular to the flow of soil down the hill. Great riffles.
Most miners test the bottom of the canyon from the bottom to the top. They are looking for color and then where it stops. Once they find no more color they go back to the last color find and start looking up on both sides of the canyon for the lode that produced the color.
Damn, watch for snakes!!
bob:)
that looks mighty hot! Keep us posted on future finds. I know next to nothing about this type of gold hunting, but it looks interesting.
Bob is correct... also, do not neglect the root area of those desert plants... they tend to 'hold' things... Best of luck... Cheers, RickO
Bob, thank you for all the information. I just got back from two days in the desert ... first time out with the detector, learned a bunch, found out it is extremely hard work. I love seeing snakes, but none this trip.
PCGS69, well its the desert so it can be hot. I watch the ten day forecast. It was 105 two days before my trip but dropped to the low eighties for my trip. No more trips for me until the fall as it is really heating up now. You can find shade under mesquite trees and rock outcroppings, I hang out in those places to rest.
Rikco, oh ya I have found gold in root systems of the palo verde tree.
Broke the other axle on my truck for the scariest 2 hour drive of my life!!!!!
Finds, well that is what the other thread is for ......
I hope you wear a nice wide brimmed hat....the white straw one's (cowboy hats) are great for keeping the heat off your head... Those cooling wraps are good too..they are chilled in the freezer then put around your neck... last for a couple of hours... Cheers, RickO