Good luck and welcome too!I've hunted all my life, but just started with a metal detector!!
Just like fishing I could spend all day just saying one more swing, just one more swing.........I know the next swing will be GOLD!
Paul B
As it is question based on the perception of ourselves, is it one that we can objectively answer?
Oh hell no!! It's just a poll about how we feel about our own success....what we seek to find and how many times do we actually find it. The people who dig everything, not targeting anything, might put a more positive spin on their "success". After all in that case, they're ALWAYS a winner... of the highly coveted and much enjoyed chicken dinner...
Great Thread!
For me, finding 1 or 2 keepers per hunt is my goal (that usually means a wheatie or a silver, but cool relics and marbles count too!)
I know that I spend too much time hunting pounded areas, yet if I can still find 1 keeper for every 2-3 hunts, I will continue to hunt them.
Patience and persistence are key attributes which make one a good hunter.
Learning one's machine to the best of one's ability is critical as well.
The last two sentences above are what I think makes a complete hunter. That's all there is to it.
Am I a good hunter? Nah, not really. I go out, I dig up a bunch of junk even in what should be good areas. Mostly I just do it for fun. Truthfully, I get a kick out of seeing what comes out of the ground. Everybody wants to find the cool relics, jewelry, or nice silver or gold, right? So do I of course, but as long as I find something other than pull tabs or canslaw I'm fairly happy.
I think this quote from the old movie "The Zero Effect" sums it up nicely.
"When you go looking for something specific, your chances of finding it are very bad. Because of all the things in the world, you're only looking for one of them. When you go looking for anything at all, your chances of finding it are very good. Because of all the things in the world, you're sure to find some of them."
-Bill Pullman, The Zero Effect
Truthfully I do most of my actual "treasure Hunting" at estate sales and such. I've made some nice finds and made more than a few dollars that way. Metal detecting is just for fun.
IRON I think thats where I shine ,I cut my disc on my deus to 1 and run full tones and go threw the thickest iron around. Me and my partner both do well in it. The guys I first started hunting with who had been doing it for years ran from the thick iron we hunt today and find the goodies in. It does have alot to learning the nuances of your machine very well. So what do I think makes me a good hunter is my ability to hunt the thickest iron around and consistently pull good relics from it. Of course it helps to have a capable machine to do so. Im sure some are better but I dont think that way because if I walk onto a hit hard site I want to believe im one the best and will find what they missed ,one of the worse things for me in the begining was getting mentally whooped on hard hit sites. Me and my partners motto is it hasnt been hit by us yet! To me alot of detecting is mental esspecially hunting behind others , to say they cant find it all is easy but to believe it is sometimes hard to do ..
Are you the "permission a minute" person to cherry pick old houses? Are you the person who hunts and hunts and hunts a pounded park some more for the challenge or finding one more keeper? Are you the hunter who dives into the garbage pit to see if you can decipher all of that electronic blabbering?
In your mind...what makes a really good hunter?