Chrisman91 Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) Well, I received my GPX4500 last week and met up with DolanDave and his awesome dad here in Southern California for a hunt on Saturday morning. We were in the vicinity of Randsburg in what "looked" like very good gold-bearing ground. This is also an area where a lot of gold has been found in the past. Dave and his dad got there Friday and spent a lot of the day detecting the area before I met up with them. So, I get a text from Dave Friday evening that says the following: "Went out at randsburg today, really disappointed, couldn't walk 5 feet without hitting bullet, this place is a war zone" I felt bad for him because I know exactly how he felt. There are literally MILLIONS of bullets littering this desert out here. I mean, you can drive 7 miles off the paved road into the middle of nowhere on a mountaintop (like we did on Saturday) and dig. 22 shells/projectiles as much as a foot deep. I climbed to the top of a hill that had to be 100 foot tall, got a signal, dug down about 8", and found a staple (the kind for papers). I recall Dave telling me that in Arizona and Nevada it's not near as bad, and that this would be his last trip out here because of it. As if the ungodly amounts of bullets wasn't bad enough, we were digging up nuts, bolts, spark plugs, lead bird-shot, and lots of other garbage. As bad as I felt for what they were going through, and even myself on Saturday, it kind of gave me a little bit of validation for all of my frustration over the years. I know a lot of folks say that you have to just keep going and dig everything, but I wonder if those people have ever literally dug over 100+ bullets EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY GO OUT? It is definitely hard to keep the motivation there when you are running into bullets and other garbage literally every 3 to 5 feet. All in all, I had a great time and I'm looking forward to hunting with these two gentleman again in the future. Edited March 26, 2019 by Chrisman91 Corrected spelling and grammar errors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredm Posted March 26, 2019 Report Share Posted March 26, 2019 Unfortunately, that is the way of it in many gold areas. Don't go out to the first 3 or 4 miles of the Dale like I did years ago...pounds of lead-no gold! I used to work through junk areas but I am picky about doing that work these days... Montana Bob had a method for dealing with some of that but not when the ground is covered in junk. fred 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted April 13, 2019 Admin Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Hey Chris, Ya, many of the areas are riddles with bullets from all the recreational shooters anymore. It's hard to get away from bullets, unless you're really back in the hills, but even then you still find the random bullet. Good to hear you and Dave got out and at least got to swing over some country with your detectors. I have been locked up here at home working around the clock (day job and business). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlakMagnet Posted April 13, 2019 Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 Chris I wish I had known you guys were going to be out there. DolanDave is a great guy. I have been going out to that area for years. I had to move to Illinois for 4 years from 2012 to 2016. When I got back the entire area for reasons I do not know, had been, as you have described, littered with thousands and thousands of bullets. I have gone out three times recently and have dug all the kinds of things you did. I got lucky enough to also eek out two flakes each trip. The only way I did it was to dig every signal that was not an obvious lead surface hit. It is a hell of a lot of work and it's easy to get discouraged. One morning, about six weeks ago, I parked, got all my junk on, tuned the detector and walked over the crest of a hill. As I did, three guys across the wide valley I was walking down into, opened up with automatic weapons AT the hillside I was starting down. I literally had ricochets zinging around me. I yelled and waved my pick in the air and they stopped. But all they did was change the direction they were firing. And that was in a very well-known gold area. It seems to have gotten much worse in these last years. Anyway, it was weird to say the least. Maybe we should ask Dave where in Az. there is not much lead. It sounds pretty heavenly to think of walking around without getting a hit from a bullet or a shell casing fragment on every swing. Best of luck... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrisman91 Posted April 13, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2019 11 hours ago, nuggethunting said: Hey Chris, Ya, many of the areas are riddles with bullets from all the recreational shooters anymore. It's hard to get away from bullets, unless you're really back in the hills, but even then you still find the random bullet. Good to hear you and Dave got out and at least got to swing over some country with your detectors. I have been locked up here at home working around the clock (day job and business). Sorry to hear that, Rob. Hopefully you'll be able to get back out there and swing soon. I try to go out as much as I can, but the nearest goldfield to me is like 110 miles. L.ol. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted April 14, 2019 Admin Report Share Posted April 14, 2019 Hey Chris, Ya, I guess I'm complain a bit, but have to blessed that I have a good day job that provides well for my family along with a very successful business. Thanks to all my wonderful friends and customers, without them I wouldn't have what I have today. I just wish at times I could free up more time to spend searching for gold with a metal detector. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlakMagnet Posted April 26, 2019 Report Share Posted April 26, 2019 One hundred and ten miles? That's all? 😇 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted April 28, 2019 Admin Report Share Posted April 28, 2019 Hey Flak, Tell Chris that isn't bad, some customers of mine travel across country to get the opportunity to find a single gold nugget. Chris - At least you live in the Mother Lode state! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHnColorado Posted May 3, 2019 Report Share Posted May 3, 2019 I really hate to here about this. It is the same all over like this, just don’t understand why people can’t clean up after them selves. I pickup all the brass I find and haul it to my scrap dealer. CH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlakMagnet Posted May 3, 2019 Report Share Posted May 3, 2019 (edited) Of course I pick up all the trash I come across detecting or otherwise. I just don't understand the amount of shooting that goes on in these out-of-the-way places. It seems like quite a waste of lead. Edited May 7, 2019 by FlakMagnet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam Posted May 6, 2019 Report Share Posted May 6, 2019 On 3/25/2019 at 6:55 PM, Chrisman91 said: Well, I received my GPX4500 last week and met up with DolanDave and his awesome dad here in Southern California for a hunt on Saturday morning. We were in the vicinity of Randsburg in what "looked" like very good gold-bearing ground. This is also an area where a lot of gold has been found in the past. Dave and his dad got there Friday and spent a lot of the day detecting the area before I met up with them. So, I get a text from Dave Friday evening that says the following: "Went out at randsburg today, really disappointed, couldn't walk 5 feet without hitting bullet, this place is a war zone" I felt bad for him because I know exactly how he felt. There are literally MILLIONS of bullets littering this desert out here. I mean, you can drive 7 miles off the paved road into the middle of nowhere on a mountaintop (like we did on Saturday) and dig. 22 shells/projectiles as much as a foot deep. I climbed to the top of a hill that had to be 100 foot tall, got a signal, dug down about 8", and found a staple (the kind for papers). I recall Dave telling me that in Arizona and Nevada it's not near as bad, and that this would be his last trip out here because of it. As if the ungodly amounts of bullets wasn't bad enough, we were digging up nuts, bolts, spark plugs, lead bird-shot, and lots of other garbage. As bad as I felt for what they were going through, and even myself on Saturday, it kind of gave me a little bit of validation for all of my frustration over the years. I know a lot of folks say that you have to just keep going and dig everything, but I wonder if those people have ever literally dug over 100+ bullets EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY GO OUT? It is definitely hard to keep the motivation there when you are running into bullets and other garbage literally every 3 to 5 feet. All in all, I had a great time and I'm looking forward to hunting with these two gentleman again in the future. Chris , it sounds like you are complaining, just in a nicer way.🙄........ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.