AZNuggetBob Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 (edited) After A few years of years of hunting gold I realized I was making a huge mistake. I was so focused on getting from point A to point C that I forgot about point B. Point A being home or mining camp and point C being a place that I knew had gold nuggets to hunt. But I would just blow by point B on my dirt bike, the ground I would cross or pass by to get to point C. One day I was still several miles from point C but I stopped for a piss break on my dirt bike and I had seen this spot before, It had some red dirt and a little quartz float but I did not give it much thought before because It was right next to the main dirt road!. as a matter of fact when I stopped and looked at it, the placer (red dirt) ran right through the road. The dozer or road grader had cut right through it. I couldnt coun’t how many times I had driven through there in the past. So I got out my detecter put it together and started swinging. As I recall the first target was a .22 bullet, second target a rusty bolt, the third target was about a dwt. Gold Nugget, and the hunt was on. I took about 8 or 9 nuggets out of the road on that one and a lot more on both sides of the road above in the bank road cut and below. It turned out that the gold crossed the road in two places about 30 yards apart as the placer deposit worked it’s way down the ridge. I was amazed. All this time I had been driving right past and over them In the road, and a new patch and mining claim was born. 😀 BTW just when you think your running out of new places to hunt this is one of about seven “road patches” that I can think of right off hand that I’ve found over the years in three states and most were smaller and never found or worked by the old-timers. (virgin) no drywash piles and no stacked rocks and not loaded with trash. Another nice thing about road hunting is its easy walking and you tend to see more than blowing by in a 4x or bike. Roads that have a tendency to run along the base of mountain ranges cut accross a lot of washes and old placer flows even on the ridges. Be sure to cover your holes. Take care out there. AzNuggetBob Edited May 31, 2023 by AZNuggetBob 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geof_junk Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 8 hours ago, AZNuggetBob said: After A few years of years of hunting gold I realized I making a huge mistake. I was so focused on getting from point A to point C that I forgot about point B. Point A being home or mining camp and point C being a place that I knew had gold nuggets to hunt. But I would just blow by point B on my dirt bike, the ground I would cross or pass by to get to point C. Be sure to cover your holes. Take care out there. AzNuggetBob My wife had a nickname one in the road. She filled her holes in the road however she heard a vehicle in the distant when we were in a remote spot. She got a bit of scrub/brush and swept the road with it to hide her activity from the intruders as the moister of the dug soil was visible.😁 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rattlesnake Jim Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 Thanks for the reminder! I found nuggets in the roads 35 years ago. I've neglected them lately. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delnorter Posted May 17, 2022 Report Share Posted May 17, 2022 Great post AZNuggetBob. I’ve driven over many NF roads and hike many of the trails while deer, elk and bear hunting. I pay much more attention to the grounds I travel now than I used to. Mike 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldies1955 Posted May 18, 2022 Report Share Posted May 18, 2022 Great advice Bob. Just wish you didn't give it out Haha... I have a spot like that called "road wash". Like you I drove over it many times. I saw a little trib one day and decided to check it out. It ran right into the road. Well, I got a bunch of 1 grammers and smaller ones out of it. Even a couple on the hillside and benches. The next time I went through the area the monsoons had blasted the road out and what was usually a foot or more of overburden was now bare craggy bedrock. I detected the road and found a bunch of small nuggets! Even a sunbaker. Quads/dirt bikes and side by sides come through the area a lot. They would look at us with bewilderment digging and raking and we would just say, Doing some county road maintenance is all 😁 Tom H. 3 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted May 19, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 (edited) 12 hours ago, oldies1955 said: Great advice Bob. Just wish you didn't give it out Haha... I have a spot like that called "road wash". Like you I drove over it many times. I saw a little trib one day and decided to check it out. It ran right into the road. Well, I got a bunch of 1 grammers and smaller ones out of it. Even a couple on the hillside and benches. The next time I went through the area the monsoons had blasted the road out and what was usually a foot or more of overburden was now bare craggy bedrock. I detected the road and found a bunch of small nuggets! Even a sunbaker. Quads/dirt bikes and side by sides come through the area a lot. They would look at us with bewilderment digging and raking and we would just say, Doing some county road maintenance is all 😁 Tom H. I hear ya Tom, just letting another jeannie out of the bottle. I was saving my road patch story for my book but I dont think it is going to make it to print so I decided to share it here. Your road matainence story is good and reminds me of one winter up by Winnemucca, Nv. a partner and I had just found a new patch and that night it got snowed in. the next day we were up on the hillside raking the snow aside trying to uncover the patch. We didnt want to wait till summer. People were driving by down under us real slow just staring up at us like what are these guys doing out here raking the snow? It was right next to the main road in that area. I yelled down at them we were from the gas company just checking for leaks. 😂They drove off shaking their heads. AzNuggetBob I usually use the gas company story when I’m hunting coins and jewlery in town but apparently it works on rural hillsides too. Edited May 19, 2022 by AZNuggetBob 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geof_junk Posted May 19, 2022 Report Share Posted May 19, 2022 (edited) I found when a shallow lead is crossing a graded road it pays going 20 meter both way on the road. As a matter of interest my first ounce plus nugget was found on a sealed road. I was detecting down the bottom of a red surface patch that ended at the bitumen road. The surfacing had been flogged and a blade put over it before I got there. There was a strip about 10 ft wide running parallel with the road. It had a fair bit of junk on it but got dozen or so small nuggets. When I had done it to my satisfaction I decided to check the other side of the road to see if there was any virgin ground the earlier miners had left untouched. Before I got over the drainage gutter I got a can size beep (well it sound like that then) When I dug it up I was rewarded with my first nugget greater than an ounce, in fact my first multi ounce bit 4 ounces. Edited May 19, 2022 by geof_junk 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted May 23, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2022 Another crazy find walking down the road. I was up in Nevada again with Bill Bright and Bud Young and I had done a lot of research on the gold in this area. Osceola, a lot of gold came out of this area and at the time it had a lot of void mining claims. It seemed like a good place to hit. It was the next/last stop on the tour for me. I was on a two week nugget hunting road tour up there, I had to get back to Az. and could only spend a few days in each spot I had on my list. We had also stopped by some places they knew about and done pretty well but out of privacy and respect I’m not going to discuss them here. This was the end of the tour as far as I was concerned. I was heading back south to Az and feeling a little rough from hunting and camping for almost two weeks. Anyway we went up the mountain near Osceola to a spot that I thought would be a good place to start based on my research. We turn up this canyon on a side road and you could see where they (old timers) had placer mined this place hard. I mean seriously hard. Huge Piles of washed gravel rocks everywhere. So it was getting dark and so we find a good camp spot and we settle in around the campfire and start talking about how we are going to hunt this place. This canyon was steep. The next day we spent all day, we go up the valley hunting high, low, gravel piles, nothing but trash (relics) 😄 So that night back in camp back around the camp fire again, we decide lets go hunt down below the main road and hunt for some bedrock nuggets that the old miners may have missed. (bedrock cracks) you could look down the valley and see the bedrock in many places was stripped clean. There was a side road that went down into the valley and so we go walking down there with (detectors on, normal for us) just walking warming up the detecters and swinging here and there and all of a sudden bang bang bang we are all hitting targets. I remember we were trying to stay away from each other because of the detector cross talk. I’ll never forget it, it was the craziest thing I had ever seen with three people all in the same area digging nuggets and the detecters wailing from nuggets and detecter cross talk. 😆 We were digging up nuggets one after the other. Yelling another one, yes. We were going up and down the road trying to figure out where they were coming from. Then I looked up and saw a small old prospect hole up in the hillside, you could barley see a depression in the hillside between the trees. They were nice sized nuggets. About -1 to 8 dwt. I’m guessing based on what I remember I’d say between us we found at least 20 gold nuggets in the road. More up above just below the prospect hole. After the next day of hunting that evening I headed for home, I had to get back to Az. It was hard to leave, Bill and Bud decided to stay. It was a great way to finish off the N. Nevada summer tour that year. Take care out there AzNuggetBob 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldies1955 Posted May 26, 2022 Report Share Posted May 26, 2022 (edited) 70s/80s seemed like the perfect time for knocking down the big stuff with detectors. It's still out there. Just got to go a little farther back in to get over patches. I did find my 5 oz wash though in 2002. Pizza wash! Tom H. Edited May 26, 2022 by oldies1955 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted May 27, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2022 Tom I think most of us that have been at it for awhile have one of those spots we keep going back too. One of those spots that just keeps on giving. The 80’s and the 90’s were great times in nugget hunting for me. I was using a gold bug primarily in the 80's but when Minelab came out with the PI 2000 in the 90’s everything changed. With the new Minelab 2000 I was finding lots of gold in old gold bug hammered patches I had, and finding new patches I had missed. I found 4 oz’s in one old hammered patch in one day with the new Minelab 2000. Flat ground,easy swinging. I couldnt believe I had left that much gold behind. Most of them were deep and large nugget bottle clunkers. I did well in the 80’s and 90’s but I was alot younger and hunting more full time back then too. I also have and an eye out for other things too. It breaks it up for me. I dont concentrate on gold only. Helps keep from getting burned out when things are lean. So I started studying geology and hunting (gem stones) hunting at night with mineral lights and hunting meteorites. That and hunting coins and tokens when I do get out keeps me pretty busy. I agree there is stills lots out there, ya just have to find it. Best of luck to you and Take care out there AzNuggetBob 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldies1955 Posted May 27, 2022 Report Share Posted May 27, 2022 Bob: I had a bunch of popular science/mechanics magazines from the 50s. In the back they would have advertisements for things to buy. One of them was a metal detector that had a big box on the top end. Basic technology but can you imagine the amount of gold you could have found with it in the 50s Wow! Tom H. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted May 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2022 (edited) Tom I started huning in late the 70’s Beach hunting in soCal. With Old Garrett's BFO’s etc. But even those dinosour detectors would be a lot better than the popular science build your own ones. besides they couldnt hit a VW at two feet, look at all the small gold you would have left behind. At least the ones I was using had drifting ground balance every time the wind blew and batteries were huge battery acid bleeding carbon cells, Pin pointing was kind of in that general area. And some you could even get the coil wet! 😃 AzNuggetBob Edited May 28, 2022 by AZNuggetBob 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted May 31, 2022 Admin Report Share Posted May 31, 2022 Hey Bob and All, Great point Bob made about the Roadside patches. I have a story that involves my Cousin and I dating back to the late 90's. We were taking a casual exploration drive during the early Summer months looking for new ground for the upcoming Winter season. We drove several rough, winding dirt roads for miles looking for potential washes and places to jump out and swing for 15-30 minutes spot checking. We hit several places prior to finding a small, narrow gully that we could see bedrock in. The road we were driving along was right along the bank of the small wash, so we could see hundreds of yards of the narrow gully as we slowly drove down the road. After driving about a hundred yards of above the bedrock wash, we thought it might be smart to jump out with our SD2000's/2100's and give it a quick whirl. I ended up walking up creek, while my cousin went down. It wasn't more than about 15 minutes when my cousin yelled out he had his first gold nuggets, from a new location! We both were super excited, as this area had no mention in any of the books about gold, nor any mines or prospects within miles. It was super hot, but since we started finding small gold nuggets, it was hard to stop. We worked for several hours and gold just thinned out and it was getting super hot, probably 120+ in the narrow, bedrock wash. After many trips back to this narrow, no named bedrock wash, we ended up taking somewhere between 500-600 gold nuggets ranging from a 1-2 grains up to like 1/4 ounce. I have returned over the years after large Monsoon rains, I'm sure my Cousin and friends have to, so I'm sure another 50-100 nuggets have been found to add to the 500-600 we found together. I always tell myself and others, if something catches your attention, you should give it 15-30 minutes just to get it off your mind. All those places you have drove by over the years and told yourself "I should hunt this, or this looks good," you better check them out at some point. Just honestly imagine all the gold we are walking and driving by going to the major, known gold locations most hunt. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one4gold Posted May 31, 2022 Report Share Posted May 31, 2022 Great read , thanks guys !! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) I agree Rob If it looks good, hunt it! (learn what to look for) just letting another jeannie out of the bottle. Many of these are small and remote isolated deposits that are not even near a large well known gold deposit. Ive found some small patches in places that (were not in "most" of the books) and I have an extensive prospecting library. If the area didn’t produce a reasonably large amount of gold or the old timers didn’t talk about it, it would never be documented. Many times the old timers didn't fully realize the extent of the placer by simple creek testing with a little dry washing or panning. They may find a little color but that wasn't enough to persue especially when they are hearing about larger richer deposits being found elswhere. Just think of all the gold they passed up to get to point C. 😉 With a metal detector and a little knowlege, it’s a whole new game. Take care out there AzNuggetBob Edited June 4, 2022 by AZNuggetBob spelling context 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyy Posted June 4, 2022 Report Share Posted June 4, 2022 @AZNuggetBob - yeah I remember you telling me this clue when I was starting out. Anything you write down, I pay attention to and try out. Your advice has put me on gold spots that I normally would have passed on by. So thank you sir. (but I agree with Tom .. that was supposed to be our secret ... darnit!!) 2 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2022 (edited) Thanks Andy. I hope you learn more from my new posts to help you find more gold. when I put this post up I didn't realize how many people were trying to keep this secret. Based on the amount of replys its not very secret is it. AzNuggetBob Edited June 5, 2022 by AZNuggetBob 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 5, 2022 Rob You need to stop selling prospecting books immediately. They are giving away some peoples patch locations. 😂 AzNuggetBob 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin nuggethunting Posted June 6, 2022 Admin Report Share Posted June 6, 2022 Hey Bob, Funny you mentioned that, I just met with a owner of some property today and we talked about a patch that you and "Big Foot" worked back during the VLF and early PI days. That being said, some people believe that "Big Foot" was named for using the old bigfoot searchcoil, but others have stated he had one very small foot and a normal foot, so he was dubbed "Bigfoot." I remember running into him in Arizona and around Winnemucca, NV. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 7, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2022 To tell you the truth Rob I think he believed in Bigfoot and that was also his user name on some forums. AzNuggetBob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZNuggetBob Posted June 22, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2022 (edited) "More from around the camp fire". Here is something I thought about after that last post on the Road Patch thred. I think this is also good general information especialy if your serious about detecting. As I mentioned at first we were hammered with cross talk as I call it or electronic frequency audio distortion from having several detectors operating in close proximity of each other sometimes sharing simular frequencies. Different brands and models have different frequencies that make them more compatible around each other. Bud was using a older (pre-pi) Minelab, Bill a Whites Goldmaster and I was swinging a Fisher Gold Bug. Ok that kinda puts a date on it, 😀 but I think the info below is still worth knowing or if trying to figure why your detector my be acting goofy at times around other people. You may be to close to your hunting partner, or. For us at that time the Fisher Gold Bug and the Whites Goldmaster had the biggest problem together, similar frequencies and VLF’s. Micro waves will also set them off. Military jets flying by also. So if you have a jet circling near by wait for it to leave. Anyway my point here is, We all had several detectors with us and several coils as well. concentric, mono, DD. Back up detectors, back up coils. We ended up finding the best coil/ detector combinations with the least electronic interference on the second day at that last road patch find. Also There is nothing worse than driving 300-600 miles or more on an gold adventure and have your detector or coil take a crap on you. It doesn't happen a lot but more than once was to much for me, Ive had more than one beat up old coil go out on me. I’m pretty hard on colis. banging, bumping and coil wire pulling in the bushes, but I have found a lot of nuggets in the bushes. Had to do major electronic surgery out in the hills on one coil, not recomended for most people. Send it back to the factory, you could also void the warranty on it working on it yourself. I’m not going to get into different coil /metal detector company warranties, dealer return policies here because they vary. Rob here at the forum may be able to fix you up with some over night or second day shipping on detectors or coils. I’m not sure what all of his shipping policies are but I do know he is a great dealer and he or his wife will get you your stuff a.s.a.p. I’ll let him jump in here and clarify if needed. Sometimes you can tune up your detector with just a new coil and get a little more depth and stability out of your machine. It’s worked for me on several patches. And more often than not, more than payed for the new coil. You don’t want to trash your trip and become a 600 mile fishing trip but I always take my fishing (poles) too. Same thing never just one. Wouldn't want to completely mess up a perfectly failed nugget hunting / fishing trip. there has to be a lake or river around here somwhere?. 😀 Something else, if your into finding old coins and or antique jewery it seemed like every time I went on a nugget hunting tour I would run across some old trashy fading away building site wth no signs of it ever being detected before, that was just begging to be hunted. Possibly hiding that gold coin or rare saloon token I have been looking for. So I also made it a point to bring along my favorite coin machine too. 😄 Take are out there AzNuggetBob Edited June 22, 2022 by AZNuggetBob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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