Finding lots of bullets.

[Fishinbobo]

Well I will first start off by saying I had my first day out prospecting in the cooler weather here in az. I was able to attend a club outing in the bumble bee area. I have not been in this area before, so I basically took in all advice and tips and stories from the members on the area for future visits. It seemed everyone kept pointing out how many bullets are in the area. "this area is loaded with lead" I heard over and over again. And sure enough doing some test pans we would see lots of little pieces of lead.

After awhile I got out my Tesoro stl and start off over the hill some of the guys said nuggets have been found in the past. Almost immedietly I get a hit. Sure enough a bullet. Now one guy panning said alot of the other "shooters" wont work the area because of all the bullets. Thats why there is still nuggets that he finds panning every so often. So after awhile I have about 10 bullets and a few pieces of tin.

My question is, is there anyway of discreminating out lead? large or small. Or does lead bullets mimic gold so closely to the detector that you cant discriminate it out? I dont mind digging every target since according to the other members decent nuggets have been found in the past and new nuggets are found every so often. Just wondering if anyone has any advice for areas like this?

Thanks!

Brian

[adam]

My question is, is there anyway of discreminating out lead? large or small.

No !

[Terry Soloman]

Hey Brian, Adam is correct. Bullets and gold sound the same. If you can find a bullet, you can find a nugget. The bottom line is dig EVERYTHING. Trash is the bane of all detectorists whether you are on a beach and digging pop-tops, or in Bumblebee digging bullets. I get a gold or diamond ring for every 300-400 pop-tops I dig on the beach. I get a gold nugget for every 300-400 bullets and truck bumpers I dig up in AZ. Sore knees and backs come with the hobby. - Terry

[MrSandsman]

DIG DIG DIG trash is just one of those by products of gold detecting you really can not get away from it. If I can stress anything I would tell you this "do not discriminate ever” Gold hunting has a lot to do with odds and the truth of the matter is the more you dig the better your odds. Discrimination is fine for the average coin shooter but even the pro coin guys will tell you they dig every single target they get. Gold is no different. Practice makes perfect so DIG DIG DIG and enjoy Arizona.

HotRockS

[notoriouskelly]

Bobo,

I went months wondering what gold sounded like (since all I had found was trash) so finally bought a small chunk to test sound with.

I've also got a larger nugget now that I even carry to refresh my memory what gold will sound like.

I've noticed mine trash will go high/low signal "BWEEEOOohhhhhhhhh", but my big gold goes low/high "bwoooeEEEEE"

Things that have sounded like gold recently are bullets, bolts, wire and small metal pieces.

I figure it's kind of a gamble; if I see a buncha rusty trash around I'm pickier about which to dig, cuz I only have so many bends in a day.

I know others say dig everything, but I do some discriminating.

Have fun!

[leroym]

And I will add that you never know when a square nail

or bullet is masking a nugget below it. So when you

dig that trash don't assume that is all that is there.

Check that spot again to be sure.

LeRoy

[MrSandsman]

I'll 2nd that LeRoy I have found many nuggets in holes that had multiple targets.

HOTROCK

[Fishinbobo]

As always thanks for the help! Hopefully I will be able to work this area more in the coming months and hopefully find a nugget or 2 mixed in with all the bullets. But it was sure nice to get out for awhile and do some hunting.

Thanks again for the replys!