How often do you go out detecting?

[VicGoldHunter]

I try to get out as much as I can and do wish I lived a bit closer to the golden triangle. Always a good 1.30 hour drive for me so usually end up camping the night.

 

[Teemore]

Your avatar says "from the Golden Triangle" ..... guess 1.5 hours is almost being there.
Like you I have min. 1 - 2.5 hour drive to any of the major goldfields and usually manage that 2 or 3 times a week (to the closer ones).
Further afield requires an overnight stay .... cheap motel these days, back can't hack sleeping in a tent close to the ground these days.
Obviously anyone that can get out regularly (like most of the youtube posters) will greatly increase their chance of finding gold.
Not much good having a $1,000 - $10,000 detector and just using it every second weekend.
I also switch between detecting and sluicing/dryblowing to keep some variety in my search for the yellow stuff.

 

[A-team]

We go at least once a week, sometimes twice. Food stop, fuel stop, snack stop and finding a few dollars in gold isn't great economics, but sure is dam fun! We travel an average of just over 2hrs each way and try to get 4-6 hrs of coil to the ground. If I wasn't running an LPG vehicle, it would only be once a week, possibly an overnighter..... erfect:

 

[Евгений]

We go at least once a week, sometimes twice. Food stop, fuel stop, snack stop and finding a few dollars in gold isn't great economics, but sure is dam fun! We travel an average of just over 2hrs each way and try to get 4-6 hrs of coil to the ground. If I wasn't running an LPG vehicle, it would only be once a week, possibly an overnighter..... erfect:

a car running on liquefied gas is good and economical.

 

[Greenhornet_au]

That's a lot of baked beans to eat.....

 

[Jaros]

We go at least once a week, sometimes twice. Food stop, fuel stop, snack stop and finding a few dollars in gold isn't great economics, but sure is dam fun! We travel an average of just over 2hrs each way and try to get 4-6 hrs of coil to the ground. If I wasn't running an LPG vehicle, it would only be once a week, possibly an overnighter..... erfect:

a car running on liquefied gas is good and economical.

I run a 2004 Nissan Pathfinder on dual fuel and it gets approx 2/3 the range of the standard fuel. I like it because it doesn't use as much running around town.
ATM it's 89.9 ltr in Brissy.

 

[A-team]

I've been known to get 890km on an open freeway, so when cruising it is amazing. LPG is one of those things that if you put the peddle down....just like petrol, it eats it up.

Luckily I've got a 2008 BA dedicated LPG Falcon wagon - though with all the off roading, the paint work is worse than any 4WD I've seen... In the dry, I can negotiate ruts and pot holes but this car is super low on clearance so it often gets it's belly wacked 8.(

I'd like to know of any "super efficient" - AFFORDABLE 4WD new or old as in the future, I would like to head deeper into the bush that I can currently go. Might even be a trip out west at some stage???

I see LPG at around 70c/l in the city, 90c/l in the country so always try to fill up locally before I go. I couldn't imagine how much it would cost otherwise. :/

 

[aussiefarmer]

I went detecting twice last year, already been once this year.

 

[UnderEmployedGeo]

I struggle to get out there, have even snuck out for a morning or two - I'm about and hour and half from most of the eastern half of the GT.

On cars and fuel - I recently bought a 2nd hand VW Amarok, and it has a 2l turbo diesel engine and I am pleasantly surprised by it's efficiency. It's running at consistently less than 10L/100ks. That's pretty damned impressive for a very capable 4x4.
I get around 800ks from the 80L tank (obviously I never run it to empty). You can change out the factory tank for a 135L tank for these too.

As for sleeping on the ground - yeah not a fan either - but the Amarok has a huge ute tub - big enough to roll out a swag - that's what I do.

 

[Wishfull]

Bugger all. No time. Hence why I want to sell my house and enjoy life while We both still can.

 

[fwdoz]

At times we could be out 3 weekends in a row, while at other times we may get out once in 6 weeks. Work can dictate my movements & my roster can change at the drop of a hat, so usually my trips are finalised in the week prior.

If we lived closer to the GT we would be out there far more often and that is ultimately what we am aiming for in the not too distant future.

Nonetheless, we just love get out there. Having done a lot of hiking, we are used to walking around the bush. Am loving some of the historic areas we have seen so far & cannot wait to return to them.

There are also the fantastic people we have met as well. Every day in the GT is gold, whether we find it or not.

 

[Outback]

I don't bother using detectors these days as the returns are not worth the effort , there are far better tools if your in dry ground areas .

Cheers & Beers
Jack .

 

[old hand]

3 to 4 times a week :Y:

 

[Deepseeker]

For me it varies throughout the year. I've never liked summer, even before I took up detecting. Running big coils in deep ground and digging deep holes in the heat has hairs on it, I just can't be bothered with it and I have zero interest in crumbing for those pesky sub-ouncers layful:

I usually go out for my last trip just before Christmas, and unless there are some unusually cooler days forecast for a weekend when I can get away from the shop, as happened in January this year, I don't bother going out again until after February.

Throughout the year though I try to get away- whenever I can get away with it That's only ever on a Saturday or Sunday, usually once every few weeks or so, but sometimes if I get all my jobs out of the way and Mrs Deepseeker is happy, I can get out a couple of weekends in a row. We've just bought a weekender in the GT, so even though in the short to mid-term there will be a lot of jobs to do there to make it comfortable for Mrs D and the kids, once the big jobs are done I should have a lot more opportunities to detect where I want to more often.

 

[Moneybox]

We like to take the quads out up to 5km or so depending on where the pending ground is. This year Mrs M went out on one of our leases for a half an hour while I collected some test samples. While in Geraldton a week back I swung the Equinox 800 on the beach for a while and brought home its first few coins.

We usually have a three month stint in some far-off location where we are sure to come home with a few grams. Last year we went with my brother swinging a 7000 for the first three months and then brought Mrs M home and we had another month out there.

This year we'll spend more time closer to home because we've had some changes in circumstances but hopefully we'll get out weekly at least.

Fuel, well that depends largely on which way the wind is blowing. Since I fitted the larger stronger tyres we've been chewing more fuel. I bought a set of diffs 6.1:1 ratio to correct the problem but Cosgroves sent two diffs that were different. That was March 2020 and we're still trying to sort it out. Before that we could fill up in Norseman and not worry about fuel until Ceduna but that all depends on whether the wind is in our favour or against us. Last year we filled up before leaving home and didn't buy any more for the bus, quads or generator before returning home three months later

 

[yellowmellow]

Back in the day way before the covid thing it used to be about once or twice a month between march and september. I live inner city melbourne so there is a drive for me to get up the GT like 2-3 hrs. But yep i used to detect a fair bit back in the day.

2020 only detected once that was in june between the 2 lockdowns vic had.

2021 have not been detecting as yet. I hope to get up there soon like sometime in march.

Alot depends on my work too and having the time off i usually spend 2 nights up there and detect for 3 days i usually go up there from a friday/thursday and back on the sunday to melbourne.

ill like to get back into it alot more in 2021.

Ive also got a new sdc2300 which i got in june 2020 only used 2 times so im keen to get using it alot more. these days its gathering dust in my bed room.

 

[maxwell4]

It takes me 2 hours to get to the closer areas, 4-6 hours detecting then 2 hours home traffic in the city may blow that out too 3 hours . Usually get out every 3 weeks depending on how the body feels, weather (anything over about 22 degrees is too hot) and of course her highness's permissions.

Then I need a week to recover.

Love the bush, love detecting, dont mind the driving, hate digging big holes, hence the 2300, dont care if I find gold or not, but it sure helps.

Wish I had started this hobby 50 years ago.

Still chasing my first 1 gram piece after 6 years.

Hell I think I might go tomorrow. Will post up picks of my finds (you have to live in hope)

Cheers
Bob

 

[Tathradj]

Same as me.
Covid really knocked me out for tripping around.
Plus the fires in my area.
Hope to get into it properly shortly.

Back in the day way before the covid thing it used to be about once or twice a month between march and september. I live inner city melbourne so there is a drive for me to get up the GT like 2-3 hrs. But yep i used to detect a fair bit back in the day.

2020 only detected once that was in june between the 2 lockdowns vic had.

2021 have not been detecting as yet. I hope to get up there soon like sometime in march.

Alot depends on my work too and having the time off i usually spend 2 nights up there and detect for 3 days i usually go up there from a friday/thursday and back on the sunday to melbourne.

ill like to get back into it alot more in 2021.

Ive also got a new sdc2300 which i got in june 2020 only used 2 times so im keen to get using it alot more. these days its gathering dust in my bed room.

 

[A-team]

It takes me 2 hours to get to the closer areas, 4-6 hours detecting then 2 hours home traffic in the city may blow that out too 3 hours . Usually get out every 3 weeks depending on how the body feels, weather (anything over about 22 degrees is too hot) and of course her highness's permissions.

Then I need a week to recover.

Love the bush, love detecting, don't mind the driving, hate digging big holes, hence the 2300, don't care if I find gold or not, but it sure helps.

Wish I had started this hobby 50 years ago.

Still chasing my first 1 gram piece after 6 years.

Hell I think I might go tomorrow. Will post up picks of my finds (you have to live in hope)

Cheers
Bob

Can totally relate to the whole scenario, only the wife comes with me - we both have 7000's an since I put the Z-search on hers, she is just as keen as me! As far as chasing your first 1g plus, it took me 1 year to get any gold, was my first sub-grammer. Even after you get that plus size nugget, the gold bug remains the same - need to get out there and get more, even sub grammers.

 

[yellowmellow]

Who else just got a brand new detector and nice gear only to be held back for months on end due to the covid lockdowns