What's the part that "drives you" in metal detecting?

I've been a hunter all of my life. I've hunted animals, fishing is hunting in essense. I've hunted for the most accurate guns. Myself I love the discipline of any type of thing you do and the surprises that present themselves while doing them. Detecting took the place of my hunting, however I still fly fish in the summer as much as possible. It's the feeling of something unknown fixing to happen that drives me. I guess the mysterious part of it and putting the puzzle together to make it happen. Nothing like a surprise when you are detecting. Something you didn't know was there but you've put several pieces of the puzzle together to help it happen. It's all a discipline........What drives you?

Every time a manufacturer intros a new machine making wild claims I'm driven to find fact or fiction!!

when I first chose this hobby, I would easily have said to find lots and lots of silver and gold coins.

At this point I think I mostly enjoy the thought of finding something "rare" or "unknown" as to origin. Very old coins would still qualify close to the top, but quite a few relics are in my display cases that are good research stories or lead to a new branch of knowledge I would never have had...i.e boot pistols, stamp holders, merchant tokens, marbles, old jewelry makers, crotal bells, etc.

I also very much enjoy the learning process of my detectors...my G2 is good to me. One of my favorite spots I go to when I have less than an hour to hunt at a time. I have been there three times in the past 2 weeks, and of the many coins I have dug, correctly called the 2 silver quarters, and 3 silver dimes compared to the clad ones. I like the feeling of knowing I am better than I was 2 years ago, with lots of room to learn.

I like the history behind our finds, plus it's a hobby that needs patience for people to master and stay with it.
I like to learn the potential of our detectors but as usual location is the key to success. HH

As many have said in the past detecting is like fishing you never know for sure what is there.

Finding something that has been in the ground for 100-150yrs. and knowing i am the first person to touch it since it was lost. I sort of fill a connection to the person who lost it and try to put myself in that time period.

I wanted an outdoors hobby I could continue to do if my Glaucoma wins -

I also wanted to hang out with some clever bugga's ...........

That has been my reasoning behind testing/trying so many detectors - Just wanna use as many as I can whilst I can still see them -

I enjoy the solitude the hobby offers. Consequently I choose to often hunt alone.

Many times the highlight has nothing to do with what I might find in the ground, but rather a good place to eat or a surprising historical find sitting right on top of the ground.

You never know what you might discover traveling the less beaten path.

I like the not knowing what you will dig up next. What that next target will be. If it's a coin how old will it be. Will it be silver or clad. Will it be a Indian head or wheat or even a large cent. Will my next pull tab be a gold ring of gold coin. It's the unlimited possibleties. It's the enjoyment of doing something I love to do. It relaxes me and helps me to forget about life's everyday problems and worries. It's the sharing what you find with your friends that love the hobby as much as you do. Coming on here letting everyone share in your excitement. That's what drives me. Thanks

It's like fishing, I'm looking for the big one that didn't get away. In the back of my mind I always hold out a little hope that perhaps this next hunt will be the One!

Something phenomenal will be uncovered that proves I'm sane for spending as much time as I do on detecting. Ah, but Nothing yet.

go-rebels Wrote:
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> I enjoy the solitude the hobby offers.
> Consequently I choose to often hunt alone.
>
> Many times the highlight has nothing to do with
> what I might find in the ground, but rather a good
> place to eat or a surprising historical find
> sitting right on top of the ground.
>
> You never know what you might discover traveling
> the less beaten path.

Solitude is correct and a strong attraction to the hobby.

Discovering California gold rush history. Putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Spending time with my soon to be 20 yr old son, hiking around beautiful areas, most people never see. Seeing the excitement on his face when he digs a wreath or toungue. Just being outdoors.

Pure and out right getaway time. Relaxing, at first it was silver then onto relics of the Cw but now it's more than that. Getaway from work and everyday life problems we all encounter. Finding things are fun and fun to share with others but in the end....it's all in what makes you feel good about the hobby.

Better stated as pure R & R

For me it is the thrill of the next great find, wheather it is a Civil War, Revolutionary War Relic, or a gold jewelry find on a beach. It is a walk through time, transforming oneself into an adventurous child where the great stories of the past and the Pirates of the seas lost untold fortunes. In short it is the hunt for treasure and the amazement one has with the journey...Stuart

Yes, hunting, moving, thinking, calculating, camaraderie, history, historic, machines, equipment, outdoors, suspense, adventure, wildlife, mornings (love early mornings), old coins, relics handled by our past peoples, something we really look forward to do,......what more can a fella ask for?

Hmmm, great question, has me reflecting quite a bit.

I'll just list what's popped up:

Sense of adventure ...
Solitude & peace, being totally immersed ...
Enjoying the scenery and often amazing ambience, especially when everyone else is asleep ...
Being outside getting easy exercise ...
At least for me, this hobby brings in more than it costs ...
Detectorists who stick with it are very unique in their own way and are usually fiercely independent, which I like ...
I can go detect in most places in this wonderful world ...
Oh, and there's always something new to discover/learn or go ahaaaa about ...

I'm sure there's more ... enough for now

Scoopy_Doo

Seems most people do it for the "next target could be a great find" sorta a glass is 1/2 full type of person. I guess it shows that you have to have a positive attitude about life in general.

I am a next target, great find type of detector.

I want to dig something that I haven't dug yet. One flying eagle would be better than 100 mercs to me.

Discrimination is the root of all evil.

The driving part? The next big find! "Big" being relative to what I've dug lately, or ever, or from that specific property.

And the most satisfying part? The sense of knowing an old house or homesite, or a field or a patch of woods that is obscure to the casual passerby. Becoming one with the property, as it were, and treating it with care and respect.
Conveying that sense of stewardship and respect for the property to the owner along with my heartfelt appreciation for the opportunity to detect it. Having the property owner (or caretaker) become a friend.

Wayne

Pleasant Garden, NC
AT Max, Nokta Impact, MX Sport, Nokta FORS Relic, GPX 4800, Infinium, Racer, Deus, F75SE, Nautilus DMC II (order of acquisition, last to first)

Does an archeologist argue with a plow? A bureaucrat with a bulldozer?

What drives me is that I never know what will turn up each time I go out! May be just a few crusty zinclons or the next Gold Ring!!

What drives me has more to do with the site in question. Sure if coins were not dated, finding them would be boring. Relic hunting always makes for some surprises. I really like to find something that is connected personally to someone. I found a medium sized locket once in this old site (historic). When I dug it I was hoping for a small picture inside. Didn't happen. So all I could do is guess who it belonged to by talking to some of the old folks who knew the history of the site. It always makes me feel good when I see i.e. a class ring returned to the owner, or remember the dog tag that was returned to nearest of kin a few months ago.

Making finds sure does help connect the dots on a site's history. There are many things I dig and see other folks dig I don't have an idea about. But thanks to many here on this forum, they sure know a lot more than myself when it comes to identifying them.

This forum believe it or not can actually give folks many history lessons. With an unusual/rare find usually comes the links/comments.

Mr Dankowski has put something together here special IMO, with special people.

I have only met 2 here personally but I feel like I know many more.

The different ways, sites, detectors sure add a lot of spice to the reading on this forum.

And many folks here seem to me to have some higher level form of education.

And this thread about what do you do for a living- boy what a list of occupations/professions.

I think Daniel TN and JohnnyAnglo both have touched on 2 good points here lately. Daniels point of fewer folks are packing coins and Johnny's point of with a little more time detectors probably won't overall be much different. The information/technology age/sharing is lightning fast compared to yesteryear.

And I certainly don't forgot about the older machines either- actually recently purchased one. And I try to read about the older machines when folks post about them. They are all good.

This forum does at times actually drives me to detect. I like to experiment and put some of the good information to work I read here.

And I'l close with this. Lawrenzo videos so far get the highest marks from me IMO. Super vids. He makes them look easy.

There are other here that do put out some nice ones. I watch and learn and really appreciate them for taking the time and trouble to produce.

My hat goes off to all that provide useful/helpful information.

#1 Metal detecting forum by far!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jack -- much like you, I find it exactly like hunting, fishing, etc. -- a couple of my other favorite hobbies. In all three, it's the thrill of the chase, the knowledge that a surprise can be just around the corner, at any time, and also that honing your skills and becoming more and more proficient with your equipment can make those surprises much more likely to happen, over time. I like anything that challenges me to meticulously, scientifically, logically work to improve, and to then have results that support/re-affirm that gradual improvement.

Finally, one thing this hobby also has, which the other two don't, is that it fosters a true love for history, at least for me. Like others have said, in this post and elsewhere, such as tnsharpshooter in the post just before mine, it's the site you are hunting, the people who used the site, the detective work of piecing together the clues you dig and connecting the dots, that tell a story of a time long past. There's something especially interesting about that...

Steve

The research. Thinking up all the stuff you'll find before you actually go to the site and dig trash. Plus all the beautiful Women groupies that want out autographs.

Kenny
[www.youtube.com]

What drives me? I find old homesites (1890s and earlier) and dig every nonferrous signal around them. Then I dig the large ferrous ones. I want to be able to recreate in my mind exactly what happened in their lives, I want to get a good idea of what lte felt like in their time. If I find a coin, great. If I find jewelry, that's stunning. But most importantly, I want to know that every site I've hunted reflects the hours I've spent researching it. Solitude is great...I don't share my spots with anybody except my father. Honestly, I'd rather him find the bigger finds than me. I got him into this hobby, and it does me so good to see him enjoying it in his golden years. The other day, I was working, and he sent me a video of a beautiful signal on his deus from one of my most precious sites. I will cherish seeing him dig that New Orleans barber dime til the end of my days. That's why I hunt.

Edit: posted when I was half drunk on the lake...sorry!

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/14/2015 05:17PM by Seladore.

makes me feel like a kid I use to play in the dirt and mud a lot back then..love saving history that would just rot in the ground. Love to look at my cases with my finds makes me realize how much fun I have had over the years and that fact that I found this with a metal detector...nice feeling also to dig a relic or coin and hold it in my hand and be transported back to the day it was lost and I can taste the history..Nice connection, happend every time.

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!