Beepin About With Tom Ivines   "Take a Break when Treasure Hunting Slumps"  
  It happens to the best of us.  We all get into the slumps once in a while and it usually happens right after several non productive hunts. There's nothing more discouraging than spending a whole day metal detecting and finding nothing better than a few zinc memorial pennies.
  I think when that happens, it is time to set the metal detector down for a while and do one of the other hobbies we are fond of, like fishing for
instance.  Sometimes we can over-do a hobby to the point it becomes boring to us. Yes, even metal detecting can be boring at times! A little variety is okay.  Besides, metal detecting, like a relationship, makes the heart grow fonder with absence.
  I can recall several times I lost interest in metal detecting.  Each time, though, I came back stronger and more eager than ever before. When I was not metal detecting it gave me time to clear my head to think about some of the places and techniques I had not tried before.  I found myself sitting in my boat while fishing, wishing I was metal detecting instead.
  Metal detecting for me has always been at its best when doing it casually.  I think everyone including myself has a tendency to put too much pressure on themselves, building up unnecessary expectations. After a while when we cannot meet those expectations we become discouraged.  I mean, if you go out and expect to find silver 1800's coins every time you go hunting, you are going to be discouraged after a
while and want to give up.  Not all hunts, like fishing days, are good ones.
  I am now enjoying the hobby of metal detecting more since I have decided not to put pressure on myself.  I have again established the attitude that, after a day of fishing and not catching any fish, does not necessarily mean it was a bad day.  It is enjoying life and the day out
and about that is important.  Anything more is a bonus.  We go metal detecting with the intent to do well but we do not become discouraged when we don't.  We go out, we enjoy the day, and we have fun.
  Metal detecting is a hobby of leisure and does not take a great deal of effort for most of us.  It only becomes hard when we make it hard by putting pressure on ourselves with undo expectations, in turn causing us to be discouraged.
  When I look back my best finds came when I was just casually hunting. My most valuable  find,  ever, came when I stopped at a park by myself on a whim after work to unwind. The 18 karat gold eagle pendant, clutching a one-half carat oval cut blue diamond, was found this way. The piece was appraised at one-thousand two- hundred and fifty dollars. Many of my other prize possessions were found under the same circumstances, too.
  It has been a long time since I have been bored with metal detecting, but I still hitch up the boat on a good Saturday morning every once in a while instead of metal detecting just to break the routine.  Fresh trout are always welcome in my house.  Afterwards the hankering for metal detecting--for whatever I find--is stronger than ever.  You see, maybe the saying, "Too much of one thing is not good for you," is true.
  Do yourself a favor and change up once in a while so you don't get bored, especially when discouraged because of too high expectations. Enjoy the hobby of metal detecting more by taking a break from it once in a while.
  So, now are you surprised to read this advise in a metal detecting publication?  You shouldn't be.  The information is well founded, simple common sense, and it really works.

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© TW Ivines-1997. Thomas W. Ivines,  POB 1545, Newberry, Florida 32669. Phone: (352) 472-3663

We cannot help being old, but we can resist being aged.