Winter can sure be a tough time for many of us that metal detect, but for some it can be one of the best and most lucrative times to hunt, especially if you live near a beach on the coast.
- Winter beach metal detecting
Many of us are landlocked in the middle of the country, in places like Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, etc., and Winter can be a miserable time.
I have a brother that lives in the north woods of Wisconsin where it has been 30, 40 & 50 degrees below zero! Any thought of going out metal detecting is crazy and usually impossible due to the ground being harder than concrete.
However, there are some of us that are fortunate to be living near a saltwater beach where the tide water moves in and out constantly keeping the wet beach sand from freezing.
In fact Winter beach detecting can be incredibly exciting, even when the air temperature is below freezing. The Winter storms, wind patterns, and heavy surf can be very disruptive to the coastline uncovering all kinds of treasures for us to find.
Here are just a few of my recent Winter beach hunting finds.
The beach is a great place to find gold and silver to help fund your hobby 🙂 however you can also find some awesome relics.
The key to a successful day of very cold Winter beach metal detecting is dressing properly and working the outgoing and low-tides where, even on the coldest days the sand will be soft enough for your sand-scoop or shovel.
Look for areas, at or near low-tide, where sand has been washed away and new rocks are exposed after a coastal storm. If there are no exposed rocks, walk heavy on your heels and if you are sinking into the sand look for an area where it is solid underfoot, that will be a good place to start.
One of the benefits of Winter beach hunting, especially in the North East, is that you are usually the only one on the beach or there are very few people out there walking dogs, you might even see another diehard out there detecting.
So, in closing, if you are lucky enough to live near a saltwater beach and haven’t tried hunting in the Winter, get out there and find those treasures that everyone else hunkered down are missing.
Happy Hunting!
Final Thoughts Get out there and enjoy some of the best metal detecting of your life! I do recommend that you use a multi-frequency detector on the saltwater beaches. Single frequency detectors will give you lots of false signals in the wet sand.
HH