Thanks Jim, appreciate it! I'm having a lot of fun sharing the adventure with everyone. I tinkered a bit with KZfaq years ago just for fun as you can see from my really old videos. With this new adventure I'm gonna try to post new stuff regularly and hopefully get better at it as I go. I'm going out to metal detect hopefully next week, wish me luck.

Any luck on the prospecting with your reply?

Unlike Jim, I'm not interested in seeing your crack.

Thanks! Glad you guys can join me on the adventures. Comments like this make me glad I decided to share this adventure rather than just keep it to myself. Makes it even more fun when I can share the excitement with a community of others interested in the same thing!

We as a family are doing all the same stuff as you, it’s def motivational to watch you tho lol🎉

@@Pnwdadbeard Awesome!

Haha, yes, over half of the fun for me is just being out there in the wilderness. Thank you!

Thanks, it really has been exciting so far, can't believe I'm lucky enough to not only find such a rich spot but secure a claim on it as well. But I'm also finding it tons of fun sharing the adventure with others too. I finally went river sniping and found lots of gold so don't miss the next video coming out very soon! Thanks for the sub!

Thanks 👍

Thank you, just posted another one.

😆 thanks Brandon. Yes there's so many more places to look and so little time to do it. I'll sample all of these places over time. It will be quite interesting to see what those deeper shore cracks are hiding, they will take a LOT longer to dig but I think it will be worth it. I'm really hoping I can find some bigger nuggets with the metal detector, seems like an easier way to find where the nuggets are. Though haven't had much luck with that method in the past.

Awesome, thank you! I'm enjoying sharing the enjoyment of this new adventure.

Thanks Serg, indeed it is a paradise. The chunky gold has me excited because it generally means potential for even bigger nuggets in the area. Just wish I had more time to get out there and explore it. Thanks for watching and commenting!

@@wildernesseric yeah, that's the problem, TIME. That's a problem for me here in the bay area, hard for me to get out there, running two businesses and kind of far. I might get out there this Sat. Hoping to retire in the MotherLode sometime, still have a few years before that. I can imaging you will come across a big nugget one of these times, keep searching and metal detecting. Have you been doing any fishing lately? I need to get out and do some, but my dilemma is do I fish or gold mine?? Thx, Serg

@@cisummar I haven't been fishing recently due to trying to prioritize my time. Right now gold mining is a bit higher up on the list, it's a lot like fishing but when you find something it pays you.😄 What other hobby does that?!

@@wildernesseric I agree with that, I only wish I started gold mining when I was younger, but fishing & softball always got in the way, now gold mining gets in the way of my fishing. Although fishing has it's own rewards, the fact that you figure out where they are & trick them with a lure & catch & release, occasionally cooking up a freshly caught trout, so good. Gold mining is a lot like fishing, looking at the river & trying to figure out where they are, be it fish or gold & finding them. Since gold mining, I haven't looked at river the same way. Good luck Eric on your claim. I tried to get a claim once on the Stanislaus but figured there wasn't enough gold to go through the hassle, been going to the American, lots of bedrock & gold there. Thx, Serg

😯 where do you pan?

@WildernessEric big bear lake, California. Edit: I am not doubting the legitimacy of your finds I'm saying, good job on the find.

If you get the chance, head up North to the American and Yubas.

Absolutely head north man! Or head into the east fork San Gabriel!

I hope you strike it rich and you get All the things you want in life God bless you.

Thank you. Don't give up, keep looking till you find a good spot. Once you find a good spot its a lot of fun.

Awesome, thank you!

Thanks for watching, I appreciate the interaction and feedback. I'm enjoying sharing the adventure, makes it even more fun!

Thank you!!!

Thank you. Yes I agree, pickers everywhere just like my claim. @Danhurd has an awesome KZfaq channel with some great content, I really enjoy watching it!

His last name he claims is Dan HURD,not hurt!

It's hard with a detector here too kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h6d0ipOBma2am58.html

Really? I wonder why there's no nuggets there?

Thanks man, just subbed back. Good luck to you as well.

Thanks man and thanks for watching. I'm anxious to see what the metal detector will bring up since I know there are a bunch of nuggets there now. I haven't had good luck in the past finding gold with a metal detector but I'm hoping that will change now.

Lol yea I'm betting that's about to change and a whole new chapter is going to be written very cool excited for you can't wait to see what you find

@@Rockymountainprospector Yep, I've got a feeling I'm gonna find my first detector gold soon.

Thank you! 👍

Thanks for watching!

Thank you!

Awesome, glad I could assist increasing your gold fever :) Thanks for watching!

Thanks. Interesting idea on the lead rods. Another viewer that has done dredging for years suggested they are rods from inside an old car battery. I looked it up and it seems to check out for what they look like.

Thanks for the sub! More will definitely come as the adventure continues.

Just subscribed to your channel as well.

Thanks 👍

Thanks for the sub and thanks for watching!

Thanks!

I can't wait till the river goes down a little to see what I can find in the ideal areas on the inside bends. I've got 3/4 mile of river to explore!

id start camping there hahahah

@@user-cr6iu8hh1y Haha, I would come crawling out of that claim in the fall looking like Tom Hanks on Castaway : D

@@insolentstickleback3266 good one!!

​@@insolentstickleback3266I think thats exactly what the old timers were doing. Lol And you can't blame them!

Thanks! Yes, it took 90% longer to edit the video than it did to film it, especially since I'm just learning to use the editing software and figure things out. Sounds good, at some point I'll have to actually come up with a logo.

Thank you!

Yeah the water level does fluctuate, haven't seen super fast changes on this river though thankfully.

Yeah, travel to and from eats in to my time each day so I only have a few hours. I'll have to camp out on the claim sometime this summer and spend some real time on the river. Thanks for watching!

@@wildernesseric That would make for some great footage! Good luck. Cheers JJ

Thank you.

Thanks! Yes, I'm gonna have to think about getting a yabbi pump it sounds like.

That's a good point. If I'm going for quantity of gold I usually use the riffles much more aggressively. Right now I'm doing more careful testing to see where the fine gold and the chunky gold can be found on my claim. When I use the riffles more aggressively I lose some of the smaller flakes and specs.

Awesome, thank you!

😆 awesome, thanks for the sub! I found something pretty dirty in one of the cracks in my last video.

Yeah, I think that is where a lot of the gold is from that I found snorkeling.

I was thinking it was from lead pencils. looks kinda thin for sparklers.

You are so welcome, thanks for watching!

I agree, need more 😁

Thank you!

You too!!

Yes

Thanks for the tip. Others have suggested the same, I'm definitely gonna give that a try.

Thanks 👍

Thanks. Much of the cracks I've worked I was able to get all the way to bedrock and pull out everything so I don't think the fines are lower. I'm gonna do some poking around in different types of areas on the bedrock and see if I can get to the bottom of this mystery... pun intended.

Hello, thank you.

Thanks, I'm in the US. Are the washes there not filled with water this year?

@@wildernesseric we did get some trash dirt washed away in the deserts this year, which has made for way better detecting. 👍 .. and at one of our local mtn claims, which still has water trickling through it. people have been panning or using recirculating sluices.. and this is normally a all year Drywash claim.. i wish i lived closer that kind of river a real river... haha looking forward to your upcoming videos! 👍

Thanks, keeping that secret for now.

Thanks! I haven't tried the Whites 6000 yet. Mainly just have used the MXT as it is the one I bought years ago. I'm gonna be trying a Gold Bug II metal detector sometime soon.

Gold Monster 1000

Quality time with some quality crack.

Yes, I'm really wanting to find something that is small and easily packable but yet powerful enough to suck up rocks and gold.

Thanks! Keeping it secret for now.

Thanks!

Thanks, I've heard that's a good detector, haven't tried that one myself though. You have much experience with it?

I own 9 detectors and I hunt hunt about 20 hours a week. I live abroad, but I am from Oregon. I will be prospecting in Oregon in 2 weeks. The Gold Monster is great is inexpensive, easy to operate, fantastic for finding sub gram gold and the there is no big learning curve.

@@DeadliestFind wow, sounds awesome. How does it do with hot rocks and mineralized soil?

It’s very important to ground balance your machine…once you tune your ear into the zip zip wabupop sound for non ferrous targets, then you will do just fine. You might need to ground balance often, but it will pay for itself within time.

@@DeadliestFind any idea how it would compare to something like the Gold Bug II?

Yeah, I might have to experiment with some kind of crevice sucker.

@@wildernesseric Yep, its about getting that Gold and us seeing it... But you got a killer fun claim which we can't wait to see more of and how you go about getting that AU! .

Yes you are right about that. That's where my best nugget tried to hide when I attempted to scrape it off the bottom of the crack. I need to look into finding some kind of brush to help clean the sides.

A cheap endoscope that plugs into your cell phone for 15.00- 20.00 might be worth it.

@@dananorth895 haha, I actually bought one for working on cars, hadn't thought about using it for gold hunting.

Interesting observation, I see what you're talking about. I'll have to go back and check that spot out, possibly make another video doing so. Thanks for the input!

@wildernesseric your very welcome... And when you do make another video, I'll watch it. Congrats on your claim, it has many features that scream great gold !!

Hi, that's a good question, now that I know there are for sure some nuggets there the metal detector is next! Gonna make a metal detecting video this week.

Yes I should. Is there one you would recommend?

@@wildernesseric I made my own out of poly pipe, easy to do and there are plenty of KZfaq videos on it

Yes I did pan out a little moss in the next video while I was metal detecting kzfaq.info/get/bejne/h6d0ipOBma2am58.html I panned just a little bit and it did have a decent amount of fine gold in it.

Thanks, yes I plan to send in some samples to see what I've got here in the bedrock. I've found bedrock stuff with pyrite cubes in it nearby while river sniping.

Awesome! Glad my videos are useful.

Thank you! PNW keeping it broad for now.

Just as rich.

That's a good question. You can stake a claim on federal land as long as there is not already a claim there. When you stake a claim you put up a discovery stake, mark the corners of the area you are claiming and then submit a notice of location form to the BLM. You have to submit yearly payment to the BLM for each 20 acres to keep your claim. When you own the claim you have sole rights to the minerals on it such as gold or platinum but you do not own the land and other people are allowed to use it for other things but not for any kind of prospecting. A patented gold claim is an older way they used to do things, those claims allow ownership of the actual claim land, I don't think they do those much anymore or at all. Hope that helps.

@@wildernesseric I really appreciate that very well explained answer Eric! You just answered a lot with that! Wishing you much success in upcoming adventures!

@@northeastexpanse No problem, thanks.

​@@wildernesseric doesn't stop Claim Jumpers. At that point it becomes a civil matter. Nobody likes a Claim Jumper.

@@arte9855 Yep

There are definelty claims here in NC just have to know what 3 letter agencies to talk to. Gold is still a big deal here, we were the official gold rush state and still have tons of gold from Concord up to the SW, W and NW

Thanks for watching and commenting Floyd! Glad you found my channel too and yes I could use prayers to lead me to the gold :) I am certainly hoping for a large nugget at some point. As far as layout it just depends on what you want to claim and how much acreage you want to pay the fees for to keep your claim. I did a basic along the river claim which includes 300ft on either side for a total of 60 acres which comes out to about 3/4 mile of river.

Thank you! Keeping the location secret for now.

Indeed

Yes time of bedrock to explore. Keeping the local secret for now.

They work well.

There are lots of little tributaries and an ancient river bench above where I'm working that drops down onto the bedrock. Yes there is a ton of fine gold in the moss and black sand, it makes my metal detector go crazy.

More fun to find and looks really nice too!

Interesting thought. One viewer who has dredged for 30 years suggested that the lead rods are from old car batteries. I looked it up and that seems to check out as the most likely explanation.

@wildernesseric I doubt the round lead is from car batteries, the lead is in sheets inside the battery infused in some type of paper like material. Definitely not from old car batteries, but I could be wrong!

@@davidrussell8795 that's what I thought too but found in Google that the really old batteries had a lattice like structure and the separators were shaped like rods. Probably as the battery is pulverized by the river the little rod shaped pieces break off here and there as the lead lattice tumbles down the river.

Who says I'm not made of sugar...

👍Yes, just hard to pan with one hand while filming.

Hi Vance, the gold I found that day was probably worth around $100 in nugget /gold value. This was my first day actually working the claim and I found this gold in the first spot I looked which is a really good sign. That's twice now I've found gold on this claim in the first spot I looked so that tells me this is a pretty rich claim and I should be able to find even richer more concentrated areas on the claim.

Yes, I have found quite a bit of gold in the moss in this area but nothing chunky.

Yes! I have a dedicated black sand snuffer. Thanks for watching!

I'm not familiar with that area, but what I would recommend is for you to join a local gold mining club. Generally you can find a gold mining enthusiasts group or club just about anywhere locally. They should be able to tell you about the gold in the area and take you to places where you can find some.

@@wildernesseric thanks

Yeah that sounds like a plausible explanation.