Greetings to all

G'day GD&P members,

My name is Wayne from Victoria and Im a newbie to both the Forum & Gold Prospecting itself!

I thought i would take this opportunity to introduce myself, say Hi and a thankyou for allowing me access to the wonderful insights into prospecting available here!

My thirst for knowledge, and a desire to learn more on the topic, has brought me to your doorstep and I look forward to getting to know you all better.

Im only a month or so into my prospecting hobby and have had varying degrees of success (no gold yet), mostly with learning the pro's and con's of my detector, improving my ability to read target ID's and fine tuning more efficient target recovery techniques etc. Along the short journey so far, i have had a hell of a lot of fun even though my old bullet casing collection is expanding rapidly  

I have started small using a Minelab X-Terra 305 with a 10" X 5" Double-D 18.75 kHz Coil, RPG Headphones - 32 ohm and various target recovery equipment which i purchased mainly from Bunnings. Knowing that this list will need to be upgraded in the future so as to increase my chances of success, we all gotta start somewhere I guess, and I always welcome any feedback others may have on the unit.

My trusted prospecting partner in crime is my 9 month old German Shepard "Bear" who is always keen to jump in and help out with a dig during target recovery time hehe!

Thanks for reading all and I look forward to contributing where I can

Regards

hi mate,

im a newbie in Vic too!

cheers and lotsa luck

Laurie

Hi Laurie,

Hepburn Springs a lovely part of Vic.....great place to sooth those tired muscles after a long days prospecting at the Mineral Springs!

Best of luck to you also mate and Ta for saying hello  

Cheers....Wayne

Welcome to the forum.

If you are finding some target you are on a right track.Its just matter of time and just to walk over that gold nugget.

Its good to get into some habits from the day one so DIG EVERYTHING.
Please fill up your detecting holes and enjoy the bush.

With little bit of persistence and little bit of luck i am sure you will find your nugget soon.
There is a special moment which will give you a "gold fever".

Its great you have a companion with you.With a such name you are safe there.  
Keep in mind there are many dangers in goldfields starting with old mine shafts etc, sometimes not visible. Friend dog fell into one of these shafts and came back to tell the story (after emergency services  winched him out out with only broken leg).


I found this little brochure from the Park Victoria-handy for dog lovers.
http://parkweb.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/305099/Walking-your-Dog-Brochure.pdf

Good luck and stay safe....

GoldEN

Hi Golden and thanks for the great feedback!

Yeh Im always worried about my little buddy and sometimes I have to chain him up close to my search area due to his over-enthusiasm.
I never really thought about old mine shaft trouble so that's a great tip, thanks! I was always preoccupied with other terrors such as snake bites etc, but I know he would hate gaiters lol.

I like to be thoughtful of the environment during my work, and always make a point of leaving an area as I found it. The last thing us prospectors need is bad name to add more fuel for Parks Vic keeping us out.

Cheers for the link too mate, its great advice!

Regards....Wayne!

G'day NightCrawler ... nice to meet you! I too take my pup with me ... she's a 10mth old American Staffy X ... but don't be fooled ... she's super friendly, loves other dogs, and hasn't got a clue that she's supposed to be of a breed that's supposed to have a reputation!!!

Her first trip away with me I spent half of my time chasing her through the bush and bringing her back to camp! In the end, I put her on the running chain for a couple of hours and made her stay "with me", where I was working. When I eventually let her off the chain she stayed within eyesight ... and has done ever since then! Who says Staffy's are hard to train?

It's the snakes that worry me ... well, not me ... worry me, for her! It's my one fear ... having a snake bite her. I spoke to the Vet who said it would be too difficult to keep an anti-veneen (??) in usable condition whilst in the bush ... so first things first, I always Google Vets in the general area where I will be working, and put the phone number into my mobile! Yep, I'm a bit of a panic merchant, especially with my dog's health!!

I usually do my "fossicking" in VIC, so "Hi!" to all you new guys in VIC too!!!    

Hey there getascripter, great to meet you too mate and cheers for your reply!

I actually had a Staffy before I got "Bear" and I can honestly say they are awesome dogs and do not have a bad bone in their body.....they have a personality unto their own, and the only dog I know that can actually smile like a human! I miss him lots. He was great with the kids too!

I hate going bush to prospect without my dog even though I know that any trip could be his last.....its just not the same without him and I try to guard him as he does me.

That's a great suggestion about finding local vet details around the area you are going to head into.....My wife was offering just that very same suggestion after my last trip concerns with Bear at Ararat. Cheers mate  

Yeh, anti-venom has a short shelf life, is damn expensive and needs good refrigeration......I have a 70ltr Techni-ice cooler which keeps servo ice for around 5 days but I still couldn't afford the script.

The chain runner is a good idea also and I might try to set one up on our trip to Echuca this cup-day long weekend.

Good Luck on your patch mate and hope you snare the big one! Send me the pic's

Cheers.....Wayne.