No gold panning thread. AZ / Cali / NV / Alaska get in here. Drop your wisdom.
>>2999488I see gold panning shit on CL and zuckbook at deep discounts all the time. Don't buy new.
>>2999488What's /diy/ about panning for gold? >use your mother's tupperware to play in the mud instead of getting a real job The end.
>>2999519You can still have a job and do gold panning as a hobby while camping. You complete fucking retard.
>>2999488WHY HALLO THAR
>>2999541/diy/?
pan where and what im supposed to believe theres gold in random spots
>>2999563>random spotsUsually not. Most successful panning is done in established districts where gold has been found before. But the fact is that most placer gold districts have been thoroughly worked, first by original prospectors, then by the Chinese who followed them and cleaned up thoroughly, and then by panners during the great depression. I'm sure there are probably some very remote spots in places like Alaska that might not have been touched, but almost all of the east pickings are gone.
>>2999565*easy
just ordered some pans from Amazongoing camping in Uwharrie national forest this fall and will try them out then, any tips for a first timer?
>>2999570get some classifiers too, gold's only heavier than everything else the same size. Big rocks will knock small gold flakes out of your pan. I made my own out of bucket tops and mesh, used a milk crate for the biggest one, then half inch, quarter inch and eighth inch. I made a small one out of a frisbee with solid metal window screen glued in, used rivets on the bigger mesh and zip ties to hold the milk crate one.
>>2999488during covid lockdowns I searched remote historical mining claims that were further outside of town, and required hiking to get to. Found a place drove out the general location, lots of signs saying no vehicles, no bikes, but here was a 4x4 windy road with a locked gate for state/federal rangers. But it looks like people pulled large logs away to gain road access next to gate, and rangers pulled/pushed logs back. Parked, started walking down the road and could see recent ATV tracks. Terrain map looks fairly easy, maybe two or three hours to get to placer near river. Was much steeper than I thought. Finally get to the general area and see evidence of dry panning in areas leading to river. No people where. Mostly a scouting trip. I was walked back up (95% up hills) I dragged a stick behind me on some some sections leaving a "S" cure in the sand. Next week drive back and start hiking down and see new ATV tracks over the s track I left so I know people are illegally riding ATVs down there pan and dry pan. Should I be carrying for safety? Must be worth panning if people are still active and violating the law by taking their ATVs down there. I never see anybody around though.
>>3000025Maybe it's not illegal: it might be that the ATV people were the ones who put up the signs reading "no vehicles", in an attempt to keep other people out.At any rate, I don't think gold panning is a particularly violent activity, that gold panners will shoot you if they see you coming. Even if they did, what good is it for you to have a gun in that situation? They'll have an ATV and guns, you'll be on foot and have just one gun. Do you expect to go Rambo on them, hide in the bushes and take them out one by one? Just run back to your vehicle, don't try to hang around trading bullets with them.
>>3000096>it might be that the ATV people were the ones who put up the signs reading "no vehicles"No its one of those wilderness areas -" Signs indicating "Wilderness" and "Closed Road" or "Closed Route" are placed at various intervals. Vehicles can be parked outside the wilderness boundary; however, the boundary is set back 30 feet from unmaintained dirt roads and 300 feet on paved roads.Mechanized or motorized vehicles are not permitted."It looks like there some ongoing struggle to put logs around a vehicle gate (gate 1) to prevent vehicle access. This is the first gate, there is second one much further down (gate 2) that is not locked, but only horses, ATVs can fit through the width. It used to be in the 90s maby late 2005/2008ish gate 1 would be opened at some time during the year around fishing, but sometime around 2010ish they changed the area designation to wilderness area and seem to block vehicle access at gate 1. The last palcer claim record I saw expired or was given up in the 1980s. I talked to a local gas station employee about 30 miles away (saw him many times as I drove around that area) and he was tight lipped about 'hot spots' and he said the locals know the best places, they are not on maps, and no one files a claim to keep the locations secret. So the place I am going to is known, I just figured it was played out and I was just going for fun but I see the vehicle tracks several times.
>>3000025In some areas the locals are resentful of new wilderness designations because they have driven on those roads for years only for them to be closed by some DC bureaucrats. They form "shovel brigades" in order to maintain the trails by themselves. The Forest Service field staff has been cut thin over the years and in many places it is impossible for them to enforce the wilderness designation. At one such place in Nevada, the local field office is visited once every two weeks by a ranger who hardly ever goes out on the "closed" road.The locals are guarded in their attitude, which goes something like if you didn't help clear the trail, then stay the fuck out. They think that their illegal claims are their property and would definitely get aggressive if an outsider came poking around.I'm always armed with at least a sidearm when in back country, but I wouldn't go panning gravels at a site that was obviously being worked.
>>2999570got my Amazon pans they are trash, flimsy as shit and it doesn't transition to the sides smoothly looking back at the listing, all the flaws are clearly visible but were not obvious to me untill they were in my handsguess I'll check eBay
>>3000461It doesn't matter, you were never going to find any gold anyway
>>3000461that's a fine gold pan, it'll work fine on sand-size stuff, but that lower shelf all the way around is unfortunate. Pic is my go-to, works great, $18 plus shipping from proline for the 14".
>>2999546I don't like him but this made me laugh.I should like him, he seems like a good dad and spending all day outside has to be great. I just hate yt personalities.
>>2999488I'm so envious of people living in countries where gold prospecting is a viable pastime. I'd love to try that for a bit, but living in Germany its not really an option I don't think. I did find a few flakes of gold in a river in Thailand once. Wasn't even searching for it, I just noticed unusual reflections in a riverbed while meditating and on closer inspection they turned out to be gold. Not much, but I always wanted to return to spot with a pan and see how much I could collect in an afternoon or two.
How do I find a good river/stream to gold pan at if there isn't much online information relating to gold panning in my area? I live very close to rivers coming from a mountain on the west coast for what it's worth.
>>3002228Usually you can look at a map and see rivers and streams, then you get a vehicle and drive it on the roads that lead to the stream. If there aren't any streams on the map, you should try a different map.Joking aside, look up placer mining claims in your state. It costs money to maintain a claim, so their existence implies paydirt exists.
>>3002228Anywhere near these areas?
anyone remember the gold fever tv show? used to watch it with my pops all time, those were the days.>gold gold gold gold..........>feva feva feva feva........
>>3002228there is lots of information online, you just need to know how to find it. It may be there is no guld in your area worth mentioning, or the state is keeping the info in paper form at their office and you need to dig it up, but if there is gold there is some info about it. check USGS reports. I always suspected USGS geologist kept the good stuff out of the reports for themselves and put in the small finds for the public. People have scowered the area 150 years ago, so there is probably only a little easy to find left.
>>3002112What are you complaining about, there's shit ton of "prospected" gold on your grandfather's swiss bank account from the 40s
