Whats with all the negative waves, man!

I have a BH pioneer 505 which is my only detector, and frankly, I don't see why I would ever need to purchase any other brand. There seems to be a lot of "looking down" at the Bountyhunter brand and I just don't understand why. I have a LOT of detector for the money that I spent. It is really a amazing to me that more people don't take advantage of the performance versus price that one finds, at least in the 505. I think it may have something to do with the lack of good examples of these detectors being used. Can't find much on youtube or other video sites about them, except short clips. A month ago I bought a 4 in. coil for my 505, tonight I bought a 10 in. coil. Since I never intend to "upgrade" I am not worried about selling this one and "taking a loss" as I have seen it written that Bountyhunters don't have good resale value. I do intend on using this machine to the best of my ability and learning what makes it tick, and then showing what is possible (as least as far as my ability goes) with this machine.

I recently changed to a schedule that allows me to work 28 days on the boat and 28 days off. That is 28 days off the boat, all in a row, that I can use for whatever I please. And some of what I please is spending time to learn this detectors capabilities and have some fun digging treasures, what ever they may be. (also hunting, fishing, family time, and all the other things I have missed out on the last 23 years) I have a lead on a few places, one being the remains of an old late 1800's house, land and barn site, a probable homestead site of the same era in a wooded lot, and in another place, an old dumping ground and possible homesteads in the area. All with permission. Plus the usual parks and fields and yards that we all do. I am really excited by the possibilities involved with this new schedule and hopefully my homework will pay off. Just getting out and doing something will be a "treasure" in itself.  Thanks for reading and Happy Hunting to everyone.

A big turn off for Bounty Hunter is that they can be purchased at your local Wal Mart store and many other retail outlets, that alone is a warning for me.  If you never upgrade then you will never know that there are better machines out there. 

You will never see an experienced detectorist using a Bounty Hunter, you won't see them being used on TV shows or other venues.  They have a poor reputation as being a good detector.  You can pack a lot into a machine, but that does not mean that it is a good machine.

No one I know would even consider a Bounty Hunter.  The good machines are Tesoro; Whites; Minelab; except for the Tesoro which offer lifetime warranties and great prices, you will pay for the quality and depth that these good machines give you.

Good luck with your Bounty Hunter and let me know where you hunt so I can go get the deep stuff.

I have often wondered why people put them down too. And then I realized....the only people that put them down are the people who do not use them. Hmmm...wonder why it works out that way? I have several machines...Bounty Hunter, Tesoro, Whites, Fisher, even a couple of cheap little imports, and I gotta say that a Bounty Hunter in the hands of someone who knows the machine can be a VERY capable detector. Just last week I followed a buddy of mine that was using a very expensive machine (I wont name brands because I respect other peoples favorite brands). I was using a Bounty Hunter Land Ranger. I scooped up 2 silver dimes and a war nickel that he missed. The war nick wasn't deep, about 4 inches, but the first dime was almost 7 inches and the second was 9 inches. When I got the second dime signal I called my buddy over and had him scan the area before I dug....not a peep. The BH, however, gave a solid tone PLUS accurate ID.

If you will look through this site you will find many more stories like this one.

As far as people talking bad about them, I suppose I would too if I had spent 800.00 plus on a machine only to find out that the guy down the street paid a couple hundred for the same results.
 

I have been all over my yard with and Explorer II, a Delon and Whites XLT, and and Explorer SE Pro,  also used on my yard was an X-30 and a Fisher of some type.   We found lots and lots of coins.  However; my daughter with her little Bounty Hunter is the ONLY one to find a Wheat penny and a foreign coin in my yard, in an area that 5 other detectorists went over multiple times.

So I won't slam Bounty Hunters, they have a place in the field of detecting, just like any other machine has.

Use what you like, know and feel comfortable with.

I have pulled coins from over 12-15 inches deep with both my Excals and Sovereign GTs. I am not putting the BH down, but I don't believe your going to get the depth from BH you do from the higher end machines. I have also follow other hunters and found targets behind them because they were swinging their high dollar detectors like it was an old weed cutter.................. 

I have played with a BH, but I did not own it, I found it at a garage sale played with it in their yard and left it there.
I am not in to the screens, I prefer tones for now, I know for sure the BH will not null on iron which is a major advantage for me since I hunt saltwater beaches.......

A good or experience hunter can take any machine and make good finds with it. 

I've use BHs since the 70s... and yes, I know, they've changed a lot since then.

Your 505 is a great machine, at least mine is, so don't listen to the elitists.

Are there better machines?  Maybe.

Is yours awesome?  Yes.

28 on 28 off river push tug man (rough job / hard living 12 hours on 12 off shift) worked for six months as a cook on "orgulf" boats back when work was tight deep sea back in 83 -- former merchant seamen myself did deep sea foreign run vessels over a 27 years with the SIU --medically retired since 7/1/07 ---the newer bounty hunters are much better than the old ones were and in skilled hands can find good stuff ---are they as deep as 1000 buck machine nope the its true the big bucks machines will normally go a bit deeper--- but at say $350 (deluxe pack 505 with big and lil coil at kellyco) its about 1/3rd the cost of the 1000 "big bucks machine" and you' ll get about 80 - 90% of what the big bucks machine will find . -- and thats just fine for most folks.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I appreciate the input and feedback along with personal experiences. I ended up working over for 5 days and will go home next Wednesday and after turkey day will have free time to get the ole 505 out and have some fun time. Take care and HH to all.

capt.