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.

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.

New guy here, and not wanting to start anything.  But, Wal Mart also sells Levi's and Wranglers.  That doesn't turn me off from buying those blue jeans.

By the way, I'm also new to the MD, have a BH Pioneer 505, and am as happy with it as my girlfriend is with her Minelab xterra 70.  Mine may be a long way from the top of the line, but it suits me just fine.  For now.  Unlike the OP, I am pretty sure I'll eventually upgrade, though.

I still have my sharpshooter II and have no plans of selling it. Its a great machine and allot of bang for the buck.  It has found me a TON of clad/silver and does ok on nickels. I hunted allot in the past with my buddy using a ML Sov. I could literally run circles around him and always out-hunted him in quantity. But I noticed his finds generally were deeper and usually of better quality, older stuff. I know places are never completely hunted out but I tended to stay away from places that I knew were hit hard. Then I picked up a ML Explorer II. Whole new ballgame. I now enjoy hitting older grounds that I know have been hit hard for decades and really enjoy hunting places that my Sov buddy hunted. My total amount of finds have gone down considerably but the quality has gone WAY up. Oh, there is still a time and a place for my BH SSII, but I am fully aware of it's limitations. I enjoy the exercise of metal detecting but am still doing it for a greater reason. If you are ever hunting old grounds and feel you are walking over stuff and know the place can't be bone dry, it's probably not. I know i'm still not finding EVERYTHING but have greater piece of mind and less doubt when searching for the older deep stuff that i KNOW is there. If I were to hit a field/park the day after a large concert/venue or am short on hunting time or want to cover some ground fast, there would only be one way to go, the SSII. Just a few thoughts, JJ

I have a Titan 2000xd which is a BH2200

When I go to tot lots or other places where I am only going to dig shallow clad it works very well. In fact I might go as far to say as I will get more finds with a Bounty Hunter than I do with my Minelab!  But the reason for that is, it takes much longer to find a coin that is a 10" to a foot down than it is to find shallow clad.

The thing that is disheartening with the BH is that many signals read like IRON when they are deeper than 5" even when they are not. Not sure if that is because of my soil or what but if I run discrimination for Iron I will not get anything but shallow clad 5" or less.

The Minelab on the other hand takes me much longer, I need to swing slow but coins even 10+ inches down sound and read pretty close to what they are, they don't tend to null out as iron. But with an 11" DD coil you get a slew of signals so you need to go slow to analyse each one.

So, for soft sand on the beach, tot lots, gravel driveways man I can fly though that with my Titan and get a pocket full of coins in no time!

When I use the Minelab I get far less finds in total but in general they are much deeper, older and a better find overall.

For example, my last hunt with the Minelab I found a Civil War Bullet and a Thimble but no pennies or nickels. Both of which the BH would have nulled out if running discrimination cause they were kinda deep.

So, if you use the BH as a Beep and Dig machine with no discrimination I think you will do just a good as anyone else at a fraction of the cost. Yeah you will get a lot of junk but the odds on hitting something great increases dramatically so what you are saying is essentially true to some extent.

Now here is where my Minelab will blow away a BH. I have an hour to hunt and I am only interested in Silver coins. I simply look for that 37-39 on my ID and discrim everything else out and start swinging. Will I miss some silver? yes, will I miss gold? Yes. Will I cover more ground and be able to extract more silver than someone with a BH in all metal or discrim mode? Without a doubt!
 
But bottom line is most of us are into this to have fun, not get rich although getting rich would be a blast it is really not what most of us are into the hobby for. I think we just enjoy the thrill of being out there and digging finds. So if a BH or a Ace is more in ones budget than a T2 or a Etrac then so be it.

You will have just as much fun with either one and that is what is really most important.
 

Heres a video of that lady in England that has a MD that's very old not high tech just has 2 knobs and a meter with head phones i wish i knew what kind just for the record ? her find was 3 to 4 inches down shes been hunting over 7 years and finally found a treasure !! second best to the Midland Jewel its the Holy Trinity made by the same person who made the Midland Jewel over 500 years ago , just goes to show its not always the price of a detector but whats in the ground by chance ,her find payed over 250,000.00 at auction . I bet that detector cant be more then 190.00 ?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9b_klOB8cro" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9b_klOB8cro</a>

I've got a BH tracker IV that I bought on Amazon for $88. That's right... $88! FOR THE MONEY it is probably one of the best values around. I've read countless reviews and most of them are very positive. I've been very happy with it after my first year in the hobby. I've tried some other low end machines that cost around $50 and there really is no comparison. I've also tried a couple of machines that cost $600 and they weren't much better considering that they were over 6 times the price.

HOWEVER, I can't help but wonder how much better I'd be doing if I had a deeper machine. I know that the BH is probably missing stuff in the areas that I hunt. So I'm probably going to be upgrading soon. Still, for $88 you really can't go wrong so I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to get into the hobby. That's really where Bounty Hunters excel. People who are new to the hobby should not be spending $1500 on a Minelab. Although the Minelab is certainly going to be a nicer machine, it isn't THAT much nicer. Especially when you are new to the hobby and just need some time to work on things like research, digging techniques, and all of that other newbie stuff that is completely unrelated to what detector you are using.

So the old timers are going to scoff at Bounty Hunters as being inferior machines that are not worthy of their time. And they are probably right to a certain extent. But dollar for dollar I would bet that Bounty Hunters can match just about any other brand for value.

"Whats with all the negative waves MAN!"

Theres a lot of Moriartys in the world.

Heres a video of that lady in England that has a MD that's very old not high tech just has 2 knobs and a meter with head phones i wish i knew what kind just for the record ? her find was 3 to 4 inches down shes been hunting over 7 years and finally found a treasure !! second best to the Midland Jewel its the Holy Trinity made by the same person who made the Midland Jewel over 500 years ago , just goes to show its not always the price of a detector but whats in the ground by chance ,her find payed over 250,000.00 at auction . I bet that detector cant be more then 190.00 ?

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/9b_klOB8cro" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/9b_klOB8cro</a>

She's using a Tesoro--thank you very much! 

Funny how the British Museum offered her the "fair market price" of 4,000 for her find worth 750,000.   

It looks a Tesoro/Laser Hawkeye. Basically a De Leon with modifications.

It looks a Tesoro/Laser Hawkeye. Basically a De Leon with modifications.

Yes that is what it looked like to me also a  Tesoro laser that is a Tesoro detector made for the UK they call them a laser.But it was not the hawkeye for they said hers had only 2 knobs the hawk eye has 3 knobs and 2 toggel switches

I have a BH 505 for just little over a month, and new at metal detecting.  Before the snow I found 4 rings, 1 a 2ct diamond engagement ring, 1 men's wedding band, 1 women's wedding band, and 1 white gold ring with 12 diamonds and Rubys.  I guess I don't know any better and that the BH 505 is not a good machine.  One of the rings was over 10 inches deep too.  Can't wait to use the BH 505 that is considered the white trash of the metal detectors.  It worked great also found junk as any other detector will.  A old carpenter once told me " it is not the tools that make a man a carpenter, I tis the man"

I guess nobody told your 505 it is supposed to be junk, lol. I just got a 505 yesterday, now I gotta wait for the snow to melt before I can try it.

I have a BH 505 for just little over a month, and new at metal detecting.  Before the snow I found 4 rings, 1 a 2ct diamond engagement ring, 1 men's wedding band, 1 women's wedding band, and 1 white gold ring with 12 diamonds and Rubys.  I guess I don't know any better and that the BH 505 is not a good machine.  One of the rings was over 10 inches deep too.  Can't wait to use the BH 505 that is considered the white trash of the metal detectors.  It worked great also found junk as any other detector will.  A old carpenter once told me " it is not the tools that make a man a carpenter, I tis the man"

You must hunt at beaches your not going to find that much inland.

I have a BH 505 for just little over a month, and new at metal detecting.  Before the snow I found 4 rings, 1 a 2ct diamond engagement ring, 1 men's wedding band, 1 women's wedding band, and 1 white gold ring with 12 diamonds and Rubys.  I guess I don't know any better and that the BH 505 is not a good machine.  One of the rings was over 10 inches deep too.  Can't wait to use the BH 505 that is considered the white trash of the metal detectors.  It worked great also found junk as any other detector will.  A old carpenter once told me " it is not the tools that make a man a carpenter, I tis the man"

You must hunt at beaches your not going to find that much inland.

Nope found all inland tried the beach and came up dry

  on the 505, I have used one  for five years!!

It stands to reason that if you want to fit in with all the other cutting edge treasure hunters you will need:

$200 custom long handled beach scoop
$100 custom made leche digging tool, preferably in titanium or laser engraved with your name.
$5000 in custom wetsuits, find pouches, scales, metal and gem testers.
$3000 in dredges, pans and Ebay gold maps
$1500 to $45,000 detectors, the more expensive the better
$3000 in long range locators, the bigger the calculator glued to the top the better.

Remember, the more expensive, the better.

After you have bought all this expensive gear then you have to join a treasure forum and post pictures and heavily put down anyone that uses Bounty Hunter and home made gear.

Make sure that you say things like “ It’s sold in Walmart and if you want a toy go ahead but I use (insert brand) and I found so much gold I hired someone to swing my detector  ”
Or
“You will never get good finds with a Bounty Hunter”

This will make you feel better about yourself and justify how lucky that guy was with the Bounty Hunter on the beach that scored all those great finds while you crapped out.

DO NOT mention that Team Bounty Hunter won the 2009 Grand National Relic Shootout and score’s in the top tier every year ahead of some of the “best expensive brands”

Go figure

Remember, the more expensive, the better.

After you have bought all this expensive gear then you have to join a treasure forum and post pictures and heavily put down anyone that uses Bounty Hunter and home made gear.

Make sure that you say things like “ It’s sold in Walmart and if you want a toy go ahead but I use (insert brand) and I found so much gold I hired someone to swing my detector  ”
Or
“You will never get good finds with a Bounty Hunter”

This will make you feel better about yourself and justify how lucky that guy was with the Bounty Hunter on the beach that scored all those great finds while you crapped out.

DO NOT mention that Team Bounty Hunter won the 2009 Grand National Relic Shootout and score’s in the top tier every year ahead of some of the “best expensive brands”

Go figure

[/quote]
That's too funny

Remember, the more expensive, the better.

After you have bought all this expensive gear then you have to join a treasure forum and post pictures and heavily put down anyone that uses Bounty Hunter and home made gear.

Make sure that you say things like “ It’s sold in Walmart and if you want a toy go ahead but I use (insert brand) and I found so much gold I hired someone to swing my detector  ”
Or
“You will never get good finds with a Bounty Hunter”

This will make you feel better about yourself and justify how lucky that guy was with the Bounty Hunter on the beach that scored all those great finds while you crapped out.

DO NOT mention that Team Bounty Hunter won the 2009 Grand National Relic Shootout and score’s in the top tier every year ahead of some of the “best expensive brands”

Go figure

That's too funny

[/quote]You hit right on the head coasty , They think the more it cost the better it is but not true..

"Whats with all the negative waves MAN!"

Theres a lot of Moriartys in the world.

Not to digress from the thread but props are due.

"Whats with all the negative waves MAN!"

Theres a lot of Moriartys in the world.

Not to digress from the thread but props are due.

 

I might be slow i idon't know what the He__  do you mean props are due???/

Any quote from kelley's Heroes desrves props.

FH

I just came across this thread. I may have to print it out (not really but very tempted), make copies and send out to a few places near me as well as a few other fourms. When I was looking to buy a machine about 3 yrs ago I went to any local store that sold them so I could ask questions, this was before I discovered this forum as well as a few select others. I was told each time that BH is junk. the worst is a place called Bill Jackson Sporting Goods, i was told by 2 diff salesmen that anything under $700 is a toy and under $1000 is a beginner model just above a toy.

Regarding the comment that "nobody uses bounty hunters" in a serious aspect , this is true to a degree in my experience but whats also true is look at any serious detectorists back up machine , 9/10 its a bounty hunter.

It stands to reason that if you want to fit in with all the other cutting edge treasure hunters you will need:

$200 custom long handled beach scoop
$100 custom made leche digging tool, preferably in titanium or laser engraved with your name.
$5000 in custom wetsuits, find pouches, scales, metal and gem testers.
$3000 in dredges, pans and Ebay gold maps
$1500 to $45,000 detectors, the more expensive the better
$3000 in long range locators, the bigger the calculator glued to the top the better.

Remember, the more expensive, the better.

After you have bought all this expensive gear then you have to join a treasure forum and post pictures and heavily put down anyone that uses Bounty Hunter and home made gear.

Make sure that you say things like “ It’s sold in Walmart and if you want a toy go ahead but I use (insert brand) and I found so much gold I hired someone to swing my detector  ”
Or
“You will never get good finds with a Bounty Hunter”

This will make you feel better about yourself and justify how lucky that guy was with the Bounty Hunter on the beach that scored all those great finds while you crapped out.

DO NOT mention that Team Bounty Hunter won the 2009 Grand National Relic Shootout and score’s in the top tier every year ahead of some of the “best expensive brands”

Go figure

I HAVE A TESORO CIBOLA AND A BOUNTY HUNTER TRACKER IV
AND BH TRACKER IV IS MY BACK UP MACHINE I USE IT MORE
THEN TESORO CIBOLA IT IS A GOOD DETECTOR  

I'm doing some relic hunting tomorrow. When Relic hunting I typically do a beep and dig in all metal.

I will give the Titan 2000xd (aka BH2200) an hour to find something good, if nothing in that time I'm going to power up and swing the Minelab.

Iv never been let down with my BH IV......Just got a Ace250 though and I see a deeper depth though .....but my BH has been my Ace for years

Even tho i am new to the sport ( i like the word sport more the hobby) I have a BH QDII I find all kids of stuff with it. 7" to 8" deep. I mean for the $ you can't beat the proformance.

I doubt i would ever have a need to buy another Det.
Just my thoughts

HH all

Mark

Off subject for a BH thread I reckon, but that UK woman is using a Tesoro detector most likely a Cutlass which has two knobs--I assume it is a Cutlass or some similar model because they said it was old--also may have been a SideWinder which is another two knob model I think? And it was the first of the Umax units that Tesoro came up with I do believe. I've owned two Cibolas, a Silver Sabre Umax, A Toltec 2, a Compadre with 7" coil, a Golden Umax, and a Conquistador...dang I've been primarily a Tesoro man-But I've owned a MXT, a cz-5,cz-6,two 1266-x's, a cz-3,two 1225-x's,a 1280-x, a Minelab Sterling, a Nautilus TR detector-can't recall model, a D-TEX detector-can't recall name, TWO Garrett DEEPSEEKERS,A GARRETT GTA 500, A GARRETT GROUNDHOG, And some other units for underwater and land. DANG, I COULDA HAD MY OWN STORE-HA!!!

ONLY BH DETECTOR THAT I'VE HEARD IS WORTH A CRAP IS LAND RANGER AND TIME RANGER...AND I BELIEVE LAND RANGER IS BEST OVERALL DETECTOR...NOW WITH THEIR MERGER WITH FISHER MAYBE WE'LL SEE SOME IMPROVEMNTS OR MAYBE THERE'S ALREADY SOME BH FISHER IMPROVEMENTS UNLESS FISHER HETS BROUGHT DOWN BY THE BH TECHNOLOGY OR WHATEVER...LET'S HOPE IT IMPROVES BOTH, THOUGH. FISHER UNITS HAVE BEEN USUALLY FAR MORE SUPERIOR TO THE BH OFFERINGS.

ONLY BH DETECTOR THAT I'VE HEARD IS WORTH A CRAP IS LAND RANGER AND TIME RANGER...AND I BELIEVE LAND RANGER IS BEST OVERALL DETECTOR...NOW WITH THEIR MERGER WITH FISHER MAYBE WE'LL SEE SOME IMPROVEMNTS OR MAYBE THERE'S ALREADY SOME BH FISHER IMPROVEMENTS UNLESS FISHER HETS BROUGHT DOWN BY THE BH TECHNOLOGY OR WHATEVER...LET'S HOPE IT IMPROVES BOTH, THOUGH. FISHER UNITS HAVE BEEN USUALLY FAR MORE SUPERIOR TO THE BH OFFERINGS.

Now that Fisher has been bought by First Texas (Bounty Hunter) we should see some improvements in the Fisher line.

Using some of the great technology that Bounty Hunter has should improve those Fishers.  

Hopefully First Texas will buy a few more detector companies and make improvements in price and technology to them also.

mrbelvetron, you made my day with Oddball's picture my friend.   fathead, you also rock, bro.   Kelley's Heroes is one of my favorite fall back feel good movies, and Oddball (Donald Sutherland) was years ahead of his time (a hippie during ww2) and still brings a smile to my face when I think of his character. I love some of his lines in that movie! Still have the 505 and still having fun. Thanks everybody for your posts and opinions.

capt.

When you pay $1,000 for a detector, you get more power than you can use. Great for bragging about air tests. But the false signals from the ground might go away if you turn down the sensitivity to the point that the $1,000 unit has the same depth as the Bounty Hunter. But I admit I've bought & used most brands in most price ranges and the diffference from one to another isn't that much in most cases.

I found 2 4" deep silver dimes with a 1993 Big Bud XL which cost me about $241. Both were found in parks that were heavily detected. I had the discrimination turned up to eliminate nearly all trash. Both silver dimes ID correctly. But the detector only air tested about 5 1/2" on a dime, when set that way.

I read about someone with a $75 Bounty Hunter (Pioneer 101?). They just stuck with it and found about $2,000. HH, George (MN)

When you pay $1,000 for a detector, you get more power than you can use. Great for bragging about air tests. But the false signals from the ground might go away if you turn down the sensitivity to the point that the $1,000 unit has the same depth as the Bounty Hunter. But I admit I've bought & used most brands in most price ranges and the difference from one to another isn't that much in most cases.

I found 2 4" deep silver dimes with a 1993 Big Bud XL which cost me about $241. Both were found in parks that were heavily detected. I had the discrimination turned up to eliminate nearly all trash. Both silver dimes ID correctly. But the detector only air tested about 5 1/2" on a dime, when set that way.

I read about someone with a $75 Bounty Hunter (Pioneer 101?). They just stuck with it and found about $2,000. HH, George (MN)

As far as someone finding something good with a cheap detector, we always hear those stories and yes anything is possible. Experience really outplays the detector but I think you really do get what you pay for, and a combination of value and marketing and hype :-( is truly what sets the price.

However, from what I have experienced, the more expensive the detector the more information I get about the object.  This is especially helpful when you have limited time to detect a large area and only have the time to dig sure thing signals.

I have in the past gone detecting and only dug sure thing signals, with this technique I would not find gold because gold can be anywhere in the spectrum and of course there is no way to know for sure gold from junk from any detector. But with this technique on a top model unit I will get copper pennies, clad and silver and dig very little trash. When I try this same technique with my inexpensive detector (BH) I get a little bit more trash but never ever seem to find any deep silver or old coins, only recent clad. I suppose if there was a pile of silver coins 5" down I would find it that in itself is wishful thinking.

But it's true that sometimes I find more coins with the cheap BH and I attribute that to the fact it takes less time to recover many shallow clad coins than it does to dig a few deep older and possibly Silver coins.

So what is best? a fast coverage to pick up a lot of shallow drops which typically consists of of pulltabs, bottlecaps, and recent clad or a pr icy unit where you need to swing slower but typically find pieces of silver and older coins that you had to dig deeper and work harder for?

When you pay $1,000 for a detector, you get more power than you can use. Great for bragging about air tests. But the false signals from the ground might go away if you turn down the sensitivity to the point that the $1,000 unit has the same depth as the Bounty Hunter. But I admit I've bought & used most brands in most price ranges and the diffference from one to another isn't that much in most cases.

I found 2 4" deep silver dimes with a 1993 Big Bud XL which cost me about $241. Both were found in parks that were heavily detected. I had the discrimination turned up to eliminate nearly all trash. Both silver dimes ID correctly. But the detector only air tested about 5 1/2" on a dime, when set that way.

I read about someone with a $75 Bounty Hunter (Pioneer 101?). They just stuck with it and found about $2,000. HH, George (MN)

I had a BH Time Ranger many years ago. I thought it was okay then. The more I became familiar with detectors, the more I realized it was nowhere near what I needed.

If all you do is shoot coins in the park, then just about any detector will work. Try taking your BH to the beach, deep cache hunting, gold nugget hunting, or any type of specialized detecting. You will quickly see that the BH don't fill the bill.

Different detectors do different things. You talk about "bragging about air tests". There are several different water detectors out there, but beyond doubt more loot is found with Minelab Excaliburs than any other detector. More people also use Excaliburs because of that.

Best-Mike

Hi everyone,
 Everyone has their opinion about the Bounty Hunters. Some are good, some are bad. Personally, I feel that the technology in them is dated. First Texas has some very innovative products and is pushing the common metal detector to a new level. I like that, but not everyone wants or needs the best and most powerful thing on the market.
 The Bounty Hunter serves its purpose and does it well. They are affordable, reliable, easy to use, and readily available to the average consumer. There are many people who started this hobby with a Bounty Hunter, and many more yet to come. The BH may not be the deepest and most advanced thing out there, but simply put.....they work.

I have had  a Pioneer 202 for three years now.  It serves me well.  There has been more then a few  times that I found more with it then my parteners did with their $700.  machines.  That don't make mine better then theirs by any means but it does keep it in perspective.  Im 600 miles from the nearest salt water so thats not a problem either.  Kinda like saying my gun is good for hunting elephants.  But if your hunting rabbits..... so what.  Ill upgrade to a better detector one of these days but Ill keep the 202 handy also.

Since it's been so hot and dry, I've been working tot lots lately. I ran across a fellow with a new F75. I thought "I'm not trying here, he surely cleaned it out with that thing". I've been using an F4 lately, so I was having a complex about trying to compete with this machine as I know it's capabilities. I've always said it's the hunter, not the machine. I finally went back to where I saw this fellow and gave it a shot. I could tell where he'd been by the color of the wood chips. I went home with a pocket full of change using the F4. The next day, I took the Land Star out to another location he'd been to. Same thing, a pocket full of money. I stand by my motto. A BH in the hands of someone who knows how to use it is a potent weapon indeed.

I normally don't read the Bounty Hunter posts but had to address this question.  This Bounty Hunter brand is maybe thought of as a poor mans detector or of poor quality because of where it is sold.  This just doesn't hold water.  I worked at a metal detecting store and we sold Bounty Hunter because they were cheaper to purchase for the average guy.  Since the big box stores also sold them and they had nobody there that knew about the detectors they tended to get the rep of being cheap.

I've used them as I need to learn them to sell them well and found them to be OK for tot lots and playgrounds.  We never carried any accessories for them as nobody was buying Bounty Hunters.

im not the expert of metal detecting, but im noticing that 9 times out of 10 its less to do with the machine and more to do with the user. if people knock the BH don't let that bother you. let em wallow in their ignorance and you keep making your hits and enjoying yourself. theres gonna be snobs in every hobby, just ignore em and move on.

and enjoy your 28 straight days of hunting. brother, i envy you!  

It looks a Tesoro/Laser Hawkeye. Basically a De Leon with modifications.

Yes a Tesoro for England and either a Laser Hawkeye or Trident since the Rapier has a black coil.    Definitely not Bounty Hunter quality or preformance.

I've owned a couple bounty hunter's - IMO, they're more or less "starter machines" as you progress in the hobby, you'll eventually upgrade, as you discover there are better machines out there. 

I think of my BH LoneStar as a starter unit also.  I didn't know if I would become addicted (and yes I have) and will use my BH for a long time I am sure, and yes I have found coins etc.   But I know if my obession holds I will be upgrading my machine.    I think any of the lesser cost units in any hobby we try are the "starter units" ya know....then if you love the hobby, you look for upgrades just like anything.

shoot fire and brimstone have at it

I have a Radio Shack Discovery 1000 (Bounty Hunter Tracker IV) with the old 7 inch inclosed coil. I also bought a 4 inch coil for it. I have used it for years here in the mountains, in the playgrounds, camp grounds, in the fresh water lakes and in Puget Sound out of Seattle. Have found lots of coins including silver ones. Oldest coin was a 1900 Morgan Silver dollar. Also sterling and gold rings. Fast and easy to use. I love the meter. I have earphones, but don't use them, as I metal detect in areas where sightings of bears and mountain lions are reported all the time. I want to know what's around me.  At a great price - $10.00 at the local swapmeet.

Man, I gotta get my two cents in on this!
I got into detecting about three years ago now - picked up a bounty hunter "fast tracker" inexpensive little thing no screen, just filter and discrimination - I go by the sound of the signal. I do mainly inland hunting (not big on digging in the water), but I've brought it with me down to Cape Cod and New Brunswick a couple of times, works just fine. I'm tempted to say great, but I've yet to try another detector. I will say that I've walked away from signals in parks and other areas because the hole was just getting too deep. In my first year I dug a cache of two coffee jars of change and a couple of bills from the late 70's (just over a hundred bucks), the cache was about a foot deep with a sizeable root system from a nearby bush over top. I've picked up items as small as bobby pins (couldn't say how deep those were - didn't interest me  ), and if you look back over my posts and some of my finds, you'll see (in my opinion) I can swing with the best of 'em.

Hi all.

Firts, about the mentioned UK laser detector with two knobs, it's a Laser Scout, which is a Compadre with sensitivity knob, 8" interchangeable coil.

That being said, I own two BH units : a Lone Star and a QD II. Own also two Minelabs , a Sov GT and a Quattro.

You must use, and certainly BUY a detector having in mind what you intend to hunt and where.

For instance, I would never hunt wet sand beaches with my BH detectors, nor would I hunt trashy sites with my Minelab units. (Not even with a small coil).

That works ok for me. I keep another couple of no motion veteran units and a Tesoro Compadre for the fun and traveling.

Buried coins and treasure do not know how much you paid for your metal detector. I found over 6.000 curent coins with my Compadre in 14 months of time.

So keep on the good job, you BH owners. They are great units, and we might stand for a surprise when FTP/BH will renew their current models.

HH

Grumpy.

As I do recall this post is about the 505 BH, not any other brands. I had a Whites MXT, and an expensive garrett machine, neither of them found half of what I've found in the past with the BH brand at a quarter of the cost.....Just like a car or any other brand name over pricing, hats off to those who spent less and found more lol 

The best finds I ever made were years ago with a Bounty Hunter TR500. Better to have an inexpensive unit and be out there than to sit and watch because you can't afford to play.

Rob

  I put the bounty hunter to the test they say big targets up to 3 feet deep.. not

  I put the bounty hunter to the test they say big targets up to 3 feet deep.. not

did you dig a hole three feet deep and try to find the tatget...........

my son and i started with a cheap bh i think it was called the XL
eric made some great finds with his machine but as we upgraded
we found stuff we had missed with the bh
i still have a 505 brand new in the box i will be selling off soon
but i can tell ya for the money and under the right conditions they do work great
i now use a minelab explorer se pro

In the days pre mortage and kid,I had all the top end machines.I got back into the hobby three years ago, with a used radioshack 2000/ bounty hunter. I was very suprised at how well this machine worked,it did even better with the 4" coil. I dug enough clad and gold rings in two years, to pay for my used fisher cz. I worked a great spot with a friend who was using a minelab explorer,my $50 BH kept right up with him! That  BH now resides in the trunk of my car,ready to be used at a moments notice. It may get used more than my cz,just for the fact that it weighs next to nothing.My six year old son has a bounty hunter junior,and loves to dig with his dad. My favorite quote from lost treasure magazine is:The secret is to go as often as you can, and enjoy every moment without worrying thet you are missing something or not hunting deep enough. most all detectors will find the good items within the 3 to 5 inch range,where the vast majority lie. The real difference is not in the machine,but the user.Learn to slow down,overlap your sweeps,and dig enough of those "junk midrange" signals to let the gold show itself.Those three things will bring you finds just as good as or better than that thousand dollar machine! Happy hunting.

Just go on the wal mart website and look at what they sell on there now.
I think your in for a surprise.