Pick a good machine and then use it, get a lot of hours on it. I think one big advantage is just getting to a point that what the machine is doing becomes second nature, especially with the more difficult to find targets ( masking etc) The easy to find targets are just that easy to find and about any machine can do it. It's when you really learn your machine, its nuances etc that makes finding the difficult targets a bit easier.

Search everywhere, and by that, I mean under the sagebrush, depression holes, if you can get a coil over it then search it. This last outing in Wells I snagged a nice Tobar Trade token and a seated dime, a SPRR lock and a V nickle etc. The one thing they had in common, they all came out from under a clump of sagebrush.

And ya Patience. Back in the days when I had less patience needed to cover the ground etc, I have been going back through those same areas that I claimed to have covered. This time with a bit more "patience" slowed way down, better coverage. I have had quite a few moments these last few years asking myself, " how the hell did I miss this?".

And even when ya do it everything right................sometimes ya just need a bit of luck to go with it

Fors CoRe & Relic
Racer & Racer 2
Whites MXT Pro & M6