Bounty Hunter Sharp Shooter II
John Castle
Bounty Hunter. Sounds like a person, doesn’t it? In fact it was, at one time, guys who hunted down outlaws for the rewards on their heads - dead or alive! But our Bounty Hunter, even though it does find the ‘dead’ past and brings it ‘alive’, is rather different, being a range of sophisticated electronic metal detectors which have earned themselves an enviable reputation for good, versatile performance at low cost during the many years they have been in existence.
The specific Bounty Hunter in question this time is their latest offering: the Sharp Shooter II. It replaces the now defunct Land Star from which it derives all of the latter’s features plus a much simplified ground balancing system and is fifty quid cheaper to boot!
Those features make impressive reading. They are: three-tone discrimination, meter discrimination, variable reject discrimination, all-metal ground balance, two notch systems (variable and auto, both with automatic iron reject), mode indicator, low battery alert, and the ability to deal effectively with wet sea sand as well as dry and inland, and all from just two PP3 batteries!
The Sharp Shooter II is a motion detector of course, at least whilst in any discrimination mode. All-metal is non-motion for precise pinpointing and those who prefer to search in this mode. The ovoid ABS plastic control box, now synonymous with Bounty Hunter, is retained as is the all-black basic colour. Nomenclature, etc. is yellow, white, orange, turquoise and blue. Very pretty! The two-piece cranked metal shaft bears a padded arm-rest/stand and can be easily adjusted or dismantled via a spring button. Likewise the control box: just remove two bolts to detach it from the shaft.
Standard coil is an 8 inch spider with a 10 inch spider and 4 inch solid available as options.
Handbook
The Handbook is of medium format and is comprehensive enough with plenty of diagrams to assist the user. It says there is no discrimination in the all-metal mode, but this isn’t quite true. What they mean is that the three-tone system becomes a single tone for all targets and the discrimination control has no effect. However, the meter still functions as normal so there is discrimination, albeit meter only, in the all-metal mode! The handbook does specify this later on, but a beginner could be slightly confused.
Controls
The Controls consist of two rotary and five tactile push-button switches as follows:
POWER switches the unit on and off and doubles as a sensitivity control. Always set as high as the ground allows for maximum depths, but don’t be reluctant to reduce it on very bad ground. When switched on, three tones will be heard, arrows will fill both meters momentarily and the red low battery alert will blink, thus showing all is well.
DISC/NOTCH is the variable discriminator incorporating automatic rejection of some iron.
ALL METAL is a tactile button linked to GROUND TRAC. It is this mode that is engaged when the unit is first switched on and pressing this button will return to it if another mode is selected.
DISC is the second button and pressing it causes the three-tone system to come into play and DISC/NOTCH to function as a normal reject discriminator with iron reject operating even when at minimum.
NOTCH works in a similar fashion to DISC except that the reject section is a ‘window’, thus allowing targets which read below, as well as above, to be accepted. Useful for rejecting ring-pulls without also losing 5ps and 20ps plus other finds. But use with care because some finds may be lost in the notch with the ring-pulls.
AUTO NOTCH is the same again, but the position and the width of the ‘window’ are factory set. This is calibrated for American coins, so of limited use here.
GROUND TRAC is the new simplified ground balance. It functions in the all-metal mode only. If you want to search in this mode, press ALL METAL, hold the coil at your operating height or slightly lower, press the GROUND TRAC button and the ground balance is set for that site. Repeat the procedure from time to time to optimise performance as ground conditions often change.
The TARGET ID METER is of the liquid crystal display type and has junk items and American coins marked above it (you soon learn to transpose US to UK coinage). A small arrow will point to one of these when a target is accepted and, if in a disc or notch mode, one of three tones will be heard... the higher the tone, the more conductive the target being detected.
Normally, when one is dealing with tone discriminators, low tone means iron. This isn’t necessarily so with the Sharp Shooter II. If you are in the disc mode and have the control turned to minimum, a low tone will cause the meter to read iron/foil or 5c. If the former ignore it, if the latter dig, because 5ps and other small finds read here. You can turn DISC up a bit of course so that no tone is heard on iron/foil items. On ploughed field type sites it may be better to leave DISC at minimum and dig everything: remember some iron is rejected automatically.
MODE INDICATOR is another, smaller LCD meter in which an arrow indicates which mode is in use: a visual reminder as to which button you pressed!
Batteries are two PP3s. Only alkalines should be used. A standard quarter inch jack socket allows headphones to be used. You should always do so for enhanced battery life and better hearing of faint targets.
Sharp Shooter II On Site
To the beach first (a natural enough place to go as my wife, Maureen, and I were on holiday at the time!). We went to the same beach every day as there was a pub and cafe at one end and very convenient car parks at both. This beach was supposed to be sand and shingle, but the sand was so coarse that gravel and shingle might have been a better description. The tide was half-way in or out (depending on the time of day we got there) so I was able to search both wet and dry parts.
I used the 10 inch coil here, the extra ground coverage was most welcome and Bounty Hunter coils are light so there was no appreciable weight increase in the unit. The sea had left the usual bank of shingle with sand below, so I searched this first. It was still fairly wet, but the Sharp Shooter II coped very well as I expected it to based on my experiences testing other Bounty Hunter detectors. I got coins from the sand, dragged from the shingle bank by the retreating sea and dropped there. Whenever you see a bank like this, always check the other, landward, side. If there is a pronounced ‘trough’ behind - and especially if the trough is sandy - search it. The sea often throws coins and other things into the trough from whence it cannot pull them out again until it destroys the bank, which it will in time - only to build another one.
This technique got me more than a few decimal coins. This might seem mundane to some, but I don’t mind this kind of hunting. Sea, fresh air, detecting and a good dinner in the evening - my kind of holiday!
On the wettest sand, where junk levels are low, I was able to search effectively in all-metal by using the GROUND TRAC button to balance out the salt.
As we were out of season, the beach was very quiet which suits us. The second day produced a gold wedding ring from just below the shingle bank, which made a welcome change from the decimal coins.
The day before we left found us making our last search of the beach. A vast area, we hadn’t covered more than a fraction of it during the week. Maureen didn’t detect this day and I decided to try as near the water’s edge as I could. Maureen stayed clear and yelled each time a big wave rolled up the beach. Just the odd coin now and then, and I began to think about dinner. Then WHOOF! and sea water dumped itself on me making me gasp as it plastered my hair and ran down my neck. I looked up to see Maureen and a lady walking her dog doubled over with laughter.
Thoroughly wet and cold I decided to work back to the car, still searching near the water’s edge and keeping a wary eye on the fickle sea. This got me my second gold ring, an openwork lattice pattern this time. That was it for me and we hurried back to the car, our chalet, a shower, dinner and all the while me smirking over my gold ring and Maureen giggling over my soaking!
Inland, and back home, I used the 8 inch coil mostly. One parkland site did allow the 10 inch as junk levels were low and it would be an excellent choice on ploughed field sites where the ground isn’t too bad.
I like all-metal modes so I used this where site conditions allowed. Hearing prolific junk gets tiring very quickly so I didn’t use it on sites with that problem. I didn’t have to keep switching back to discrim to check targets out because I had the meter to rely on, and it is reliable, giving a positive lock-on nearly all the time, with just the odd patch of rust or highly mineralised ground causing it to jump about. Ground reject was very good, as was rejection, or at least identification, of iron and I once again culled the usual crop of ancient finds from farmland and more modern ones from recreational areas. Notable finds were a battered looped button with “Gaumont” on it, a nice lead token and a very worn and bent sixpence - a love token? Best find was a fob seal with a clear stone bearing the effigy of a head on it.
Using the Sharp Shooter II in these different ways demonstrated its versatility and adaptability to the various types of techniques different people prefer.
Modern motion detectors are capable of good depths and sensitivity to small finds in highly mineralised ground. It gets a bit boring to keep restating this, but it’s inevitable when one has carried out a number of field tests. The Sharp Shooter II was no different and thus revealed itself as a very strong contender in the low to medium price range of motion detectors on offer these days. More and more manufacturers seem to be gearing at least some of their products to work well anywhere, versatility seeming to be the watchword: a good trend I think as you never know where this hobby will take you. You may, for example, hate beach searching, but suppose your wife wants to have a go while on holiday? You won’t go wrong with the Sharp Shooter II.
Summary
The Bounty Hunter Sharp Shooter II offers a wide range of operating modes and versatility without being awkward or complicated to use. It is light-weight and the ID meter and three-tone audio system are positive and thus effective. An awful lot of detector for just £349 including tax. If £350 is your limit you can do no better than the Sharp Shooter II.
The Bounty Hunter Sharp Shooter II is available from Joan Allen Electronics Ltd, 190 Main Road, Biggin Hill, Kent TN16 3BB, UK. Telephone: +44 (0)1959 571255, Fax: +44 (0)1959 576014, E-mail: sales@joanallen.co.uk.
