Bounty Hunter Tracker IV
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV Settings Chart: Two Knobs and No Numbers
Quick answer
The Bounty Hunter Tracker IV is an analog machine with no screen and no numeric target ID. You get three modes, a sensitivity knob and a discrimination knob. Set discrimination just high enough to silence small nails, sensitivity as high as the ground allows without chatter, and judge targets entirely by tone.
Every target ID chart on this site is useless on a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV, and it is worth saying that plainly before anything else. This machine has no display, no numbers and no target categories. Bounty Hunter publishes three search modes, All Metal, Tone and Discrimination, plus adjustable sensitivity and discrimination controls, an eight inch waterproof coil and a weight of around 2.6 pounds.
That is the entire machine, and the absence of a screen is the point rather than a fault. What follows is how to set the two knobs that do exist, and how to read a target when the only information you get is sound.
Top pick
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV
The Tracker IV is an analog two-knob machine with an eight inch waterproof coil and up to 25 hours of runtime, which makes it the cheapest honest way to find out whether you enjoy the hobby.
Price was accurate when this page was compiled and changes often.
Why does the Tracker IV have no target ID number?
Because it is an analog detector. A numeric target ID requires a processor that measures the phase shift of the returned signal and converts it to a number on a scale, and that hardware is what separates a machine with a screen from a machine without one. The Tracker IV has no screen to put a number on, and Bounty Hunter does not publish an ID scale for it, because there is not one.
What it has instead is discrimination, which works by simply refusing to respond to targets below a threshold you set with a knob, and a Tone mode that changes the pitch of the response according to conductivity. Those two things carry genuinely useful information. They just carry it as sound rather than as a number, and they carry less of it.
Anyone publishing a Tracker IV target ID chart with numbers in it has invented those numbers. There is nothing on this machine for them to correspond to.
What does each mode and knob position do?
Three modes and two knobs. This table is more or less the whole operating manual, expressed as decisions rather than as controls.
On a Tracker IV, discrimination set just past the point where small nails go silent is the single most useful position on the machine, because everything above it stays audible.
| Control position | What it does | Use it when | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| All Metal mode | Responds to every metal target | Relic hunting, and any site you have not learned yet | You dig every nail on the site |
| Tone mode | Pitch varies with target conductivity | Learning what the machine sounds like | Nothing. This is where most people should start |
| Discrimination mode | Silences targets below the knob setting | Trashy parks and iron-heavy ground | Every good target sitting below the threshold |
| Discrimination fully down | Nothing rejected | Maximum finds, maximum digging | Time, and a great deal of it |
| Discrimination just past nails | Small iron silent, rest audible | General use. The default worth keeping | Very little. The usual setting |
| Discrimination at mid | Foil and small gold rejected too | Coin hunting in heavy foil | Gold jewellery entirely |
| Discrimination high | Only strong conductors respond | Almost never | Most of what is in the ground |
| Sensitivity high | Weak and deep signals reported | Quiet ground, no interference | Chatter and false signals |
| Sensitivity low | Only strong returns reported | Wet sand, power lines, mineralised soil | Depth |
Bounty Hunter publishes All Metal, Tone and Discrimination modes plus adjustable sensitivity and discrimination for the Tracker IV. The consequences described are the direct behaviour of those controls.
How do you judge a target by tone alone?
Without a number, four properties of the sound carry the information. Learning them takes a fortnight and pays for the rest of your time with the machine.
On an analog machine, repeatability from two sweep directions is a stronger indicator of a good target than pitch is, because iron falses from one angle and rarely from both.
| What you hear | Most likely meaning | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Low, broken, raspy | Iron | Cross-sweep to confirm, then leave it |
| High and clean, repeats both ways | Good conductor, coin sized | Dig it |
| High from one angle, gone from the other | Flat or wrapped iron | Leave it. This is the classic false signal |
| Mid pitch, short and sweet | Small non-ferrous. Foil, tab or gold | Dig it on a jewellery site, skip in a foil-strewn park |
| Wide signal, sounds large | Big object, possibly buried junk | Check the footprint before committing |
| Faint but repeatable | Deep or small target | Dig. Repeatability matters more than volume |
| Loud, erratic, unrepeatable | Interference or a bottle cap | Re-sweep. If it will not repeat, move on |
General analog VLF behaviour. The Tracker IV has no display, so these audio cues are the entirety of the information the machine provides about a target.
When should you move on from a Tracker IV?
When digging every mid-tone stops being acceptable. That is the honest threshold. The Tracker IV finds targets perfectly well, and an eight inch waterproof coil on a 2.6 pound machine with up to 25 hours of runtime is a genuinely serviceable combination. What it cannot do is tell you what a target is before you open the ground, and on a trashy park that turns an afternoon into a great deal of kneeling.
The natural step up in the same brand is the Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro, which Bounty Hunter publishes with 99 points of target ID resolution, four-tone target ID, seven modes, computerised Ground Grab balancing and an eleven inch waterproof DD coil. That is the machine where charts start to mean something. The Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro adds V-Break and adjustable iron audio on the same coil. Outside the brand, the Fisher F22 and the Teknetics Delta 4000 both give you a real numeric ID at modest money.
Whichever direction you go, a pinpointer changes recovery time more than a new detector does, and the Garrett Pro-Pointer AT or the cheaper Quest Xpointer Max will save you more digging than any upgrade. For the machines with numbers, see the Land Ranger Pro chart, the Time Ranger Pro chart and the budget ID comparison. A first kit list sits under beginner setups.
Sources
- Bounty Hunter Tracker IV owner’s manual, mode switch, discrimination and sensitivity controls
- Bounty Hunter Tracker IV published specification, coil size, weight and runtime
- Bounty Hunter Land Ranger Pro published specification, 99 points of target ID resolution
Frequently asked questions
What is the target ID number range on a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV?
There is not one. The Tracker IV is an analog detector with no display, so it produces no target ID number at all. Bounty Hunter publishes three modes and two adjustable controls for it, and nothing resembling a numeric scale. Any chart you find that assigns numbers to targets on a Tracker IV was invented, because the machine has nothing for those numbers to correspond to.
Where should I set the discrimination knob?
Just past the point where small nails go silent, and no further. Test it directly: put a nail on the ground, sweep it, and turn the knob up until the response disappears. Everything above that setting stays audible, which is what you want. Turning it higher starts rejecting foil, small gold and a lot of worthwhile relics, and you never hear what you rejected.
Can the Tracker IV be used in water?
The coil can. Bounty Hunter publishes an eight inch waterproof coil suitable for parks, beaches and shallow water, including wet sand and soil. The control box is not waterproof, so the machine handles wading at the water line rather than submersion. On wet salt sand expect to run sensitivity well down, because salt raises the noise floor on any single-frequency machine.
How long does a Tracker IV run on batteries?
Bounty Hunter publishes up to 25 hours of runtime for the Tracker IV, which is generous and is one of the genuine advantages of a simple analog circuit with no screen or backlight to feed. As with any battery machine, behaviour changes as cells weaken before they fail outright, so a spare set in the pouch is worth carrying.
Is the Tracker IV worth buying as a first detector?
As a way to find out whether you enjoy the hobby, yes. It is cheap, light at around 2.6 pounds, has a waterproof coil and ships with a digger and pouch. What it will not do is tell you what is under the coil before you dig, so on trashy ground you will spend most of your time recovering junk. If you already know you are committed, a machine with a numeric ID is better value.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published specifications, manuals and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Target ID numbers, depth figures and settings vary with soil chemistry, moisture, target size, depth, orientation and firmware version, so treat every figure here as a starting point and verify it against your own machine's manual and your own ground. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.