Map Dowsing

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,876
3,525
Midwest USA
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
As a rule, the strongest signals show up in a smaller size state map. The strong signals crowd out the weaker ones. Go to a larger state map, you find more things. The county maps and then Google close ups that show all the roads will bring out more targets. If you are hunting something big such as an unknown cache, start small like a tiny state map. But if you know the location of a cache, get close up photos or a detailed map of the suspected area.

1. Hold pendulum over a map
2. Ask a question.
3. Move the pendulum to different areas of the map
4. Watch for pendulum swings or movement
 

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,876
3,525
Midwest USA
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You're welcome Piddler. If you really want to see that pendulum start moving, try it where all those shipwrecks are along Southeast coast of Florida. My pendulum just goes crazy over that area spinning in circles... ???
 

y Rod

Tenderfoot
Sep 23, 2007
6
0
Raleigh, NC
Detector(s) used
Fisher & MineLab Units
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Piddler

You might consider a book by Leroy Bull called The Art and Craft of Map Dowsing....
Leroy also teaches map dowsing, his techniques are very effective....
The book can be purchased on line through the ASD bookstore....
I find map dowsing very accurate to location and target ID....
Good luck ....
"Y"-ROD
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
I will not leave the house until I have map dowsed the place that I want to search. I know if my dowsing tells me there is gold there it will by there. When I map dowse instead of searching a 100,000 acres I have cut it down to less than ½ of a section. I also know where to park my car for the easiest access…Art
 

teleprospector

Silver Member
Jul 8, 2007
3,813
4,140
The Motor City
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
25
Detector(s) used
Extended Sensory Perception, L-rod, Y-rod, pendulum, angle rods, wand.
White's MXT, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, AT Gold, SCUBA Detector Pro Headhunter, Tesoro Sidewinder, Stingray, 2 box-TF900, Fisher TW-6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi Piddler,
How are things going for you with the photo/map dowsing?
Jon
 

OP
OP
piddler

piddler

Greenie
Mar 20, 2008
16
2
Central Virginia
Detector(s) used
Garrett
I haven't had much timer lately to really give it a go, but I have dowsed a photo (8x10) of an old homeplace with just the chimneys standing and got a good reading at one of the chimneys. Can't wait to check it out.
 

teleprospector

Silver Member
Jul 8, 2007
3,813
4,140
The Motor City
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
25
Detector(s) used
Extended Sensory Perception, L-rod, Y-rod, pendulum, angle rods, wand.
White's MXT, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, AT Gold, SCUBA Detector Pro Headhunter, Tesoro Sidewinder, Stingray, 2 box-TF900, Fisher TW-6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great to hear of your success!
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
Hey Ladies and gentlemen. …When I map dowse I am usually using a printer version of a map from Google Earth or some other mapping program. When I have all the information marked I have every thing but….The position of the find…Now I can go to a computer mapping program and get my position fix…..Now I could spend a lot of time getting the position exactly right but I don’t. Trying to match the map and what is on my screen is a waste of time….You know..Zoom..up down and sidewise…I mark the spot on the screen as close as I can.
If you use these programs as much as I do you will find errors in the position part of the programs or differences when moving from one program to another. I have two GPS’s and they give me different readings. My test show that there is about 30 feet difference in the two readings. Which one is wrong? Makes no difference to me because I am going to use the one whose features best suit the job I am doing on the trip. One has easier access to the “way point markers” and I like the “go to maps” better on the other one.
Like I have always said…I will use any and all tools to locate treasure….Art
 

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,876
3,525
Midwest USA
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Yeah, if you dowse a Google Earth map, zoom in from there about half way...then print and dowse that, then zoom in as much as possible to map dowse a 3rd time...you get closer, it does show the 1st, 2nd dowsing was off some from before zooming in all the way and as much of a distance, like GPS units can be off.

I just got my first GPS unit and it has 1/10 of a second. Yet it gets closer one time and drifts farther away minutes later. Maybe the GPS signals drift a little?
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
Hey Red_desert…….After I map dowse for a site I use mostly Google Earth to locate roads or trails in the area. Most of them are those little no name type roads. I can take GPS readings off the map to get me there. I can also determine if I need two wheel drive . four wheel drive or my trail bike to get to the location. When needed I can also program a “go to” and follow it. With the tilt function on Google earth I can determine the easiest way into the area….I also use TerraClient and Delorme topo but the google earth is my preference….Art
 

Red_desert

Gold Member
Feb 21, 2008
6,876
3,525
Midwest USA
Detector(s) used
Garrett Ace 250/GTA 1,000; Fisher Gold Bug-2; Gemini-3; Unique Design L-Rods
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I've used Search TerraServer which has topos and aerial photos.
http://terraserver-usa.com/address.aspx

And just plain Google highway maps which are easy to make marks on. Google Earth has what look like aerial photos of a park I'm dowsing near me. You can actually see parked cars, get right down to the tree tops, even see people walking around. I've seen posts here at TNet recently that say Google Earth isn't what it used to be...maybe it depends on what map sources are available (or no longer available).

I thought the GPS would be great for marking places out away from visible landmarks. If you put coordinates into Google Earth, dowse around that site...what does it matter if you can't see anything up close in the map. Add a distance scale from the menu...grid lines, it will get you close enough.
 

Digum

Jr. Member
Jul 24, 2008
61
0
Red_desert said:
http://terraserver-usa.com/address.aspxIf you put coordinates into Google Earth, dowse around that site...what does it matter if you can't see anything up close in the map. Add a distance scale from the menu...grid lines, it will get you close enough.

Once you've done your map dowsing and reduced the search area, what do you consider an area that would be "close enough"? Are you talking feet, yards, quarter miles, miles? And once you get to that area, do you use only dowsing equipment, or do you also use some other type of equipment such as a metal detector to narrow down the search?
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
Gee…..I don’t know what close is. I have always considered a ½ mile as close enough. This summer I was looking for a closed cave entrance. History told me it was NW of a certain mountain. It was not there so I expanded my map to 100 sq miles. When I found it the coord I used was 0.008 miles from it. Like I have always said…I will use any and all tools to locate treasure….Art
 

Digum

Jr. Member
Jul 24, 2008
61
0
I heard about a silver mine that everyone said didn't exist. I narrowed the search area down to 100 sq miles. 10 x 10. Close mattered because it was a small farm populated area with a town right in the middle. I found it. Had it been on the neighbors farm 1/2 mile away I wouldn't have, because he didn't allow anyone on his farm. -- I searched for a long lost village and with a small fort. That search area was 200 sq miles. 20 x 10. It was much larger farms. I had a much larger search area on each farm. -- I found a Civil War training camp that was supposedly under water and gone forever, but it wasn't. It's still there. -- I searched these by talking to area people, knocking on doors,driving driving driving, and listening to older folks. If you want to find the good stuff set down and put in some time with old folks, they remember things I've never heard of. And they're interesting. All three of these finds were large areas for the type area I live in. Populated. I guess they were close enough since I found all three, but I'd sure like to narrow that search area down some. Especially with gas prices today. That's why I'm practicing and studying and listening to y'alls comments about map dowsing. If I could have left home believing my search area was within one mile, in any direction, of any of these sites, it sure would have made a huge difference.
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
Practice Practice Practice….Download maps of different cities or towns that you have not visited. Dowse for schools, parks, Rail Road Stations or what ever. When you are done you can zoom in and check your results. These maps are of the same spot but are different views…..
 

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Digum

Jr. Member
Jul 24, 2008
61
0
aarthrj3811 said:
These maps are of the same spot but are different views…..

Art I'm going to join one of the search sites. I haven't been sure which one to get, and I've heard several of you talk about Google Earth. Of course I want the site that is the best for treasure hunting in more populated areas. Small towns, small farms, rolling hills, lots of trees, no mountains. Are these pictures from Google Earth? Good clear pictures.
 

teleprospector

Silver Member
Jul 8, 2007
3,813
4,140
The Motor City
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
25
Detector(s) used
Extended Sensory Perception, L-rod, Y-rod, pendulum, angle rods, wand.
White's MXT, Garrett Ultra GTA 500, AT Gold, SCUBA Detector Pro Headhunter, Tesoro Sidewinder, Stingray, 2 box-TF900, Fisher TW-6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The top photograph says google.jpg
Google pics are very good, I prefer them for my work.
Red desert made a great point about pictures a while back and that was if you are zoomed out too far you will pass over the smaller caches due to the scale of the picture. Zooming gives you the flexibilty to pinpoint closer and find various sized caches rather than using a fixed scale picture.
There are many correct ways to map dowse. Check out my post titled Want to do map dowsing? in the general section of the Dowsing forum. It's what has worked for me and you can keep it simple at first, then advance to more techniques as your skills increase.
Jon
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
Hey Digum…..I have yet to find a mapping program that is perfect. Google Earth has great photos of some areas and some that are bad. I can put my address in it and the photo is all blurry but a ¼ mile away I can see every piece of Sage Brush. I also use TerraClient..Which is a little harder to use but sometimes has better photos. I also have the Dolorme Topo maps which I also like. Try Google Earth and TerraClient as they are priced just right “FREE”
TarraClient….http://billfriedrich.tripod.com
 

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