Monkworks
Jr. Member
This post was written for the newer Detectorist, but even experienced Detectorists might get something out of it...
Researching to discover new places to hunt can be difficult depending on where you live and the laws in your land...I live in Ontario so i can offer the perspective from here.
I personally have never asked for permission to hunt on anyone's property (yet) because i focus on public locations.
I know if someone asked me to hunt on my land I would say no, for a lot of reasons, one of which; I just don't want anyone finding stuff on my property.I think I share this feeling with all other land owners. Sure if you ask ten landowners for permission, you should get one permission at lest. I personal don't have time for that. So whats left to hunt? Its public places that are not restrictive to metal Detectorists.
What are you after?
You need to define what you would like to find with your detector first. Silver? Gold? Old coinage? Rings and Jewelry? All of the above? Is important to understand who would have had these items and what time period the item existed in. Is also important to understand what coins are made out of now and what they were made out of in the past. Coin composition has changed over the last 100 years and you should take some time to know all about that. For example Canadian coinage stopped making coins out of silver in 1969... If you are Canadian and you hunting a park created in 1970 you would not find silver...
Places that are legal in my area to hunt are Parks, Conservation areas, Schools, Community centers, Crownland.
Parks, Sports fields
Parks are my main hunting locations. I have many Parks around me but not all are old enough to hunt at. You could still find coinage in the newer parks but it's all 70s and up... Not worth my time.
Parks that are 100 years old qualify as worthy of time spent metal detecting. However, 100 years old parks are not that common and worst is that some 100 year old parks have been (graded or landscaped), with up to a foot of topsoil there is no chance of discovering any 100 year old coins. So the requirement is now specific to 100 year old parks that have never been landscaped or graded. Finding said parks can be dawning at best. Research must be done on a Park you feel could be old enough and untouched in terms of landscape, to find out what the history was. Who visited this place in the 1800s and why?
Conservation areas, Crownland
Conservation areas tend to be overgrown in my area. Few parts of a Conservation areas have cut grass limiting the range you can hunt. These places are usually forests with rivers, used for hiking or trail walking. Because of the type of conditions Conservation areas can be very hard to hunt and might only be accessible in the fall, or after winter to avoid High grass and brush. You will also need to contend with wildlife or getting lost...These places usually hold some historical past that is worth investigating. For example I am researching a Conservation area that used to be an old 1800 steam train station in the 1800s, but now 100 years later overgrown with bush. But luckily it was also used in the 50 for camping and they continue to cut the grass around that part of the Conservation area...So its full of silver and could have 1800s coins. Crown Land is similar to Conservation areas but there is usually no cut grass at all and thinker bush for sure again only really doable in the spring and fall.
Schools, Community centers
When researching schools it's important to discover the age of the school and how many times it's been rebuilt over time. Generally when a school is rebuild they would grade the property with modern engineering techniques. That means a foot or more of grading has been spread around the property, usually for insurance purposes (flooding). Its important to understand what type of ground you're dealing with so as to not waste your time... For me if the place has been grade I don't bother...
Test for Grading
It might be worth your time to look up some engineering technical guides on property grading code used in your area to understand exactly what they do to the property. This will help you understand why it's so damaging to your attempt to find the old stuff...I recommend you test your location by digging down about a foot and a half to see if the wall of your hole has any sand or (grading) meeting the topsoil. This will tell you what your dealing with right away.
More on grading-
I have hunted locations that have been graded in the 70s and I still discovered 1800s coinage, but i was lucky to find parts of the property that had not been graded... Look for the lowest areas of the ground that may have been missed for whatever reason...even washed away land...
Tools for researching locations
Number one tool is Google Earth if you're not using that you would be missing areas. Libraries can also provide good maps, but it's far more time effective to just seach google. I also search google for B&W photographs from my area in the 1800s time period and try to reverse engineer back to where that location is now, jump into Google Earth to see where that is located, Looking to find out if it's near a park now or somewhere i can reach.
Probability
Use probability to determine if an area could be worth a hunt. Note the population around the area in the 1800s time period. Find out why patrons would visit this place to uncover where good spots within your location could be. Maybe it was a known picnic area, or a horse and buggy race track...all good locations for coins to drop. How much money where the people who lived in the area making, where they laborers, or gentry? was there a train track near by? or a dock or pier? this could provide a route that some people may have taken through your location in that time period. understand what kind of probability the location should have is a healthy thing to consider... Time is money...
When to research
An old timer told me “ It’s 80% research 20% detecting.” You should not just jump in your car and head out without a solid plan. You should take time the night before and work on researching to find a good location and then also find a backup just in case... never squander your time, your better off staying home and finding good spots than just blindly heading out. Winter is great time to search for locations and I always under estimate how many areas i should have ready to go for summer.
Word of Mouth
I like to check forums where older folks are posting about where they grew-up. They will always point out locations you should be hunting... some of my recent good hints that I found on a forum was an old guy talking about a river that had a rope swing set up in the 50s, near a river. another was a toboggan hill used in 40s...
The walk-up and talkers
People will always come up and talk to me. Some of my buddies really don't like talking to anyone about what they're doing. But these folks could in fact tell you something useful.. always view someone coming to talk to you while metal detecting as an opportunity to get insider info about your location.. recently an old lady approached me and asked me what I was looking for. long story short she lead me right to the best part of the park and found what I was looking for, I probably would have missed it if she hadn't pointed it out to me...
I invite everyone to add some more info about how to Research or how your find your hunting grounds.
Researching to discover new places to hunt can be difficult depending on where you live and the laws in your land...I live in Ontario so i can offer the perspective from here.
I personally have never asked for permission to hunt on anyone's property (yet) because i focus on public locations.
I know if someone asked me to hunt on my land I would say no, for a lot of reasons, one of which; I just don't want anyone finding stuff on my property.I think I share this feeling with all other land owners. Sure if you ask ten landowners for permission, you should get one permission at lest. I personal don't have time for that. So whats left to hunt? Its public places that are not restrictive to metal Detectorists.
What are you after?
You need to define what you would like to find with your detector first. Silver? Gold? Old coinage? Rings and Jewelry? All of the above? Is important to understand who would have had these items and what time period the item existed in. Is also important to understand what coins are made out of now and what they were made out of in the past. Coin composition has changed over the last 100 years and you should take some time to know all about that. For example Canadian coinage stopped making coins out of silver in 1969... If you are Canadian and you hunting a park created in 1970 you would not find silver...
Places that are legal in my area to hunt are Parks, Conservation areas, Schools, Community centers, Crownland.
Parks, Sports fields
Parks are my main hunting locations. I have many Parks around me but not all are old enough to hunt at. You could still find coinage in the newer parks but it's all 70s and up... Not worth my time.
Parks that are 100 years old qualify as worthy of time spent metal detecting. However, 100 years old parks are not that common and worst is that some 100 year old parks have been (graded or landscaped), with up to a foot of topsoil there is no chance of discovering any 100 year old coins. So the requirement is now specific to 100 year old parks that have never been landscaped or graded. Finding said parks can be dawning at best. Research must be done on a Park you feel could be old enough and untouched in terms of landscape, to find out what the history was. Who visited this place in the 1800s and why?
Conservation areas, Crownland
Conservation areas tend to be overgrown in my area. Few parts of a Conservation areas have cut grass limiting the range you can hunt. These places are usually forests with rivers, used for hiking or trail walking. Because of the type of conditions Conservation areas can be very hard to hunt and might only be accessible in the fall, or after winter to avoid High grass and brush. You will also need to contend with wildlife or getting lost...These places usually hold some historical past that is worth investigating. For example I am researching a Conservation area that used to be an old 1800 steam train station in the 1800s, but now 100 years later overgrown with bush. But luckily it was also used in the 50 for camping and they continue to cut the grass around that part of the Conservation area...So its full of silver and could have 1800s coins. Crown Land is similar to Conservation areas but there is usually no cut grass at all and thinker bush for sure again only really doable in the spring and fall.
Schools, Community centers
When researching schools it's important to discover the age of the school and how many times it's been rebuilt over time. Generally when a school is rebuild they would grade the property with modern engineering techniques. That means a foot or more of grading has been spread around the property, usually for insurance purposes (flooding). Its important to understand what type of ground you're dealing with so as to not waste your time... For me if the place has been grade I don't bother...
Test for Grading
It might be worth your time to look up some engineering technical guides on property grading code used in your area to understand exactly what they do to the property. This will help you understand why it's so damaging to your attempt to find the old stuff...I recommend you test your location by digging down about a foot and a half to see if the wall of your hole has any sand or (grading) meeting the topsoil. This will tell you what your dealing with right away.
More on grading-
I have hunted locations that have been graded in the 70s and I still discovered 1800s coinage, but i was lucky to find parts of the property that had not been graded... Look for the lowest areas of the ground that may have been missed for whatever reason...even washed away land...
Tools for researching locations
Number one tool is Google Earth if you're not using that you would be missing areas. Libraries can also provide good maps, but it's far more time effective to just seach google. I also search google for B&W photographs from my area in the 1800s time period and try to reverse engineer back to where that location is now, jump into Google Earth to see where that is located, Looking to find out if it's near a park now or somewhere i can reach.
Probability
Use probability to determine if an area could be worth a hunt. Note the population around the area in the 1800s time period. Find out why patrons would visit this place to uncover where good spots within your location could be. Maybe it was a known picnic area, or a horse and buggy race track...all good locations for coins to drop. How much money where the people who lived in the area making, where they laborers, or gentry? was there a train track near by? or a dock or pier? this could provide a route that some people may have taken through your location in that time period. understand what kind of probability the location should have is a healthy thing to consider... Time is money...
When to research
An old timer told me “ It’s 80% research 20% detecting.” You should not just jump in your car and head out without a solid plan. You should take time the night before and work on researching to find a good location and then also find a backup just in case... never squander your time, your better off staying home and finding good spots than just blindly heading out. Winter is great time to search for locations and I always under estimate how many areas i should have ready to go for summer.
Word of Mouth
I like to check forums where older folks are posting about where they grew-up. They will always point out locations you should be hunting... some of my recent good hints that I found on a forum was an old guy talking about a river that had a rope swing set up in the 50s, near a river. another was a toboggan hill used in 40s...
The walk-up and talkers
People will always come up and talk to me. Some of my buddies really don't like talking to anyone about what they're doing. But these folks could in fact tell you something useful.. always view someone coming to talk to you while metal detecting as an opportunity to get insider info about your location.. recently an old lady approached me and asked me what I was looking for. long story short she lead me right to the best part of the park and found what I was looking for, I probably would have missed it if she hadn't pointed it out to me...
I invite everyone to add some more info about how to Research or how your find your hunting grounds.
Amazon Forum Fav đź‘Ť
Last edited:
