getting discouraged..

[Jenni_Lee]

Trash detector made me laugh. Oh so true.

YouTube is NOT good for the mind or spirit. People show you the slam dunks only, so you get the impression that slam dunks are the norm. They are not the norm!

Everyone digs lots of trash, especially, but not limited to: bottlecaps, pull rings, can slaw, nails and foil. You found a silver coin ('41 dime) on your first time out... that's killer. It took me about 4 months to find my first silver coin.

The real secret is to enjoy yourself, and your time outside detecting. I like the "finding" part too, but there is a lot more to it, than just finding. You have to learn to love the hunt, as much as the finds. It is a bit tough to do sometimes.

Another valuable lesson is: You can't find what is NOT there... location is key. You have to hunt places where treasure is located. I prefer the old house, or places where old houses used to be. The park and the school are (were) good, but most have been hunted relentlessly for decades, so they can be rather barren.

I am not getting lucky either, but every once in a while, I stumble across something good... AND, I have a lot of fun hunting.

Best of luck to you, and don't hesitate to reach out, if there is anything that I can do to assist.

yeah, that trash detector may be a bit more accurate of a name to my device. LOL
Thank you so much. I'm starting to realize just how much the shows on Youtube are giving a false sense of what it's really like. It's okay though, i won't give up. I quite enjoy just walking around and not being focused on work, home, life.... even for just an hour here or there.

That first dime caught me for a loop. It was such a good day!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

How to Research for Treasure Hunting and Metal Detecting From Lead Generation to Vetting - Grab it through Amazon!

[Jenni_Lee]

What kind of detector do you have? That can help on eliminating some trash.
I do dig a lot of trash but as I learned my detector I got better and improved. You will as well but it does take some time.
I say a lot of the YouTube videos are fake but more are probably real. Some of these people spend a lot of time doing research and hunting old sites or houses. I have been hunting with an AT PRO for a little over 1 year and I've found 1 gold pendant at a park but really worked for it. I silver pendant at the same park.
I've found about 12 silver coins and 100's of Wheat's. 0 Indians. I silver war token and lots of 1800's relics like civil war buttons.
There are treasures there but remember that in those videos they only show the good finds and rarely show the bad finds. Many dig a ton of junk just to fill 1 video and my go dawn till dusk for several day to have 1 20 minute video. Most will talk about the curse of live digs because they are tricked more often than not. This is like sports, you will fail a lot but when you don't fail and succeed....how sweet it is

Sent from my SPH-L720T using Tapatalk

I never really thought about how much filming over an entire day they must do to edit enough for one 20 minute show. You're absolutely right! Thanks so much for the encouragement. Just what i needed!

 

[DeepseekerADS]

Hi Jenni Lee,

I didn't read through all the words written in this thread.

The message I send you is to just relax. Just keep going out swinging.

Treasure comes. Don't expect it every day, every hunt, or even every once in a while. Just find peace while you're out there listening, exploring, hoping.

Don't believe all the dreamy stuff loaded on the media. Treasure hunting is a personal thing. You'll find and you'll accumulate things which delight you. Have faith in that, and don't stress or sweat those things you can't control. Just go swing somewhere else. Accept this as a lifetime pursuit and you will be delighted.

 

[Jenni_Lee]

Hi Jenni Lee,

I didn't read through all the words written in this thread.

The message I send you is to just relax. Just keep going out swinging.

Treasure comes. Don't expect it every day, every hunt, or even every once in a while. Just find peace while you're out there listening, exploring, hoping.

Don't believe all the dreamy stuff loaded on the media. Treasure hunting is a personal thing. You'll find and you'll accumulate things which delight you. Have faith in that, and don't stress or sweat those things you can't control. Just go swing somewhere else. Accept this as a lifetime pursuit and you will be delighted.

what great advice! i appreciate that. thank you

 

[3cylbill]

research......reasearch.....reasearch...you won't find it if it isn't there you will just find junk and get even more discouraged ...don't give up....you can do it...

 

[Jenni_Lee]

research......reasearch.....reasearch...you won't find it if it isn't there you will just find junk and get even more discouraged ...don't give up....you can do it...

Thank you. I have been researching the older schools and parks in the area. I've hit most of them. Unfortunately, I think everyone else with a MD has too. But that's ok... i'll find my spot.
Thanks again!

 

[chub]

Are you near the beach? You may want to consider a detector more suitable for the types of hunting you envisage. Sounds like you are more into coin shooting? From what I understand the AT pro is a good machine but there are alot of other machines out there that may just be more suitable for your needs.

All the best

Chub

 

[Jenni_Lee]

Are you near the beach? You may want to consider a detector more suitable for the types of hunting you envisage. Sounds like you are more into coin shooting? From what I understand the AT pro is a good machine but there are alot of other machines out there that may just be more suitable for your needs.

All the best

Chub

honestly, I have a little bucket list in my head of things i wish to collect someday.
- a skeleton key
- a ring
- an old button
- a coin from the 1800's
- enough change to continuously upgrade my detector :0

 

[4x4x4]

....Oh God that's funny ! Patients Grasshopper.... what you spy on YouTube has the miracle of editing !

 

[Kansas_Jayhawk]

Thank you. I have been researching the older schools and parks in the area. I've hit most of them. Unfortunately, I think everyone else with a MD has too. But that's ok... i'll find my spot.
Thanks again!

You are probably correct that others have tread before you. Sounds like you need to adjust your discrimination to where it ignores foil and other items. If you go too high you don't find nickels. Find someone who has your detector (online) who is experienced and pick their brain. They can give you insights related to your detector


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[digger27]

Thank you so much for the tips. My birthday is next month and I am going to treat myself to an AT PRO. I've been getting by with a cheap-0 in the mean time. I've probably got about 10-15 hours under my belt of solid detecting. I'm really new to this. I'm enjoying the time out in the field, but haven't found anything since the first day. But, as I can see, it's not all like YouTube makes it out to be. Thanks so much for all your wisdom and advice!

Well, one thing you haven't found in your short time in this hobby is patience...you need to work on that because it will make a big difference for you.

I also hunt mostly parks and a few schools, have from the start and still do to this day.

I started with a cheap detector too, it couldn't handle my soil well at all, falsing on every swing plus it was not working well in other ways.
It was cross eyed, something was wrong with the coil and it had no pinpoint function...every target that sounded off in the middle of the coil was actually two inches north and two inches to the left of where it should have been.
This was not any kind of tool to learn even the basics of this hobby with but I had no choice so I kept going and adapted the best I could.
It took me several hunts and way more than 15 hours to find my first coins, nothing but junk and trash before that, finally on one hunt in a tot lot I found a few and in the grass surrounding it.
Only 59¢ total but it was a start.
I used that horrible tool for three months and about a hundred hours and by my last hunt I found no jewelry or anything really good at all but I managed to learn to use that thing well enough despite the challenges to find $30 in clad...and it was a start.
I spent my tax refund money to buy a much better detector and I could find clad coins much easier but still no jewelry or older better coins...but it again was a start.
It took a couple of months after buying that much better tool to find my first rings but I finally found two in a school playground, both total junk but it was a start.
Much more time to find my first wheat cent and even longer to find my first silver coin and finally a silver ring...but it was a start.
Gold was an unthinkable find for me but after many, many months since my first day in this hobby I found a tiny 10k ring...and it was a start.

I started on February 12 2010 in this hobby and it has been a few years since then.
I never gave up, I never stopped learning any detector I had in my hands, even purchased a couple more that were both cheaper starter detectors and learned those too.
I also learned about reading sites, how people thought, where they hung out, how they behaved and the the best places for the best chances to find what they dropped.
I also studied target behavior and still do all of that to this day...with me in this hobby the learning, all learning, never ends.

Now it has been 6.5 years since the day I started and in those same parks and school sites you seem to have given up on I learned enough to have found probably close to $2000 in clad, dozens and dozens of silver rings, chains, religious medallions and more.
I have found 35 pieces of gold jewelry since then too, mostly rings and many with diamonds.
I have found old coins and relics that go back to the civil war and so much more I don't even have the time to tell you about it all.
BTW...if I told you how much of all that treasure I found with the two cheapest, simplest detectors I own you probably won't believe it but it was all because I took the time to learn each one...well.
All it took was conviction, a little luck, a lot of stubbornness and some knowledge....knowledge that took way more than 15 hours to gather.
Plus patience.

15 hours is nothing in this hobby, at first we learn at a glacial pace but it does tend to speed up as we put in the effort.
Experience after experience adds up over time and we learn, make less mistakes and get better.
It is a process, a process you are looking to circumvent without taking the time to do it...attitude wise, anyway.

Get your upgraded detector, I am sure it will help but it won't be magic.
After you do spend time learning it take it back to these same parks and schools you are so frustrated hunting now and you will be shocked at what you thought you knew at this point and how little you actually did know and wonder how you managed to miss so much.
After getting some needed knowledge put down that better detector and hit a few of these same sites with your cheap one...you will probably be shocked at what you will able to find.
What you know now you will laugh about as time goes on if you put in the time and effort to learn your craft, if you don't put in that effort you will end up being the type of hunter that will keep buying detectors believing your tools were always the problem and yet still never have the success you think you deserve or you will be chased out of the hobby totally due to your frustration.

15 hours is nothing, the tools we use are important but not as important as learning how to use them and a good attitude trumps all of it.
That and patience.

I hope you get your head on straighter soon, the new detector may help but as I said they are not magic, none of them are.
The magic is in you.

 

[trdking]

You found a silver dime on your first trip out! Dig all the trash you can find and it will hit again. In the meantime pack out all the trash. Look at what a great job you are doing for the environment! Chin up it goes in spurts

 

[DirtDigger01]

Wow.... very well said! Gives me hope as a new person to the hobby!


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Jenni_Lee]

Well, one thing you haven't found in your short time in this hobby is patience...you need to work on that because it will make a big difference for you.

I also hunt mostly parks and a few schools, have from the start and still do to this day.

I started with a cheap detector too, it couldn't handle my soil well at all, falsing on every swing plus it was not working well in other ways.
It was cross eyed, something was wrong with the coil and it had no pinpoint function...every target that sounded off in the middle of the coil was actually two inches north and two inches to the left of where it should have been.
This was not any kind of tool to learn even the basics of this hobby with but I had no choice so I kept going and adapted the best I could.
It took me several hunts and way more than 15 hours to find my first coins, nothing but junk and trash before that, finally on one hunt in a tot lot I found a few and in the grass surrounding it.
Only 59¢ total but it was a start.
I used that horrible tool for three months and about a hundred hours and by my last hunt I found no jewelry or anything really good at all but I managed to learn to use that thing well enough despite the challenges to find $30 in clad...and it was a start.
I spent my tax refund money to buy a much better detector and I could find clad coins much easier but still no jewelry or older better coins...but it again was a start.
It took a couple of months after buying that much better tool to find my first rings but I finally found two in a school playground, both total junk but it was a start.
Much more time to find my first wheat cent and even longer to find my first silver coin and finally a silver ring...but it was a start.
Gold was an unthinkable find for me but after many, many months since my first day in this hobby I found a tiny 10k ring...and it was a start.

I started on February 12 2010 in this hobby and it has been a few years since then.
I never gave up, I never stopped learning any detector I had in my hands, even purchased a couple more that were both cheaper starter detectors and learned those too.
I also learned about reading sites, how people thought, where they hung out, how they behaved and the the best places for the best chances to find what they dropped.
I also studied target behavior and still do all of that to this day...with me in this hobby the learning, all learning, never ends.

Now it has been 6.5 years since the day I started and in those same parks and school sites you seem to have given up on I learned enough to have found probably close to $2000 in clad, dozens and dozens of silver rings, chains, religious medallions and more.
I have found 35 pieces of gold jewelry since then too, mostly rings and many with diamonds.
I have found old coins and relics that go back to the civil war and so much more I don't even have the time to tell you about it all.
BTW...if I told you how much of all that treasure I found with the two cheapest, simplest detectors I own you probably won't believe it but it was all because I took the time to learn each one...well.
All it took was conviction, a little luck, a lot of stubbornness and some knowledge....knowledge that took way more than 15 hours to gather.
Plus patience.

15 hours is nothing in this hobby, at first we learn at a glacial pace but it does tend to speed up as we put in the effort.
Experience after experience adds up over time and we learn, make less mistakes and get better.
It is a process, a process you are looking to circumvent without taking the time to do it...attitude wise, anyway.

Get your upgraded detector, I am sure it will help but it won't be magic.
After you do spend time learning it take it back to these same parks and schools you are so frustrated hunting now and you will be shocked at what you thought you knew at this point and how little you actually did know and wonder how you managed to miss so much.
After getting some needed knowledge put down that better detector and hit a few of these same sites with your cheap one...you will probably be shocked at what you will able to find.
What you know now you will laugh about as time goes on if you put in the time and effort to learn your craft, if you don't put in that effort you will end up being the type of hunter that will keep buying detectors believing your tools were always the problem and yet still never have the success you think you deserve or you will be chased out of the hobby totally due to your frustration.

15 hours is nothing, the tools we use are important but not as important as learning how to use them and a good attitude trumps all of it.
That and patience.

I hope you get your head on straighter soon, the new detector may help but as I said they are not magic, none of them are.
The magic is in you.

Thank you for all the time you put into writing that. I appreciate all your words and i am letting it all sink in. I assumed this hobby would be easy... I was wrong. But i do believe the effort and time put into it will be very rewarding. honestly, I am enjoying the process of learning. I was just getting discouraged when I spent the evening watching Youtube and seeing hit after hit and thinking I was doing something wrong.

I can't wait to be a pro at this... but I am going to be patient and learn the process so that I can appreciate it that much more.

thanks again!

 

[Jenni_Lee]

You found a silver dime on your first trip out! Dig all the trash you can find and it will hit again. In the meantime pack out all the trash. Look at what a great job you are doing for the environment! Chin up it goes in spurts

yes! I tell myself that I'm doing a great job of cleaning up at least! I cannot believe how many rusty razors i've found in parks!!!

 

[Jenni_Lee]

Wow.... very well said! Gives me hope as a new person to the hobby!


Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk[/Q

Looks like we are both newbies!!!! We'll get there, with time and patience.

 

[Mzjavert]

Back when I was introduced to metal detecting, the internet, TreasureNet and YouTube did not exist. I had the advice of a co-worker who could find silver coins at a thousand yards, magazines and catalogs. In my first two years I went through 5 machines. One, the Tesoro Sidewinder became my go to machine. I found gold, silver, and many rings with that machine. Eventually I could pinpoint with in 3".
t
Sigh life circumstances put that machine in my past.

With an average GOOD machine it takes at least 100 hours to learn it. More for a high end machine.

You need to try a variety of types of metal detecting to find which you like best. Include contestants in this mix.

Visit school tot lots. Once you clear out the trash, you will be amazed at what you will find. If nothing else you will learn what clad and pull tabs sound like. P.S. my oldest coin (1600 yrs. old was found in a school tot lot.

 

[digger27]

Thank you for all the time you put into writing that. I appreciate all your words and i am letting it all sink in. I assumed this hobby would be easy... I was wrong. But i do believe the effort and time put into it will be very rewarding. honestly, I am enjoying the process of learning. I was just getting discouraged when I spent the evening watching Youtube and seeing hit after hit and thinking I was doing something wrong.

I can't wait to be a pro at this... but I am going to be patient and learn the process so that I can appreciate it that much more.

thanks again!

Stop watching YouTube vids.
They are heavily edited, not many want to watch people digging up a ton of trash so all of that is cut out before they are posted.
Everyone in those vids digs trash, all of us do, even the guys on the tv shows dig a ton of trash but again, edited out.
That is the problem, people watch these things and think that is real life...but it isn't.
Some got into the hobby and got out quick when they discovered the truth...but not before destroying parks and sites that made it much more difficult for the rest of us.



Yea we find good things too but the trash and junk out there outnumber good targets by many, many times to one.
If it bugs you to see others finding great things just quit watching them until you are better at doing this stuff.
Then it won't bother you so much.

 

[coinman123]

honestly, I have a little bucket list in my head of things i wish to collect someday.
- a skeleton key
- a ring
- an old button
- a coin from the 1800's
- enough change to continuously upgrade my detector :0

Within a couple years you will have all the things on that list, many times over if you are lucky! Good luck, research is key!

 

[smokeythecat]

Had a good hunt yesterday. Several keepers and about 5 POUNDS of trash to throw out tomorrow.