Whats the Secret to Finding Coins in Hunted Out Parks?

[limegoldconvertible68]

I have to admit that I am getting jealous reading and seeing the finds people keep pulling out of hunted out parks, fairgrounds, etc. How do you people do it? I hunt for days on end at these kind of places and can barely find clad coins let alone the coveted silver. How do you search?.......tiny 10'X10' area and dig every single piece of metal?.....Roam aimlessly about and wait for solid coin signals?.......Hit the park with dozens of detectorists and post the one coin that 300 man hours of hunting found?........I think I am pretty decent at this hobby but the one area I suck at is hunting the obvious places. And yet time and time again amazing finds keep coming from these very places. Is this some sort of conspiracy where posters just say they find the goodies at places like this because they don't want to risk revealing the true place and the research resources they actually use?

 

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[ivan salis]

if we told ya it wouldn't be a secert anymore now would it ? hunt spots other skip --get off the well beat to death highly likely spots . listen for deep faint sounds --check iffy signals as well

 

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[TORRERO]

I have to admit that I am getting jealous reading and seeing the finds people keep pulling out of hunted out parks, fairgrounds, etc. How do you people do it? I hunt for days on end at these kind of places and can barely find clad coins let alone the coveted silver. How do you search?.......tiny 10'X10' area and dig every single piece of metal?.....Roam aimlessly about and wait for solid coin signals?.......Hit the park with dozens of detectorists and post the one coin that 300 man hours of hunting found?........I think I am pretty decent at this hobby but the one area I suck at is hunting the obvious places. And yet time and time again amazing finds keep coming from these very places. Is this some sort of conspiracy where posters just say they find the goodies at places like this because they don't want to risk revealing the true place and the research resources they actually use?

But the truth is, NOBODY gets something great out of every park they go to....
what you are hearing is the one park in 40 that gave them that nice Mercury dime or Barbar Half...
What you don't hear about is the months spent walking around hopeful parks with their pockets full
of dust and clad... hoping for the off chance of something good that never materializes...
(there is no story in that)

Richard

This is an elegant and accurate appraisal of the hobby.

That's because I've been doing this for 25 years, and those with that kind of time know that you spend
lots of time looking and a small amount of time basking in the glory of a few good finds.

 

[Nick A]

"But the truth is, NOBODY gets something great out of every park they go to....
what you are hearing is the one park in 40 that gave them that nice Mercury dime or Barbar Half...
What you don't hear about is the months spent walking around hopeful parks with their pockets full
of dust and clad... hoping for the off chance of something good that never materializes...
(there is no story in that)"

I still beg to differ with this statement. I do not and would not spend months walking around hopeful parks with pockets of dust and clad.

My experience is the opposite. 39 parks out of 40 produce older finds for me. Old parks still have older coins. New parks and athletic fields are loaded with clad quarters and jewelry. There are so many factors that go into detecting a site... machine, time spent, experience, research, confidence.

"Hoping for the off chance of something good" is a bad attitude to have when heading out with your detector. Wishful thinking is not enough. I don't just hope or wish, I make sure something DOES materialize. I give up on bad sites and move on, I use the best equipment suited to my area, and I spend a lot of time researching and detecting.

My last park hunt last weekend was in a small park I had hunted before with my Fisher CZ and found very little (no silver), so I had few hopes for this place, but it did have a lot of shade trees - a huge plus in the heat and humidity here. I have seen other detector users at this park.

About 2 months ago I first returned to this park. I got 2 mercury dimes and some wheats. A few weeks ago I got 5 silver coins including 2 silver quarters. On my last hunt I got a 1945 dime and 30 wheat cents. Had I not been finding anything, I would have moved on to another park. Some days, for whatever reason, a site does not produce... attitude, ground conditions, etc. I won't stay at a site that isn't producing, but I will try it again on another day.

I just want to say, it can be done, and you can find old coins 9 hunts out of 10 from previously hunted parks. And on that 10th hunt, if the old coins aren't out there, then you can load up on clad or try the athletic fields for some jewelry.

Here's how to do it wrong:
Go out detecting for only 30-45 minutes once a month.
Don't know your machine, or have it set optimally.
Do not read you detector manual or online forums with tips on your machine.
Be preoccupied and worried about home or work.
Be preoccupied or afraid what other people around you are thinking about you.
Don't research the history of the park.
Believe that you're not ever going to find anything good.

 

[ds6191]

Those are some great tips.One question, Why are the minelabs so hot on deep silver? Are the minelabs really that much better then any of the other machines? The only detector I have ever had has been a tesoro...I thought I was doing good with it. Dan

 

[treasurefiend]

I have had great luck detecting in place where others wont want to go. ie: it thorn bushes, swampy sections, just inside of tree lines that border parks, 5 to 10 feet off of sidewalks (everybody thinks is all garbage), ect.

When you get an iffy signal, circle real slowly around it to try and isolate the good signal from the bad, if you cannot then pinpoint it. If it still bounces from coin to iron still dig it, you may get a suprise.

I hardly ever find a perfect signal, you MUST learn how to hear good iffy signals compared to bad iffy signals.

I only dig targets 5 inches or deeper (only exception is shallow quarters).

Get a pinpointer (it will speed up your recovery time).

Detect at a snails pace and drag your coil along the grass or dirt and overlap your swings.

and most importantly - DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!!

If you do all of these thing you will have no problem finding silver when you go out.

 

[Goes4ever]

great advice TF, iffy signals are some of my best finds!

 

[Silvergurl]

From a lil' "newbie" perspective: I started at the beginning of July 09', found my first Silver at the very end of this Aug. I think every one finds "garbage", it's just a given, like death and taxes- picky hunter or not. Apart from all the cool info every one has already contributed here, also note that it may seem like every one else is finding goodies, relics or even silver- at the same time, there is a lot of time spent out coming across clad or even trash, it's just that it might not be always posted about here.

There are our "consistent" hunters who post as "usual" after most of thier hunts about any of thier finds. But how about those who hunt just as consistently but don't necessarily post each time, because maybe they feel that what they found at that given time, isn't worth posting about because it may not be considered to fall in the "goodies" category? At least, that's another variable to think about. I'm usually with TreasureFiend, who does the research. I've also learned a few helpful tips along the way from the Illinois group as well, i.e. swinging slower, from different angles, givin' more thought to "bouncy" signals to the correct way to dig or handle a fresh find. Haha.

On a seperate note, having (or in my case) borrowing the pin pointer (as I use the Ace) was a huge time-saver. However, even without it, it didn't impede on finding Wheaties and clad and some other funky stuff. IMHO one of the best things might be to just hit places with fellow hunters and compare what you're doing with thier habits . . . ? My main thing is still to have a good time (and laughs) along with finding the "good" stuff. Not sure if this "shed any light" with your questions, but wish you the best of luck buddy.

 

[arizonaames]

I have a friend who is 78, and for years, tells everyone about all the cash he makes everytime he goes to the casino. I went with him one time and I guess that was the only time he did not hit it big......he lost money. I suspect it is the same with people detecting. Some hit it big eveytime they go MDing but when you go with them, it was a bad day. The secret to finding good stuff is persistance in getting out and actually detecting rather than talking about it. Try more than one spot and with a decent detector, you will find gold, diamonds, and silver. I know that I have but it was not by sitting on the puter.

 

[[email protected]]

I've got a good one for everyone here. Twice I have had the pleasure of searching old parks that have been hunted by everyone and their dog over 40 years and when the heavy equipment comes in and scrapes a few inches off the top, it is like searching an untouched site. Old coins everywhere and it is NOT because they were too deep, it is because of all the junk near the surface that was masking it.
THIS WAS AFTER A MINE LAB WAS IN THERE ALL DAY!
I am a little tired of hearing about these expensive machines. NOBODY WILL GET IT ALL! I don't care what machine you are using or how good you are. There are too many variables in the ground.
Send a hundred Mine Lab users into an old park and search until no one gets a signal anymore and I will bet the farm there are still many goodies left behind.
There are Cherry pickers and workers. A Cherry picker will have difficulty finding anything in those "Hunted out" parks. A Worker shouldn't have any problems coming home with some goodies.
Dave.

 

[Silvergurl]

I've got a good one for everyone here. Twice I have had the pleasure of searching old parks that have been hunted by everyone and their dog over 40 years and when the heavy equipment comes in and scrapes a few inches off the top, it is like searching an untouched site. Old coins everywhere and it is NOT because they were too deep, it is because of all the junk near the surface that was masking it.
THIS WAS AFTER A MINE LAB WAS IN THERE ALL DAY!
I am a little tired of hearing about these expensive machines. NOBODY WILL GET IT ALL! I don't care what machine you are using or how good you are. There are too many variables in the ground.
Send a hundred Mine Lab users into an old park and search until no one gets a signal anymore and I will bet the farm there are still many goodies left behind.
There are Cherry pickers and workers. A Cherry picker will have difficulty finding anything in those "Hunted out" parks. A Worker shouldn't have any problems coming home with some goodies.
Dave.

Dave,

Totally, agree.

 

[scrubber]

I have to admit that I am getting jealous reading and seeing the finds people keep pulling out of hunted out parks, fairgrounds, etc. How do you people do it?

There's another thing to keep in mind. There are a lot of people on this forum. Reading Today's Finds makes it seem like everyone but you is having great luck all the time, but that's not the case. For every person saying "Look what I found today" there are probably 50 or more who found nothing but pulltabs and a little bit of clad. Just keep at it, go off the beaten path a little, and dig those iffy signals. Good luck.

scrubber