Highwater
Full Member
- Nov 3, 2007
- 145
- 0
- Detector(s) used
- White's: XLT, MXT, Tesoro: Sand Shark, Tiger Shark. Fisher: 1266X. Minelab: Musketeer.
Recently I had the pleasure of communticating with someone on this forum that had been detecting for a while, but was still learning. As we shared some mail I started giving her tips and ideas as to how to learn and improve in this hobby. I thought it might be a good idea to share these ideas with the rest of our TN community, so tonight I cut, pasted and edited some of what I had written to her. This in not laid out in any particular order. This is a long read, but if you take the time to do so I think you may find a few things to help you along the way. You may even want to print this out so you can read it at a later time, when offline. It is worth reading the whole thing.
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I am very excited for you. Not just to get a new detector, but the excitment and enthuiasum you have for the hobby. Over the years I have bought, sold and traded dozens of detectors. I have turned many people on to the hobby and have promoted it and helped many get started. I can't tell you how many copies of Western and Eastern Treasure magazine I have given away to perk peoples interest. In your post I saw the point of time where you learned to relax and enjoy what you are doing. Detecting is more than finding some cool stuff. There are so many more things to be found along the way. The outdoors is a great place to play. I like the way you can climb aboard the "way back" machine and take a trip into the past. I can see that you are able to do that also. I like to hunt old ghost towns, farmsteads, ect and go back into the older era. I finally learned how to enjoy researching local history. I have made some great finds that way. It is really exciting to study an area, then go out and find a period artifact.
In the 25 years I have been doing this, I have never wanted to stop. (what's over the next hill syndrome) I can see you are on your way and are figuring it all out. As you already have learned, know your machine well, learn what it needs in order to be in balance and harmony with the earth. Then learn to really listen to what you are hearing when it tells you something. I like the machines that will give you a true signal, not some kind of bell or whistle. If you hear the true sound you will begin to automatically notice the subtle little diffence in each cherp and beep. The detector is a mutant form of eyes, connected to your ears. You have to learn to "see" through your ears. Also remember, more gain, or power, is not always the right solution to finding things. Sometimes you can do better with the power turned low instead of high. Many people make the mistake of 'overdriving' thier detector. Learning how to adjust to the conditions is not all that difficult, but very important.
PS: A bad day of detecting is still better than anything else.
I believe you will do just what you say you will. I know you will become an expert detectorist. You are already on your way.
Research comes in many forms. Local museums are a good place, the history section of your library, post cards, old books, old newspapers, old people and be sure and attend monthly meetings of your local historical society. I once worked with a little museum and the president of the historical society of an old coal mining ghost. I got permission to hunt an area that was off limits to other detecorist and I could take one person in with me at a time. I got to keep anything I wanted, but they knew I would give them anything that was pertinant to the local history, which I did. They would put my name on the display as the donnator. It was great fun. I still have a one of a kind "good for" token that I need to find amongst my stuff and give it to them. I have also worked with the police in locating evidence many times. By joining the historical society you will be mixing with people that know the local history and the hunting sites will come at you faster than you can get to them. Also, always have a notebook and pen with you so you can jot things down, people's names, potential sites that you spot while driving or hear about from someone. NEVER trust yourself to remember these things in your head. ALWAYS write down anything you want to follow up on. You will also notice how different you look at things. My friends can't believe the things I see as we drive around. It is a whole different train of thought.
When researching, which you should be doing for at least a few hours per week, you will write a list of potential sites, then pick a day when you just drive around from one to the other and check them out. Out of 10 or 12 sites that you jot down, most will have condos or parking lots built on them. You are lucky to find one or two that are still intact. Also, you only have so much time to spend hunting, so you want to make the best choice you can as to where to spend your time.
One thing I want to mention. Having a underwater detector opens up a whole new world for you. You don't have to just wade around like everyone else. It is a good way to find a lot of cool stuff, but consider this.... It isn't very expensive to build a hookah system. When you can dive it really opens things up for you. One great place to hunt is beneath swimming floats. The kind you see anchored up just off shore where people swim and water ski. With a set of diving equipment you can get into some pretty virgin ground. There is a book, I bought mine on e-bay, how to build your own hookah system. It is easy to do and cheap to operate. You will probably need a wet suit and also a set of weights. You also need to take diving lessons so you don't make any life threating mistakes. Now of course, by the time you get to that point you will need to find a friend that can go with you. Never dive alone. You can set the air up for two people. You both don't have to detect, but don't dive alone. You can even work the beaches this way. It is much easier than wading. The hookah floats on an innertube, or you can set it on the beach. It takes some practice to stay put on a target, but if you put enough weight on and dig your toes in a little it is a very nice style of hunting. Also, with a skiff you can cruise to old places that people can't get to any other way. There are all kinds of old abandoned water parks and old ghost just about everywhere. Start out wading, but think about diving. It is so pleasant just laying under the water detecting. I used to dredge for gold and spent countless hours underwater. It is soooo fine. Also hunted in the water in Lake ***** next to ***** at an old park. The old silver and jewlry just kept coming. In one spot there was an angle to the bottom where the overburden was very shallow. Nobody would venture out there to hunt as it was kind of like a drop off. We took ping pong paddles and fanned a strip about 5 or 6 ft up and down for over 100 feet parrallell to the beach. Didn't always even need a detector. There were coins laying on coins and abundant jewelry. Some went to the 1800's. It was where the old level of the lake was which we had learned through our research efforts. Another site I found was where the lake was lowered and all the old good stuff was up from the water line by a pretty long ways. We didn't find a lot, but what we found was very good quality. In your research you want to notice any kind of changes that have happened over the years, anywhere you find to search. When hunting an old coal mining town I learned that in the 50's they ran their tail piles out over part of the old town. It covered some good stuff to be sure.
Also, really keep an eye open for construction. When they start pushing dirt around in an old area, or are putting in new sidewalks, really pay attention. Get ahold of Demmo companies and try to find out if they are going to tear down any old houses or buildings near your area. Sometimes you can go in before they start then come back after they finish. Also, many counties have an archive where they keep old records of everything, including old letters, maps, city and county records, ect. Get aquainted with those people, to be sure. I got in good with a gal in a court house one time that loved to look up old records and would give me leads. I used to give her little bobbles of silver. She loved it and so did I. Also, never be afraid to knock on a door at some old site and tell them you have a hobby and like to detect for coins, ect. Believe it or not, most times they will say yes. If you get no for an answer then just bow out and thank them for their time. You can also leave you phone number with them in case they ever change their mind. You can always offer to split what you find with them, especially if any of the items are pertinent to the history of their place. Never mention the word treasure to anyone. You just like to look for coins. Keep your brain engaged when dealing with people. Never show any stranger anything you find that is any good unless it is the property owner. Always get permission to hunt and determine BEFORE HAND if they desire a share of the goodies. Get the facts straight before you start.
Of course there are all kinds of detecting related books you want to read. Start a research library of your own. Hit thrift stores and garage sales and look for old books, postcards and maps that tell about the times and places you want to hunt. I have many books and always hope to find more. It is a good thing to do in the evenings and during winter. You will learn that part of the hunt involves research and it becomes exciting when you discover new areas and learn the history of an area or event. The real excitement comes when you put your research to work and find a period artifact or relic that is directly related to the time spent researching.
You will never run out of sites to hunt as long as you do your research. It really becomes fun when you discover how much better your finds start getting. You can go for quanity, or quality. Modern money is ok, but I would rather hunt all day for one or two great things over hunting all day for a bunch of modern money. Also, you will have to get used to digging just about everything in some places. Now when it comes to nails, or anything long and skinny, you can identify them with a double beep. I always like to swing the coil one way when I get a target, then turn 90 degrees and swing it again. I can usually pick out the sound of a nail even with a PI detector. Also, when wading it is nice to have a floating screen with you to dump your scoop into. If you are in fine sand with no rocks and clam shells then you don't really need one, but otherwise you do. One nice thing about it is it doesn't take up so much of your time to get your target out of the scoop. You just dump and keep hunting. As you move along, the screen, which sits just below the water surface, is purging it'self while you are detecting. After dumping several targets into the screen, or when it starts to build up with too much large stuff, you can stop and clean it out. Be sure to put some good strong magnets around the bottom of the screen so it will hold the sparkler wires and nails from falling through your screen. These things will drive you crazy if you have to keep digging them. If you are hunting in a heavy black sand area you can put the magnets in one of those very small zip lock bags. This way you can pull the magnet out of the bag once in a while to dump the black 'whiskers' that build up on the magnet. Anyway, with this method you will increase your hunting time. More hunting time equals more finds. You don't have to be in a big hurry to hunt, but this system is much more efficient. (The floating screen won't work when the water is too choppy or in the ocean) The screen is tied off around your waist. Once you know which way the screen trails due to wind or current, you will know which direction to go to keep it in a spot that is easy to swing your scoop and dump. It is best if you can keep it in the same comfortable position most of the time. Make the lanyard that you tie to it just the right length to stay out of your way, but also the right distance to dump your scoop. It takes time to pull the screen to you each time you want to dump something and time doing this is time away from your search. Also, don't spend a lot of time looking at something you just found. Take a quick look and tuck it away. Otherwise you will spend too much time looking and not enough time searching. You can do all the looking and cleaning you want when you get home. NEVER try to rub on some unknown object to try to get a look at it. If it is gold or silver you will scratch it by rubbing. Do your cleaning and looking when you get home. Also: NEVER try to clean or polish an old coin. You can turn a $100 coin into a $10 coin doing this.
There is a lot more to it and you probably already know a lot of this, but if you even get one good tip out of it then it will have been worth the read.
Believe me, you will come across many sites to hunt. Sometimes the ones I have waited the longest on and thought would be killer turned out to be a bust. Others that I didn't think would be so good turned out to blow my socks off. You will come to a point of time where you will do very well and will go back to the same spot many times, going slower and from different angles the site will continue to produce. There was one old scout camp I used to hunt that would always produce Mercs and jewelry. I had what I called "jewelry hill". I hunted it out so many times, or so I thought, then one day in a place I had been over many times I got a great signal and pulled out a "pocket drop" of several silver quarters from about 8 or 9 inches deep. They had been there all the time that I had hunted there, but for some reason I missed them each time. I couldn't believe it. So never give up on a site that is producing, but always keep looking for more and different sites to hunt. No sites are ever totally hunted out, but some do require a lot of work to make them pay. It just depends on what you think you can find as to whether it is worth the time and work or not.
Always remember to keep a log of your sites. You don't have to go nuts with it, but at least keep notes on various sites. It is all too much to rely on memory. If you are bored one day and can't think of where to go you can look at your log, go down the list and find something that you meant to hunt but overlooked it and forgot about it. Also, Sometimes when I am researching a site, I come across many more sites in the process. Research gets to be really fun when you start to learn about the local history and it starts coming alive for you. Also, remember that many street and place names have changed over the years. You can go to the library and get "place name" books. These will give you all the names a certain place has been called since it's beginning. It is worth the time spent to look them over so when you study the local history you can identify and relate to where they are talking about. Many towns and locations have changed their names many times. Also, Find out who has the Sanbourn insurance maps in your area. Try to find the oldest set you can. These maps are usually with a university. You can only look at them on site, but they can usually make copies for you. These maps are great for locating old neighborhoods and old areas back into the 1800's. I knew a guy that used to study them to find the old outhouse sites and would go to the owners of the house and ask permission to dig their old outhouse. I was amazed that he usually got an ok to do it and would find many precious things in the bottom of the old outhouse. One day I saw him and he had a couple bottles he showed me that came out of the same hole. One was worth about 300 bucks, the other about 500. He also got permission to dig the neighbor's house when the guy came to the back of the property and talked to him over the fence to see what he was doing. Then he got to detect the yard of both old houses. The maps show the plot of land and show the house, woodshed, outhouse, hen house, ect. Now that is something else to look for. If you ever find the henhouse, where the wife usually hid her egg money, you deffinantly want to hunt it. There have been some great silver coin finds in the old hen house. Usually in an old Mason jar with a zinc lid on it. I always dig zinc lids in hopes of finding a stash, but so far have never found one. I have found coin stashes though, some were silver, but never in a mason jar.
Never give up on a good lead until it is totally shot in the butt. Sometimes you have to wait for a place to change owners. In one town the father of a friend of mine had found a silver ingot buried in the yard of an old house he had permission to hunt. He had heard several big signals while hunting and finally decided to check one of them. He thought he was running his coil over old car parts or something because the signals were so big and he was just hunting for coins at the time. Well, after digging up the ingot he quit for the day. He wasn't really sure what he had until he figured it out a few days later. In the meantime when he went back to try to get the other ingots he thought might still be there they wouldn't let him hunt for some reason. The last I heard he was still waiting it out until the house sold so he could ask permission of the new owners. Never give up on a lead.
The obvious beaches get hunted daily and keep pretty much cleaned off. A lot of the older people just hunt the dry sand and make big swings with their coils. They are almost jogging when they hunt. (never rock your coil at the end of the swing) I never feel bad or worried when I have to hunt behind someone no matter where I am. They actually help clean some of the surface clutter out of my way. The best targets are usually very deep and your coil is only about an inch or two in diameter at a good depth with a VLF unit. People think they have covered an area by overlapping their coil by one half the diameter of the coil, but in fact, to hunt deep and get it all you would have to overlap by olny about 2 inches. This makes your advancment in a forward direction very slow, but you cover more of the good depth range. Make sense?? Looking sideways at the coil draw a triangle (V) under the coil slightly longer than the width of the coil you are looking at viewed in a sideways profile. (like an upside down cone) At depth that is all you get, the tip of the cone. They figure that you don't hunt any deeper than the diameter of the coil, so if you have an 8 inch coil, you can only pick out a coin sized target at an 8 inch depth. Well, that is just standard physics. However, having said that, they have learned to drive the signal at a depth past that by 15 - 20%. Anyway, just remember that the size of coil you are hunting with at depth is not very large and things can be missed very easily. That is what produces the very faint signal that we all love to hear in our headphones, it's what the real hunters live for. The target will be one of two things, a very small piece of foil less than an inch deep, or a very good target that is very deep. In loose soil I usually just scrape the first inch of soil with my foot and try another swing with the coil. If the target is still there then it is time to pinpoint and dig. If it is gone then keep moving. There is a possibility that it could have been a very small piece of gold, a small clasp or piece of thin chain, but who cares, it it too small and too light to be of any real value and it would be a waste of time to try to ferrett it out of the ground. Just keep moving and spend your time in a better way, searching.... no need to chase phantom signals.
Basically, first you have to have the detector tuned and in harmony with mother earth, which is most important... Then you have to be searching in a potentially good area.... Then you have to give your "underground eyes" a chance to 'see' what is down there. If you are in a hurry, to the coil it is like looking for a street address while doing about 60 mph. It might happen, but probably not. Too hard to see anything at that speed, but if you slow down enough things come into focus. (you need to learn the best sweep speed for yur detector) Make sense?? Next thing on the list is to identify your target. Remember, digging for junk takes time away from the search and we only have so much time to hunt. This is why you want the detector to be absolutly tuned in. If it isn't, you can still find things and might think you are doing ok, but if you only knew the truth. Chose the right size of coil for the job. If it is a trash area then use a small coil, or if a good spot with trash, grid the area and clean every bit of metal out of the ground until you can start hearing the deeper, fainter signals. If not much trash then use a large coil. You want to be able to hear every little nause the detector is telling you. Why not give it a chance to be crystal clear,,, kind of like tuning in a picture on your tv. All it takes is the time to tune it in properly and you have a clear picture. Same with the detector. It can do one heck of a good job if given the chance. Then, when you hear a signal, you have as many facts about the target that you possibly can and can make the best decission to dig or not.... The next step is recovery. One of the nicest old silver halves I found early on in my detecting came beneath a well traveled path at an old military fort which had history back in 1800's. It was a real tough dig in gravel and after a while I started getting sloppy thinking it might just be a piece of junk. Well, you guessed it. I ran my digging tool right across the face of the coin and ruined it. Taught me a big lesson on recovery. Treat each target as if it was the best thing you ever found. Don't get sloppy or be in too big of hurry. (and always recheck your hole) We are out there spending our time looking for the good stuff and don't want to finally find it just to gouge it and screw it up. That happens to us all, but try to avoid getting sloppy with recovery.
Pay attention here,,,,, When I described about the size of your coil, the inverted cone (V) when hunting at depth, I want you to know that I was talking about a VLF detector. As I say, that part of physics is only for VLF. The pi has a different footprint that you want to keep in mind. Take the coil and look at it from the side profile like you did the vlf coil. Now draw a big U beneath the coil. That is more like the feild being given off by a pi coil. You only have to overlap a pi coil by about half the coil diameter and you will be covering pretty much all the ground under your coil. That is one of the great things about the pi. If you use a dd coil on your vlf you will also have a bigger picture. Even with a small coil on a pi, you can cover more ground with each sweep of the coil than you can with a vlf with a larger coil. The coverage is much better. Just wanted to get that straight with you so you didn't have any misconceptions. Just sweep your coil as if you were spray painting with a rattle can of paint. The signal with a pi is actually a little bigger in diameter that the actual size of the coil. You can check this out by throwing a coin on the ground and run your coil over it at different speeds while listening for where the coil hits. One thing to do when you get a pi is to throw a coin down and try different sweep speeds, at different distances and observe the best sweep speed and what kind of coverage you are getting. (You should also do this with a VLF) Go slow, medium and fast. Raise the coil up a ways and do it again. This way you can get a mental image of what is happening beneath your coil. Also, with a pi, always do all your test with the target on the ground. A pi unit doesn't air test very well. Also,,, lay a few nails on the ground and hit them at different angles and heights. You will usually get a double beep when going lengthways to the nail with either kind of detecdtor. This sound usually means the target is a nail, but not always. Some things that are round (circular) and bent can do that also, like a big metal disc which is bent and the ends sticking up towards you, but most of the time it will be a nail. You will learn the sound after digging a few nails. Always circle the target and sweep at different angles. You need to do this anyway to get centered on a target if you decide to dig.
About your detector..... "Ya gotta run what ya brung". No matter what kind of detector you have, you have to learn to get the most out of it and make it work for you in any given situation. If you only have one detector, it may do well in one place for that particualar type of hunting, but may not do too well in a certain other area. Learn to do the best you can with what you have to work with, but when you come to realize the limitations of your machine, then go to the kind of places it works the best. Remember, we only have so much time to hunt, make the most of the time you have.
Always plan ahead for your hunt. Never leave the house without going through a check list to make sure you have everything you need. Many of us have arrived at a site, then remembered that we left our headphones or some other important piece at home. "Forgot to bring it" doesn't make your day go better. Also: think ahead about lunch and drinks. Many times you will be hunting in an area where there are no food joints. Try to stay comfortable when hunting. Stop and take a break once in a while and take a look around you. When hunting be sure to look up and aound your area for anything going on you should know about. It is always best to have someone with you to help "guard" your rear flanks. If hunting alone I always like to dig my target with my back to the sun so if someone walks up I will see their shadow. If you have the sun in your eyes and are looking down then people, good and bad, can walk right up to you. So always pay attention to what is going on around you.
If you hunt around people then always be polite. If they stop to talk then stop and listen to what they have to say. Mostly they are just curious but they can rob your hunting time if you let them. Just tell them that you enjoy looking for coins. Also let them know that you pick up trash when you find it and put it in the trash can. This will help keep good feelings in the community. By talking to people you can sometimes learn about new places to hunt, or help someone find a lost item. ALWAYS fill your holes no matter where you are hunting, even out in the woods. It just takes a second. NEVER leave your trashy targets behind, unless they are too big to pack out. If thats the case shove them back in the hole and leave them buried. There are exceptions. One time when hunting a couple miles up a trail I found what must have been an old blacksmith shop. I came across a large amount of old horseshoes. More than I could ever pack out. I kept the best couple and hung a bunch of them on several tree limbs next to the trail for others to come across and enjoy.
When just getting started, take your time and learn as you go. Keep the fire burning and don't give up or get discouraged if you don't make great finds right away. Sometimes great finds come and sometimes they don't, for all of us. Just stay at it and learn your detector, practice and do your research. Great things Will come in the future and it isn't always something metal. Just getting out and detecting in the great outdoors is better than just about anything you can do if you stay home. You may also want to join a local detecting club. People there are always friendly and very helpful. It is a great place to hang out and share your time with people that have the same passion for the hunt as you do. Above all else, relax and enjoy the excitement of the hunt. It is easy to escape the hussle and bussle of everyday life when you have your detector tuned in on a good site and are listening for a good signal. Happy Hunting and Good Luck... Highwater
PS: Please let me know if this information was any help to you or not. Thanks...
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I am very excited for you. Not just to get a new detector, but the excitment and enthuiasum you have for the hobby. Over the years I have bought, sold and traded dozens of detectors. I have turned many people on to the hobby and have promoted it and helped many get started. I can't tell you how many copies of Western and Eastern Treasure magazine I have given away to perk peoples interest. In your post I saw the point of time where you learned to relax and enjoy what you are doing. Detecting is more than finding some cool stuff. There are so many more things to be found along the way. The outdoors is a great place to play. I like the way you can climb aboard the "way back" machine and take a trip into the past. I can see that you are able to do that also. I like to hunt old ghost towns, farmsteads, ect and go back into the older era. I finally learned how to enjoy researching local history. I have made some great finds that way. It is really exciting to study an area, then go out and find a period artifact.
In the 25 years I have been doing this, I have never wanted to stop. (what's over the next hill syndrome) I can see you are on your way and are figuring it all out. As you already have learned, know your machine well, learn what it needs in order to be in balance and harmony with the earth. Then learn to really listen to what you are hearing when it tells you something. I like the machines that will give you a true signal, not some kind of bell or whistle. If you hear the true sound you will begin to automatically notice the subtle little diffence in each cherp and beep. The detector is a mutant form of eyes, connected to your ears. You have to learn to "see" through your ears. Also remember, more gain, or power, is not always the right solution to finding things. Sometimes you can do better with the power turned low instead of high. Many people make the mistake of 'overdriving' thier detector. Learning how to adjust to the conditions is not all that difficult, but very important.
PS: A bad day of detecting is still better than anything else.
I believe you will do just what you say you will. I know you will become an expert detectorist. You are already on your way.
Research comes in many forms. Local museums are a good place, the history section of your library, post cards, old books, old newspapers, old people and be sure and attend monthly meetings of your local historical society. I once worked with a little museum and the president of the historical society of an old coal mining ghost. I got permission to hunt an area that was off limits to other detecorist and I could take one person in with me at a time. I got to keep anything I wanted, but they knew I would give them anything that was pertinant to the local history, which I did. They would put my name on the display as the donnator. It was great fun. I still have a one of a kind "good for" token that I need to find amongst my stuff and give it to them. I have also worked with the police in locating evidence many times. By joining the historical society you will be mixing with people that know the local history and the hunting sites will come at you faster than you can get to them. Also, always have a notebook and pen with you so you can jot things down, people's names, potential sites that you spot while driving or hear about from someone. NEVER trust yourself to remember these things in your head. ALWAYS write down anything you want to follow up on. You will also notice how different you look at things. My friends can't believe the things I see as we drive around. It is a whole different train of thought.
When researching, which you should be doing for at least a few hours per week, you will write a list of potential sites, then pick a day when you just drive around from one to the other and check them out. Out of 10 or 12 sites that you jot down, most will have condos or parking lots built on them. You are lucky to find one or two that are still intact. Also, you only have so much time to spend hunting, so you want to make the best choice you can as to where to spend your time.
One thing I want to mention. Having a underwater detector opens up a whole new world for you. You don't have to just wade around like everyone else. It is a good way to find a lot of cool stuff, but consider this.... It isn't very expensive to build a hookah system. When you can dive it really opens things up for you. One great place to hunt is beneath swimming floats. The kind you see anchored up just off shore where people swim and water ski. With a set of diving equipment you can get into some pretty virgin ground. There is a book, I bought mine on e-bay, how to build your own hookah system. It is easy to do and cheap to operate. You will probably need a wet suit and also a set of weights. You also need to take diving lessons so you don't make any life threating mistakes. Now of course, by the time you get to that point you will need to find a friend that can go with you. Never dive alone. You can set the air up for two people. You both don't have to detect, but don't dive alone. You can even work the beaches this way. It is much easier than wading. The hookah floats on an innertube, or you can set it on the beach. It takes some practice to stay put on a target, but if you put enough weight on and dig your toes in a little it is a very nice style of hunting. Also, with a skiff you can cruise to old places that people can't get to any other way. There are all kinds of old abandoned water parks and old ghost just about everywhere. Start out wading, but think about diving. It is so pleasant just laying under the water detecting. I used to dredge for gold and spent countless hours underwater. It is soooo fine. Also hunted in the water in Lake ***** next to ***** at an old park. The old silver and jewlry just kept coming. In one spot there was an angle to the bottom where the overburden was very shallow. Nobody would venture out there to hunt as it was kind of like a drop off. We took ping pong paddles and fanned a strip about 5 or 6 ft up and down for over 100 feet parrallell to the beach. Didn't always even need a detector. There were coins laying on coins and abundant jewelry. Some went to the 1800's. It was where the old level of the lake was which we had learned through our research efforts. Another site I found was where the lake was lowered and all the old good stuff was up from the water line by a pretty long ways. We didn't find a lot, but what we found was very good quality. In your research you want to notice any kind of changes that have happened over the years, anywhere you find to search. When hunting an old coal mining town I learned that in the 50's they ran their tail piles out over part of the old town. It covered some good stuff to be sure.
Also, really keep an eye open for construction. When they start pushing dirt around in an old area, or are putting in new sidewalks, really pay attention. Get ahold of Demmo companies and try to find out if they are going to tear down any old houses or buildings near your area. Sometimes you can go in before they start then come back after they finish. Also, many counties have an archive where they keep old records of everything, including old letters, maps, city and county records, ect. Get aquainted with those people, to be sure. I got in good with a gal in a court house one time that loved to look up old records and would give me leads. I used to give her little bobbles of silver. She loved it and so did I. Also, never be afraid to knock on a door at some old site and tell them you have a hobby and like to detect for coins, ect. Believe it or not, most times they will say yes. If you get no for an answer then just bow out and thank them for their time. You can also leave you phone number with them in case they ever change their mind. You can always offer to split what you find with them, especially if any of the items are pertinent to the history of their place. Never mention the word treasure to anyone. You just like to look for coins. Keep your brain engaged when dealing with people. Never show any stranger anything you find that is any good unless it is the property owner. Always get permission to hunt and determine BEFORE HAND if they desire a share of the goodies. Get the facts straight before you start.
Of course there are all kinds of detecting related books you want to read. Start a research library of your own. Hit thrift stores and garage sales and look for old books, postcards and maps that tell about the times and places you want to hunt. I have many books and always hope to find more. It is a good thing to do in the evenings and during winter. You will learn that part of the hunt involves research and it becomes exciting when you discover new areas and learn the history of an area or event. The real excitement comes when you put your research to work and find a period artifact or relic that is directly related to the time spent researching.
You will never run out of sites to hunt as long as you do your research. It really becomes fun when you discover how much better your finds start getting. You can go for quanity, or quality. Modern money is ok, but I would rather hunt all day for one or two great things over hunting all day for a bunch of modern money. Also, you will have to get used to digging just about everything in some places. Now when it comes to nails, or anything long and skinny, you can identify them with a double beep. I always like to swing the coil one way when I get a target, then turn 90 degrees and swing it again. I can usually pick out the sound of a nail even with a PI detector. Also, when wading it is nice to have a floating screen with you to dump your scoop into. If you are in fine sand with no rocks and clam shells then you don't really need one, but otherwise you do. One nice thing about it is it doesn't take up so much of your time to get your target out of the scoop. You just dump and keep hunting. As you move along, the screen, which sits just below the water surface, is purging it'self while you are detecting. After dumping several targets into the screen, or when it starts to build up with too much large stuff, you can stop and clean it out. Be sure to put some good strong magnets around the bottom of the screen so it will hold the sparkler wires and nails from falling through your screen. These things will drive you crazy if you have to keep digging them. If you are hunting in a heavy black sand area you can put the magnets in one of those very small zip lock bags. This way you can pull the magnet out of the bag once in a while to dump the black 'whiskers' that build up on the magnet. Anyway, with this method you will increase your hunting time. More hunting time equals more finds. You don't have to be in a big hurry to hunt, but this system is much more efficient. (The floating screen won't work when the water is too choppy or in the ocean) The screen is tied off around your waist. Once you know which way the screen trails due to wind or current, you will know which direction to go to keep it in a spot that is easy to swing your scoop and dump. It is best if you can keep it in the same comfortable position most of the time. Make the lanyard that you tie to it just the right length to stay out of your way, but also the right distance to dump your scoop. It takes time to pull the screen to you each time you want to dump something and time doing this is time away from your search. Also, don't spend a lot of time looking at something you just found. Take a quick look and tuck it away. Otherwise you will spend too much time looking and not enough time searching. You can do all the looking and cleaning you want when you get home. NEVER try to rub on some unknown object to try to get a look at it. If it is gold or silver you will scratch it by rubbing. Do your cleaning and looking when you get home. Also: NEVER try to clean or polish an old coin. You can turn a $100 coin into a $10 coin doing this.
There is a lot more to it and you probably already know a lot of this, but if you even get one good tip out of it then it will have been worth the read.
Believe me, you will come across many sites to hunt. Sometimes the ones I have waited the longest on and thought would be killer turned out to be a bust. Others that I didn't think would be so good turned out to blow my socks off. You will come to a point of time where you will do very well and will go back to the same spot many times, going slower and from different angles the site will continue to produce. There was one old scout camp I used to hunt that would always produce Mercs and jewelry. I had what I called "jewelry hill". I hunted it out so many times, or so I thought, then one day in a place I had been over many times I got a great signal and pulled out a "pocket drop" of several silver quarters from about 8 or 9 inches deep. They had been there all the time that I had hunted there, but for some reason I missed them each time. I couldn't believe it. So never give up on a site that is producing, but always keep looking for more and different sites to hunt. No sites are ever totally hunted out, but some do require a lot of work to make them pay. It just depends on what you think you can find as to whether it is worth the time and work or not.
Always remember to keep a log of your sites. You don't have to go nuts with it, but at least keep notes on various sites. It is all too much to rely on memory. If you are bored one day and can't think of where to go you can look at your log, go down the list and find something that you meant to hunt but overlooked it and forgot about it. Also, Sometimes when I am researching a site, I come across many more sites in the process. Research gets to be really fun when you start to learn about the local history and it starts coming alive for you. Also, remember that many street and place names have changed over the years. You can go to the library and get "place name" books. These will give you all the names a certain place has been called since it's beginning. It is worth the time spent to look them over so when you study the local history you can identify and relate to where they are talking about. Many towns and locations have changed their names many times. Also, Find out who has the Sanbourn insurance maps in your area. Try to find the oldest set you can. These maps are usually with a university. You can only look at them on site, but they can usually make copies for you. These maps are great for locating old neighborhoods and old areas back into the 1800's. I knew a guy that used to study them to find the old outhouse sites and would go to the owners of the house and ask permission to dig their old outhouse. I was amazed that he usually got an ok to do it and would find many precious things in the bottom of the old outhouse. One day I saw him and he had a couple bottles he showed me that came out of the same hole. One was worth about 300 bucks, the other about 500. He also got permission to dig the neighbor's house when the guy came to the back of the property and talked to him over the fence to see what he was doing. Then he got to detect the yard of both old houses. The maps show the plot of land and show the house, woodshed, outhouse, hen house, ect. Now that is something else to look for. If you ever find the henhouse, where the wife usually hid her egg money, you deffinantly want to hunt it. There have been some great silver coin finds in the old hen house. Usually in an old Mason jar with a zinc lid on it. I always dig zinc lids in hopes of finding a stash, but so far have never found one. I have found coin stashes though, some were silver, but never in a mason jar.
Never give up on a good lead until it is totally shot in the butt. Sometimes you have to wait for a place to change owners. In one town the father of a friend of mine had found a silver ingot buried in the yard of an old house he had permission to hunt. He had heard several big signals while hunting and finally decided to check one of them. He thought he was running his coil over old car parts or something because the signals were so big and he was just hunting for coins at the time. Well, after digging up the ingot he quit for the day. He wasn't really sure what he had until he figured it out a few days later. In the meantime when he went back to try to get the other ingots he thought might still be there they wouldn't let him hunt for some reason. The last I heard he was still waiting it out until the house sold so he could ask permission of the new owners. Never give up on a lead.
The obvious beaches get hunted daily and keep pretty much cleaned off. A lot of the older people just hunt the dry sand and make big swings with their coils. They are almost jogging when they hunt. (never rock your coil at the end of the swing) I never feel bad or worried when I have to hunt behind someone no matter where I am. They actually help clean some of the surface clutter out of my way. The best targets are usually very deep and your coil is only about an inch or two in diameter at a good depth with a VLF unit. People think they have covered an area by overlapping their coil by one half the diameter of the coil, but in fact, to hunt deep and get it all you would have to overlap by olny about 2 inches. This makes your advancment in a forward direction very slow, but you cover more of the good depth range. Make sense?? Looking sideways at the coil draw a triangle (V) under the coil slightly longer than the width of the coil you are looking at viewed in a sideways profile. (like an upside down cone) At depth that is all you get, the tip of the cone. They figure that you don't hunt any deeper than the diameter of the coil, so if you have an 8 inch coil, you can only pick out a coin sized target at an 8 inch depth. Well, that is just standard physics. However, having said that, they have learned to drive the signal at a depth past that by 15 - 20%. Anyway, just remember that the size of coil you are hunting with at depth is not very large and things can be missed very easily. That is what produces the very faint signal that we all love to hear in our headphones, it's what the real hunters live for. The target will be one of two things, a very small piece of foil less than an inch deep, or a very good target that is very deep. In loose soil I usually just scrape the first inch of soil with my foot and try another swing with the coil. If the target is still there then it is time to pinpoint and dig. If it is gone then keep moving. There is a possibility that it could have been a very small piece of gold, a small clasp or piece of thin chain, but who cares, it it too small and too light to be of any real value and it would be a waste of time to try to ferrett it out of the ground. Just keep moving and spend your time in a better way, searching.... no need to chase phantom signals.
Basically, first you have to have the detector tuned and in harmony with mother earth, which is most important... Then you have to be searching in a potentially good area.... Then you have to give your "underground eyes" a chance to 'see' what is down there. If you are in a hurry, to the coil it is like looking for a street address while doing about 60 mph. It might happen, but probably not. Too hard to see anything at that speed, but if you slow down enough things come into focus. (you need to learn the best sweep speed for yur detector) Make sense?? Next thing on the list is to identify your target. Remember, digging for junk takes time away from the search and we only have so much time to hunt. This is why you want the detector to be absolutly tuned in. If it isn't, you can still find things and might think you are doing ok, but if you only knew the truth. Chose the right size of coil for the job. If it is a trash area then use a small coil, or if a good spot with trash, grid the area and clean every bit of metal out of the ground until you can start hearing the deeper, fainter signals. If not much trash then use a large coil. You want to be able to hear every little nause the detector is telling you. Why not give it a chance to be crystal clear,,, kind of like tuning in a picture on your tv. All it takes is the time to tune it in properly and you have a clear picture. Same with the detector. It can do one heck of a good job if given the chance. Then, when you hear a signal, you have as many facts about the target that you possibly can and can make the best decission to dig or not.... The next step is recovery. One of the nicest old silver halves I found early on in my detecting came beneath a well traveled path at an old military fort which had history back in 1800's. It was a real tough dig in gravel and after a while I started getting sloppy thinking it might just be a piece of junk. Well, you guessed it. I ran my digging tool right across the face of the coin and ruined it. Taught me a big lesson on recovery. Treat each target as if it was the best thing you ever found. Don't get sloppy or be in too big of hurry. (and always recheck your hole) We are out there spending our time looking for the good stuff and don't want to finally find it just to gouge it and screw it up. That happens to us all, but try to avoid getting sloppy with recovery.
Pay attention here,,,,, When I described about the size of your coil, the inverted cone (V) when hunting at depth, I want you to know that I was talking about a VLF detector. As I say, that part of physics is only for VLF. The pi has a different footprint that you want to keep in mind. Take the coil and look at it from the side profile like you did the vlf coil. Now draw a big U beneath the coil. That is more like the feild being given off by a pi coil. You only have to overlap a pi coil by about half the coil diameter and you will be covering pretty much all the ground under your coil. That is one of the great things about the pi. If you use a dd coil on your vlf you will also have a bigger picture. Even with a small coil on a pi, you can cover more ground with each sweep of the coil than you can with a vlf with a larger coil. The coverage is much better. Just wanted to get that straight with you so you didn't have any misconceptions. Just sweep your coil as if you were spray painting with a rattle can of paint. The signal with a pi is actually a little bigger in diameter that the actual size of the coil. You can check this out by throwing a coin on the ground and run your coil over it at different speeds while listening for where the coil hits. One thing to do when you get a pi is to throw a coin down and try different sweep speeds, at different distances and observe the best sweep speed and what kind of coverage you are getting. (You should also do this with a VLF) Go slow, medium and fast. Raise the coil up a ways and do it again. This way you can get a mental image of what is happening beneath your coil. Also, with a pi, always do all your test with the target on the ground. A pi unit doesn't air test very well. Also,,, lay a few nails on the ground and hit them at different angles and heights. You will usually get a double beep when going lengthways to the nail with either kind of detecdtor. This sound usually means the target is a nail, but not always. Some things that are round (circular) and bent can do that also, like a big metal disc which is bent and the ends sticking up towards you, but most of the time it will be a nail. You will learn the sound after digging a few nails. Always circle the target and sweep at different angles. You need to do this anyway to get centered on a target if you decide to dig.
About your detector..... "Ya gotta run what ya brung". No matter what kind of detector you have, you have to learn to get the most out of it and make it work for you in any given situation. If you only have one detector, it may do well in one place for that particualar type of hunting, but may not do too well in a certain other area. Learn to do the best you can with what you have to work with, but when you come to realize the limitations of your machine, then go to the kind of places it works the best. Remember, we only have so much time to hunt, make the most of the time you have.
Always plan ahead for your hunt. Never leave the house without going through a check list to make sure you have everything you need. Many of us have arrived at a site, then remembered that we left our headphones or some other important piece at home. "Forgot to bring it" doesn't make your day go better. Also: think ahead about lunch and drinks. Many times you will be hunting in an area where there are no food joints. Try to stay comfortable when hunting. Stop and take a break once in a while and take a look around you. When hunting be sure to look up and aound your area for anything going on you should know about. It is always best to have someone with you to help "guard" your rear flanks. If hunting alone I always like to dig my target with my back to the sun so if someone walks up I will see their shadow. If you have the sun in your eyes and are looking down then people, good and bad, can walk right up to you. So always pay attention to what is going on around you.
If you hunt around people then always be polite. If they stop to talk then stop and listen to what they have to say. Mostly they are just curious but they can rob your hunting time if you let them. Just tell them that you enjoy looking for coins. Also let them know that you pick up trash when you find it and put it in the trash can. This will help keep good feelings in the community. By talking to people you can sometimes learn about new places to hunt, or help someone find a lost item. ALWAYS fill your holes no matter where you are hunting, even out in the woods. It just takes a second. NEVER leave your trashy targets behind, unless they are too big to pack out. If thats the case shove them back in the hole and leave them buried. There are exceptions. One time when hunting a couple miles up a trail I found what must have been an old blacksmith shop. I came across a large amount of old horseshoes. More than I could ever pack out. I kept the best couple and hung a bunch of them on several tree limbs next to the trail for others to come across and enjoy.
When just getting started, take your time and learn as you go. Keep the fire burning and don't give up or get discouraged if you don't make great finds right away. Sometimes great finds come and sometimes they don't, for all of us. Just stay at it and learn your detector, practice and do your research. Great things Will come in the future and it isn't always something metal. Just getting out and detecting in the great outdoors is better than just about anything you can do if you stay home. You may also want to join a local detecting club. People there are always friendly and very helpful. It is a great place to hang out and share your time with people that have the same passion for the hunt as you do. Above all else, relax and enjoy the excitement of the hunt. It is easy to escape the hussle and bussle of everyday life when you have your detector tuned in on a good site and are listening for a good signal. Happy Hunting and Good Luck... Highwater
PS: Please let me know if this information was any help to you or not. Thanks...
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