When to dig? (Newbie Question)

TCAWarriors

Jr. Member
Apr 7, 2012
46
52
East Tennessee
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab E trac, Whites MXT
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I know most of the buzz is about the 3030 but I have a question about my new etrac. As I am detecting an old school lot often time I am getting a good signal but when I rescan it is very hit and miss. As I move around the area at 90 and 180 degrees the target will sometimes hit on a good number but often it is the discriminated range when checked with quick mask. My question is, is this a target I should dig or is this the way iron nails interact with the etrac?

I'm not afraid of digging, just wondering what I need to be listening for.

I have never found silver and am looking forward to my first, this school has been here since the 30's, and although I am sure it has been hunted many times I am hoping something was left behind.

Thanks for any pointers,

Tim
 

aoyue2702

Jr. Member
May 7, 2012
21
0
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What school are you talking about... I'm in East TN also :)
 

Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
10,360
Salinas, CA
🥇 Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
......just wondering what I need to be listening for.....

You see the irony of this? There is no way to convey "sounds" in printed text. It can't be done. It would be like asking someone to "please describe the sound of C minor in printed text.". It can't be done. It has to be heard, not read about.

So it's the same for your question as it relates to sounds to chase, or avoid, with the explorers and etrac. They are so sound specific, as you can imagine. It will sound like a flock of sick geese, with no rhyme or reason, until you finally get "dialed in" to what the machine is telling you. And no amount of printed text can convey that, since it's it's audio-specific. The only way is either:

a) dig 500 targets till mental recognitions start to develop for recurring targets. The proplem with this is (when it comes to deep silver in worked out parks/turf), is that obviously, if the 4-star signals were already "mined out" by yesteryear generation, then you might not have enough rapid fire back-to-back good deep coin signals, to ever develop a pattern in your mind. They would be infrequent enough that you would never recall or know what the difference was between that, and the myriad of other fluty tooty tones. So you HAVE to go to a place prolfic with easie deepies (like virgin yards of old homes, even if only dating to the '20s or '40s, JUST to have ample easies to get the patterns down by). Or:

b) hook up with someone who's already proficient. Not simply a "sandbox hunter", but someone who REALLY knows how to get the deep silver coins from worked out parks. Go out and have them flag suspected deep coin signals. Watch the way they swing, see what sounds they're trying to isolate, etc... Conversely you flag targets for them to swing over. See what they say (eg.: "I'd pass it d/t it sounds like shallow zinc", or "that's a nail false", and so forth).

Method B is what I chose, after making absolutely no sense of my first explorer. A proficient user and I met up at a particular park where he had been effortlessly getting a dozen+ silver, and 30+ wheaties, anytime he chose to go (oldies START at 8" in this park, anything shallower than that is '60s and newer stuff). Believe me: after the 3rd or 4th wheatie/silver signal he flagged for me to try, it was as if "the lights went on". All of the sudden everything made perfect sense. Several days of beating my brains out digging random signals could not replicate what 10 minutes of in-field training/showing could do.
 

TENNESSEEGAL

Sr. Member
Aug 20, 2005
485
117
Oak Ridge, TN
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT and Minelab Excalabur 11
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
after the 3rd or 4th wheatie/silver signal he flagged for me to try, it was as if "the lights went on". All of the sudden everything made perfect sense. Several days of beating my brains out digging random signals could not replicate what 10 minutes of in-field training/showing could do.[/QUOTE]

Awesome post Tom!
 

TerryC

Gold Member
Jun 26, 2008
7,735
10,996
Yarnell, AZ
Detector(s) used
Ace 250 (2), Ace 300, Gold Bug 2, Tesoro Cortes, Garrett Sea Hunter, Whites TDI SL SE, Fisher Impulse 8, Minelab Monster 1000, Minelab CTX3030, Falcon MD20, Garrett Pro-pointer, Calvin Bunker digger.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Read Tom_in_CA's post a few times. VERY good wisdom in his words. Latching up with a mentor is one of the best ways to start. Have someone who will be HONEST to critique your swing and search methods. Good practices in the beginning will pay off later. Good luck. TTC
 

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