Down on Knees finding nothing Lil Help? Peas?

Mojo618

Jr. Member
Aug 15, 2012
48
24
Anderson County, South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett 350 DD search coil, Garrett pin pointer, White's Coinmaster
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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seekandfind

Full Member
Jul 7, 2012
181
37
northwest Indiana
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter 101/505
ace 350
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
hey mojo6, yea i know what ya mean about few places to hunt. heres a few right out of (the new successful coinhunteing<) book. scuse the spelling plez lol. along walking paths.around hitching posts, around watering troughs,along fences or fence rows, under trees, under clotheslines,in back yards around garden furniture, fishing piers,boat ramps,piers,horse and hiking trails,beaches,under bleechers,motor speedways,drive in theatres,old springs,river fords,historical markers,where old train stations used gto be,anywhere they are digging up the ground, etc, etc.. yes it sounds like a bunch of b.s. to me but someone had a book to write so there ya go. Myself Im the park,tot lots, lately the soccer fields (after games) volleyball courts and fair grounds . By me they are open to public and I have not had much sucess there so dont feel like your missing out on too much. If you do go to some of these places be careful and always make sure your with someone or they know where your going, too many weirdos out there these days. Sorry I dont have an explicit answer for you on where to hunt but im sure you will figure something out.take care and happy hunting.
 

aarthrj3811

Gold Member
Apr 1, 2004
9,256
1,169
Northern Nevada
Detector(s) used
Dowsing Rods and a Ranger Tell Examiner
I like to hunt the Dugouts at slow pitch softball fields...Many people come straight from work and change clothes in there..art
 

mfitzs70

Jr. Member
Sep 15, 2012
58
21
Ohio
Detector(s) used
White's VX3, Garrett's Ace 250, Garrett's Propointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Don't forget the schools highschool,middle,elem, your local swimming hole city pool, or old riverbank. Might have to do some research on the net to the history of your town, look for old meeting places old factorys. Try the library to search and do research. Maybe try the local church. Some like the church I would ask...but the library,schools as long as they are not fenced in and locked i'd just hunt and try to do it off hours schools are ussually empty about 5:00pm so do a drive by look for cars if not hunt away.We have a town close by that moved their police station into a old school (1900ish) after they built a new school anyhow I walked in there and asked the cop behind the glass if I could hunt it and they said it would be find. So you never know with out trying.IYou will start to feel comfortable going soon. We all went through it. Good Luck!
 

treasurehound

Bronze Member
Jan 23, 2008
1,500
376
Morristown, Tennessee
🥇 Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab GPX 4500,
Minelab Equinox 800,
Garrett AT GOLD with NEL coil,
Garrett Sea Hunter
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Here in Tennessee (at least where I live) schools and parks are public. Stay out of state and national parks. Ball fields are good as well. If you are nervous about asking permission to hunt private property start out by asking your family and friends. They may know someone and can ask permission for you. Works great. Now when I hunt schools and parks I only hunt places that are older than 1940. I do a lot of research online to find those places.
 

iCandy

Sr. Member
Aug 19, 2011
470
32
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
One really good spot is a frequented club/bar where the younger one's go!!
 

bluehunter1973

Bronze Member
Jul 15, 2006
1,375
57
Port Huron, Mi.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Gonna have get rid of the shy side. You may ask once or twice but when you start getting some yes answers your confidence will build.
 

OP
OP
Mojo618

Mojo618

Jr. Member
Aug 15, 2012
48
24
Anderson County, South Carolina
Detector(s) used
Garrett 350 DD search coil, Garrett pin pointer, White's Coinmaster
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Wow, Thanks everyone for you replies! I just now read them. Wish this site had an alert when someone replied and if it does I don't know about it yet! Lol! Thank you again for all your feed back.

In fact I was at the park yesterday and all I found was trash and one 1976 penny! Lol! My MD is a Coinmaster and doesn't work well in the red clay. I lost my receipt to bring it back. So I'm trying to make the most of it and practice with it so I can get to know it better.
 

Mzjavert

Silver Member
Oct 7, 2011
2,780
2,747
Indiana
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Mark IV
Garrett Ace 350
Garrett Carrot
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Wow, Thanks everyone for you replies! I just now read them. Wish this site had an alert when someone replied and if it does I don't know about it yet! Lol! Thank you again for all your feed back.

In fact I was at the park yesterday and all I found was trash and one 1976 penny! Lol! My MD is a Coinmaster and doesn't work well in the red clay. I lost my receipt to bring it back. So I'm trying to make the most of it and practice with it so I can get to know it better.

Some parks are trash filled nightmares. I've got one park near me that I won't hunt because of the trash. Another nearby park is littered with hundreds of soda cans, pull tabs and the like. Yet because of the traffic in the park and it's age, I know it's hiding some good stuff. A third park I go to has one area that's fairly heavy with trash, an area where medieval rein-actors have met once a week for several years. Lots of pull tabs in this area, (the families picnic and watch), but the area also produces coins. The baseball fields are a mixed lot, but definitely worth the time.

Basically what I'm saying is you've really got to explore and learn the sites you hunt...it may not be the machine, if may be you haven't found the sweet spots yet.
 

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
As far as public parks, hit 'em, hit 'em, hit 'em! Most guys will not do parks because of the trash. YOU will and learn the secrets. As you get the experience, you will narrow the parameters to those most productive spots. THAT is when you will reap the rewards for your work. TTC
 

the bone

Full Member
Jul 8, 2012
153
127
michigan
Detector(s) used
bounty hunter tracker IV
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
mojo have you gotten the courage to ask for permission to hunt yet? i noticed your original question was from septembe, just wanted to say that asking a farmer if you can detect his land is often the best way to "break the ice" as far as asking landowners permission. You can get permission for a lot of land quickly and farmers are very unlikely to say no when it comes to their fields in the early spring before crops are in and right now in the late fall when everything is harvested they typically wont bat an eye at giving permission and a lot of times will even throw in stories about an old house used to be here and so on. Another route you could go is to ask any family or friends of yours for permission first i hit all of my close relatives houses before i ever got the nerve to ask a stranger if i could detect.
 

Normsel

Bronze Member
Sep 10, 2012
1,191
813
D'Iberville MS
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
E-Trac
Equinox 800
Equinox 600
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I agree with you about parks. I hunted one today that had pock marks like a 13 yr with acne from someone recently there before me. I stomped his poorly filled holes as best I could. This park is 65 yrs old and filled with foil and tabs. I picked a 14k ring along with a wheat penny and $2 in clad in less than 2 hours. That park give up $10 in coins the past two days and I have an Ace 250. Not to bad for an entry level detector.
 

Metalman1959

Tenderfoot
Aug 30, 2012
9
2
Bowling Green, KY
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Pioneer 202
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Mojo... keep trying....keep trying!!! I too hunt a lot of school yards. One lady confronted me at one school and said she didn't think I should be there. (She first asked me what I was doing... I wanted to say so badly... "I'm looking for Jimmy Hoffa." LOL) Anyway they always produce some good stuff sometimes are better than others, but I always get a few coins hunting them at least. What I do to save time is hit the most likely spots first. I look at the play ground and then imagine every place where kids climb, turn upside down, slide, and swing; you know places where they are most likely to drop things. After I hunt those spots I start working the "empty" spaces where there is no playground equipment. Believe it or not this is where I find most of the more valuable silver coins. I even found one of the new presidential dollars!

Remember every expert was once a beginner. Keep swingin' and you'll start finding the good stuff!
Metalman
 

Grizzly13

Full Member
Sep 22, 2012
156
46
Eastern PA
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac/Sunray Probe. Garrett 2500/garrett Pro-pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Mojo do some research on old shcool houses that are now used as homes. Modern shcools especially older ones have good finds also. Swimming holes on the landside and in the shallows are fun. Church functions usally work. My favorite is door knockin old farms houses, dont be afraid of a no, that just makes the yes feel so much more exciting and its very private hunting which I enjoy. A suggestion is if they do say no tell them that you are having difficulty is finding places and they might turn you on to a neighbor that will let you go and just general info that will replace alot of research. I find more then not that they like to talk to people and open up with infomation you can't obtain anywhere !
 

Lori999

Jr. Member
Oct 15, 2012
67
67
Northeast Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab Etrac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
mfitzs70 said:
Don't forget the schools highschool,middle,elem, your local swimming hole city pool, or old riverbank. Might have to do some research on the net to the history of your town, look for old meeting places old factorys. Try the library to search and do research. Maybe try the local church. Some like the church I would ask...but the library,schools as long as they are not fenced in and locked i'd just hunt and try to do it off hours schools are ussually empty about 5:00pm so do a drive by look for cars if not hunt away.We have a town close by that moved their police station into a old school (1900ish) after they built a new school anyhow I walked in there and asked the cop behind the glass if I could hunt it and they said it would be find. So you never know with out trying.IYou will start to feel comfortable going soon. We all went through it. Good Luck!

Hey thanks for the riverbank idea. I have a nice spot where I've found many old bottles..from an inlet that runs into a larger river. I'll have to take my MD down there. I'm new to detecting if you don't count following my dad around with his as a child. Finally got mine last Christmas. I'm officially hooked! Coolest thing I've found to date is a very primitive axe head I have yet to identify. I'll be posting a pic this weekend. Good hunting everyone..and for those of you in Ohio..hurry before the snow starts flying!
 

Phanntom

Full Member
Oct 21, 2012
144
42
Retired and traveling
Detector(s) used
Whites 6000di Pro SL
Whites Goldmaster II vSat
Whites Prizim 6T
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm retired and travel a lot making it difficult to figure out all the various municiple laws, but I'll usually do a check on the towns website for park rules. Beyond that...I spend bad weather days driving around the rural areas for collapsed houses, farms etc. I mainly focus on those that appear to be at least 75 yrs old, and are preferably larger. My rationale here is that you're much less likely to find a gold coin at a ramshackled sharecroppers place than you are a fallen down mansion. Not many sharecroppers had gold and those that did likely kept a pretty close watch on it.

I note where the places I've located are in both a notebook and local map. Sometimes I'll stop at both places on either side and ask if they know the owner of the property...usually they have no idea who owns it. Now I can either go to the county and check records for an owner, but probably 7 or 8 times out of ten...the country has owned it for many years for back taxes. IF that's the case....and there are no local ordinances against MD'ing....I'll hunt it. How's my methodology worked out for me so far you might ask? Still looking for my first gold coin....that's my holy grail. I could find a 1,000 piece silver cache and I wouldn't be half as excited as if I'd found a tiny US gold piece.

I can tell you've never been a guy and had to ask anyone out on a date....the worst they can say is no. Because everyone is so liability focused these days, I carry a Release of Liability with me that I can give them....that breaks down a lot of resistence.

I wouldn't worry about returning your detector because you think it's not up to snuff. It's a great learning unit. Without all the bells & whistles you'll how to use your senses with it to interpret what it's seeing under the ground. In the end...even the fanciest models you still need that sensory relationship with the detector and the model you have will really help you develope that.
Denny
 

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