Mission Impossible - Ring Hunt

[Julison]

Hi,

New to the Treasure.Net Forums but I am a long time Treasure Hunter.
When I was a kid I would naked eye comb the beaches after every rainstorm for cash to buy snacks at the beach canteen.
I also did a lot of snorkeling and later scuba diving and have found many relics and clad/dollars in "holes" below fast moving rivers.... I have always had a knack for finding things. However, I may be in WAY over my head with this latest endeavor.

I am hosting the 55th wedding anniversary of my inlaws this June. At their 50th anniversary my mother in law told a story about how her husband had lost his wedding ring in 1967 while cutting trees in the yard of their new home in Peterborough, Ontario. He actually took off both his wedding and engineering ring and placed them at a base of a tree while he worked the chainsaw. After a full day's work he couldn't find the rings. So, every since hearing that story I have been thinking - those rings are STILL there. I know it.

In secret, I have contacted the current owners of the house they built back in 1967 and they are very willing to let me look for the ring with my metal detector - I go on the 25th of May. Now, I know it is a VERY long shot but I want to give it my best effort.
I have a metal detector - a Bounty Hunter Discovery 2200. I have been "Training" to find the wedding ring by burying my wedding ring in different areas of my yard and trying to teach myself what a Gold ring sounds like at various depths. On the surface of the grass it shows up as zinc....same as the most plentiful coin on the planet ...the penny - I really don't want to dig a hundred holes in generous home owner's lawn.

It gets worse, when I bury it a little deeper (say 2 - 4 inches) it really flags as all sorts of metals. In fact, when I bury it on it's edge it was appearing as a solid iron target - very repeatable from all sorts of angles. With that type of signal variation I wouldn't be able to discriminate on anything!

Two questions:
1) Is there something I could do differently with my metal detector to better my odds of getting a reliable signal for a gold ring - perhaps a new smaller coil?
2) Would I have a much better chance with a different metal detector? The local Cabella's has a Fisher Gold Bug - but I am reluctant to spend $~600 cdn on it if it wouldn't drastically improve my odds of being able to detect a gold ring.

Again, I know this is a REALLY long shot but I would like to take it none the less.

thanks in advance for your help and advice.

 

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[Julison]

Hi,

If someone has a Discovery 2200 I’d be a interested on your experience with gold rings. Do you use the std 8” coil or do you use the smaller 4” coil? If so, does it provide better discrimination or just deeper signal? Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your help.

 

[A2coins]

My advice since at different depths and in different soils and ground mineralization just dig all targets the ring could be under other trash and the signal could be masked dig it all my friend shouldnt be too much by a tree

 

[A2coins]

Good luck and welcome to tnet

 

[Loco-Digger]

Since the 2200 does not show target IDs You will be forced to dig most mid tomes from foil up through zinc. It would be better if you could borrow a machine that shows target ID numbers and then only dig those that are solid or only change by a digit or 2.

 

[Julison]

I’m not sure what you mean, my 2200 has target ids along the top. The problem I have is that when I bury my wedding ring a few inches deep in my yard it will show it as many different ids.... from iron to zinc and then as $1 coins.

If it was my own yard I would dig for days, but given that I don’t know the owner I was hoping to find a way to discriminate some signals.

I can rent a better detector, I’ll just need to take time to learn how to use it.

Has anyone used the Fisher Goldbug?

Julison

 

[Loco-Digger]

I’m not sure what you mean, my 2200 has target ids along the top. The problem I have is that when I bury my wedding ring a few inches deep in my yard it will show it as many different ids.... from iron to zinc and then as $1 coins.

If it was my own yard I would dig for days, but given that I don’t know the owner I was hoping to find a way to discriminate some signals.

I can rent a better detector, I’ll just need to take time to learn how to use it.

Has anyone used the Fisher Goldbug?

Julison

Your machine identifies target segments not target ID numbers. Each segment is worth a group of numbers. For example on my machine iron is target ID numbers 1 through 15, foil starts at target ID number 16. The only number your screen shows is target depth right?

 

[Phantasman]

A higher freq Gold Bug is not going to give you the depth you may need. The 2200 is lower freq for decent depth but outdated by todays standards (lack of numeric value of target, as Loco said).

Even a less expensive Quick Draw Pro will give you a better ID. Or even a Technetics T2. The 2200 is a six inch deep detector. Many new models hit the 8" mark with accurate ID. I'm partial to the Land Ranger Pro, myself. Less than half the price of the Gold Bug. You are looking for rings. The higher freq Gold Bug is better for tiny pieces of "gold" as big as a BB, but any regular (non gold) detector is going to find rings, so the Gold Bug offers nothing for you over other detectors.

Burying your ring is not going to give you the same signal as one that has been buried since 1967. The packed soil over the years should help give you a better signal than one recently buried. If the soil has not been overturned, and is the same as 1967, then the ring shouldn't have settled any more than 8" best. The LRP will give a secure metal ID up to 8". The All Metal mode reaches about 2" deeper still with an ID. It also balances to the ground metrics (mineralized soil) with the touch of a button helping with depth over your 2200. For the price, the LRP is a better choice. The Fisher F22, the same thing. The Gold Bug is a waste of money, IMO, unless you desire to find tiny pieces of gold in a more shallow arena. The LRP also has a "notch width" option. Learning to use it, can help you (possibly) zero in on ring signals, while rejecting everything else. It gives you more defined notch options than zapping a whole segment, like the 2200.

Just my view.

 

[Julison]

Thanks guys. Tomorrow is the day when I go and search for the ring. In the end I didn’t buy a new detector, I couldn’t afford it. Instead I bought a Garrett Pro pinpointer in the hopes of minimizing the size of holes I dig the gentleman’s lawn. The plan is to grid the yard and dig everything that isn’t iron. I found that in my own yard there was just too many iron targets (nails, wire, etc). If his yard is yhe same I’d be digging continuously.

Wish me luck!

 

[Julison]

Well I searched for four hours straight and did find the rings. I dug every hole and found something in all but 3. The Garrett Pro Pointer was awesome - it made recovery much faster and my minimized having to expand holes and destroy the lawn.

I found many roofing nails, pieces of aluminium siding and eaves troughing. Also found 4 pennies ��.

Although I didn’t find the rings, at least I know that I tried.
I also got to meet a fantastic couple of generous people - not everyone would let a stranger dig 100 holes in their lawn.

Thanks for all the tips and guidance.

 

[SD51]

You did great trying to find the rings!

 

[Julison]

Thanks, it was a long shot but I am glad I tried.

 

[Phantasman]

Trying is the best one can do.

Just a note to show the power of the LRP. if I had found the first few roofing nails, I would have set the "NOTCH WIDTH" on the LRP to reject just the nails (not the whole segment, but just that number + and - 1 above and below, to reject just the nails. It's one of the nice features the LRP has over many other detectors.