Does wet ground for example after rain effect actual coil reads vs dry land

[49er12]

We all heard stories, the fish bite better in the rain, metal detecting what’s the true outcome of this particular question, not mineralization to speak but the ground being wet from rain. I’m no geological or expert of ground saturation making detecting a positive or negative, can anyone answer with confidence, thankyou

 

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[metrotec]

I seem to have better luck when the ground is a little damp, vs bone dry. Not to mention it's easier to dig. Just me.

 

[49er12]

Things work in mysterious ways, nobody’s an expert obviously but anyone ever did studies on the ground moisture vs dryer conditions. Thanks for your opinion a lot of people had this same question I’m sure

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Yes sir, it makes the soil more conductive, you get more depth.

 

[smokeythecat]

Absolutely. Also, having dug in all types of weather if you have decent moisture (not sopping wet) in the ground AND the temps drop and there is some frost in the ground it makes it even better. I have long noticed this phenominum.

 

[No gold in NY]

I have always leaned toward wet being better even from the stand point of easier digging. Has anyone actually done testing on this?

 

[smokeythecat]

As in test garden, no, those things are useless. But in real life, hunting the same 3' x 3' grid on an abandoned CW hut, the answer is yes. When its dry you would get just chirps and burps. When things are wetter, you would get a few solid targets, and the targets proved to be a minie ball and eagle button. On another trip back to the same little spot, I then recovered two more minies and three buttons and 3 percussion caps, that was when the ground was about 33 degrees on top. There were a lot of nails in the spot and I kept going over and over and over it again. I have noticed this on three different manufacturers' machines which I have used. Frequency didn't matter much, including multi frequency, just ground conditions.

 

[snakejim]

We all heard stories, the fish bite better in the rain, metal detecting what’s the true outcome of this particular question, not mineralization to speak but the ground being wet from rain. I’m no geological or expert of ground saturation making detecting a positive or negative, can anyone answer with confidence, thankyou

I have found that it depends where and what you are hunting and if you are using a VLF or PI detector. In a high mineral area where you are hunting gold nuggets, a vlf does better and goes deeper the dryer the ground is. But, a PI seems to go deeper on gold nuggets when the ground is damp or wet; as the pulse ignores the minerals better. In a park or other place of low minerals hunting coins with a VLF, the depth seems to be better when the ground is damp. Hope this helps.

 

[flinthunter]

This is going to sound a little off the wall but I feel I have better luck after an electrical storm and also during a full moon.

 

[Keppy]

I find that my detectors always go deeper in wet ground and it does not matter what brand i am using.

 

[NWMP]

I find that my detectors always go deeper in wet ground and it does not matter what brand i am using.

My buddy and I worked an area near an old fur trade site. We where pulling out flat buttons and rings from amazing depth. The soil was sweet black loam and water saturated from spring snow melt. The soil was so wet that some holes started to fill up with water soon after opening. He was using a Tesoro Vaquero and I had a Tejon. I saw this kind of depth in the same area with wet soil several times, with our machines tweaked out to the max. I believe you Keppy.

 

[Honest Samuel]

It seem that Treasure Hunter loves Minelab.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I always get deeper when it's wet. Hold on, wait a minute, are we talking about.. never mind.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I have found my detector gets a deeper signal when its wet.

 

[fistfulladirt]

May go deeper, but my silver signals really stand out and hit hard when the soil is dry.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Moist or wet ground is more conductive. You metal detector will "see" deeper. Usually the signals are clearer. With all this said, soil conditions do play a role.

 

[smallfoot]

Seems to be better when wet with AT Pro here. Our soil is sandy and mostly dry to swamp wet.