Ground mineralization in Allen / Barren counties ?

[TrueBlue]

Hello all,

I'm looking to make my first MD purchase. Due to having a very small budget I will be forced to get an entry level unit that is factory ground balanced.

The vast majority of my hunting will be done in Allen and Barren counties in Kentucky. Can you fine folks tell me how bad the average ground mineralization is in these areas?

I have to decide between a 10" concentric or a 11" DD search coil. I want to make the right decision and get the one better suited for the typical soil conditions that I will encounter.

Kind regards,

TrueBlue

 

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[Bevo1986]

Hey TrueBllue,
My friends and I all hunt in Allen and Barren county areas. One of my buddies is using an F2 and hasnt had any trouble locally. You will find heavier mineralization in far western and eastern Kentucky. What is you budget and what are you looking at? GL HH
Bevo1986

 

[TrueBlue]

Howdy Bevo!

The F2 is what I'm looking to buy, either with the 3 coil combo package (4", 8", 10" concentric) or with the 11"DD.

I'm trying to find out if the ground mineralization in Allen & Barren counties make the 10" coil or the 11"DD the preferred choice.

Looking at the chart below from Big Boys Hobbies, there are situations where each coil clearly out performs the other. My budget is forcing me to choose and I want to make the best choice possible based on the hunt areas.

 

[jherrin215]

Hey TrueBlue, I am the buddy that Bevo was talking about. I am brand new to the hobby and have only had my F2 for about 2 months but have been very impressed with it so far. It seems to be a clad coin magnet, hopefully the silver will be had as easily when I put the coil in the right spots. My suggestion to you would be, if it is your budget, to go with the 11 inch DD coil but be ready to buy the 4 inch sniper coil. i bought the 2 coil combo, the 8 and 4 inch. I have used both but the 4 inch is a bad little joker. I have heard very good things about the 10 inch coil as well however. The reason for this suggestion is that you can get the DD now and for 40 bucks add the 4 inch later. If you go the other way around then you are looking at closer to $150 to upgrade to the DD if you decide you want it. I can't tell you how much the DD coil will help you but I have read many good things about them. I can tell you however that I have had no issues with the fixed ground balancing in this area. Take it slow, have a ball while you are hunting and HH!

 

[TrueBlue]

Howdy jherrin215,

Thanks for the info!

To stay within budget I ended up ordering the F2 with 3 coil combo package. That way I got the 4" sniper coil which I wanted and also the larger 10" for the situations where I need more depth and target separation is not really a concern. Plus the combo package comes with the F Point pinpointer which I plan to sell and use the money for other accessories.

Now I just have to wait for it to be delivered, hopefully I'll have it for the weekend.

 

[jherrin215]

I think you made a good decision. I would like to try out the 10 inch coil sometime. I'm kind of on the fence wondering whether it would be worth the money to buy one of those or to pony up and get the DD. I wouldn't count on being able to sell the F-Point for much money but mine came with one and I use it and like it. I would like to upgrade to the Garrett Pro-Pointer but it is hard to justify spending 2/3 on a pinpointer as what I did on my detector. If you don't have one already then I would take advantage of the freebie you are getting with your package. Oh and HH

 

[Mikebk03]

Hey TrueBlue and Bevo, I'm from Allen Co and was wondering if ya'll was looking for a detecting buddy?

 

[jherrin215]

I'm sad to say that I hardly ever get out and do any digging anymore. I ended up getting a new AT pro and had a really hard time finding places to go digging so kind of lost interest in the hobby. It's really funny that no more than an hour before I saw the notification that this thread had been replied to, I was discussing metal detecting with a friend from work. I would love to get started again and do some digging however!

 

[Mikebk03]

Jherrin, I no what you mean about finding places to detect! I got into the hobby late and I'm sure most of the places here have been hit up many times already! I don't get to do it as much as I would like due to family commitments! I know of a ton of spots I'd love to detect at but I'm not the best when it comes to getting permission from landowners lol!

 

[jherrin215]

Yeah I see a lot of places that look promising but have never gotten the courage to ask a stranger if I could hunt their place. I have went to a few parks and always find some clad but I'm a firm believer that no spot is hunted out, just harder and less likely to find the stuff that's left.

 

[Mikebk03]

I've only got permission to hunt two spots regularly. A friend of mine's father owns a farm that use to have several old homesteads/structures on it at one time! There use to be an old schoolhouse somewhere on it! I can only so much of it in my little truck lol! There's some parts of the farm that he has never been on lol! The other spot was an old house that my great grandparents lived in! I haven't been able to properly date how old the house is, but I know it was at least 100 years old or older! I know there is old stuff there to be found, but so far just found modern clad and a 1955 wheat penny lol!

 

[1320]

1924 Map of Scottsville may help? Double click on the map to expand it. I bet you (Mikebk03) can pin point that farm....


http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/kentucky/txu-pclmaps-topo-ky-scottsville-1924.jpg

 

[1320]

Below is a link to the 1937 County Road map, these can be very useful.....

https://transportation.ky.gov/Planning/Maps/AllenCo1937.pdf

Below is the legend for the Road Map, I see ALOT of schools....

 

[Mikebk03]

Thanks for the map links 1320, I've brought up maps of the farm on historical aireals but those maps only go back to 1953! The original schoolhouse was built in the late 1800's! I have yet to find its original location, but have just barely scratched the surface due the farm being so large lol! I will definitely check out the links!

 

[1320]

Thanks for the map links 1320, I've brought up maps of the farm on historical aireals but those maps only go back to 1953! The original schoolhouse was built in the late 1800's! I have yet to find its original location, but have just barely scratched the surface due the farm being so large lol! I will definitely check out the links!

If your county is like mine, the school was a house first, then house, then school, then house, then church....lol. You may not be able to pinpoint it using the legend but if the "structure" was still standing in 1924, you may luck into finding it. Best of luck. There are older maps out there, just have to track them down......

 

[Mikebk03]

I looked at the 1937 transportation road map and it appears to show a schoolhouse on the road just up the rd from the farm! Its confusing because I checked out some topo maps from historic aerials and it clearly spells out the school name and shows it closer to the vicinity of the rd the farm is on! These topo maps are from the 1920's up until 1953! After that the school disappears due to consolidation with other schools! Looks like I'll have to take a drive down the other rd and start knocking on some doors lol! The farm still had several promising homesteads though!