how do YOU metal detect?!

[cesarnono13]

alright fellas! (and gals).. after a few months in the game, and trying to find the most efficient way to hunt (in parks at least) I think I found the solution! any whom I have since gone to The Home Depot and bought a little 100 pack of little stake flags and carry 30 with me whenever I go hunting. I detect the field, or area where I'm searching and when I find a good signal I pinpoint and put a little stake down. pretty self-explanatory and after I get all 30 down I put down the detector, or put it away and go back with my gloves, pistol probe, and craftsman trowel and dig up all 30 little flags. My best time doing so is about 25 minutes to dig up all the targets, some as deep as 7 inches. Now what I like best about this method is that for one I (and more importantly my detector) end up sooo much cleaner than the traditional, detect. dig. detect. dig. primarily because I just put my detector away and all that gets dirty are the gloves, not to mention I dont have annoying headphones around my head. In any case, thought id like to share my method and Id love to hear what everyone else does or any other techniques that might be helpful. all in all happy hunting!

 

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[bigtim1973]

Several guys choose to detect like you prefer to do but, I am too impatient and I have to know right then what it may be that is giving me that signal.

 

[TORRERO]

If you are on public property and someone See's you and decides they don't think you should
be doing this, then they make you go take up all the little stakes and you lose all the targets
you worked so hard to find.

I did this once, with little white golf tee's but they were hard to see on the grass...
I'm like the previous poster....
I prefer to see what I have as I go.... so if I get run off, I have all the targets I have found and will never be left wondering what may have been....
my 2 cents...

 

[Tin Nugget]

I wouldn't do the flag deal. The time I spend digging a target gives my old arms a breather which gives me more detecting time. I do use the yard flags to grid off an area I really want to cover well, either because it's got great potential or I won't be able to return to the spot.

 

[Iron Patch]

Talk about drawing extra attention to yourself. That alone is a good enough reason for me to never do such a thing.

 

[silverswede]

I have used the marking system similar to yours but at first after locating and finding the target I went on to the next one. Much experience later showed me I was leaving many multiple coins in the ground that were in close proximity to the one I had dug. Your system is good but you may find rechecking the holes with your detector will give some extras for the good stuff pouch.

 

[BigDan]

This is just a joke

But if you let me know where you hunt I'll be happy to follow you around and dig where you plant the flags. Your detector will be just as clean, as will you as you won't have to dig anything. It will also allow you more time to search while I pocket whatever you find and I dig up.

In the event this works out...as long as you detect frequently, I'll sell my detector because you will be doing such a good job for me that I no longer need it. Hmmmm...would you be available if I decide you should detect other locations for me?

Of course, I am just kidding. Actually I think your method has some merit...but double checking each location after you find the first obect would be a must.

Currently, the field I detect is so full of objects that I would have 30 or so flags placed within just two or three square yards. In fact...since it is a farmfield I've considered putting the detector away in favor of a shovel and screen...just dig down a few feet, screen the dirt, and repeat.

(Each year, the plows dig up and rebury my precious ghost town....unfortunately breaking the pottery and glass and china to bits...and even bending horse shoes!) But, we find things just laying about the top of the dirt....enough that a metal detector is almost a waste of time.

 

[Born2Dtect]

I like to learn about my detector. I usually dig the first 10-20 signals even if they should be trash. I like to use the VDI numbers to guess my targets. Later the same day I may try to guess targets that are trash and do not dig them. Also if I am digging a lot of trash I can adjust, settings, change coil or even areas. Whatever it takes to find the best, in the shortest time, with the fewest digs. In other words, I try to maximize my detecting finds. Sometimes it works sometimes it does not.

Ed D.

 

[Cool Hand Fluke]

With the kind of people (jerks) I run into in the Bay Area of San Francisco when detecting they would probably run around and pull out all my mark with flag targets!

 

[BuckleBoy]

The main reason I wouldn't do that is that it deprives the detectorist of the "see/hear the signal then recover the target" sequence of events. Over time, this sequence is very important to learning one's detector and what it is telling you--especially in the early stages of the hobby. I would've been lost for years on learning my detector if I'd done that.

The only thing I use those flags for is when I hunt solo, in an expansive cut crop field, I mark the edges of the iron patch on all sides and grid the heck out of the middle. Psychologically, it is difficult for me to be out in the middle of several miles of cut field and not wander, or feel like what I'm doing will never work the site out. I need the boundaries in order to hunt well.

I still walk a good ways out past the boundaries when I grid, and I still sometimes make finds outside of the iron patch, but they are infrequent--and I feel like I hunt better with the flags in place.


Regards,



Buckleboy

 

[Minrelica]

Talk about drawing extra attention to yourself. That alone is a good enough reason for me to never do such a thing.

Exactly. If I did that in a park around here it would attract a small crowd.

No need to advertise your business.

 

[PA John]

The main reason I wouldn't do that is that it deprives the detectorist of the "see/hear the signal then recover the target" sequence of events. Over time, this sequence is very important to learning one's detector and what it is telling you--especially in the early stages of the hobby. I would've been lost for years on learning my detector if I'd done that.

Well said Buckleboy!! Learning your detector.