Looking for someone to detect with.

[Digzit2]

Is there anyone around the richland county area that would like to go metal detecting with me? I am fairly new to this hobby and would like to see how someone else detecs because i think i am doing something wrong.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A Handbook of Civil War Bullets and Cartridges - Grab it through Amazon!

[Prairie Prowler]

Pretty far from us in N ILL...why do you think youre detecting wrong? not finding stuff or ??

 

[Digzit2]

Pretty far from us in N ILL...why do you think youre detecting wrong? not finding stuff or ??

For one, i watch too many videos on how to use the t2 & everyone is diffrent and i went to 3 diffrent sites & only found junk.the all metals mode confuses me,so i just hunt in disc mode. I guess you could say i just dont understand the t2 & metal detecting. I have found a 1944 wheatie and a 46 dime plus some clad though. I would like to go detecting with someone more experienced than myself to give advice on the trashy sites i hunt. I am going to get a smaller coil for sure and not give up.

 

[BeeperBoy]

Hiya digits
I live in northwestern Illinois west of Rockford. I have done quite a bit of detecting in the area. Where is Richland co.?

 

[Digzit2]

Hiya digits
I live in northwestern Illinois west of Rockford. I have done quite a bit of detecting in the area. Where is Richland co.?

Richland county is in the south east part of the state. I am one county away from Indiana. Alot of history around me, old forts,block houses and such.

 

[Garrett424]

You really need to just get out there and practice. I would start in disc mode and dig everything above iron.
Yeah, you'll dig plenty of trash and junk but you'll also dig lots of nickels and maybe even some gold and silver.

I spent almost an hour digging pull tabs on my first hunt this year. On maybe the 50th "trash" signal I dug a nice old 10K class ring dated 1974. You have to accept the fact that you WILL dig trash. Gold and pull tabs hit in the same exact range on any detector. The key is to take your time and just REFUSE to get discouraged. It's a numbers game.

If you're out there digging you've already won half the battle by just showing up. Continue to show up. Be persistent and you'll find that as time goes on you'll really begin to learn the language of your detector and have a pretty good idea of what you're about to dig. To this day, EVERY time I get a signal in the pull tab range I tell myself "it might be gold". Most of the time it isn't but on those occasions when it is, I forget all about the mountain of trash I've dug. You'll see what I mean when it happens. And it WILL happen if you're persistent.

Also, location is everything in this hobby. If you want to find jewelry, go where people lose it. I've dug so many rings from baseball and soccer fields it's not funny. I just got another one ; my 61st ring since beginning this hobby. It's a junk, gold plated ring but it's still a ring. Once you start digging the junkers a few real ones will start to appear in the mix. I've dug more junk rings than real but I have a nice little growing collection of the gold and silver ones too. That makes my equipment FREE (if I ever actually sell any of my stuff).

Hit the sidelines, baselines, the outfield, around the bleachers, between the bleachers and anywhere you see that people congregate. Look for areas where the grass is mashed down. Beaches are great too of course. Once people drop something in the sand it just disappears and waits for you to come along and pick it up.

If you're after old coins, go to places where people dropped them back in the day such as farms where auctions used to take place or where people just worked in the fields all day for years and years. You'll find all kinds of stuff in old fields. Much of that will be junk like nails, horseshoes, flat washers, etc. But some of it may be a few nice old coins, old flat buttons, a watch or whatever.

Spots where old roadside produce stands used to be have potential. I'm trying to get permission to hunt one of them as we speak. People used to buy everything with cash and coins were always dropped and lost. Look anywhere that commerce was done using cash and coins such as old snowball stands, country stores and even private mailboxes. Many people without stamps used to leave coins in their mailboxes and mailman would take it and put a stamp on whatever they were mailing.



Oh, and look for old picnic grounds. Picnics used to be a big deal back in the day when the primary form of entertainment was people gathering together and socializing; long before all of this electronic communication. Even places where people used to hang out, drink and party. Drunk people are always losing things. Think like someone who loses stuff.

You can look for sidewalk tear outs in populated areas that date back to a much older time and hunt them before the new concrete is poured. You can hunt the strips between the road and the sidewalks that are heavily traveled. People are always dropping stuff, they always have and the always will. You just need to come in behind them and pick it up.

Use your imagination and get INSPIRED. I sometimes watch the YouTube channel of the "Silverslingers". They're T'Net members too. The girl in the videos is just SO enthusiastic about this hobby that I get inspired and motivated just watching her hunt and listening to the enthusiasm in her voice. She has true PASSION for this hobby. I swear every time I watch a few of those I go out and hunt afterward. You should definitely check out their channel when you get a chance if you need inspiration. Get passionate. That's the golden key to excelling at anything.

And another thing that I consider EXTREMELY important is to follow your instincts, your gut feelings and your intuition. Once you tap into that you'll be amazed at what shows up. If you get a strong impression to swing over a certain area, JUST DO IT. You MAY be amazed from time to time. I call that little voice my "best friend" in this hobby.

I was actually leaving a site last year and while driving away I was looking at a small strip of grass right next to a modern parking lot; the last place you would expect to find anything. That "little voice" told me to go hunt it. I parked my car, got out and walked over. Just under the surface not two inches down was the oldest coin I have dug; a 1787 NJ copper. I didn't even know what it was at the time but the point is, if you get one of those "feelings", follow it. You probably won't always hit treasure but sometimes you will.

I also found two gold rings last year just by listening to that little voice. One was another 10K class ring from 1970. The voice told me to search around the pitchers mound of an old ball field. I obeyed and although the signal was very weak I dug it anyway and found my second class ring. I've dug a total of four at this point. The other intuitive hit was a HUGE 10K ring with a fake ruby in it. It's so huge it's too big for my thumb. I was hunting a site one evening and it started to rain so I left. The next day that little voice told me to go back so again, I listened and was rewarded with that huge ring. Don't ever ignore intuition. If you do you may miss out on something really good.

Here's another thing I almost forgot. I use a site called "Historic Aerials".
Here's a link:

http://www.historicaerials.com/

You can look back in time in any area through aerial photos. There are street overlays as well that you can turn on to help you get your bearings and pinpoint your spots. The beauty of this is that you can look at say, a modern park or school and see what used to be there; such as buildings, roads, etc. I've found a couple of nice sites using this method. I believe Google Earth and/or Google Maps has a similar feature. If you can pinpoint an old building, picnic ground or whatever you can pinpoint some potentially good hunting sites.




You have a really great detector. You just need to learn what it's telling you and the best way to learn is to just practice, practice, practice. Don't allow yourself to get discouraged or aggravated and don't give up. Eventually you'll find that you're getting pretty darn good with that machine. Also, if you don't have a pinpointer yet, get one. It will make your hunts that much more easy and enjoyable. I use an XPointer and I love it. It cost me 90 bucks.

I've been doing this for just under two years and when I look back at just how little I knew when I started out it's hard to believe. I must have looked like a complete idiot. I still have lots to learn because there is always more to learn in anything. I need some better sites where I can find silver coins because that's one area where I've been weak. Jewelry seems to be my strong suit at this point. You'll find yours if you just get out there and keep at it; you'll see. When you dig up your first gold or silver ring or really nice old coin you're gonna' be really happy. You've already dug one more silver coin than I have this year.

Just remember it's a numbers game and that every piece of trash that you dig puts you that much closer to your next great find. Lets' face it; there is way more trash in the ground than there is treasure. Keep digging and most importantly, ENJOY the journey because it will reward your diligence; that I can tell you.
I hope this helps.

Good luck and HH......

 

[iaddrummer]

i am in south east illinois and am about to buy a new detector and once i do i would love to go hunting with more people i am in robinson il

 

[Digzit2]

i am in south east illinois and am about to buy a new detector and once i do i would love to go hunting with more people i am in robinson il

I sent you a pm. Hop you got it as i am still learning how to send one.