Metal detecting high schools

[mikeraydj]

I am thinking of detecting our local high school. The campus is large. I was wondering if anyone has ideas as to the best parts to detect?

 

[airscapes]

Between the bleachers and the parking lot

 

[releventchair]

Age of facility a factor. An example ,if a gate had a ticket booth in the sixties and now booth and gate are gone. I,d be looking for pinch points in traffic patterns and lounging areas where people congregated. Concession stands, Shade ,seating ect. Sports fields too where activity generates a lost item. There,s usually a lot of bottle caps ,foil and pull tabs but there,s stuff in those areas for the patient diggers.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

releventchair nailed it, congregation points, and where people play hard ! The goodies are there!

Our high school is very large, unfortunately it is also "very" trashy, so it's slow going. I have to ground balance BEFORE I get on the property, because literally there's no "clear" spot to put the coil...at lest I haven't found one yet!
I take ibuprofen before I start because the chatter is constant. If you have trouble with target separation you may need a smaller coil to work the area. GL. HH!

 

[foiler]

Assuming the school is old enough check out old aerial photo's of your town that includes the school you intend to hunt. Large open campuses often where utilized differently in the 20's and earlier. Open areas then where often used as parking lots for large community events held on the school grounds. Parking lots didn't become common till the late 30's. When a lot of vehicles showed up for an event they were parked on the grass. No EPA around then. You may also want to look for old photo's of the school often depicting such events. As an example I found a photo dated 1927 of an old high school built in 1914 in which the field by the school was packed with vehicles while people lined the edge watching children involved in a May Pole dance. There were 16 pole circles with 20 kids to each pole. Needless to say what today appears as an open field was used often as a car park then and the area people stood to observe while diminished some by sidewalk and road improvements, produced coins to the 1800's. Obviously this area in plain view of 100's of hunters for years was never touched. Bad for them, good for me and you, if you do the research.

 

[mikeraydj]

Thanks for the great ideas. Glad to get info from others that have already been there.

 

[mikeraydj]

Will have to bring my sniper coil.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

On the field of play of the sports fields are good also not that much trash, but be respectful of the turf, leave no sign you were there. Where there is throwing action you will find rings that flew off in the act of throwing and if there are outdoor basketball courts jewelry and change is around the perimeter of the courts.As has been already stated bleachers and concession stands, if there are any trees around the sports fields those are really good spots as everyone likes the shady areas.

 

[lookindown]

Cant hunt schools here in Florida.

 

[mtruxfan]

Ive had my best luck at schools around benches, under and around trees.

 

[OWK]

On grassy hillsides (even steep ones) overlooking athletic fields.

Steep hillsides entice people without chairs to sit and watch the activities... and people sitting on the turf induces pocket spills.

I've tried it twice, and both times have been a coin bonanza.

Work from bottom to top.