My first hunt...

[justajester]

So I got my metal detector today. The tesoro silver umax. Its my first detector and I have never one before. Its a neat detector and amazingly light. I really expected it to weigh alot more. Anyways, I hunted around the back yard today a little and quickly found out how little I know about this hobby.
I had the sensitivity set at 6 and the set set between foil and iron and it seemed like there was metal everywhere! I had a hard time really pin pointing anything. I did dig two holes though. One had a 2'x2' piece of steel in it. It looked like a flattened trash can. When I detected it at first I waved my detector all around it and determined it was a metal object about that size. Thought I might hit a chest of gold right off the bat lmao. Not so lucky.
The other hole I dug I coildnt find anything in and kept waving the detector every which way and getting all sorts of beeps. But really there were beeps everywhere. I assume maybe I live on a trashy lot. Im not sure. But is there something I should do differently with the settings? Any tips?

 

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[Nuclear]

I know how you feel! New detector, but unable to master its potential! Very frustrating. I did find that the more you dig everything the better you get. I'm finding Lincoln penny's right away....
Let's repost in a week and see if we are improving!

 

[justajester]

Im gonna hiy the beach and start digging everything where its easier to dig till I learn how this works...then maybe revisit the back yard and not dig 3' holes in it lol...seems like maybe a smarter plan yes?

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[treasurecoasteric]

Im gonna hiy the beach and start digging everything where its easier to dig till I learn how this works...then maybe revisit the back yard and not dig 3' holes in it lol...seems like maybe a smarter plan yes?

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How could you ever leave the beach? Huge unlimited area, easy djigging, nice breeze, water, eye candy....?

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[justajester]

Nearby civil war sites not on the beach?

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[Nuclear]

I spent some time on the beach when I went to Florida to visit....I have to say it helped me to pin point my targets better. I was able to visually see the X in the sand and start digging from there. Found a new quarter three steps onto the beach. I then found a lot of foil and aluminum tabs. One other distraction was the little piles of seaweed on the beach--they hold salt water and would give false signals. My detector has a setting for salt water, once I figured that out I was ok. Using a sifter scoop was so much Easter than a shovel! And yes, the holes on the beach were easier to backfill than the ones across my lawn! Enjoy!

 

[63bkpkr]

IF you can find or make a spot in your yard, say 6' x 6', clear of all targets and then plant and clearly locate coins, pennies/nickels/dimes, and a few common pieces of trash then you will have a test garden. Keep your buried targets 2' apart so you have plenty of room to swing and not detect another target. This test bed will be a real help in your learning your detector "at home". The nickel is an important target as the detector will see it as a 'gold' metal target and you want to be able to find gold. Best of luck with the new machine and practice, practice, etc.......................63bkpkr

 

[airscapes]

This is not meant to sound rude as I just did this back in Nov myself after reading this advice given to someone else.
Read the manual for you MD, Go out and use your metal detector, after that use or next morning, read the manual again (cover to cover). Use the MD again, read the manual again.
You will be very surprised how many times you will think "OH, now I get it!" as you read different things..even after the 3rd time reading it. Assuming it has a relatively decent manual of course..

 

[justajester]

I read it and followed it step by step. The tesoro detector is simple and there isnt much to it. Not that simple means much. Lol. I performed some air tests on different targets and what not. It didnt help much in my back yard...but ill give it another shot. I need to build the test garden however.

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[cudamark]

Make sure you're not hunting with steel toed shoes or shoes with metal eyelets! Ask me how I know!

 

[justajester]

Haha...yeah, I watched a video the other day of a guy mding and saw he would scan the shovel to see if anything was in it after each scoop of dirt. I did the same and spent 3 minutes sifting through my first scoop before I realized my shovel was steel...doh

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[Msbeepbeep]

Lol! I did the same with my sand scoop! Took me a few minutes to figure out why I kept getting hits just on the left side! It was picking up the scoop 2 ft away!

 

[treasurecoasteric]

No kidding !!!!!! I learned that on a deserted 1715 wreck beach at 6:00AM from a drunk sleeping on the beach. He needed a cigarette and I needed a light. We started talking and he actually detected the same beaches 20 years ago! I mentioned that I had just upgraded my detector as well as started using a 12" coil, but was getting a lot of chirping etc. He looked at my sneakers and said "Its your eyelets.........wear flip flops or slip one ........ no metal."

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[Metal Detecting Stuff]

You may have your sensitivity too high, try turning it back a little until you get the hang of it. You may have problems on the saltwater beach , you will need to stay in the dry sand. the wet sand is very mineralized and that detector doesn't have ground balance capabilities. For land hunting, a pinpointer helps tremendously with target recovery.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com