My first real hunt today.... Ho Hum....Oh well!

[Retired Fire]

Nothing that appears too old this time,

but I had fun learning from this trip. Today I was off work and had a permission on an abandoned Horse ranch that is pretty much grown over. But I wanted to try my hand at something other than my back yard. And there is a winter storm coming and they expect a little snow so it will be too messy this weekend to hunt. So.... I started out with my Garrett Ace 400 set on Relic. I found lots of cans and aluminum foil (Not all shown here) and decided to go off the driveway to the less trashy areas.. I found a large metal Iron pan that is missing most of it. I found a piece of plate steel that looks like it broke off a large flat 1/4" this disk. I found a not so old WD40 can. I found a pair of recent hand clippers. and misc. other iren nails and aluminum lids and such. I decided to try out the coin mode. I only had about another 20 minute to search anyway and I wanted to try another setting. So within about 5 minutes and 25 feet separating them I found a Zinc Lincoln Penny (Very Corroded) and I Clad Dime from what appears to say 2003. Oh well at least I know the coin mode works. Here is my photos from today. Let me know if you can ID the iron mold or pan part in the photo. Thanks

 

[Retired Fire]

Looks and sounds like one of my first hunts, digging it all so I could mentally ID targets with tones. Keep at it. I am not a big iron guy, so I disc the lower iron out, but I am not in Civil War territory like yourself. When I hunt in the East, I run All Metal and 2 tone on my F75. Do you have a pin pointer yet? What are you digging with? Have you looked at any historic aerials of the site to see how it looked in the past? I love that site and found aerials as far back as the 1950's from some local sites in Ohio.

GL & HH

I have a cheapo pointer from harbor freight that cost $17 on sale. It works pretty good but gives false beeps if I press it hard into dirt. I think it has a short or something. But if I am gentle and sweep a hole or plug it works great. No Vibration though. I want to save up for the Orange waterproof Garrett. I dig with a stainless steel garden spade that has a saw edge for root. It is a very strong spade and works pretty good. I also have a military collapsible shovel for deeper or larger holes. Yes I have been looking at historic maps from Google Earth and another online source that I am not impressed with. Google only goes back to 1992 in this area. Not much help but OK. Thanks for asking and the advice. This is what I need to improve.

 

[Loco-Digger]

I have a Harbor freight for the grand daughter to use when she visits in the summer. I also have a Bounty Hunter Pin pointer that I bought new in 2014. It works better as a paper weight since it has a max range of 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. The harbor freight model is better and has a better range. I would invest in a Lesche hand digger. I am right handed and have one with teeth on the left side of the blade since I cut plugs clockwise. They also make them with the teeth on the right side if you like that better. The shovel I used for a couple of years only cost me from $6.99 to $9.99 at do-it-yourself stores like lowes and others. Replacement handles cost more than the shovel, so I stop on trash days in town and remove a couple snow shovel handles, they are the same size and the price is right. I learned not to pry using the handle, but rather to grab the shaft before I pull. Your entrenching tool will work fine though. Many people use them. For a finds pouch I use a nail apron that can be bought as cheap as 88 cents each. Trash on the left and treasure on the right. I recommend you get a pair of knee pads even though you will only need to wear one and I also use cloth gloves that have rubberized palms and fingers. The last time I paid $10 for a pack of 10 pairs. I go through 2 to 3 pairs a season.

Example of the Shovel I have used for 3 seasons.



Gloves



Good luck

 

[Loco-Digger]

I have a cheapo pointer from harbor freight that cost $17 on sale. It works pretty good but gives false beeps if I press it hard into dirt. I think it has a short or something. But if I am gentle and sweep a hole or plug it works great. No Vibration though. I want to save up for the Orange waterproof Garrett. I dig with a stainless steel garden spade that has a saw edge for root. It is a very strong spade and works pretty good. I also have a military collapsible shovel for deeper or larger holes. Yes I have been looking at historic maps from Google Earth and another online source that I am not impressed with. Google only goes back to 1992 in this area. Not much help but OK. Thanks for asking and the advice. This is what I need to improve.

Check out this site you can enter an address or just the town and state, you also have choices of topo maps to review as well as aerial photos.


NETR Online ? Historic Aerials

 

[Retired Fire]

I have a Harbor freight for the grand daughter to use when she visits in the summer. I also have a Bounty Hunter Pin pointer that I bought new in 2014. It works better as a paper weight since it has a max range of 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. The harbor freight model is better and has a better range. I would invest in a Lesche hand digger. I am right handed and have one with teeth on the left side of the blade since I cut plugs clockwise. They also make them with the teeth on the right side if you like that better. The shovel I used for a couple of years only cost me from $6.99 to $9.99 at do-it-yourself stores like lowes and others. Replacement handles cost more than the shovel, so I stop on trash days in town and remove a couple snow shovel handles, they are the same size and the price is right. I learned not to pry using the handle, but rather to grab the shaft before I pull. Your entrenching tool will work fine though. Many people use them. For a finds pouch I use a nail apron that can be bought as cheap as 88 cents each. Trash on the left and treasure on the right. I recommend you get a pair of knee pads even though you will only need to wear one and I also use cloth gloves that have rubberized palms and fingers. The last time I paid $10 for a pack of 10 pairs. I go through 2 to 3 pairs a season.

Example of the Shovel I have used for 3 seasons.

View attachment 1400289

Gloves

View attachment 1400290

Good luck

Fantastic tips and info. Thanks so much.