New to Metal Detecting...

[DragonsLair]

Whats the best way for a beginner to start out in metal detecting and what should I learn about it first?

 

[Woodland Detectors]

A. Buy one that's in your price range. From a ~~REPUTABLE DEALER~~(very important!) It's kind of like buying health insurance. You can buy insurance from a personal agent you can make friends with and call Anytime. OR, buy from a lizard You'll never be able to talk to or see face to face.
B. Ask the dealer," If I buy this machine from you, are you willing to take me in the field to demonstrate how it works"?
C. If they aren't ... Dump them
D. Practice!!!

It's really easy. Oh yeah, cover your holes. Because if you don't, there is a crew that just drives around parks and stuff wearing black suits and sunglasses. Looking for holes. And if they see holes left by a irresponsible detectorist? Ohhhh brother. They then have a way to track you down. They come to your house....Black suits I'm telling you. I wont tell you the rest because it's really ugly and messy.

 

[mlayers]

Also I agree with 4-H get a detect in your price range. See if there is a club cloe by to go to. Or if there is someone close to you that you can get to know and go with to do some detecting with. Learn from them. It don't say where you are at. As I have extra detector and always welcome new detectorist to come along and see what it is all about. That way you an try a couple detector and see what you like and don't like. Plus I would also like to say Welcome to Tnet and have fun.....Matt

 

[DragonsLair]

Thanks. I appreciate the advice. Im located in northeastern wisconsin.

 

[Da Sand Crab]

1. PATIENCE

2. PERSERVERANCE

3. SUCCESS WITH ANY METAL DETECTOR.

 

[Silver Searcher]

1. PATIENCE

2. PERSERVERANCE

3. SUCCESS WITH ANY METAL DETECTOR.

AND A LOT OF LUCK 8)

SS

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Try to hook up with persons in your area who come in with the oldies. Ie.: not just sandbox or clad hunters, but guys who routinely come in with the oldies. See if they'll let you tag along. Trade off flagged signals, see & hear what they're listening for. See what type places they're hunting, and how they researched them out, etc....

 

[capt1989]

Don't rule out research! On those rainy/cold/frozen Wisconsin days, check out the local online historical sites, go to the library etc... get yourself prepared for the spring thaw! Good luck and HH.

 

[gilgar]

As a relative newbie myself, I'd say read the Treasure net forums religiously. I was lurking here for almost a year before I finally bought a detector. I learned a lot from these posts and am still learning. In addition, it gets you excited about hunting. There are even sometimes now when I want to go but just don't feel like getting off my butt and then I read a few threads, get excited again and I'm out there. I think it helps to be a treasure hunter to begin with whether it be hunting garage sales, thrift stores or always scanning the ground for change and stuff. If so, you know that you don't always find great things everytime.

If you're not sure you'll stick with it, buy a used detector at a garage sale or thrift shop. A good digging tool is a must and as I learned here, the Lesche digging tools are great. Got one on eBay pretty cheap and it really improved my hunting experience vs. the old garden trowel I was using. Also don't think you have to have a high dollar detector to find things and have fun--that kind of thinking held me off buying one for awhile. In fact now, I've been tempted to upgrade but considering the kind of sites I have to hunt regularly and the luck I'm having with what I have, I haven't seen a real need to yet.

Hunt every chance you get including places you already visited. You'd be surprised how you keep finding things you missed before. Plus be realistic, the stuff found here is great but if you're hunting schools from the 1970's on, you're not going to find Roman stuff, turn of the century relics or civil war stuff. However you will find modern change, pull tabs, pencil erasers and if you're lucky, some silver and gold jewelry--the chase is better than the catch (well, most of the time)

As stated above, patience and persistence. I think flexibility helps too, sometimes I'm out hunting and get really bored or just plain tired of digging everything and getting pulltabs & trash so to keep it from becoming a chore, I turn up the detector and just hunt for dimes & bigger. If I go to a school or park, I like to hit the playgrounds first and find a bunch of change to get me psyched up before I hit the big fields--many times I find more in the fields than I do in the wood chips

The excitement for me is in getting a signal, not knowing for certain what it will be, and then digging and searching till you find the target. If you enjoy that feeling, than anything you find is a bonus.