Rossiter, how do you know it's virgin grounds that have never been hunted? Is it because that's what the current owner tells you?
If there's any hunters in your area, worth their salt, it's probably been hunted before. Many times, in my 35+ yrs of this, I've heard people say "it's never been hunted before". Yet I know, for a fact the places have been. It's usually a case of the current owner not knowing (because perhaps it was hit before he owned it). Or it was hit, and he just doesn't know. Like perhaps someone else (his wife, his son, a ranchworker who felt he had say-so to let his buddy, etc...) gave permission in the past. Or .. quite frankly ....... sometimes people just do it (like if it's not fenced, and sitting right on the side of the road).
I even had the following humerous thing happen: When I first started in the mid 1970s, I worked the yard of an old home with my first detector (a 66TR). An elderly man had answered the door, and gave me permission. I recall getting a few wheaties, clad, and maybe a silver or two.
Then a few years later, when I got my first discriminator (a Groundhog), I was wanting to try it out at a zone where I knew I'd given a thorough going over with my 66tr. So I decided to try that same yard again. This time, when I knocked on the door, an elderly women answered the door. And as she said "yes", she added ".... and it's never been detected before". I didn't bother correcting her. (I assume the elderly man, from a few years earlier, had been her husband). I got a few more wheaties and silver.
Then flash forward to the mid 1980s, and I had the latest greatest motion discriminator, and wanted to put it through its paces at a place where I figure I'd pounded in the past, for comparison sakes. So again, I went to that SAME yard, and knocked on the door. This time, a middle age couple answered the door. They explained that the home was their parents, who had moved on to an assisted living care place or something. But they said they're sure it's ok, so to help myself. And as they wished me luck, they added: " ... and no one's ever detected it before". Doh! I got a last buffalo nickel, and a token
So you see, in each case, each person would swear that they know, for sure, their info. Why? Because in their mind, they're certain that even if someone else had given the ok, then *certainly* THEY would have heard about it. Doh!
