Ring Hunting (and finding!)

[MtnBluBrd]

It is my goal to find a ring- I have not found a single one! A million pulltabs and a bunch of clad in the tot lots and parks but not one ring. I know there are detectorists on here who could write a book on this. I am amazed at the finds and the numbers that Iskuli and others are pulling up. I could sure use some tips! Any info on ring and jewelry detecting is greatly appreciated!

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

MtnBluBrd, I feel your pain All too often the "recipe" given for finding jewelry on these forums, is to "turn down the disc. all the way down, to only reject iron, and go to junky parks, and dig till your arms fall off". This admonition is nothing but a recipe for torture! Oh sure, gold rings tend to read down low, and yes, if you knock out foil and tabs, yes you'll also knock out gold rings. But this is only a small portion of the recipe!

The rest of the formula should be in choosing the right spots, where jewelry ratios are higher TO BEGIN WITH! And junky blighted inner city urban park turf, is NOT the place to "be a hero" and try to dig gold rings from the mass of aluminum shrapnel. I know of parks where the ratio would be multiple hundreds of aluminum, to any one gold ring. Simply not worth it.

The best place to find jewelry, is swimming beaches. Either lakes or ocean beaches. Because think of it: a) people frolicking around in cooler waters, which shrink fingers. b) people lathering up with slippery suntan lotion (which lets jewelry slip off easier) c) people frolicking around pitching frisbees, volleyballs, etc... with their arms flailing about d) people in un-natural "prone" positions, as they lie flat on beach blankets, horizontal for swimming, etc... which let necklaces, bracelets, etc... off easier e) and my favorite: people taking off their jewelry for "safekeeping", before they go swimming, sports, etc... A LOT of jewelry gets lost this way, as people hide their jewelry in their shoes they've taken off, or other such "safe" places

Another place where its decent (yet not as good as swimming beaches), is sandboxes, particularly volley-ball courts. Perhaps there might still be a deal of aluminum trash in urban sandboxes, but you can't argue with the speed of target recovery in sand, which is very fast (when compared with trying to dig holes in turf).

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey, looking at the avatar, I'm guessing there's not a lot of opportunity for rings out that way!

Playgrounds, sand, woodchip, volleyball courts. Ones that are active and little-hunted, maybe you can get into doing one or two that are on private properties, condo complexes or even work or service facilities. One of the sites where I used to work had 4 fairly active volleyball courts. I know no one but me hunted those. Easy pickings to be sure but I gave the bling back to the onsite staff for the L&F file.

Such sites are constantly renewable, though after the initial few hunts the finds slow to a crawl. But that's just because you find yourself being drawn back to them after having good hunts the first few times.

 

[mlayers]

Yes beaches and shallow water is where I find 90% of my rings. The other 10% is in parks and tot lots. And yes I dig a lot of pull tabs in the parks.....Matt

 

[Smudge]

If you are digging pull tabs, you are set up to dig rings.

Rings are scarce and you may well dig over 200 pull tabs before you ever hit a ring. No joke.

You simply haven't dug up a ring because you haven't swung your coil over one, of that I'm sure.

Do you have any beaches, fresh or salt, around you? Those areas can often prove the most productive!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Smudge, you say:

"Rings are scarce and you may well dig over 200 pull tabs before you ever hit a ring. No joke."

This would be true of blighted urban park turf, perhaps (heck, even 500 to 1 can slaw/tab/foil cr*p for each ring). But I have seen beach erosion conditions where ..... after JUST the right erosion conditions, where mother nature only leaves the heavier items on the wet, and washes out all the light stuff (even zinc pennies are gone), leaving only coins, keys, fishing sinkers, etc... When conditions like that happen, believe me, we're "holding our breath" when we get foil type & tab signals. Because they're either going to be a nickel, or ..... hopefully ... some gold. There is simply zero foil, tabs, etc... in conditions like that, leaving your "mind to wander" each time we get those funky low signals. That same "funky low signal", in blighted inner-city junky parks, will 99.9% of the time, be aluminum cr*p.

So to tell someone "dig all the foil and tab signals", is only a VERY small part of the recipe, for finding gold rings. That part almost goes without saying. The much bigger factor, is WHERE a person hunts.

 

[Smudge]

Smudge, you say:

"Rings are scarce and you may well dig over 200 pull tabs before you ever hit a ring. No joke."

This would be true of blighted urban park turf, perhaps (heck, even 500 to 1 can slaw/tab/foil cr*p for each ring). But I have seen beach erosion conditions where ..... after JUST the right erosion conditions, where mother nature only leaves the heavier items on the wet, and washes out all the light stuff (even zinc pennies are gone), leaving only coins, keys, fishing sinkers, etc... When conditions like that happen, believe me, we're "holding our breath" when we get foil type & tab signals. Because they're either going to be a nickel, or ..... hopefully ... some gold. There is simply zero foil, tabs, etc... in conditions like that, leaving your "mind to wander" each time we get those funky low signals. That same "funky low signal", in blighted inner-city junky parks, will 99.9% of the time, be aluminum cr*p.

So to tell someone "dig all the foil and tab signals", is only a VERY small part of the recipe, for finding gold rings. That part almost goes without saying. The much bigger factor, is WHERE a person hunts.

What you say is correct in the right setting.

However, most detectorists live no where near a beach so your scenario would not apply to them.

There are certainly circumstances where you chances for gold increases, like beach erosions after storms (as you said) or areas where festivals and carnivals have just finished.

But your average weekend hunter isn't going to be in that position often, so your pulltab to gold ratio is going to be very high.

 

[Sandman]

Tom is CA is 100% right in finding gold rings. Where you are hunting makes the biggest difference. You can get a sampling here.....http://www.nmhra.netfirms.com/pulltab/

I occasionally find a gold ring in tot lots or volleyball courts, but lots better are freshwater swim areas because the swimmers are concentrated into a smaller area than a huge salt water beach. Baseball and soccer ball fields are good too because players aren't ripping off as many pull tabs.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Smudge, you say: "..... most detectorists live no where near a beach .... " But notice I was clear to say that I was not only talking about ocean beaches, but also fresh water swimming beaches. I don't know of anywhere in the USA (barring death valley or some bizzare place), where there isn't a river or lake within reach. True, not all will have swimming areas (because perhaps they are strictly fishing, etc....). But still though, the recipe goes for fresh-water swimming creeks/lakes, not just those next the Pacific or Atlantic oceans

Sandman, you make a good point: not all turf is equal either. The worst possible areas to think you're going to be a hero and get a gold ring in the turf, is next to picnic areas and BBQ pit type zones. Those zones are distinctly where people are cooking (read "foil" covering food they've brought), and eating (read pulltabs and more foil). You'll find a decrease in aluminum junk way out in sports field, where less likely that people are opening up their sodas, un-wrapping their sandwhiches, etc... Yet flailing around athletically. Sand pits of any sort are better than turf, because they're easy digging (no sweat to dig tiny foil with fears of making a mess), and because people thrusting their hands into sand (like to build sand castles) aids in the loosing of jewelry. Also don't forget that sand is the easiest medium to loose something in. Unlike turf, where you can potentially still look down, and see the ring you just dropped, sand ...... on the other hand ...... "swallows up" items dropped even from waist height. Just the weight of a dense item, dropped from waist height, your item will be gone from view. I've hunted for people who lost a ring before, who actually saw where it got flung to. They thought "this will be easy, we saw where it landed". But to no avail, when they went to the spot, and looked down, they were forced to drop to their knees, and start blindly raking with their fingers. 10 or 15 minutes later, they really weren't even sure where they'd started, as all sand started to "look the same" Unlike turf, where ..... although it can obscure an item too, yet not nearly as efficiently as sand will do

 

[MtnBluBrd]

Great advice and insight. I need to better steer my hunting toward any kind of fun in the sun sand areas. I have tried some volleyball courts and lake beaches but just haven't pulled any jewelry yet. I realize that it is Where I go that is key and appreciate the advice there. Is there anything that you have found in programing that has been helpful in zoning in on rings? Such as ways you have tweaked the initial coin and jewelry program to your benefit? I am working with my DFX to find a good set up for me.

Hey, looking at the avatar, I'm guessing there's not a lot of opportunity for rings out that way!

Nope no rings on that trip. The High Uintas - theres more than rings in them thar hills …

Thanks for the pointers. Anyone's two bits can be golden.

 

[XL-PRO PRO]

I agree that inland sand beaches are probably the best place to find jewelry.If you are finding pulltabs,that is a definite plus.Dig all vdi's above zero and you''ll find the gold.I dug seventeen gold rings last year using this method.silver jewelry will ring in the coin range.DBULL

 

[paul of Penna]

I would add that the best place (once you've located a beach) will be in the water, deeper than the wasteline. Not to suggest that you won't find some in other areas, but when you watch people as they enter the water, they usually go slow untill just about the wasteline (to avoid a sudden AAHHH!!)
then they will often dive forward and thrash (swim) for a bit, or go under water for a bit before surfacing again, then wipe their eyes, or whatever. As the water soaks the hands, they lose the ring, and can't seem to find it!
Same when leaving.....they start toward shore, and make short dives repeatedly until about waste deep, then stand and walk out.
I have found some (ooops!) towel flips, occasionally, but many are lost without knowing even fuagely where it may was that they lost it.
If you're digging pull tabs, you are going to find the most of the rings your coil goes over.
Good hunting!
Paul