TIPS FOR HUNTING HIGH TRASH/IRON CONTENT AREAS

[CHAPP12]

Hey Guys

I was going to see if anyone could help me out. I am hunting with a Garrett ATPro with 5x8 coil in some pretty trashy areas. I am the kind of guy that digs pretty much any good signal but I have several sites that I'm starting to hate and I know there's good stuff in the ground. One site in particular has given up a 1943 standing liberty half but man I had to dig 15 jar lids and about 20 lbs of iron/trash. I'm just thinking that if a half is in the ground, why am I not finding the dimes and quarters. Could be that the half had a high enough signal to reach out and chime through but I don't wont to miss the smaller coins by me doing something wrong.

I hunt usually in pro zero with the sensitivity max or pro custom 31 on discrimination with sensitivity max. I work very slow and by slow I mean very slow. I can't tell you how much big iron I've dug because as you work yourself out to the outside edges sometimes the atpro will give you a 80"s bleep that sometimes you can make repeat. I always think "heck i got to dig it because there might be a silver coin to the side of that trash.

If this is just common practice that you guys go through. I'm not trying to complain about having to dig but it would be nice to be able to hunt smarter.

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

the jar lids might be conductive material (if they are the old tin-soldered mason jar type, or the more modern copper screw on types). But as for the "20 lbs of iron", you must be doing something wrong. Because your machine should be able to reject iron, no problem. I mean, what are you doing? Hunting in all metal mode or something

Once you figure out how to reject iron, then be aware that masking could become a problem (if there's a literal carpet of iron nails and such there). And the way to alleviate some of that, is to a) turn your sens. down way low. b) use a smaller coil, c) use as little disc. as possible . eg.: so that you're accepting even down to foil.

 

[CHAPP12]

Tom thanks for the reply. As far as the "20lb of iron" that was exaggerated. There was a ton there but these are huge pieces that will ring up a big number on my detector. The jar lids are the old lids with the white glass inside and you have to dig those. They ring up about a 75 on my machine and possibly be a jar holding a coin cache.

Pro Zero is a all metal mode but will still give a low fuzzy sound on items 30"s and under. I use it because it's supposed to allow the detector to hunt a little deeper.

As far as your advice to turn down sens., smaller coil, use less disc. this is what I'm looking for. I hate to turn down the sens because I will lose some depth but I will try that.

I have a sniper coil which is 4.5 and haven't used it yet because of the size of these properties and I will also lose some depth but once again a good point.

Less Disc: I probably need to play with this some. 31 on my machine is a setting that I've talked with a few atpro users locally about and it will wash the nails out but still allow you to hear coins that are next to it. Also, at that setting I always dig foil signals which can range from the 40's all the way up to the 60's. That is gold territory and will always dig those signals.

Thanks again for you comments. I will be hunting this weekend and will change the coil out and run a few notches down on the sens. and see if that helps.

 

[fishnfacts]

I have the BH 2200 and being new to this I learned early what was a pull tab, or so I thought. Never tested it against gold until the other day and wouldn't you know it, a strong PT signal. Now I have to go back to all the areas I hunted and dig all the pull tabs looking for rings. One of these days I will upgrade to one of them high tech redneck detectors that will tell what is under that 4 inches of dirt before I dig but for now I will dig all them pull tabs with dreams of pulling up my first gold.

 

[CHAPP12]

You have to dig those pull tab signals. I haven't found any gold yet but it want be from not digging those pull tab signals.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... As far as the "20lb of iron" that was exaggerated. There was a ton there but these are huge pieces that will ring up a big number on my detector.....

Oh, well that'll TEACH YOU to exaggerate then, eh? haha. Ok: those larger pieces of caste iron (old caste iron stove part type chunks, etc...) can not be disc'd out by simply using iron disc. They're large enough that they over power the ability of the machine to reject iron. But as long as the iron is nail, bold, screw, and wire sized iron, sure, you can reject small iron all day long and night.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I have the BH 2200 and being new to this I learned early what was a pull tab, or so I thought. Never tested it against gold until the other day and wouldn't you know it, a strong PT signal. Now I have to go back to all the areas I hunted and dig all the pull tabs looking for rings. One of these days I will upgrade to one of them high tech redneck detectors that will tell what is under that 4 inches of dirt before I dig but for now I will dig all them pull tabs with dreams of pulling up my first gold.

fishnfacts and chapp12:

The trick to getting gold rings is not to "dig pulltabs till your arms fall off". It's already a "given" that aluminum and alloyed gold are both low conductors (size-per-size that is). Thus now, the trick is not to go to junky parks and dig low conductors till you go insane. The trick is to go to where gold ring ratios are better .... TO BEGIN WITH. If gold jewelry is your objective, then what the h*ck are you doing hunting junky inner city parks to begin with ? I know parks where the ratio of any gold to aluminum and rotted zinc would be 5000 to 1.

Thus the "trick" is to go to where you're more likely to find gold rings. As the old real estate saying goes: location location location. Namely: SWIMMING BEACHES. If you must do turf for rings , then be selective on the type of turf: namely soccer fields, and athletic type venues (where people do frolicking motions, take on and off their stuff for safekeeping, etc...) Versus picnicking/eating, which merely introduce a myriad of aluminum wrappings, tabs, etc...

I confess to cranking the disc. at junky parks, and going for old coins. Not gonna be a hero and try to rescue gold rings from certain venues. When I'm in the mood to angle for gold, I'll go to where gold is more likely: swim beaches.

Also fishn: there is no detector that can "tell you what's in the ground" or "ID gold versus aluminum". Despite what the Whites commercial says, trust me: no such machine exists

 

[DDancer]

Unfortunately no machine or coil will help in high trash or high iron area's to simply get the goodies and not dig the trash. Your tools will help however they are only going to give you an idea of what they are reacting to. If you are on a hunt that is pulling up good stuff the only way to find smaller good stuff or deeper stuff is to go Hero Mode and dig everything. The presence of other metals will mask smaller items. Discrimination wont alleviate masking by other metal targets under your coil... in fact it just helps mask those good materials because the detector will reject the goodie underneath the junk.

No one has developed a machine yet that can see thru masking but top end machines are good at picking things apart that are close together. Using a smaller coil helps. Paying attention to the ID as well as the Depth can assist in determining what's junk and what's not but your biggest help will be simply cleaning the site up slowly.

my thoughts.

 

[CHAPP12]

Thanks again guys for your comments. "Oh, well that'll TEACH YOU to exaggerate then, eh?" Tom I have been warned and it will not happen again.

DDancer, your point is well taken and I sort of thought that. I will just continue to hunt these old early 1900's house sites like I have been "dig frickin everything".

As I side note I picked up a Tesoro Cibola today, used, for my young son. I might even give this thing a try at these spots.

 

[DDancer]

Hehh No worries. Considering you digging on a old date area its going to be troublesome and I did not mean to be overly emphatic about my statements.

What kinda sucks is that with such old sites its not like an old park say.... I've hit many old parks and using ID and Depth readings I can pretty much nail down where certain types of junk lay and about what layer I really need to concentrate on to find the good stuff under it. Cant do that to an old home site. A hundred years or so is a lot of time for stuff to stack up. I had my druthers I'd take a road grader in and knock off the last 20 years then detect.

Luck with the Tesoro Hope it starts hoping outta the ground at ya.

 

[Silver Searcher]

A good quality detector will sift through the trash better than a cheap one, you will of course still dig the trash but it will filter out the better signals, especially if you can turn the iron volume up to listen to the duller iron tones. Our Saxon sites are always heavily infested with lots of iron, yet the tiny 8mm stycas and sceats still show through clearly.

SS

 

[Tom_in_CA]

A good quality detector will sift through the trash better than a cheap one...

Well, yes and no. It depends on what you mean by " ... sift through the trash better ..." Because the best more powerful highest quality depth demons will, yes, ID better at depth, have more whistles and bells, etc... But believe it or not, some of those power-house depth machines aren't necessarily good at target separation or see-through-ability. That comes with the territory. Because the minute you start having "balls-to-the-wall-depth", that simply means you're "seeing more ground". And the minute you're "seeing more ground" is the minute you increase masking potential.

So for certain ghost-townsy nail-riddled environments, it's often the opposite of what you're saying. For example various Tesoro 2-filters aren't known for depth, lack ability in minerals, etc.... Yet they will beat the pants off an Explorer if you put a silver dime behind a nail or two. They have a better averaging ability, separating ability, etc.... But this comes at a cost of lack of depth, lack of whizz-bang TID graphs and such, etc....

 

[Silver Searcher]

Well, yes and no. It depends on what you mean by " ... sift through the trash better ..." Because the best more powerful highest quality depth demons will, yes, ID better at depth, have more whistles and bells, etc... But believe it or not, some of those power-house depth machines aren't necessarily good at target separation or see-through-ability. That comes with the territory. Because the minute you start having "balls-to-the-wall-depth", that simply means you're "seeing more ground". And the minute you're "seeing more ground" is the minute you increase masking potential.

So for certain ghost-townsy nail-riddled environments, it's often the opposite of what you're saying. For example various Tesoro 2-filters aren't known for depth, lack ability in minerals, etc.... Yet they will beat the pants off an Explorer if you put a silver dime behind a nail or two. They have a better averaging ability, separating ability, etc.... But this comes at a cost of lack of depth, lack of whizz-bang TID graphs and such, etc....

I wouldn't know about a power house depth machine I don't own one, all I know is a better quality machine will find tiny silver coins of 8mm in fields that have seen 2000 years of trash and iron occupation. Perhaps if more of you learnt the headphones more, instead of target numbers and readings, you would know what I mean.

SS

 

[empty_pockets]

I would have to say a detector with a high recovery speed like a tesoro, small coil and limited hours spent in this area. Set your discrimination low and dig all signals...Come back at a later date and pick up where you left off.....One good thing about this site, if it is as bad as you say, you will be the only person and if there is goodies, it will be a hard won battle...... ...Or like this poor old guy, nothing to show but cuts, bruises and a good night sleep.

 

[Beachbrat]

I am new to metal detecting. I have purchased a Garret Ace 350 and have only been out for a few hours. I have found nothing of great value accept a few coins. Great fun!!! Why is it that most have the
AT Pro and not the 350? Did I buy the wrong detector? What is the differences that make the Pro so popular?

 

[CHAPP12]

sucess!!!

Sorry guys for not replying earlier but I've have been covered up.

DDancer I was just messing with you on the statement I made. It has been tough hunting on these 2 sites but you always hope for that easy site that just gives up relics and silver every signal. Well we all can dream.

Silver Searcher I agree with you all the way on that a higher quality machine will sift through the junk better and I don't own any of the high dollar machines that are able to go deeper. Tom makes a great point though in saying a deeper machine will just cover a deeper area filled with trash. I think on these properties that my Dad and I have been the only ones to hunt should be worked in layers. Use the at pro now and pull out the junk and find the good stuff at their level OF capability and maybe later, if I can afford it, work on the deeper stuff. When your lucky enough to know a land owner that trust you and doesn't let anyone else hunt you can take your time and do this.

Emptypockets I don't know if you use a tesoro but i will have to give these a nod. I am going to make some garrett machine owners mad but who cares I am one. There is a machine for every job and this machine is super easy to use and the disc. is awesome. I read some past post about how to set this machine up and found a quarter in some trash about 8" that my at pro wouldn't pick up (tested the hit with both machines). There is something to be said in certain situations about using a single tone detector. I'm not giving up the at pro as my #1 machine but I think the tesoro is a wonderful machine FOR ME to compliment it.

Beachbrat You didn't make a bad decision. I have a friend that hunts with a 350 and has found a ton of relics and coins. The reason I chose the pro was that I could water hunt with it.

Now for the exciting news. On one of the sites that I've been griping about Dad and I had a wonderful day. I dug 5 civil war bullets in a nailed invested area and my Dad (that old dog) pulls a beautiful 1900 barber dime out at the end of the hunt. I thing I will post more because I think you guys give some luck. Here is a pick of the 5 3 ring bullets I pulled out. Thanks guys for the great comments and advice.