WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?!.... dunce at schools....

[RiverRat]

Hi....I'm still a greenhorn and have tried to detect several schools...including elementary, middle and high schools...
All without much luck...
I've tried the playground areas, under the bleachers and along sides of sport's fields, entrance to school, etc....all without getting much except only minimal clad...I don't think the schools I've tried have been hunted much...
Yet I read so many postings that describe very successful hunts at schools....
.sooooooo ..WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
Please help!
Thanks...

 

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[Dan1033]

Are the schools old?

 

[Jarrett]

I've never had much luck at schools either. Except for clad. The older the school the better. I'm tagging along to see what I too am doing wrong

 

[Dan1033]

Try detecting away from all the everyday activity you might find an area where people walked a lot long ago. If your detecting where people walk a lot nowadays your gonna find a lot of clad.

 

[mr helton]

What makes you think the schools haven't been hunted much? I thought the same thing when I first started in the hobby, and as I progressed I soon realized that there's a huge and very active metal detecting community in my area who absolutely hammers all of the parks in school in the county.

 

[DeepseekerADS]

The key is perseverance. When I first began detecting, years ago, it was quite a while before I really found anything which inspired me. And I'd be with hunting partners who were hitting home runs every time we searched together. I'd say about a month of detecting regularly and things started changing. For one thing, my ear was finally tuning in - I was learning "detector speak"

And for another thing, I developed the courage to go out and try new places, ask permissions, get bolder.

If it ain't working - evaluate and do things differently. Field Of Dreams!!!

 

[OWK]

Sounds like you may have an issue with depth.

Or your school may have been heavily pounded already.

 

[gberl001]

I'll reply with the obvious, but likely not the answer. What detector do you have? Are you using it properly or has someone shown you when to adjust sensitivity or when to discriminate certain metals?

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

dont give up...I recently detected a ball field with a buddy of mine a couple weeks ago, It took us about 30 minutes before someone found a coin....not an hour later, i pulled out a Gold and Silver ring.

Patience is key.....if it sucks now, maybe try it a little later down the road. I know i hit areas that i have pounded out for years and sometimes, they still produce something

 

[WhiteTornado]

I'll reply with the obvious, but likely not the answer. What detector do you have? Are you using it properly or has someone shown you when to adjust sensitivity or when to discriminate certain metals?

Definitely agree on the sensitivity and discrimination settings. If sensitivity is set too high for the soil conditions, you could be overwhelming the detector in terms of all the return signals coming back to it from the ground. If you're in a trashy area, try a higher discrimination setting.

And as others have said, try different areas around the school grounds or different locations altogether. Hang in there.

 

[Carolina Tom]

I have done OK at the local schools. I found over a dozen silver coins at three old schools (incl: Franklin & Walker). These schools have been hunted by everyboady, for many years. I was told that I would not find anything but clad.
The others are correct... sens and disc are important, you won't find much if the machine is not set up correctly. I would also ask, are you doing well at other places, and just not doing well at schools? If you go to the park and find 30 clad coins, then find 5 clad coins at the school, I would suggest that the school has been hunted heavily and there are fewer targets for that reason.

A couple of keys for me: The school has to be old... not 1960s (you most likely will find only clad)... more like 1940s and earlier. The ground that you hunt needs to be undisturbed. If they have done constructions, and moved the dirt around, or brought dirt into the site, you might not find anything good. Look for big old trees, it is hard to get a bulldozer close to them without hurting them, so there is usually an area around them that is undisturbed. Look for old grass, it has thin blades and looks "patchier" than modern fescue grass. look for a hill, the kids seem to drop stuff on hills and MDers get lazy and don't hunt the hills aggressively. Look for "choke points" where the kids would have tto come together... school entrance, playground entrance and pathways leading to and from the school.

I hope that this helps. Remember that it isn't easy to find the good stuff... that is what makes it "good".

PM me if there is anything that I can do for you. GL&HH.

 

[mr helton]

That's all solid advice Tom!

I wanted to post again and say that don't take what I said as meaning that a place you aren't finding old coins at shouldn't be hunted. I have a single old park in my city, and 50% of the times I go there, there's at least one other person detecting already, and many of the guys pounding it have been doing so for 20 years and I've STILL found plenty of good coins by going slow, digging everything non-ferrous, and looking for areas that might be too bothersome for others.

 

[cudamark]

Hi....I'm still a greenhorn and have tried to detect several schools...including elementary, middle and high schools...
All without much luck...
I've tried the playground areas, under the bleachers and along sides of sport's fields, entrance to school, etc....all without getting much except only minimal clad...I don't think the schools I've tried have been hunted much...
Yet I read so many postings that describe very successful hunts at schools....
.sooooooo ..WHAT AM I DOING WRONG?
Please help!
Thanks...

First, make sure your detector will pick up deep coin signals. You may have to go to a beach or sand lot for that. Next, research the school to verify it's age. If it's junky, get a small coil and work it slow. If it's clean, old, and you're not finding old coins, it's been hunted heavily before. There still should be some left-overs if you slow down and dig the iffy sounds.

 

[RiverRat]

Wow...thanks for all the feedback, folks....
Currently I'm using a BH TrackIV, since my Pioneer 5 was stolen, but seemed to have the same results with both at schools...complicating the issue is the fact that ALL playground equipment now is metal/plastic, so it's very hard to pick up signals thru all that metal...same with bleachers...all metal...searching under them is almost impossible...
I hear what you're saying about the disc/sens...I'll experiment more and thanks for advice...also thanks for advice on year of school...current school I've tried was built in the 90's, but the old school (built in 30's, now a senior center) doesn't seem to give up much either...
I also agree that I may have a depth problem, since my poor little Tracker only goes to about 8-10" it seems...
Does anyone get much luck doing the whole sports' field?...i.e. baseball diamond, football/soccer fields, etc.? (other than Diggin n Dumps )
Awesome advice everyone....thanks..

 

[RiverRat]

Thanks a lot, tom...!...I appreciate your offer to pm you and will probably take you up on it...River Rat

 

[RiverRat]

Thinking about what many of you have mentioned about schools having been already pounded...The only reason I said I didn't think they had been hunted much is because I just never see anyone doing it...I live in a small (pop. 2000) town on shores of a very large lake..I see other hunters occasionally on the beach, but not at schools/playgrounds...but you're probably right...already pounded...thanks!

 

[foiler]

If you hunt the common areas expect your finds to be likewise.

 

[dirtlooter]

not all schools are created equal, I have been hunting one that is an older one but has had the ground recovered with new dirt to level it out and cover the rocky ground below, this makes for tougher hunting for sure but it is like the others have said, proper settings, slower detecting and digging everything. if you want the gold, you have to dig the trash and that does get old, the same for the nickles. I too wonder at times if I had a lot more expensive detector would I find more... yes and no. there are a lot of people finding a lot of really good stuff with cheaper detectors. you have to swing over it and also dig it, even if you are really sure of what it is or is not... sometimes you are wrong, really wrong. and there are a lot more people detecting than we realize so sometimes we have to think outside the box as well as really grid efficiently. almost sounds like I know what I am doing LOL but it is true Jerry

 

[masterjedi]

I was doing all of the school and old churches in the late 70's.... most have been done.. sorry...

 

[RiverRat]

Thanks....of course....!