Who really cleans up ALL the trash they find metal detecting?

[Higgy]

If I dig it, I take it. This year my goal is to keep everything I dig, and at the end of the year, photograph it all - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I don't know how many times I've been out detecting and had to walk back to the truck to empty my trash pouch. This year I will separate it all, but keep it all and write a little pictorial about it. Its funny, but I think we can learn as much about the trash that we dig as we can about the good stuff.

 

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[dirtfish.magoo]

I keep everything. Sort the aluminum, brass, copper, and iron in buckets. Once a year I go to the scrap yard and unload.... it pays for my new pinpointer every year..

 

[diverrick]

If it will fit in my bag, I take it. I put all my finds in a fish bowl in my shop and sometimes take it all out and go through it all A lot of the time I can recall exactly where and when I picked it up, and it brings back memories. Biggest finds so far is a axe head, and a plumb bob. I did find a really old rubber hose with wire wrapped around the rubber on the outside for strength. It was buried in the gravels of a river. Must be from the olden days. Too big to move, so I left it for some other explorer to find. Of course large car parts and old riveted hydraulic mine piping I also leave. Too big to even move at at times.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I believe it is very important to remove dug trash and properly fill/cover all plugs, our public perception of the hobby depends upon being mindful of the hunting surroundings. I feel for Gold Maven, I've filled in many holes for lazy people "too important" to fill in holes and remove trash. I was once told by another detectorist "I leave the trash for you guys to pick up".

 

[Davers]

I wish everyone that hunted sites around where I live had this attitude. . . (and filled their holes)

LOL!!!!! FOR REAL THO!!!

 

[Davers]

I keep anything that I can easily carry. I'm sorry though, I WILL keep pulltabs and other small trash but I usually just toss all the crushed cans I find as far as I can.

Same here.
I carry out 95% of what I dig (small enough) Large Cans & large Iron is usually put into a pile near a tree or fence (easily Seen).
Most places I go ,one would need a Contractor trash bag to carry out all the trash, not to mention all the old tires ,Grills,Farm Equipment Etc. 'Paint buckets & pails are everywhere. Still with paint in them.
Also many times i,m a mile or more from my car, I would carry out many of the Bottle caps with Glass still on them BUT!!! Only in Parks.

P.S. I hate Plastics but then again ..........

 

[jeff of pa]

why wouldn't you ?

do you wanna dig it again?

besides that piece of iron you admit to littering in the bush, may have turned out to be a relic, you didn't recognize in the field

no matter how large or how small , it comes home with me.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I carry out all trash, don't want to have to dig it twice..

 

[Rawhide]

To the guy who is re burying his pull tabs and bottle caps, I found a coin spill under one of your holes. What is wrong with people, you dug the hole, you took the time to put trash back in the hole? You just gonna walk over it again. Also for the uneducated buddy mothers who would bury their trash, I have a two modes that punch right through your hard work. It also takes me 2 seconds to clear your hole.....being mean and stupid makes you feel better? Good lord get happy, have fun with it. Number your pulltabs, give em names, melt em down into a button, see how many you can find, just cart out the trash. Who ever you are, you are giving us all a bad name. BTW, I really can hunt your trash and find keepers.

 

[finderskeepers]

I'd say 99% of the time, it comes out with me. I usually have a pouch on my waist with separate compartments for trash/treasure...and a small backpack for larger trash.

 

[K1DDO1979]

Very good responses coming on this thread. Seems like almost everyone on here cleans up what they can most of the time which is a great thing! [emoji2]

 

[Tnmountains]

It really depends on where I am hunting. Some places there is no way possible to get the large iron out. One place I hunt in the water is beside CW rail road tracks and the spikes,plates,bolts and such would sink my kayak. I will hunt an area clean and then pile it all right there back under the water. It sounds bad but I make up for it on the River Rescue clean up days with my duck boat. A man can only carry so much!


Boat load of trash

 

[coinman123]

To the guy who is re burying his pull tabs and bottle caps, I found a coin spill under one of your holes. What is wrong with people, you dug the hole, you took the time to put trash back in the hole? You just gonna walk over it again. Also for the uneducated buddy mothers who would bury their trash, I have a two modes that punch right through your hard work. It also takes me 2 seconds to clear your hole.....being mean and stupid makes you feel better? Good lord get happy, have fun with it. Number your pulltabs, give em names, melt em down into a button, see how many you can find, just cart out the trash. Who ever you are, you are giving us all a bad name. BTW, I really can hunt your trash and find keepers.

I agree, I was at a place where that happened. I got a signal but it was on an freshly dug plug, I thought it was a silver coin that someone gave up on for some reason, it turned out to be a can 1.5 feet deep that someone put back in.

Also, I name my pull tabs, I have Bob, Jerry, Fred, The Other Jerry, and King George.

 

[1shotwade]

I hope I can say this right without stomping on anyones toes. If I do it isn't intentional.
I'm totally new to this and have a lot to learn.I know that I should did ALL signals. My primary interest is finding coin so I'm going to put in a lot of extra time digging trash. That's how you learn. After watching literally hundreds of youtube clips I am beginning to change my mindset about metal detecting and the equipment used.I couldn't count the times I have seen some guy find a really nice piece and when asked what kind of signal he got, it basically rang up as trash.
Now if I change my mindset and become a "relic" hunter,and dig everything,it'll take a lot more time and a lot more digging but I'll still find just as many coins and won't be leaving other good finds in the ground.Now on the touchy subject of equipment,if I do this I can't see why i will need anything newer or better than my old white's 4900D.Now I know you all love your machines and that's fine but is it really necessary to spend that kind of money and go to the field and just dig the beat signals and possibly leave goodies behind? When you are doing that the only thing you are saving is time,and that time is costing you the price of the items you left in the ground. Beside all that,I'm not getting into this to feel pressured and have to rush from one signal to another. I don't thing that is what it is all about.It is not akin to basketball but rather more akin to golf.
Hope you all understand what I am trying to say and realize it is not meant as a put down.And so the answer is yes. Dig it all and take it all with you.

Wade

 

[Rawhide]

To answer your reply 1shotwade, dig the signals you want. Dig 10 minutes of all signals, then dig just good clean repeatable signals. Your time and machine, if you walk over it, it will be there tomorrow lol.

As for equipment, between my vintage bounty hunter and new and improved F75, there is differences. But I would still be able to hunt with my old Bounty Hunter. The new DST and modes do make a difference in a new machine. But time with your machine is more important. If you are not confident with your machine, then you wont dig. I do move fast and count my keepers to trash ratio constantly. I like to work a area real slow at least once a month, then hit it a few times at the busy areas of the spot.

If you are just digging coins, you are set. I would not have found those earrings I found today with my old Bounty Hunter.

 

[Higgy]

It really depends on where I am hunting. Some places there is no way possible to get the large iron out. One place I hunt in the water is beside CW rail road tracks and the spikes,plates,bolts and such would sink my kayak. I will hunt an area clean and then pile it all right there back under the water. It sounds bad but I make up for it on the River Rescue clean up days with my duck boat. A man can only carry so much!
View attachment 1141608

Boat load of trash
View attachment 1141609

I'll admit there was one instance that I left something last year, but I'll go back and get it this year.

I was hunting the river under an old defunct bridge that was built around 1900. I had a loud hi-toned signal, and dug up a couple huge old-timey electrical power meters like the kind they would have put on a building back in the day. Really old, and crusty with river goo. Pretty cool, but I left them there because I was late to get back and make lunch for my elderly mom. They're wedged between a couple huge boulders, so I'll go back and get them as soon as I get the gumption to get into cold river water. Even with a wetsuit, river water always seems colder to me. Weird?

 

[Tnmountains]

I am not out on a trash clean up I am out on a treasure hunt. That does not mean pick up what I can.

 

[K1DDO1979]

I am not out on a trash clean up I am out on a treasure hunt. That does not mean pick up what I can.

 

[BigWaveDave]

There is a site that I hunt, along the back property line is a pile of old beams, that were the original foundation of the house... sometimes I dig up targets that are too big for my finds pouch, so I got a pile of metal on the side of the beams. It is a neat pile, because when I try to throw a chunk of metal, I am reminded how my shoulder and elbow hurt, and my effort is way off target..so I gently pile my trash there. Long copper pipes, you know, stuff like that. Its an old homestie, I am cleaning it out once and for all.

 

[TheRingFinder]

I do the best I can......