Have folks forgotten how to pinpoint?

I've been watching some detecting videos. The typical hunter locates a target with his detector, digs a huge plug, and then goes crazy trying to find the small target with his pinpointer. And this is typical of most videos.

Why the huge plug for a coin?

Could be, just thinking out-loud, that under certain circumstances a large plug is better. For instance, if the target is deep a larger plug gives more maneuverability as you dig deeper. A larger plug can protect the grass roots from damage especially when the ground is dry. In a farmer's field or out in the woods cutting a small plug is probably unnecessary precision.

But to your point, there are some who cut large plugs in hopes of capturing the target because they do a poor job of pinpointing.

Any more details? Huge=? . Digging with a spade, or hand tools? Coins are a difficult target due to their flat shape. At the wrong angle (20 - 40 degrees from vertical?) they can pinpoint way off, maybe 3 or 4 inches at 10 inches depth. So an excessively small hole can result in "Lesche-damage". I guess if the end result after the hole is filled in, is a neat, barely-visible mark on the grass, then size is not that important.
For what it's worth, my holes are usually 6 inches across, maybe 7 if I think it's deep.

Pretty much what Pimento said.
...and the bigger the coil you use, the greater the pinpoint error on 'off-flat' coins.

mike

Pimento Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Any more details? Huge=? . Digging with a spade,
> or hand tools? Coins are a difficult target due to
> their flat shape. At the wrong angle (20 - 40
> degrees from vertical?) they can pinpoint way off,
> maybe 3 or 4 inches at 10 inches depth. So an
> excessively small hole can result in
> "Lesche-damage". I guess if the end result after
> the hole is filled in, is a neat, barely-visible
> mark on the grass, then size is not that
> important.
> For what it's worth, my holes are usually 6 inches
> across, maybe 7 if I think it's deep.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/07/2015 06:44PM by Mike in CO.

Some people are just lazy, sloppy or perhaps don't care...I have verbally jumped a couple of the locals and lets face it that's why parks etc. are being put off limits....Heck a trapdoor plug or even a screwdriver on shallow targets gets the job done neatly so we can return another day...Indeed if a target is deep the plug has to be much larger but with a drop rag and a little neatness even those can be done well...

some simply never learned in the first place. When I started detecting pin-pointers were virtually unheard of, so one literally HAD to learn good pinpointing skills. I also typically did peoples nice manicured lawns, and leaving a mess was a big big no no. My wife simply cant function without her pinpointer. I'd do just fine without it. I only use one when using my 4800, and that's mostly to locate nails in side walls.
I am also a fan of big plugs VS smaller plugs, especially in areas where having the plug stay put is important. Bigger plugs tend to heal better, and usually wont result in little dead circles of grass during dry spells. I've seen small shallow plugs sucked out of the hole by lawnmowers many times. I try to cut a fairly large plug deeper than the target, and leave as much dirt attached to the plug as possible. The grass will survive much better.

All some care about is how much silver they can get in a year. Don't care about the methods just get it out of the hole and the rest be damned! That's why in about 5 years or less won't be any public places left to hunt anymore so enjoy while you can. There's just too many People now a days who don't give a damn.

When I started detecting (40 years ago) pin pointing was an art. I would use a probe to find it and if it was less than 3" deep I would use the probe to pop it out. If it was deeper than 3" I would leave the probe in so I knew were
the coin was and that way I didn't have to dig such a big plug and I wouldn't hit the coin. Now days if someone gets a surface hit they right away pull out the digger.

Small plugs are a joke in some types of soil as the newer high powered high lift mowers will pull them out of the ground and chew them up . The size of plug within reason should not be an issue on deep targets but the clean up and replacement of said plug is most critical in manicured lawns both public and private. A bunch of dried out soil crumbs next to the best plug in the world is a sure way to get our hobby made off limits.

I like hunting old ready to be torn down or already torn down house lots. Really most of the places look like a Caterpillar loader derby was held there. As for pinpointing, most places I dig will have many pieces of metal in the dirt you dug so you just have to work through it. A lot of the time per the amount of metal you have to spread out the dirt like beach hunting to relocate the target with the coil narrowing down the area with the coil then go back at it again with a pinpointer. It's fun hunting through and around heavy equipment "with permission" mind you always. It's even better to be the watchful eye of the contractors when they are away as to any mischief that just might go on. Just give them a call to let them know and call the po po. You know you are on a fresh place when you can smell diesel fuel lol.

You make some good points.


Streak! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> some simply never learned in the first place. When
> I started detecting pin-pointers were virtually
> unheard of, so one literally HAD to learn good
> pinpointing skills. I also typically did peoples
> nice manicured lawns, and leaving a mess was a big
> big no no. My wife simply cant function without
> her pinpointer. I'd do just fine without it. I
> only use one when using my 4800, and that's mostly
> to locate nails in side walls.
> I am also a fan of big plugs VS smaller plugs,
> especially in areas where having the plug stay put
> is important. Bigger plugs tend to heal better,
> and usually wont result in little dead circles of
> grass during dry spells. I've seen small shallow
> plugs sucked out of the hole by lawnmowers many
> times. I try to cut a fairly large plug deeper
> than the target, and leave as much dirt attached
> to the plug as possible. The grass will survive
> much better.

Hey I use the pinpointer on my detector and then my hand held one it makes it faster

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Due to the mess some folks make, spades, shovels, large plugs.
The club as a whole fought with the City for years to once again allow detecting and of last year restrictions were placed on us again.
The City of London has now banned any metal detecting in any sports fields and in many local parks. We now have a small list of places the City said we can hunt.

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

I have this 2010 DVD by some Dankowski guy that shows the "Non Destructive Recovery Technique" that is really pretty good. It makes some good points on plugging and such. Its worth a look.
;-)

Past(or)Tom
Using a Legend, a Deus 2, an Equinox 800, a Tarsacci MDT 8000, & a few others...
with my beloved, fading Corgi, Sadie

A book could be written on this subject! We ALL must cover our holes and do it properly or risk loosing the freedom of detecting at all. Last year, after a good rain, I went to a local park to do a little detecting. What I found raised the hair on the back of my neck! Someone had detected the park and it was easy to tell that they had used a garden shovel to dig every target. They were worse than sloppy! Every bit of dirt was left just as it was dug out of the hole and every bit of trash was left sitting on the pile of dirt. No effort in the least was made to replace the dirt or remove the junk that was dug. It took me and my wife a good two hours to cover every one of these pits lift by the idiot.

Different hunting conditions, different soil, moisture conditions and grasses all make a difference in retrieval methods, different locations all require different methods of retrieval. You wouldn't dig a target in a manicured lawn the same way as you would in the back woods on private property. In the soil we have where I live, I can not dig a plug. The dirt sticks to the digging tool and the soil falls apart. But that doesn't stop me from being able to replace the dirt into the hole in a manner that is barely recognizable as being dug when I am through. It doesn't bother me to see the videos of someone digging a large plug as long as they properly cover the hole when they get through. I really can understand why digging a large plug is done in some instances, but I can't in others. If I lived in a location that could give some really old and valuable coins, and the ground conditions were right, I might dig a large plug just to make sure that I wouldn't damage the coin in any way. Makes sense to me. Where I mainly hunt is school grounds and parks and the clad that I find is mainly shallow. A few pokes with a screwdriver or Lesche and the coin is popped out without problem or concern of damage to the coin. A quick step on the dig location and one can not even see where the hole was. When our ground is dry, it is like concrete and one must chip the ground in chunks to get to the target and that makes it much harder to properly cover the hole but it can be done.

It would be nice if everyone did this but they do not. Too many people in the hobby either do not understand how important their retrieval method is or they just do not care. This is the case for our hobby or any other hobby or sport. You will always have them that do not care. It is our duty as good stewards if the hobby to clean up after others that would do harm to what we love to do, even if that means taking time away from a hunt to make things right.

XP Deus Full & MI-6
Teknetics Minuteman

Detectorist Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been watching some detecting videos. The
> typical hunter locates a target with his detector,
> digs a huge plug, and then goes crazy trying to
> find the small target with his pinpointer. And
> this is typical of most videos.
>
> Why the huge plug for a coin?


it's not necessary IF you pinpoint the target
properly to begin with!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

Streak! Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> some simply never learned in the first place. When
> I started detecting pin-pointers were virtually
> unheard of, so one literally HAD to learn good
> pinpointing skills. I also typically did peoples
> nice manicured lawns, and leaving a mess was a big
> big no no. My wife simply cant function without
> her pinpointer. I'd do just fine without it. I
> only use one when using my 4800, and that's mostly
> to locate nails in side walls.
> I am also a fan of big plugs VS smaller plugs,
> especially in areas where having the plug stay put
> is important. Bigger plugs tend to heal better,
> and usually wont result in little dead circles of
> grass during dry spells. I've seen small shallow
> plugs sucked out of the hole by lawnmowers many
> times. I try to cut a fairly large plug deeper
> than the target, and leave as much dirt attached
> to the plug as possible. The grass will survive
> much better.


i bought one (pinpointer() but i honestly don't know why!
i seldom use it!.so used to pin pointing with the coil over the years.
guess i was always pretty good at (coil) pin pointing,because as mentioned,
HAD to learn with out the benefit of pinpointer!

(h.h.!)
j.t.

Harold,ILL. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> All some care about is how much silver they can
> get in a year. Don't care about the methods just
> get it out of the hole and the rest be damned!
> That's why in about 5 years or less won't be any
> public places left to hunt anymore so enjoy while
> you can. There's just too many People now a days
> who don't give a damn.


harold!,unfortunately,this is true!

(h.h.!)
j.t.