You Never Know

I didn't have a particular place picked out to detect today, so I drove around to a few different spots this morning. I ended up at a small field that I've hunted dozens of times as have others. It's a small grass field that slopes up to a tree line at about fifteen degrees. The field is small measuring about 200' x 300'. In the past we have found some oldies there. The last 3 or 4 times, nothing, but I keep getting drawn back.
This is only my second try with the cz3d at this spot, previous times I had the f-75.
The ground here is on the hot side...very little movement on the GB knob. The field is mostly rocks under the topsoil, hard to dig.
About two hours (nothing to show) into it, I get a nice short 'ting' high tone. Walked around the target, high tones all the way. I dug through the rocks and down six inches put the pinpointer in the hole, still in the hole. Stuck the handigger in the hole and popped out a smaller plug and the beautiful glint of silver, even on a cloudy day. 1781 half reale in very good shape...you never know.

WOW, ozzie! Outstanding find!

Steve

WTG!
I know I'm jealous...

Sweeeeet. Congrats Ozzie!

I wasn't looking for attaboys, even though they don't get old, thanks guys!
My astonishment was the fact that this small area was hit hard for years. It would be like painting a wall with several coats of paint and missing this one little spot with every coat.... I guess if it were clear paint, it would be possible.

Exactly ozzie we all could use that 1 guy standing around pointing out that spot you missed! reale good story?

Cant be telling a story like that with no visuals...????
Pics please!

right there in that one area...

no matter how hard you hunt an area you have barely scratched the surface...

I myself cant stress enough that rehunting hunted out spot's will produce ...

remember that spot hunt it again repeatedly I'll bet there's something else there...


Good work

Keith

Once read you could hunt a football field for years and never cover it completely...Over the last 20 years hunted it many times in our local park....you guessed it right before the weather turned cold got a 40's Merc., and Buffalo nickle badly worn so indeed one never knows...and heres the kicker both were only several inches deep....go figger....

Keith --

You said:

Quote

no matter how hard you hunt an area you have barely scratched the surface...

I myself cant stress enough that rehunting hunted out spot's will produce ...

I find that fascinating. I have heard other long-time, experienced hunters say that as well. Even a very small area that you have just pounded to death can, according to you guys, still yield more good finds -- even after you thought there was NOTHING left...

I have yet to experience that, but I finally have a spot at which I hope to prove this concept to myself! It is a very small area that has recently produced over three dozen really nice coins, including this one:



At this point, after hammering this spot over several days, with two different guys running three different machines and four different coils, I am basically convinced that there isn't anything "detectable" left in this spot. I guess I will find out...

Steve



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2012 05:33AM by steveg.

Ozzie....big congrats. I know its a pain to post a pic.....but would love to see that reale. Ay Carumba Steve-O. Now thats a beautiful seated
Both you guys did awesome!!!!!

and yes sites are never hunted out....

the easy target's are got quickly ,,,,on just a few hunt's....the other target's are being hindered buy multitudes of different way's...endless masking posibilities are taking place inches even millimeter's below the soil....

Dont become discouraged if you come home empty on the next hunt in the same prior producing spot or even come home empty on the next dozen hunt's...

it will hit you out of nowhere one day...the right setting's the right temp the right time of year etc etc they will all combine to produce more keeper's...maybe just 1 or 2 but once you see that the target's are still there you will understand just how hard it is to hear the target's...

All detectors work on the same principal and the odd's are stacked against you when you turn the machine on.....they are very limited to what they can do...they are not magic wand's..I am actually amazed at what they can produce once you look at all the obstacles they have to go through to get a targett to report...

I have actually just for the fun of it I have blindly thrown a coin into a area maybe the size of 25 sqft and then tried to find it...sometimes I have found it and other time's I could not locate it......

If you could see all the target's in the ground in a hunt area without the dirt in the way in a 3 deminsional way and then scan your coil over the top of the target's you would become very discouraged....

You would say to yourself man look at the Morgan silver dollar down there11 inches deep...then scan the coil above and no report or at least not a silver dollar report......but what's wrong....well there's a nail 6 inches down dead on top of the dollar there's beaver tail 2 inches to the left right below that and uh-oh look out there's a serious size piece of fired 19th century red clay brick in the ground right beside the dollar ...not on top but beside it...all combines to create maybe a spit sound on the machine...too much processing taking place in a split second window...And that spit you hear more than likely is not the dollar coin...

Try this there's a 8 inch deep axe head or plow point or whatever ....then there's a 1 dollar gold coin 4 inches deep....guess what you cant hear the coin...you might hear a spit but it's not the coin doing it....


one good tip is whatever spit sputter target you chase after make sure you find it...dont give up and say oh thats a nail or a piece of flat iron...go after it get it out of the ground and remove it from the site...it might reveal another target...If not right then maybe in 2 year's once the soil settles back down and new halo's form...I see lot's of people dig stuff up then toss it back in the hole and cover it up....WHY? A simple put it in your pocket or in your pouch can and eventually will be rewarding ...

Get the idea...Use your head when hunting......if you dont there will be someone else come behind you eventually and dig that 5 dollar gold piece or super rare confederate button or whatever it may be..

Sorry to ramble but I could talk about this stuff for day's...

But no matter how much you read and study the true knowlege will be learned in the field though trial and error....


Basically what I am saying is dont give up on the productive spot's because of a few hunt's that does not produce even a piece of foil....SERIOUSLY!!!

Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/2012 08:22AM by Keith Southern.

She's a beaut steveg.
Picture?, well, I'll have to consult the son or wife on that one.

I am with you Keith. I am often just hit by the amazing nature that MDing works at all and how cool it is to find lost items 50 to 100 years buried.
I have mused on the effect of weather, ground moisture and large scale electrical factors. In one area I hunt there is a cell tower.
HH!
Tom

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

Keith, I think you and Tom need to get together and write a book or do a video.
I couldnt agree with your above words more. I went back to a old iron infested site I've been pounding for YEARS with the Etrac and incredibly, I found a 23' Merc and a 60' Rosie and a Wheat. Those were iffy sounds too (THANKS Albert!). That silver is even close to where it normally registers along with the wheats too. I need to do some more experimenting with setting.
I also dug alot others that turned out to be iron.

BTW...Am I the only one that has a hard time with old rusted screws? Especially the ones w rounded heads? To me they still sound decent and worth investigating.

Also, I checked another area I have pounded, found a pretty 34' Canadian penny and 3 other Wheats.

Man I love this Etrac!

I totally agree with you on the E-tracs I love mine also. Don't get me wrong I love CZ's and always have,But the E-trac is awesome in iron trash. I love the way it picks coins out of nails. It seems to really excel at it with the sunray x-8 coil. That is my all around favorite E-trac coil.

Hey Keith --

Thanks for the additional info (gives me the confidence to persist in this little area, and see if I can rescue one or two more targets...) I love reading your stuff...you are just BURSTING with amazing information and experience; I love it when you do a "brain dump..." I take notes!

Thanks, Terra and Ozzie. That's my only coin I've dug thus far with any appreciable "numismatic" value.

Aaron --

Those small, round, rusted bolts/screws with the round heads get me ALL THE TIME (it's not just you). It's hard for me to tell them apart from silver sometimes...at times they will sound "not so good" or even "null," from a very small sector while rotating around the coin doing the "Minelab wiggle," but most of the way around the "circle," they sound pretty doggone good, to me. Bent, rusty nails, too...

But, Aaron, what did you mean when, in parenthesis, you said "THANKS Albert?" What video did you watch that helped out on the "iffy" targets?

Steve

Steve,

Yes...those round head screws are a bummer, seems liken theres no way around them.

I think it was one of Alberts first Etrac videos where he was showing iffy signals that turned out to be good targets. When I had seen that I immediately could relate to it because I would get those signals often. It also helped me to realize that what is most important is the sound and I have since gone back and gone over sites I've already pounded and cant believe the stuff I (and everyone else) have missed. Today alone, I nailed 3 silver dimes (2 Mercs/1 Rosie) 6 Wheats and a 34' Canadian penny all in areas (iron infested)I have gone over more times than I care to admit. I really love the Quick Mask it really helps cut down on the iron digs.

HH!
Aaron

OK, Aaron...thanks much for the info. I'm going to check out Albert's videos, now!

Hey Albert, you don't happen to have all your videos "compiled" in one location, do you? Somewhere I could go, and watch them all, like a "youtube channel" or something?

Steve

Their all on YouTube Steve.

Aaron

Thanks, Aaron. Just found them and checked a bunch of them out. NICE VIDEOS, earthman!

Steve