Valuable Lesson Learned...

My minelab is SMOKIN! I've been hitting multiple silver almost every time out. Of course, the sites have something to do with it too. Which brings me to my point...

All of my longtime honey holes have been picked pretty darned thin by me over the years. I always manage to squeak out a keeper or two, but, man are signals sparse! I had this entire weekend all lined up - detectingpalooza I hit one of my best old standby sites Saturday & aside from a few wheats, I got skunked. So, I really wanted a fresh, new, can't miss site for today. Couldn't come up with one. So, decided to hit another one of my slim pickings sites. Thing is, I hit this place with my buddy & his son LAST weekend. We breezed through there and found nada. After that, I decided to take that place off my list. Glad I reconsidered

I decided since I had nowhere better for the day, I would slow WAY up, really investigate the iffiest of the iffiest signals & most importantly...to have fun. No pressure. Just enjoy the day. Now, I certainly wouldn't consider myself a speed demon when hunting, however, I DO have a naughty habit of going a wee bit fast. I'm also guilty of cherry picking (due to limited hunts & time) just those perfect, deep, faint 'silver' signals. Not today.

I must've looked like I was 95 years old lol. I purposely swept the coil so slow, that I heard each and every signal during my sweeps. It was like the Baywatch slow motion effect. No Pam Anderson though I also investigated almost any signal deeper than 3 or 4" - the silver range in my parts...no matter how choppy, one direction or terrible they sounded. And it paid off...

I wound up with 3 mercs, about 10 wheats, a neat Boy Scout pin & an old Boy Scout pocketknife. Dare I say, it was almost like a virgin site. On a place I was THIS close to forever closing the book on last weekend. Me & my hunting buddy like to think we're pretty good, but, this should drive home the point that anybody can improve somehow. Do just one or two things different to up the odds & make the hunt interesting.

Slooooooooow down & really investigate those crappy signals. It DOES pay off! And slow even more if you're swinging a Minelab, like me.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2013 02:11AM by njnydigger.

Congrats!! I can't wait, I too have little time to get out but Im flinging my gear on tomorrow and using your program! Cheers!

The 'attitude' (mindset) that you carry into the field (whether due to desperation.... or learning-curve 'want') can be more important than top-notch equipment.
(((This holds true for most things in life))).

Lets dial in personal attributes....for 8 years hunted with an XLT Guru and well he swung a hair short of weed wacking as in life he moved quickly...myself used a CZ and well just not a fast guy just naturally swung slowly. At the end of the season our pile of old coins were just about equal as he covered more ground and well I went deeper. In addendum it was a chore for him to swing slowly and a chore for me to swing fast so take that into consideration when ordering that new unit and guess thats why they make fast and slow units....

That was always my number one bit of advice for folks using the Sovereign...go Slllooooowwwww! I've worked a 10x10 section for hours. Gotta be in the right mindset for it.

deathray Wrote:
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> That was always my number one bit of advice for
> folks using the Sovereign...go Slllooooowwwww!
> I've worked a 10x10 section for hours. Gotta be in
> the right mindset for it.

Agree 100%, Deathray! Not something I could do - or would want to - on every hunt. However, if you're in the mood & if time prevails (or you're desperate lol) it is GREAT for pulling stuff up others were to lazy to investigate...or we're confused with and just gave up on

Perfect for those sites that are deemed 'hunted out'. Just as with me, there are a lot of hunters out there that cherry pick the deeper, sweet sounding signals. So, those fringe targets are left behind for those that take the effort to dig away. Matter of fact, those 'crapshoot' signals are quickly becoming my favorite. The element of "I wonder what in the heck THIS can be?" takes over.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2013 04:18PM by njnydigger.

Digger, I've been do that for years, I have limited sites and they are big, so I just keep going back and dig everything, I might dig iron all day, but the next time something good comes out of the groung where the iron hide it, the longer I do this, the more fun it is when I beat the site for just a great find, I don't have to find a lot, just find something I though that wasn't there

njnydigger, do you recall where the Fe-Co values fell for those coins that you found sweeping slowly? Higher Fe values? Were the good targets recovered deeper than those found in the past? That is, are you finding targets deeper by going slow or just getting better target separation at usual depth.

Johnnyanglo Wrote:
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> njnydigger, do you recall where the Fe-Co values
> fell for those coins that you found sweeping
> slowly? Higher Fe values? Were the good targets
> recovered deeper than those found in the past?
> That is, are you finding targets deeper by going
> slow or just getting better target separation at
> usual depth.

Honestly, I can't say I was finding a lot of deeper targets by going slower...although there were a few. I havent really been that concerned with attaining extensive depth while hunting. Rather, what IS surprising to me is just how many coins are popping up after digging trashy, mutilated, broken & even one way signals. Of course, I'm digging more junk too. The majority of these signals - I'd guesstimate 70%, turn out to be junk - deep iron, pull tabs & foil in the same hole, etc. - however, the other 30% is where the coins are appearing. Now on to the VDI question...

Again, these are terrible signals I wouldn't normally dig. The VDI numbers are varied but GENERALLY in the mid to high range...bouncy. The ONLY reason I dig them is the depth, anything deeper than say 3 or 4". This is the start of the older coinage strata here in New Jersey. The VDI was swinging from 18 to 36 to 22, down to 10, etc. Bear in mind, I'm using a Safari, so, silver normally shows up in the 37 to 39 range. This past Sunday, all the mercs & wheats I pulled were exclusively these types of trashy signals. The only possible explanation which makes sense is, the coins were too deep for the detector to I.D. properly, or, there was junk in the hole with the coin...therefore dragging the VDI numbers down or making the VDI jump around. The key - at least to me - was that there HAD to be at least a high number mixed in with the jumpy VDI, say, mid to high 30's AND it had to be more than 3" in depth. That was my cue to dig.

I normally dig these type of signals anyway on a hunt, however, I'm much more selective of it. For kicks, if you will. I HAD to dig these signals on Sunday, cause that's all that's left at this spot. And I was pleasantly surprised.

It's just as Tom always says, what's just out of a detectors range depth wise, or even masked by trash is astounding. As I previously mentioned, I'm an old silver hunter. In a perfect world, I wouldn't have to dig these iffy signals. However, with the passing years & the onslaught of new detectorists, those 'easy', clear, repeatable, deeper signals are getting hard to come by...cause they're the ones any good detectorist can find. It's the signals that are borderline or trashy that the other hunters pass up...due to laziness or uninformed technique. Yet, there's a LOT of goodies there just waiting to be unearthed if you're patient and willing to put in the digging.

This past weekend was an eye opener



Edited 8 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2013 01:53AM by njnydigger.

Folks read what Tom wrote a hundred times!! Very, very true indeed!!