Learning as I go: Jumping in the Middle

[Captain]

I am not sure what you guys think or thought when you first started MD'ing but for me, diggin pull tabs and bottle tops isnt feeding my addiction.
I was wondering; I noticed when I search an high impact area I have started with high dics and once done, I come back and run thru with less dics.
I personally didn't not want to learn by diggin pull tabs so I when the opposite direction-I know I can find a coin with in an inch of the tone and blew off anything under +70 - 85% of the time. Im now working my way backwards to figure out to pick of jewelry. I am just now finding nickels - only because I read that nickels come under +18.
I was wondering if you guys can share some other favorite numbers in the area of acquiring jewelry. maybe ingeneral low numbers to pay attention to. Jewelry reads differently once in the ground. do you dig deep for low numbers or does it matter to you?

Question: how deep with you dig an hole for an target? Do you Disc you dept in parks or easements?

I find myself stepping over anything below 4in; unless it is an high profile target. I ask because some seem to believe dig every target.

Hand held pin pointers are alsome; I wont hunt without it!


thanks

[Steve in PR]

Hi, Shortgrass. I can tell you that it took a while for me to find much more than coins for the first few times that I went hunting. I spent 3 months just getting used to the machine. but, digging most everything did pay off by giving me confidence later about what a pulltab signal was and was not.

It's hard to advise you on how to approach which siganls to dig and which to pass. I feel 99% confident when I have a pulltab signal because I have learned but every 10th pull tab signal, I check, just to make sure my hunch is correct.

A lot of it has to do with the machine electronics. The higher end machines do a better job of discriminating. That's what you are paying for. It does not mean you can't find good targets with other machines, you just don't have as many bells and whistles.

For me the bottom line is that you have to pay your dues first before you hit the gravy. Practice pays.

Try a playground in your area. Bus-stops. Under stadium bleachers. Ask family to hunt their yards.

Take a look at the tips section under "Your best advice" for some excellent tips.

And, most of all, persistence pays.

[KellycoChick]

Practice practice!! I know my boyfriend isn't impressed with my collection of nails, but at least you're learning like me. I really just had to comment on your use of "feeding my addition" phrase because I totally feel that way sometimes!! I almost said that exact phrase in my last post, lol!! As always, Steve has some great advice. And I've heard of quite a few people who made that great find because they just happened to dig up what registered as a pulltab on their machine... so keep it up! You'll get there! And once you find something GREAT you'll be diggin' everything again!

[Buster]

I agree with Steve and Kellycochick on this. I would and still do dig all pop tops and pull tabs. Once you remove them from your area that you are hunting, you should find older targets. Also rings most times ring off as pull tabs. If you are finding nickels, then you are doing well. They are the hardest to find. Keep practicing and you will do great. Happy Hunting....Buster....

[Captain]

yall need to come with me to the parks and schools around here... I will need a back hoe to to clean up the pull tabs. this one park, the machine wont shut up at highest disc. Im digging about 15% of low targets I gotten to kidies ear rings. rest pull tabs or bottle tops. Not to mention the screw tops at +50.
Ill get there, the lower numbers are obviouly a learned skill.
I saw some good post yall made early this year, after i posted this... about low numbers. I think pappy had a good one about this.
thanks again.

[Gator]

The best discrimination is your eyes.
I just picked the hobby back up after many many years. Im getting use to my two machines and it takes time to learn their language.
Im learning over but I recall things also and one of the things I recall are the junk items you have to dig to be successfull. Pull tabs are one of the biggest. Do I dig em all the time, no, and Ill tell you why in a sec.
The first thing I want to tell you is buy this book "Taking a Closer Look at Metal Detector Discrimination"by Robert Brockett. Sure, its a Whites book but that doesnt mean nothin, because, it has some valuble info in it.
It all depends on your outlook, how much time you have on a hunt and a battle plan and every seasoned MDer has a battle plan of, how hes gonna attack even if its a layed back hunt.
Discrimination, well, most times I use just enough to knock out a common nail,but thats me. Sometimes an area is so trashy I have to move up a bit and sacrifice nickels and also when its that trashy I have to turn my signal/sensitivity/gain down a bit. I also use small coils most of the time.
If its a hurried hunt for me and I have hit the area before and sort of know it...
I will know about how deep pull tabs come in at,usually two inches or less is very common.
Nickels and tabs at times can read the same because of damage to the tab and the position in the ground the targets are resting. This is what I do...
I swept a target and got a reading of 20 (which is a nickel on my M6) but Im in a hurry so I back my coil away from the target and sweep again just close enough to the target to where my signal from the coil barely brushes the target. Most times a nickel will give you 2 good signals and a tab or beaver tail or aluminum will break up. Sometimes,sometimes, I can get a double beep on a tab. Sometimes, rings will give you a double beep.
You mention jewelry, jewelry can come in anywhere on your TID,because of size and the alloys used to make the item. So if you want rings,bracelots etc,you gotta dig pull tabs.
You mentioned depth. It depends on your site. A real modern site isnt as likely to have deeper targets unless it is over an older site. But four inches and deeper is worth digging if you want to be successful.
No matter what you are looking for,you gotta learn your machine and what it is trying to tell you. There is a discrimination dial you can set and there is another discrimination you can use,the TID. These give you probabilities but in the end its your decision whether to dig or not.
I have friends that want to go with me sometimes and I tell em,its very very boring and you have to make up your mind its gonna be that way,but there is always that possibility of a good find. I was a good fisherman and still am. I love to Bass fish,but I can fish a pig and jig,or worm all day long on a cold February day (this is very slow fishing if you didnt know).
Its a mind thing and you gotta sorta psych yourself up at times and have a plan,or at least it works for me.
Merry Christmas,
John
PS
A seasoned MDer, knows his pulltabs,lol.

[Captain]

Thanks Gator for your time here..
However I can make a penny crack up tone, or make it say pull tab for just a sec. sweeping over the edges. I am picking up nickels now, only because i know what a coin feels like under the coil. But I am not at the point i cant walk into a park with 20+ years of pull tabs and bottle tops in the ground. I automaticly head to the high points of the ground, instead of the bottom of the washed areas. I live where it is real sandy and coins dont move in water like pull tabs and bottle tops. To tell the truth I cant see digging that many targets in a park or school. It would look like I bomb went off. lmao...

how about this: 1c to 10c at 1inch depth. if it isnt there at one or two inches, do you continue digging? I have stoped digging passed the required depth. because it always somthing like a drink can. Somtimes just buy rubbing the ground with my foot or opening the ground will help ID the target better.
I wonder how these can get so deep in the ground; it can only be due to sand washing over them thru the years.

One thing for sure Gator; it much more to it than just buying a metal detector. You really need to learn how to dance with you maching. I can help to feel that in my small town ALL the Easy spot are cleaned out when it come to age and silver (pre-65). there no way you can go behind me and much more than Zinc. I do pass over Zinc a lot because of the fun factor " feeding the Addiction " reason. I will most likly go back over there areas with more knowledge in a month.
I am sure I still sound "green" but i cant digg all them low targets yet certain number i watch for and clearity of tone.

Thanks again Gator,
Rookie in trainning.

[Buster]

Well said Gator. I'm with you on this....Buster.......

[Gator]

Heya Shortgrass,
I certainly feel your pain,lol. I have a few places in the old part of town I attempt to hunt with years and years of various trash in the ground. I still go there hoping one day to just find one old coin (older coin).
For me, its a matter of strategy, time on hand for a hunt and the site I am hunting. Some places especially with a time constraint, I dont dig all the iff signals, I am just hitting a coin sounding signal. When I have all day, I investigate my targets further. Ive run across one site that I am finding silver at, and the biggest part of my finds have been 3 inches and less, several at around 2 inches. Its nothing old only back to around the 40s. I did find one 1945 nickel. Funny thing, its been mostly quarters and wheat pennies.
I am like you when it comes to parks and plagrounds, I dont like to dig a lot of holes.
Those deep cans, got there from erosion, extra soil being brought in for landscape or building up a low lying area. When I pinpoint,its usually in all metal type mode and the signal will sound larger than when I was in a Discriminate mode. Sometimes, I will turn my discrim up over a questionable target to see where it falls. A lot of times we look at our TID for just an identity of a target but we forget that it is telling us more than just that. Its also telling us what it isnt thus knocking out those pieces of metal as a possible target.
Another thing on a questionable target,like the can, raise your coil several inches off the ground and see where it stops hitting. A can will hit several inches above the ground.
Yeah, Im green to. You may be like me, I havent had anyone around to help me get going. I was fortunate tho, I hunted those years (not often) with my dad. But youll get it.
Hunt/research for sites to hunt besides playgrounds. Im sure there are some MDers that exclusively hunt playgrounds and thats good. I like and want to hunt other things. I just dont have enough time,lol.
Youre gonna get signals and dig and find nothing,maybe a bit of rust. Sometimes a deep big piece of iron will identify as a good target. Its like bill(de) told me, you gotta dig those signals to see what they are so you will know. Then when you get those signals again you will know and pass over them.
Well, its raining here today, and Im off work so Im gonna read a book I just got by Charles Garrett.
Good luck to you, hang in there.
Merry Christmas,
John
PS: others will respond and read what they say because these guys are very knowledgeable. Thats how I got going, thanks to them.

[Captain]

Originally Posted by Gator

Heya Shortgrass,
I certainly feel your pain,lol. I have a few places in the old part of town I attempt to hunt with years and years of various trash in the ground. I still go there hoping one day to just find one old coin (older coin).
For me, its a matter of strategy, time on hand for a hunt and the site I am hunting. Some places especially with a time constraint, I dont dig all the iff signals, I am just hitting a coin sounding signal. When I have all day, I investigate my targets further. Ive run across one site that I am finding silver at, and the biggest part of my finds have been 3 inches and less, several at around 2 inches. Its nothing old only back to around the 40s. I did find one 1945 nickel. Funny thing, its been mostly quarters and wheat pennies.
I am like you when it comes to parks and plagrounds, I dont like to dig a lot of holes.
Those deep cans, got there from erosion, extra soil being brought in for landscape or building up a low lying area. When I pinpoint,its usually in all metal type mode and the signal will sound larger than when I was in a Discriminate mode. Sometimes, I will turn my discrim up over a questionable target to see where it falls. A lot of times we look at our TID for just an identity of a target but we forget that it is telling us more than just that. Its also telling us what it isnt thus knocking out those pieces of metal as a possible target.
Another thing on a questionable target,like the can, raise your coil several inches off the ground and see where it stops hitting. A can will hit several inches above the ground.
Yeah, Im green to. You may be like me, I havent had anyone around to help me get going. I was fortunate tho, I hunted those years (not often) with my dad. But youll get it.
Hunt/research for sites to hunt besides playgrounds. Im sure there are some MDers that exclusively hunt playgrounds and thats good. I like and want to hunt other things. I just dont have enough time,lol.
Youre gonna get signals and dig and find nothing,maybe a bit of rust. Sometimes a deep big piece of iron will identify as a good target. Its like bill(de) told me, you gotta dig those signals to see what they are so you will know. Then when you get those signals again you will know and pass over them.
Well, its raining here today, and Im off work so Im gonna read a book I just got by Charles Garrett.
Good luck to you, hang in there.
Merry Christmas,
John
PS: others will respond and read what they say because these guys are very knowledgeable. Thats how I got going, thanks to them.

Yup That sounds like me gator..I look at the lay of the land and pick the high spots first and work my way down the grade. I may not have always have a clear idea of the lay of the land due to vegatation, howevery yall are right gotta lower you number you dig..I getting a lot better at finding targets with small holes. Easy at schools tho, most every thing is inside of 5 in, except the wash areas/low spots.
Cans is a bigger target than a coin, i can make 3 to 4 sweeps across; where as a coin only makes it about two and a half passes across. Unless the can is like 6 to 7 inches down then is comes up as a 25¢ @ 0 inches. This is the biggest way I can tell a coin with my machine. when it isnt there- a quick bulls eyes pointer and a sweep with the machine and i ussally end up covering it back up; after having dug 50 of these. Im starting to feel the side below the coil. When the hole starts getting passed three scoops it is either one of the three, much deeper, on the side of the hole, or the coin KEEPS FALLING TO THE BOTTOM OF THE HOLE.<- hates that. I have had some old finds amongs a group of pull tabs, which tells me someone has went over it before. I find a bunch of 1965 coins@ 4/5 inches.

but +14,+16,+18 pencil erraser; {+22 +24 +26 pull tabs these come in strong}
+30,+32 pull tabs I still end up digging a few of these just because they differnt tones/numbers in the ground. pencil erraser is getting me more often than i like it too.. but I bet ive dug 20 of em in two days.
Since writing this post i found a gold star, silver ear ring, and a mens silver ring. Nickles are more common now too. I still left a few wild tones/number in the ground for now, just for time sake.
But still some places are just way too trashy with a zillion¤¹º of pull tabs

Thanks for the Insight Gator.