New to the forum...ghost towns?

[CoyoteJim]

Hi everyone! Real quick, my story - I had a bunch of concrete ripped out around the house and had new walkways and steps put in. There were a lot of nails lying around from the forms and I didn't want the kids to get hurt so I bought a really cheap metal detector at big 5 to find them. However I found a lot of other stuff - old toy cars from the 40's, an old cap gun, spoons, pennies, an old beer can with a cone top, and some pieces off old cars. I felt like an archaeologist digging up the past! So now I bought a slightly less cheep detector and want to see what else I can find.

I have been looking over this site and I am very confused on one subject - ghost towns. From what I have read in California you can MD in state parks with permission, not in Fed parks, and on BLM land with a permit(?), but in no cases can you be in a "historical" area or archaeologically important area. This would seem to include ghost towns yet in this forums there are lists of ghost towns to visit with people writing "bring your metal detector!" So what is the real rule about ghost towns?

Lots of great info here and the members seem really nice...

[EBCIII]

First of all welcome to the site! I do not have the answer of your question, but hope that someone will.

Good luck with the new detector and finding lots of stuff, Beale.

[Buster]

Welcome to TQ. I'm sure that someone will get to your question about ghost towns. There are quite a few hunters out in California. Good luck and Happy Hunting...Buster....

[gordiesgirl]

Hello and welcome to TQ, Best of luck, Happy hunting.

[bigbillinsc]

abandoned towns.... many of em all over the country... for one reason or another people just moved away and no one returnded. as long as your not on fed land. or land that is marked as being on the national historic registry yer ok... but do remember that even ghost town land is owned by some one, most is now private property. do a lil research find current owners and get permission. trespassing to dig is frowned upon by legitimate treasure hunters and most property owners. its kinda like poaching. so please do ask permission and all will be ok.

good luck and happy hunting

[The TINMAN]

Hi Coyote, and WELCOME to TQ. That was real thoughtful of ya to want to get tose nails up so the kids would not get hurt. Now it sounds like ya got hooked into this Great Hobby. Pretty much what BigBill said. All Land is Owned by Someone whether it be Fed, State or private. If ever your not sure as Bill said do some research and find out who it belongs to and what the proper procedure is to detect there. I'm syre some folks in your neck of the woods will chime in as there are a lot of Great Folks here that will help out any way they can. Oh Yeah, If ya haven't grabbed a little better detector yet then talk to our Sponsors here they can help ya out with your needs !

Good Luck & HH
The TINMAN

[JCWhite]

Just get permission when you hunt and you will be cool. Sometimes it is hard when it comes to Ghost towns since not a lot of folks around. If you can get an address take it to the courthouse/county clerk and they can tell ya who owns the property. Some ghost towns are not abandoned... just not as many people thare as once was. Happy Hunting. JC

[CoyoteJim]

Thank you ECBIII, Buster, gordiesgirl, bigbillinsc, TINMAN, and JCWhite for your responses, nice to meet you. I think I have an idea now how to go about searching ghost towns. I'm in El Dorado county, CA which is kind of like gold rush town central.

I did a little searching yesterday and found a '62 penny. I'm starting to realize the difference between a low-cost detector like mine and a more expensive model. This is just my guess but it seems to come down to power. I think a detector that uses multiple D cells or a rechargeable battery pack can really "power" the coil and create a strong magnetic field. My unit uses only two small 9-volt batteries so even if it can discriminate I don't think it can really find too much beyond the top 3 inches.

Everyone take care!

[EBCIII]

Originally Posted by CoyoteJim

Thank you ECBIII, Buster, gordiesgirl, bigbillinsc, TINMAN, and JCWhite for your responses, nice to meet you. I think I have an idea now how to go about searching ghost towns. I'm in El Dorado county, CA which is kind of like gold rush town central.

I did a little searching yesterday and found a '62 penny. I'm starting to realize the difference between a low-cost detector like mine and a more expensive model. This is just my guess but it seems to come down to power. I think a detector that uses multiple D cells or a rechargeable battery pack can really "power" the coil and create a strong magnetic field. My unit uses only two small 9-volt batteries so even if it can discriminate I don't think it can really find too much beyond the top 3 inches.

Everyone take care!

Modern detectors can utilize the "power" very efectively. The X-Terra 70 uses only 4 AA Batteries, and can get down deep as you need. It is not just the battery, but also other factors involved.

Give one of our sponsors a call and talk to them. They can help you very much, Beale.

[JCWhite]

Just wanna echo EBCIII's comments. Battery size or number cannot be used to determine a detector's power. It all has to do with the circuitry involved in the design. What I have learned in the last 5 months is that the type or make of the detector is not as important as the person's comfort level with it. So practice, practice. HH