First hunt for 2007

[Warrant]

I took out three hours for a jaunt in the park I had tried befor New Years my take for the day:
11 Rosevelts (Clad)
8 Jefferson Nickles
38 linclon cents (all modern)

I stopped chasing the copper pennies in lieu of the dimes, there's a peny every square foot it seems and I can come back for them later. I hit several pockets of multiple types of change. I haven't even scratched the surface of the park yet, apparantly no one ever hit this place before and the detecting is great.
Regret not posting the photos but I have my digital at the factory for warranty repairs, broke after only two months.

[Dugday]

Where's this park at? I'll come pick up the pennies. Good luck with your future hunts

Doug

[NC_Hunting]

That is a good start for the New Year ... continued good luck for the rest of '07 ... NC Hunting

[INDY]

That's a nice start for '07
Good Luck
HH

[canadian detector]

so far so good and hope you have many more good days to come

[THing4CSA]

Hi All My TH'ing Friends

Today was near 70 degrees! Wow it was so nice althought the ground was still wet from yesterday's and last night's rain. Wayne and I returned to our Union Encampment and cleared several large areas of leaves; yes Mark we raked the leaves out of our way. I would guess that we spent about an hour or so just raking but it sure makes a big difference. The first time we searched this spot we used our feet to kick leaves out of our way. It was slow and messy and did not work as well as raking them. I think Wayne ended up with a single 44 cal pistol bullet and it may well have been fired. I am hoping that wayne will post a picture of it for us all to see. I on the other hand was able to stay a bit longer (2.5 hours about) and the finds just kept popping out. I was beginning to think I would not find anything but kept digging up all the targets as they turned up. I was getting a few pieces of melted lead and found two pistol precussion caps, then a canteen plug, then I got a 44 cal pistol bullet, then a second and third; I was thinking this is a good day, but I didn't know what good meant. I cleared a small area further to the south of where I had found a few 44 Cal pistol drops and out pops a Union General Services Jacket button; even the shank was intact and straight. Wayne had to leave early as he had other plans for the afternoon so I decided to search one of the areas further to the South and East and got a funny signal so decided to dig the seven inches and out pops a 54 Cal Sharps. Man those Sharps sure are nice! I searched further to the South near a large oak tree and heard a faint signal at nine inches and out pops another Union General Services Coat button, this one has a piece of leather through the eyelet, I have never seen this done before so am keeping everything together. My final find of the day is a second Union General Services Jacket button, this one has a slightly bent shaft. A great day starts with a great TH'ing Buddy, good weather, and a good search area! I am hoping that our other TH'ing Buddy will be able to join us on our next outing. I hope you all find what you are looking for. Be safe in all you do but best if you do right in all you do. :-)
Dave Mork
'Digger-Dave'
THing4CSA
PS: Remember; Don't leave it in the ground!

[JoAnne]

Great finds - where are you located and what machine do you have?

[BackyardBandit]

I't looks like its gonna be a good year.. Nice finds

[THing4CSA]

Hi All My TH'ing Friends
I was asked what detector I use when I searched and found my latest finds; well ever since 1984 I have only used Whites detectors and don't see myself changing any time soon. I got my first Whites in Sacramento, CA back in 1984, it was a 6000 Di III. I still have this old timer although it is in need of repairs. what I didn't understand about metal detectors was that after using one for several hours the circuit boards heat up and as they cool moisture condensates. This is not normally a problem except when you consider the fact that the dealer had used clear rubber sealant on my detector (it was a dealer's model) and sealed the speaker to keep out the rain, not that I would ever TH in the rain! LOL I know everyone will eventully get caught in a summer down pour, but I would protect my detector from everything I could. Anyway the problem was that my detector was unable to breath and the moisture stayed inside the machine, which after time it started to corrode the pins on all of the intergrated circuit chips (IC chips) which caused a total failure. I then moved up to the Whites 6000 Pro Series. This was said to be a great machine, but as I had my 6000 Di III repaired and had the sealant removed, I did not bother to relearn the differences I continued with the 6000 Di III. In 1999 I used my year end gain share from work to purchase the Whites XLT, I thought this was just the greatest detector ever! I searched many of the same places that I had gone over (and I mean 'gone over') and started finding smaller and deeper signals than I ever imagined. Well in 2003 I received a larger year end gain share than was expected so I purchased the Whites DFX. My finds went through the roof. I have posted several super finds to the Whites customer's stories, which if you have not sent a story with a picture for possible posting I can assure you it is worth trying.

I have purchased the smaller coils, extra battery packs, the hard case for use when I travel, coil stabilizers, extra extension rods, head phones, the list goes on but the beauty of it is, I used the Gift Certificates provided by Whites for the posting of my pictures and stories of my finds. None of this would be possible without the Whites metal detectors.

I poke fun at my TH'ing buddies for their non-Whites detectors, but to be honest they are all about the same. The biggest difference between detectors is the ability or lack there of by the user. You have to get to know your detector, how it works, what a signal sounds like for a good target and a junk target. My biggest secret is that I dig up everything. I may dig a hundred targets before I find a keeper, but answer this question; how many of us have walked away from a good target just because the display screen said it was a bottle cap?

I use my Whites DFX with the standard coil in the coin mode and any time (most of the time) if the screen displays a bottle cap with any coin most of the time it turns out to be a Civil War bullet. Now to be fair I have also found beer bottle caps that are rusted to a blob and had them show up the same way, but please hear me out on this as I have shared this suggestion with many TH'ers on this web site as well as several others, if you dig up every target and have a 10% ratio of good finds how many good finds do you find in a day? If you find yourself (as my TH'ing buddies and myself are currently) in the middle of a Civil War Encampment (or any super site that is producing lots of great finds) what is the best method of clearing the entire site without missing anything and I don't mean using a screen to dig up and screen every square inch of soil. I mean by using your metal detector alone. This method works best with a site that is not in the process of being developed or built on next week, what I mean is a site that is a field or forest that is there for the owner, farmer or rancher to use (or ignore) as thsy wish. Get the owner's ok to clear out dead fallen trees, you might cut the wood and haul it for the owner as an added incentive to get an invite back. If you have a field you might haul away rocks that you find while searching for coins and artifacts. What ever you do show the owner how you have helped make their property better. I show the owner all the nails, pieces of old rusted wire, staples, nuts and bolts. I return any tools as I know the feeling of losing farm equipment tools. Anything you can do to make a bond with the owner is a step closer to being invited back, I sometimes carry my Whites XLT and offer to show the owner or one of their kids how to operate and recover items. This does work!

I hope these ideas will help you develope and find more places to search. I know some of you newer TH'ers will ask how do I get the ok to search in the first place. This is one of the hardest questions but it does have a simple answer. If you know somone with land that looks like if might have been around for a long time and may have had older buildings, or a history of some battle or troops marching through, ask the owner for their permission to give it a search. I find that if you ask the worst that will happen is they will say 'No!'. I have never been killed or hit or had rocks thrown at me. Most people will say yes. Again I will tell you be honest with them up front. This is how I ask: I knock on their front door, (leave the detecor in your car), I introduce myself and any TH'ing buddies that I may have with me, I give a short resume of the years I have been a TH'er and list any of the neighbors that they may know so if they want to call to confirm they can. I tell them what I do (I am a part time treasure hunter and live in city and state, I would like to search your property for list the items, i.e., coins, Civil War artifacts, etc. I have a TH'ing Fun Card (I don't like referring to it as a business card). I ask them if they have lost anything that we should look for and if found will return to them. I explain how we locate items with a metal detector, what digging methods we use, what we do with the items we recover (I recycle everything I am able to). I show them the digging tools (I use an old Spanish or US Military Bayonet) This sometimes takes them by surprise but I come back with the fact that the blades have worn down and are no longer sharp as they were originally. I also go on to ask if they have any part of their property that they would not want us to search (you would be surprised at how many people have buried their pets in the back yard!). This information is shared with all my TH'ing buddies so their in no excuse for a mistake. We do out searching, digging, and recovery, and at the end of the day we show the owner what we have found. Most owners will look at the items and be assounded at the varity of finds, few will ask if they can have one item. Normally they don't ask for anything but if they do you have to decide is an Indian Head Cent given up today worth a return trip next month. If you are new at TH'ing you could plead that this was your very first Indian Head Cent, if may work, but be ready to give up something you have found. I have turned over coins, jewerly, Civil War Bullets and Buttons, lots of silver ware, tools, the list goes on but the idea is to get invited back for another search. Sometimes the finds are slim the first time and on a return trip you unearth the mother lode.

Have fun and be safe in all you do, but remember to first do right in all you do. :-)
Dave Mork
'Digger-Dave'
THing4CSA
PS: Remember; Don't leave it in the ground!

[FinalLastDays]

THing4CSA - I enjoyed reading your detailed post just now. I like how you went into detail explaining how you go about receiving permission to metal detect private property. From your experiences, I am sure you have made quite a many of friends in the field of MDing as well as from private land owners. Thank you for posting that story, I am sure many will benefit from it!