Critterhunter
New member
I for one don't curse the trash. I look at it as a good thing. VLF technology means first target hit by the detection field is the only thing it sees, even if it's a good bit off to the side than a deeper coin but the shallower trash is still in the detection field.
And far as gold goes, once in a while I see people wishing for a machine that could ID gold from trash. I myself hope that never does happen, because then for one thing where is the challenge, and for another thing if it was that easy then many more people would have detectors and there wouldn't be much out there left to find.
Finally perspective, plenty of other good finds can read like trash. Even many old coins do, and not just the odd ones, but even a good silver can read as junk for some odd reason (minerals, being worn, being on it's side, depth, etc).
So rather than curse the trash, I look at it as little tiny road blocks to sites being cleaned out years ago, and to your average Joe who soon gives up the hobby when he finds it to be more work than fun. If it wasn't for trash all the public sites would have really been hunted out years ago with only the super deep coins being left.
As it stands right now no place is ever hunted out, unless you dig every single signal out of there, and even the few that do that usually don't dig the iron. A shallower piece of iron or other trash even the size of a BB will mask a deeper coin, and that coin doesn't have to be directly under the item masking item either. If that BB is the first thing the field hits, even a good bit off to the side of the coil than a deeper coin that is directly under the coil, then it's game over and you won't ever hear it.
The only time I really feel a site is hunted out is when there are no signals present. Luckily I've never come across that kind of site in my neck of the woods, except for say a private yard that somebody got to before me where it's possible to dig ever signal. Just one decent sized trashy old park would take you a life time to dig ever signal out of. For that reason I always chuckle when I hear people say there are no places left to detect.
Whenever I can't think of a site to hunt for the day I just head to one particular large old super trashy park, pick a 10 foot square area, and just start digging every signal to see what might be lurking down there. Not only might you find a gold ring or some other item that read as trash, but who knows what else it was masking. Only problem with this approach is it must be done in stages. If you dig every signal above iron in one day there it'd look like a mine field, so my routine is to dig the more solid hits first, and then after the ground heals come back and dig the more iffy one way hits and such.
And far as gold goes, once in a while I see people wishing for a machine that could ID gold from trash. I myself hope that never does happen, because then for one thing where is the challenge, and for another thing if it was that easy then many more people would have detectors and there wouldn't be much out there left to find.
Finally perspective, plenty of other good finds can read like trash. Even many old coins do, and not just the odd ones, but even a good silver can read as junk for some odd reason (minerals, being worn, being on it's side, depth, etc).
So rather than curse the trash, I look at it as little tiny road blocks to sites being cleaned out years ago, and to your average Joe who soon gives up the hobby when he finds it to be more work than fun. If it wasn't for trash all the public sites would have really been hunted out years ago with only the super deep coins being left.
As it stands right now no place is ever hunted out, unless you dig every single signal out of there, and even the few that do that usually don't dig the iron. A shallower piece of iron or other trash even the size of a BB will mask a deeper coin, and that coin doesn't have to be directly under the item masking item either. If that BB is the first thing the field hits, even a good bit off to the side of the coil than a deeper coin that is directly under the coil, then it's game over and you won't ever hear it.
The only time I really feel a site is hunted out is when there are no signals present. Luckily I've never come across that kind of site in my neck of the woods, except for say a private yard that somebody got to before me where it's possible to dig ever signal. Just one decent sized trashy old park would take you a life time to dig ever signal out of. For that reason I always chuckle when I hear people say there are no places left to detect.
Whenever I can't think of a site to hunt for the day I just head to one particular large old super trashy park, pick a 10 foot square area, and just start digging every signal to see what might be lurking down there. Not only might you find a gold ring or some other item that read as trash, but who knows what else it was masking. Only problem with this approach is it must be done in stages. If you dig every signal above iron in one day there it'd look like a mine field, so my routine is to dig the more solid hits first, and then after the ground heals come back and dig the more iffy one way hits and such.
