First Hunt...:-)

[hmtech]

On my first hunt out with my ace 250. I found 4 pulltabs and a 1970 quarter. A so so day...I went to a gravel playground lot and I also went out to an open field and found a lot of crushed cans and pulltabs that showed up as coins :-(. What are some other places thats would bring me in coins or relics? The pinpointing takes some getting use to. I'm looking forward to my next hunt...A little disappointing but so far so good.

hmtech

 

[cwilk]

Once your pinpointing technique inproves you will also be able to make good guesses as to the size of targets. You have to dig a lot of targets both junk and keepers to get there. Ballfields, Playgrounds, Schools are all good starting spots. If you can find a place with a decent amount of loot the time it takes you to learn your rig will be considerably shorter. Try near concession stands, the sidelines of baseball and soccer fields, bark chip areas. I strongly suggest you limit digging up somebodies grass until you get good at recovery. Sandy and bark chip areas are easy to put back. Make friends with the custodians at schools and the maintenance guys at parks. I bring some of them coffee. Respect their property. I realize that it's not their property but a lot of them feel like it is. Ask them where kids congregate and play.

It gets easier, I promise.

Chris

 

[hmtech]

Thanks Chris!

I went out today to a huge park that is mainly trails and large open areas of mowed grass. I found quite a few bits of aluminum and bottle caps. It's a just frustrating to see people upload thier pictures with tons of coins and other relics while I just bat duds. I am getting the hang of PP but still need more practice.

H

 

[cwilk]

I keep a notebook of hunt information and when I first started out a, 4 hour, 16 coin day that netted me 2 bucks got 3 exclamation points!!! I stumbled around for about two weeks after that wondering if I would ever have that good of a day again. Then I hit this elementary school and found 40 coins in 70 minutes for almost 8 bucks. It will happen to you too. I hunted that school over and over and I still like going there. On about my 10th hunt there I found a 14k mans wedding band. You really never know. Had a hunt there this January and found another almost 5 bucks. It's the location! If anybody has ever MDed there before me they really suck.

I am running out of attainable goals. You see normally my knees give out at 3 hours. Sometimes I can make it to 4 but rarely more. I have had two 200 clad coins day, one $25 in clad day. My next goal is a roll of each US coins in one day. The nickels will be really tough. My best ever day was two silver rings, a gold ring, and two standing liberty quarters and about 150 clad coins (thats a long morning hunt, followed by a long nap, followed by a long evening hunt, followed by two days bed rest.)

I credit finding this forum for motivating me. I see a guy find a gold ring and I say why not me. I see somebody find 50 quarters and I say why not me.

Find a play area at either a school or a park that has one of those huge wooden (or metal) jungle gyms. The ones with bark chips or ground up tires are best. Do a thorough job. Swing slow. Get under the equipment and as close to metal polls as the 250 allows. It will hone your skills and you'll find a lot of stuff. Coins, toys, jewelry, bullets, pipes, zippers, buttons, hair clips....... Some foil, pull tabs and junk but typically not too much. The best thing is you can go back in a month and find just as much loot.

My final word of advice. Depending on the size and alloy of a ring they can indicate all over the scale. If you get in the habit, like I did, of notching out too much to avoid the junk you will also leave the gold for the next guy. I found 6 gold rings with my 250 and they rang up on either nickel, or the two spots to the right. I found one very small gold ring with my 2500 that rings up below nickel (foil) on both my 2500 and 250. One gold ring makes you forget a whole pile of clad coins and better yet a whole pile of pop tops and screw caps!

Good luck.

Chris

 

[HuntRick64]

I had a lot of luck starting out on baseball fields. Mostly behind the plate (I can understand that with all of the bending & squatting), but the best spot for some reason was the shortstop area. I have never seen a shortstop with his hands in his pocket so I am a little confused on this one. One field produced over 60 clad coins within a 10 foot circle at shortstop. Went to two other fields and had the same kind of luck. Also check out the grassy areas where everyone parks. People knock all kind of things out of their pockets going for car keys. If you know of any park or rec area where they charge to enter and they are closed during the winter, bingo. We have some areas like that with an operator booth at the gate (like a drive-in theater). Good place is under the window where change is dropped when exchanged between motorist and park attendant. Make sure to re-check your hole before going on. I once hit a quarter 1 in down. Dug a plug, retrieved the quarter, re-checked the whole and still showing a quarter. Dug just a little more and found quarter number two. Checked it again and it showed a pull tab. Down another two inches was a ladies silver ring! Learned something that day. How they got that way? Who knows, I just know they are not that way now.

 

[draaiorgel]

Hi H,
Hey it's early days for you yet, you've just got to get through that pain barrier of not getting much.
Then one day in the not too distant future you'll be dancing like the rest of us.
Just remember we all dig lots of crap but we don't always show it in the pics.
Yep, you've got to dig the crap to get the goodies. Just be patient it'll come.

 

[awhitster]

[quote draaiorgel]Hi H,
Just remember we all dig lots of crap but we don't always show it in the pics.
Yep, you've got to dig the crap to get the goodies. Just be patient it'll come.[/quote]
I have been detecting since May of '06. Yea, I get the goodies and post them. Here is the junk. You gotta dig the junk to get the good stuff.
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