Help with relic hunting

[homebre]

I am going to hunt an old CW military encampment which I have hunted before with only moderate luck using my Vaquero. I now have had a Xterra 705 for a few months, and bought it specifically to hunt a bit deeper with better discrimination. The campground has been used most recently as a park and mental hospital area for a long time after it was farmed so there is a lot of old iron and aluminum trash. With the VAQ I was trying to disc out iron while finding lead and brass without much success. I am hoping to get suggestions on how to set up the X705 for such a situation considering that I do not want to dig everything or even most iron. Thanks,
Andy from Hillsborough

 

[Old Longhair]

When hunting old sites, especially ones with lots of iron, I typically still run in AM w/99 Tones and just train my brain to ignore all ferrous tones. I know that others hunt in AM w/2 Tones and again just dig most non-ferrous tones.
You can notch out those ferrous numbers, but then you have to pay particular attention to the threshold to know when it drops out over a notched object.

If the targets you seek are really deep, you can also run in Prospector mode with the Iron Mask turned up. You lose the ID in that mode, but you can use it to locate non-ferrous targets and then switch back to C/T Mode to try to get an ID. Since Prospector Mode will see deeper than C/T Mode it's not always possible to get an ID, or at least one that's consistent enough to tell you anything. So those you just have to dig (and they will be deep!).

 

[homebre]

thanks for the advice.

 

[7centsworth]

I would still hunt in all metal. I really like two tones. If my ears were better I would use 99. Some of the really deep bullets will id at -8 I have found out. But I'm talking over 10 inches. Swing slow. I would hunt it with different coils also. I like the 9inch 18.75 for deep bullets in my dirt and a couple other coils I also use. Relics will id in many different numbers. So you will have to dig a lot. Bullets will be anywhere from 18 to mid forties. You will have to dig all positive numbers if you don't want to miss some relics. Some good relics id like pull tabs. It is almost relic season here. And I am ready for it. I look forward to seeing what you find.

 

[homebre]

Thanks. I only have the stock coil at present, so that is what I will be using,
Andy from Hillsoborugh

 

[7centsworth]

Stock coil will work fine. Just go slow. Relic hunting is completely different than coin hunting. And very addicting.

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

how ever many tones your use to using, 2, 4, or 99, that's how many you want to use when working a tough place like that.

Since you do not want to dig a lot of iron I would use pattern 1 with everything open except for your iron numbers. If it was me, I would run in AM, but I'm use to running in AM and if your not use to AM I would just run in a pattern mode at first.

pretty much just run the X705 with the setting you have been using, stay in your comfort zone at first, but try to run your sinc as high as you can. I'm guessing most of the good stuff is going to be deep.

After a good week of working that place and if your not finding much then play with your other settings, like more tone, less tones, AM and you can even change your ground balance up or down a lil.

good luck and have fun and let us know how you do.

 

[homebre]

Well back from a 3 hour hunt on a well, and I mean well hit area by others over the last 30 years. Unfortunately, only found 8 cents in coins, no relics, and a few odd pieces of metal. Conditions were not ideal though as the ground is very dry, and there is an amazing amount of aluminium slaw and foils. My friend who was using a Whites 3000 coin master and MXT was similarly skunked, thjough he did find 2 horseshoes. Will wait till it rains and gets a little coiled. Thanks for all the advice. I did hunt in AM or in notch 1.

Andy from Hillsborough

 

[Canewrap]

You're not going to like this answer, but if you really want to find out what CW relics are left, you'll need to dedicate a day and grid out an area (say 20' X 20') where you've got slightly sloped ground, not far from a creek or water source and start digging everything in the top 3 to 5 inches. Then, come back a day or two later and start looking for the deep targets that were being masked by all the junk. That would be your best shot at finding the relics that no else has found due to all the trash on top.