I got 99 problems but a tone aint one!

[mojotrout]

Sorry, probably not the right place to be throwing around Jay-Z song quotes...

Anyway, I went on my first real hunt with the X-Terra 705 yesterday. I searched some curbs close to an old 1915 elementary school that I have hit twice before with the Tesoro Outlaw. On each of the two previous hunts I scored a silver dime and numerous wheaties so I was hoping there were some good items left.

I used AM with 99 tones as suggested by many here. The phase number was 22 when I GB'ed, which I think is pretty high in minerals? I was under the impression that my ground was pretty mild as my fixed GB Tesoros were almost as deep and quiet as my adjustable GB Tesoro. So this was a surprise to me.

I was two minutes into the hunt when a guy comes out and asks why I was "digging up his lawn". I calmly and politely told him that I was searching the city-owned right-of way strip for metal items and that I had a city-issued permit that allowed me to do so. I told him I was recovering items in this particular ROW strip because it was not being manicured or groomed in any way (all dirt and weeds) but if he was still concerned, I had no problem moving on. Plenty of curb to hit if he was upset. He said ok and went back inside.

Three minutes later I had my first experience with a police officer while detecting. The officer said hello and said the man had called the police on me. I told him what I said to the man --about having a permit but still willing to move on if we was uncomfortable -- and that irritated the officer. He checked my permit, apologized for interrupting me, complemented me on my choice of machine, and told me I was free to continue. He then went to the door of the gentleman who called to have a "chat".

So long story short, after searching half of a full block (two sides of the block), I found six wheat pennies 1919-1938, some clad, several modern pull tabs, a few rusty nails and these:

[attachment 277860 finds110313.JPG]

A 1947 rosie, an 1897 indian head (my oldest U.S. coin!), a Dungeons & Dragons lead figure of a skeleton warrior, and an old toy car.

Using the 99 tones will take some getting used to, but the coins rang in pretty solidly at depths from 2" to about 6", nothing really deep. Zinc pennies will likely become my worst enemy with this machine. I got response from 28 to 42 on those darn things.

I'll post a few more comments and questions on my settings and some target responses in a while. Right now i just wanted to share my first eventful hunt with my new machine! thx for looking!

 

[BillF]

Well Mojo. You got more guts than me. I know searching the curb strip is legal, but I can't bring myself to do it.
You will learn to like the 705. I came from a Tesoro also, still have a couple, but the 705 is my goto machine. Zinc pennies are all over the board but I dig them anyway. Mainly to get them out of the way in case something is under them.
So far, I look forward to going out with this machine. I honestly can't say I did that with the Vaquero after about 6 months of using it.

 

[michaelosully]

I was two minutes into the hunt when a guy comes out and asks why I was "digging up his lawn". I calmly and politely told him that I was searching the city-owned right-of way strip for metal items and that I had a city-issued permit that allowed me to do so. I told him I was recovering items in this particular ROW strip because it was not being manicured or groomed in any way (all dirt and weeds) but if he was still concerned, I had no problem moving on. Plenty of curb to hit if he was upset. He said ok and went back inside.

Three minutes later I had my first experience with a police officer while detecting. The officer said hello and said the man had called the police on me. I told him what I said to the man --about having a permit but still willing to move on if we was uncomfortable -- and that irritated the officer. He checked my permit, apologized for interrupting me, complemented me on my choice of machine, and told me I was free to continue. He then went to the door of the gentleman who called to have a "chat".

Finally, a LEO that knows how to properly fulfill his duties.

Mojo...thanks for posting the details of this 'event'. My thoughts are that the fellow that called the police didn't expect things to turn out quite the way it did. Hopefully, he learned from his misbelief that the squeaking wheel always get the grease.

 

[mojotrout]

I know how you feel Bill. I try to hunt these areas during the week day if I can-- Fewer people at home then. Ive hunted residential curbs about a dozen times this year and have had three owners (in addition to the guy this weekend) come out and confront me. One was fine once I showed him how I was doing things. one left in a huff but did not pursue it further. The last guy wasn't too happy to see me detecting and asked that I not dig in and around his newly installed sprinkler system. I told him I would have no problems moving on but after we talked for about 10 minutes, he told me to go ahead and dig if I found something. I told him thanks but I would rather just move on down the road. Ive had about a dozen other people ask what I was doing and wanted to see my finds, etc., they were interested and not at all annoyed at what I was doing.

The thing is, I don't want to draw too much attention to this style of hunting because if a lot of people start doing it in my town (I haven't seen anyone else doing it yet, but I'm sure some folks do around here), there will be more and more complaints until yet another place is barred from detecting. Its a balancing act deciding how often and when to hit these places.

 

[mojotrout]

[/quote]

Finally, a LEO that knows how to properly fulfill his duties.

Mojo...thanks for posting the details of this 'event'. My thoughts are that the fellow that called the police didn't expect things to turn out quite the way it did. Hopefully, he learned from his misbelief that the squeaking wheel always get the grease.[/quote]

my pleasure Michael. I knew it was only a matter of time before an officer was called on "the guy digging in my front yard!".

It went a lot better than I thought it would.

 

[mudpuppy]

Well done! Both on the finds and the situation and your preparedness.

As an aside, I decided long ago just because a stranger asks me a question, I am not obligated to give them an honest answer....especially if they appear to be crazy, For instance, Q: "Why are you digging up my lawn"?
A: "Marking the curbstops sir, I'll be up and down both sides of this street today, just doing the annual curbstop location drill to make sure you have plenty of good water with no troubles"

Or, "My boss man lost the pintle pin out of the mower clevis, and I've got to find it before we mow again, so it dont fly out and break a window or kill somebody"... "I'm gonna hafta sweep your entire front and back yard too, no telling where that damn thing could be, and we sure dont want you running over it with YOUR mower and getting hurt, kilt, or sued"...

I've got to have all sorts of these comebacks on my mental rollodex ready to go, since crazy people seem to be attracted to me as if I was painted blaze orange..

.I dont know what it is, but if theres a crazy person within 50' of me at any time or place, they lock on and bee line right on over...not only detecting, everyday kind of things, once, I was sitting in a barbershop getting my hair cut, and the crazy guy in town rode past the window on his bicycle, stopped, turned around, got off his bike and walked into the place with a sort of confused like expression on his face like he did not know why he stopped and walked in there, like he was pulled in there with some sort of star trek tractor beam or something...barber asked him what he wanted, and he did not know for sure, shook his head and walked back out!

The wife thinks its funny, but its not, I have to be ready all the time whenever we go anywhere to be ready to deal with them...glad to see you were properly prepared and you got some adventure out of the day!
Mud

 

[mojotrout]

those are good lines Mud. I'll have to start carrying a few around for those occations where they are warrented.

 

[BillF]

I had another hunter stop one day while I was doing the yard of a house slated for demolition. He told me he does curb strips all the time. When I told him I wasn't into confrontation, he pulled out a business card that he hands to anyone that gets in his face. Basically it states that the curb strip is city property and he has every right to be there. Still....
I think you got real lucky having the cops on your side, most times I think they would tell you to move on whether you have the right or not.
Keep us informed on what you find with the 705.

 

[fdl]

Just like Bill I can't get myself to hunt curb sides. I know there's stuff to be found but the hassle wouldn't be worth it.

 

[atomicscott]

Nice finds! Cant wait to see all the other goodies you find in the spots you hit with your other detector! Believe me, there's a lot left in those 'hunted out' spots. Congrats on the new Minelab.