Critterhunter
New member
I was thinking of this when responding to a pinpointer thread in the modifications forum. We really should try to start a campain to get people to pop targets with a screwdriver whenever possible on public property, even if digging is allowed there. Of course the obvious and most important reason is it will help us protect the reputation of the sport and thus not get banned at public parks or other areas that we are currently allowed to hunt.
However, there are other benefits to us as well that are discussed below. Namely, faster clad & other target totals in the same given amount of time. Less work and mess on your hands than digging up a plug.
Think about this. Ever go back to a spot you've hunted a few days earlier and find all your plugs have been removed? You can thank wild animals for that, namely skunks which love to look for grubs by doing this. The park ranger or property owner is only going to think that you were too lazy to put your plugs back in the hole.
Of course a pinpointer helps but many machines (such as Whites) can get you so tight on a target that you don't need a pinpointer to probe for the target. I find that even without a pinpointer I can easily locate a target by probing in a circle in an outwards spiral pattern until I contact the target. Most of the time if you do it this way you won't miss it, and once you've got the feel of it you can tell if your hitting rocks, glass, or other objects that aren't what you're looking for.
For other machines with a not very tight pinpoint mode (namely Minelabs and other machines using a DD coil), I'd recommend we start urging people to get some kind of pinpointer, even a cheap one will help on shallow targets. The discussion that spawned this was on the Centech pinpointer for $20 at Harbor Tool. I'm not trying to knock the Centech. For the money you simply can not go wrong. All I'm saying is that if you've owned a better pinpointer such as the Pro Pointer or the new Vibra Probe (voted a close tie with the Pro Pointer, but costs more) you'll never want to pick up that Harbor Tool & Freight job again.
These are more streamlined (read not boxy like the Centech) and are so much more stabile along with having way better depth. I know, because before I bought my Pro Pointer I was constantly bugging my friend to throw me his when I couldn't find the target with the Centech. Results were that every time I couldn't find a target with my Centech his Pro Pointer found it the instant I stuck that thing into the hole. That's another big plus for us to use a pinpointer. It saves you from getting back up to to re-check your target, and after a long day of hunting that means a lot.
That was as much convincing as I needed, but when you add the self adjusting sensitivity of the Pro Pointer and no need to stick the probe into the dirt to adjust it properly like most others require (so they don't false on the ground signal) you'll think this is the best addition to your metal detector you could ever buy. It's that much better.
Also makes clad hunting much faster (no need to dig a hole when you can pinpoint and pop it with a screwdriver in seconds) to really rack up your clad totals in less time. Another area this thing will be great for is ring hunting in ball diamonds or other areas where you might get kicked out if people saw you using a digger.
Another trick is the sensitivity increase you can do with the Pro Pointer. After turning it on slide a coin, pulltab, or some other piece of metal up the shaft until the pinpointer just starts to sound off. Back the metal back down the shaft a hair until it goes quiet. You'll be amazed at how much more depth you will get doing that because the nearby metal object is pushing the unit closer to it's threshold of sounding off.
I'm planning to use a piece of thin metal (like maybe a bent piece of coat hanger) that I'll bend into an "L" and secure to the probe inside a plastic tube via rubberbands so as not to scratch the probe by sliding it. Now you just turn it on with your thumb and then use the same thumb to push on the bottom part of the "L" as an easy way to control it with your thumb, sliding the top of the "L" further up the shaft until it just starts to sound off. Now you're getting even more than the already outstanding depth this pin pointer has and can detect coins and rings that are pretty deep to pop with your screwdriver.
While on this subject, I'm a big fan of using a screwdriver with about a 7" long tip. When using one this long I can lay my digger on the ground at a 90 degree angle to the screwdriver and then push the screwdriver down onto the handle of the digger to use as leverage sort'a like a seasaw, popping out targets with much more force than doing it only by hand. Lets me really pull some deeper ones from tough ground that I otherwise wouldn't have the strength to bring to the surface.
Didn't want this to turn into a commercial for certain pinpointers but most of the above was a re-post from another thread. The main thing is I'm hoping more of us will make an effort to shame people we hunt with to use a pinpointer whenever possible. I know some targets are just too deep or in too tough of ground to make that possible, but that's still a small percentage of time compared to most targets. Give yourself time to get good at it and I promise you'll not want to use your digger anymore unless you have to.
I'm not against digging. Some of the plugs I dig in the woods would make a street pothole look pretty good, but these are in areas where I'll not be seen and have time to properly smooth the ground back out. Just trying to remind people that when you are on public land there's a good chance you are being watched. This kind of sport attracts attention anyway, so please make every effort to recover a target with a screwdriver first before pulling out the digger.
However, there are other benefits to us as well that are discussed below. Namely, faster clad & other target totals in the same given amount of time. Less work and mess on your hands than digging up a plug.
Think about this. Ever go back to a spot you've hunted a few days earlier and find all your plugs have been removed? You can thank wild animals for that, namely skunks which love to look for grubs by doing this. The park ranger or property owner is only going to think that you were too lazy to put your plugs back in the hole.
Of course a pinpointer helps but many machines (such as Whites) can get you so tight on a target that you don't need a pinpointer to probe for the target. I find that even without a pinpointer I can easily locate a target by probing in a circle in an outwards spiral pattern until I contact the target. Most of the time if you do it this way you won't miss it, and once you've got the feel of it you can tell if your hitting rocks, glass, or other objects that aren't what you're looking for.
For other machines with a not very tight pinpoint mode (namely Minelabs and other machines using a DD coil), I'd recommend we start urging people to get some kind of pinpointer, even a cheap one will help on shallow targets. The discussion that spawned this was on the Centech pinpointer for $20 at Harbor Tool. I'm not trying to knock the Centech. For the money you simply can not go wrong. All I'm saying is that if you've owned a better pinpointer such as the Pro Pointer or the new Vibra Probe (voted a close tie with the Pro Pointer, but costs more) you'll never want to pick up that Harbor Tool & Freight job again.
These are more streamlined (read not boxy like the Centech) and are so much more stabile along with having way better depth. I know, because before I bought my Pro Pointer I was constantly bugging my friend to throw me his when I couldn't find the target with the Centech. Results were that every time I couldn't find a target with my Centech his Pro Pointer found it the instant I stuck that thing into the hole. That's another big plus for us to use a pinpointer. It saves you from getting back up to to re-check your target, and after a long day of hunting that means a lot.
That was as much convincing as I needed, but when you add the self adjusting sensitivity of the Pro Pointer and no need to stick the probe into the dirt to adjust it properly like most others require (so they don't false on the ground signal) you'll think this is the best addition to your metal detector you could ever buy. It's that much better.
Also makes clad hunting much faster (no need to dig a hole when you can pinpoint and pop it with a screwdriver in seconds) to really rack up your clad totals in less time. Another area this thing will be great for is ring hunting in ball diamonds or other areas where you might get kicked out if people saw you using a digger.
Another trick is the sensitivity increase you can do with the Pro Pointer. After turning it on slide a coin, pulltab, or some other piece of metal up the shaft until the pinpointer just starts to sound off. Back the metal back down the shaft a hair until it goes quiet. You'll be amazed at how much more depth you will get doing that because the nearby metal object is pushing the unit closer to it's threshold of sounding off.
I'm planning to use a piece of thin metal (like maybe a bent piece of coat hanger) that I'll bend into an "L" and secure to the probe inside a plastic tube via rubberbands so as not to scratch the probe by sliding it. Now you just turn it on with your thumb and then use the same thumb to push on the bottom part of the "L" as an easy way to control it with your thumb, sliding the top of the "L" further up the shaft until it just starts to sound off. Now you're getting even more than the already outstanding depth this pin pointer has and can detect coins and rings that are pretty deep to pop with your screwdriver.
While on this subject, I'm a big fan of using a screwdriver with about a 7" long tip. When using one this long I can lay my digger on the ground at a 90 degree angle to the screwdriver and then push the screwdriver down onto the handle of the digger to use as leverage sort'a like a seasaw, popping out targets with much more force than doing it only by hand. Lets me really pull some deeper ones from tough ground that I otherwise wouldn't have the strength to bring to the surface.
Didn't want this to turn into a commercial for certain pinpointers but most of the above was a re-post from another thread. The main thing is I'm hoping more of us will make an effort to shame people we hunt with to use a pinpointer whenever possible. I know some targets are just too deep or in too tough of ground to make that possible, but that's still a small percentage of time compared to most targets. Give yourself time to get good at it and I promise you'll not want to use your digger anymore unless you have to.
I'm not against digging. Some of the plugs I dig in the woods would make a street pothole look pretty good, but these are in areas where I'll not be seen and have time to properly smooth the ground back out. Just trying to remind people that when you are on public land there's a good chance you are being watched. This kind of sport attracts attention anyway, so please make every effort to recover a target with a screwdriver first before pulling out the digger.
.Seriously though i know what you mean Critterhunter...some of the holes i have seen at rallies are an embarassment to this hobby.I think over here now organizers of rallies are starting to enforce stricter rules on this kind of behaviour....leave your holes in a mess and you're off the site.It's not hard to make a nice tidy job of a hole,some people are just to lazy to do it.....a lot of the culprits are those who just want to make as much as they can from the hobby and are not bothered if they leave a mess or not.:veryangry:
